How much inside/outside decorating to do to sell?

[EandA]

If, fingers crossed, our move up north comes off, we will be looking to sell our small two bed flat. It is about 100 years old and starting to look it. It hasn't been given an external paint job for years and all the internal walls and woodwork need redoing as we haven't redecorated since we did it when we moved in seven years ago and have two small kids.
The area we live in is popular with young couples and families as there is a good primary school round the corner. With London prices being what they are I don't think many buyers would be able/willing to spend a lot doing somewhere up.

So I'm looking for opinions on what you would and wouldn't bother doing as time and money are short.

Small external balcony - wood is rotten so we don't use it, some neighbours use theirs. Wood filler and repaint or replace?

Very peeling paint (plus it's black) on external windowsills - repaint? And if so repaint in white?
Very patchy paint in bedroom (useless Once paint that is anything but) - repaint?
Hallway and stairs walls that are covered with pencil marks, bike scuffs etc - repaint?
Tired looking woodwork in living room - repaint?
We won't redo the (tiny) bathroom and it was repainted last year but it could do with new taps and lino - would you bother?
Carpets are old and tired and rather mucky in places - Rug Doctor?

Opinions warmly welcomed, thanks!

Definitely all the painting, it's the cheapest way to spruce up a house and helps it look fresh and cared for. I would also definitely sort the balcony, it's a good place to have to hang washing.

Don't think I'd bother with replacing the bathroom taps but Lino is very cheap so I'd buy a light coloured one to make the bathroom look a little bigger.

Carpets......could you afford to replace them with cheap stuff? If not then definitely rug doctor.

Or you could see what similar properties are going for and price it accordingly, if people are getting it for cheaper then I'm sure you'll. have no issue selling as it. Depends on how fast you want to sell and how much you want. I don't know the London market though!

Do as much as you possible can for maximum selling price and quick sale plus it means there would be less to give your prospective buyers cold feet.
In terms of prioritising, from a practical point of view I'd want to buy a house that was in better shape inside than outside as if your flat is in a popular London location you will get viewing no matter how tatty the outside looks :)

Also, painting black wood white = lots of effort!

Good point Cheekychip although on the back windows at least most of the paint has come off so wouldn't be much of a job. I'm really tempted to leave the front of the house as it's not in such a bad state, it's just that black paint doesn't look very nice!

Am really torn about what to do about the balcony. I should add it's not our only outside space - we have a small roof terrace at the back and a small garden too. If the balconies are used by neighbours it's more for a couple of small chairs or some plants.

TheAuthoress it's hard to compare prices really as there aren't many of our type of flat (it's purpose built not a conversion) and they don't come up for sale very often. So I think it would go quickly. We had the place valued last year and the estate agents I saw were very interested but then I suppose they all say that.

I would replace the balcony - or at least I certainly wouldn't patch it up with wood filler. don't make it look safe if it's not.

That's good you have other outside spaces, the balcony may not be as important. Maybe get a quote to repair it and see if it's worth it then?

I agree with cheekychip about the inside being more important than the outside, especially stuff like peeling window sills. Ours are really bad and we noticed them when we bought the house but it wasn't even a consideration in whether or not we should buy, just something we saw we'd need to do at some stage.

You could also make the balcony look pretty by adding a few plant pots or whatever but explain to prospective buyers that it would need work to be used as a sitting area.

I'd repaint everywhere, including windows but I'd leave them black for convenience.

Get quoted for repair to the balcony and estate agents opinion on whether/how much it will affect value. The weigh up how it stacks up financially. As you have other outside space, I'd be inclined to tart it up a bit with some pot plants and let the prospective buyers decide whether to repair or not.

Definitely clean carpets if you can't afford to replace them.

Hi
A definite yes, repaint what you can. It's smartens up a house no end!
Clean carpets, and sort the balcony.
Bathrooms and kitchens can sell a property on a heart beat. How expensive can taps be? Not very for basic ones. Tatty Lino looks awful and is cheap to replace.

The house opposite ours was on the market since before Christmas, and houses round here can move in less than 4 weeks. The outside was a disgrace. The window sill are all flaking off. It looks really tatty. No wonder it took an age to shift that house, and our street is a great street. Also his garden was a jungle. Most off putting. I reckon the owner just thought he could sell regardless of the condition. But buyers have clearly been put off. And we are in a fast loving London market.

You shouldn't care what buyers want to spend doing a place up, only that they don't want to really do it up immediately. IMO, unless you are selling to a developer, most folk want to walk in and live in the place for a while. You'll make a quicker and more profitable sale if you make an effort.

Good luck!

Thanks atonofwashing. I think you're right we should do as much as we can rather than fretting that something we haven't done could cost us a sale. (We'll need to move quickly because of school places). I was looking at the balcony from the front of the house today and think a repaint job will do it - the front of the house is just a bit tired looking while the sills at the bit have clearly not been painted for decades.
Trouble will be trying to fit it all in. Going to look at the calendar tonight and divvy up jobs to get it done as we may have to get it valued and on the market in about six weeks. Eeek!

leave the inside but sort the outside - neglected outdoor paintwork means water could be getting in and tells buyers 'dilapidated property'. Tatty inside just means 'wrecked by kids and needs repainting'. Leave that for your buyers, you've no idea what colours they like.

clean carpets but don't replace. I'd say that the tattiness should be reflected in your asking but it is London so probably no need.

if that balcony is unsafe, don't patch it up! Fix it properly or remove it.

Unless it is stuck in a time warp/potential doer upper I would paint inside and out. Get someone in. Will cost you a grand or so but it will be quick and painless and should add more than a grand or so to the price.

Also, get everything fixed that is broken.

If the carpets are still relatively good I would get them cleaned.

We are doing all of the above at the moment!

I think if you spend 1 - 2% of the asking price on doing up your house, it will be money well spent.

You have to think really carefully about leaving repairs for the new owners. I think it is better to deal with them now, as they will wonder what else is wrong.

We had our house painted throughout the inside, and little bits of the outside. We replaced my boys' toilet for about £60. We repaired all the non-functioning lights, and re-siliconed all the sanitary ware, and around kitchen work tops. We had two double-glazing panels replaced.

Outside, we had a complete makeover of the front garden (tiny) including removing a large bush and returfing. The back was tidied up and pressure washed. I've since invested in pots, which we can take away, and bedding plants.

Generally, we try to keep it clutter-free and clean, with the grass cut twice a week.

The new owners will want to replace the kitchen, carpets and bathrooms, no doubt, but they can live in it first while they decide what they want.

Thanks for all the replies. We are going to do all the work ourselves, we don't have a spare grand and certainly don't have.a spare two per cent of the asking price.to.spend on doing this place up!
I may have given the wrong impression about the balcony - it's part of the original building so removing it would be major structural work. We would never want to give the impression that it iw safe to use and a.survey will highlight that anyway. Any buyers wanting outside space have it at the back of the flat.
We divvied up the jobs tonight and are going to repaint the hallway and bedroom, spruce up the living room and kitchen paintwork, repaint the external windowsills and pot some more plants to put on the balcony and roof terrace. It's a small flat and we don't have social lives so hopefully we can get it done!

Oh and hire a Rug Doctor! Never used one before, will be interesting to see how the carpets change colour!

We've just put our house up for sale and we made sure to do all the little improvements/repairs that might make people think that the house house needed a lot spent on it. Eg, one of our double glazed units was condensating between the panes so we replaced it in case viewers assumed that all the windows were shot and would need thousands spent to replace.

I borrowed a carpet cleaner from a friend once.... Be prepared to be repulsed at the colour of the water when you're finished!

YY to doing all the little repairs, I know when we were looking it was things like that that would have put us off a house as it makes you think if the little repairs aren't done that the owners don't really care about the house and worry about what else might be lurking.

Sounds like you're doing the right things to get a quick sale :)

Thanks TheAuthoress! We are prepared to price to sell swiftly too, thanks to bonkers London prices we will make a healthy profit regardless