Selling property in need of work - better to do it first or let buyer do it and get less for the property?

[midnightlurker]

We have young children and need to move (need more bedrooms!). We currently own a flat so there is no way to decorate without having paint fumes everywhere and needing to move out while it all dries (little person fingers on walls etc!). The white goods are all 10+ years old (and come with the property), so are the kitchen and the bathroom - to get the best money for it would be massive amounts of work. It is in good lived in condition now (few small chips in flooring but everything else is fine). Is it worth trying to get it done up? It will sell regardless, v popular area.

Similar position to yourself. The estate agent said to just sell it. Doing bits and pieces may help it sell quicker but it won't add value. I am still unsure!

I am in a similar position, I have got quotes for the work that needs to be done.

Is your house in a place where it is likely to sell quickly? If it is then I'd be tempted to price it with the work in mind. My house will take a long time to sell so we are going to start some of the works as we still have to live here, potentially for a long time.

Work out what the ceiling price for the flat is based on sold prices. See if they value would be enough to go through the hassle and expense of work. I'd also say that if it's a flat that would appeal to first time buyers then it'd be difficult to make it very aspirational and get top whack for it with young children in the property.

There aren't many doer-uppers left. A good estate agent could make a positive virtue out of the fact that your purchaser could add value to it.
Also, DIY is never simple. You think that you need to do Job A but find that, before you can do that, you need to do Job B. And you can't do B until you've done C. etc etc.

Try to sell it as-is. If it doesn't sell, you can always change your mind and do the decoration after all.

Depends on your market. Round here properties like that are the most sought after - people like to put their own stamp on.

Just sell. Whoever buys it will want it done to their own taste

Depends on where you are I think. I am in the rural north and the market is very slow here so it is a buyer's market and most people just don't want to renovate houses. We put my gran's up for sale last year when she went into a nursing home. It needed a lot of work but had a lot of potential. We didn't get one person look at it, even when it went up for auction at a bargain price. We've now done quite a bit of work on it and it has had a lot of viewings - not a solid offer yet but it's not been back up for sale for long and it is tenanted so I'm in no rush.

ASk at least 3 agents for a price as is and a price done up - whats the difference? Its going to cost maybe £10k to get all the work done. So how much profit are you going to lose? and would you give that up for no hassle? (assuming you really can sell as quickly, EAs will tell you anything to get your property)

Maybe theres a half way option. I dont know when you last painted, but paints these days dont have too bad fumes and you could do one room at a time, or are you away on holiday at all and have a decorator in while youre away. Just painting, cleaning and decluttering would make a huge difference.

No estate agent is going to tell you to do a house up rather then put it up for sale. That's basically asking them if they prefer you to pay their commission this year, or next year, possibly never.
It may or may not be true, but you're doing the right thing asking here instead of trusting the estate agent!

Definitely just sell it. Properties which are perfectly habitable but need a bit of work are extemely desirable.

I think it depends on the type of work to be done.

If there are obvious structural issues or problems like damp - then yes, I think you need to get them addressed.

However if the property is simply a bit dated and in need of decoration I'd say not - unless you are prepared to do everything to a super high standard - including new kitchens and bathrooms.

Whilst many buyers simply want to "move in" there are equally many people like me who don't want to pay "extra" for other people's taste and especially don't want to pay more because someone has gone mad with beige paint and a cut price new kitchen.

As you describe your property the best things you can do is make sure it's clean, tidy and clutter free so buyers can see it's potential.

Just sell it if you're in an area where property moves quickly. We looked at both "done" houses and do-it-uppers when we were buying and actively preferred (and purchased) the latter.

For a start you know there aren't issues being hidden by paint e.g. water stains in ceilings and that sort of thing. And secondly I would have offered £10-15k less than what we thought it was worth for most of the "done" properties as the decor wasn't to my taste (or more off if the kitchen and bathrooms were hideous).

Declutter repaint everything cream or neutral Inc woodwork. Make sure every room looks like the best version of itself, every bedroom is a bedroom the dining room is just that etc. Consider a cheap kitchen refub: new worktops can be added, doors can be changed and you'll get double your money back. Same for carpets relay a cheapish carpet and it makes a stunning difference, update blinds and curtains spend a bit but the resulting sale price will increase. No estate agent will tell you this they would rather sell your house quickly at a lower price. Three weeks hard work and you'll get thousands extra back. If it's that bad only a property developer (I'm a small scale one) is interested they will pay lowest possible price. Make it nice to live in whilst someone does it up themselves and you'll get more.

I disagree Infinate.

I think 10 years ago a "House Doctor" style make over might have worked, but buyers today are simply more savvy and also in general far more keen to personalise their homes.

Doing a cut price refurb - just looks what it is and isn't going to give you a huge return - especially in a desirable area.

The houses that seem to move quickly where I am (good location, great schools) are the structurally sound but dated properties that people want to throw money at to make stunning or those that are very high end (either through the efforts of a developer or the owner) where all the fittings are top notch and hugely stylish.

The ones that stick are those in the middle where everything is basically "ok" but the price being asked means there's no margin to upscale it.

We tried to sell a house in bad condition on and off for ten years. We spent about 12k getting it painted, new carpets and the tile grouting redone. That and a professional clean had buyers fighting over it, I don't think that many people can see past cosmetic issues.

Consider a cheap kitchen refub: new worktops can be added, doors can be changed and you'll get double your money back.

I really disagree with this. We've looked at a few properties in the run up to us putting ours up for sale and everytime I see a "new" kitchen that is clearly a homes under the hammer cheap special (as DP calls them) I mentally work out how much I'll have to spend to change it. A cheap kitchen is far worse than an older one as far as I'm concerned.

it really does depend who youre selling to. Whilst I agree these days people are more inclined to want to do work themselves, I dont think thats true for First time buyers who just dont have £10k extra cash to do kitchens and bathrooms and would probably run a mile at the thought of 'all' that work.

Also people buying at the lower end of the market arent expecting granite worktops and hand painted kitchens, so putting in a cheap(er) kitchen isnt a problem.

Yes me too but we are rare I buy/sell houses every year and people pay more if it looks better. Even if you are intending to rip it out the seller wants to appeal to as many buyers possible so a nice looking kitchen, even a cheap one adds value.

I think a doer upper of proved fairly is a great selling point. When I eventually sell mine (thinking positively) I'd love a do upper as I like the idea of picking everything I want not having to put up with someone else's taste cause I can't justify ripping out a decent kitchen etc.

Priced not proved.. flipping phones