Help with getting ready to sell?!

[AnneWithAnEShirley]

Please can I access the wisdom of the mumsnet hive mind?

We need to sell our house in a hamlet because I am spending hours driving backwards and forwards to commute to work, take kids to school (kids' sn meant they needed a school a bit further away) and baby and toddler groups etc. Moving will mean we can be in the same village where all the baby groups, school and train station are, so would frantically improve our lives stress/time wise.

Dh and I have no family close by and the house is looking very tired. I really want to just get it on the market, but am scared we are doing ourselves out of hard cash on the sale by not doing more. This is my plan:

1. Get Garden done - it is a total jungle so I've agreed local company should come in, hack it back, returf, trim borders, cut hedges

1. Paint outside of house.

1. Paint anywhere obvious that needs it inside the house.

1. Declutter so the house isn't full of toys etc.

Otherwise there isn't much we can do to disguise a few seriously negative points unless we spend more e.g.

Scuffed and tired living room carpet

Stained and tired looking carpet in living room

Is it worth recarpeting to try to sell?

I think it isn't worth doing tihngs like new kitchen or bathroom, but it is worth:

• Tidy, de-clutter, guide the viewers to see what a nice house it is and how nice it is to live here.
• Giving everything a really good clean, like jet washing the patio - that kind of thing.
• Maybe spruce the exterior paint if it is really bad.
• Some nice plants outside the frount door or on patio, cheap table and chairs to show how nice it is to sit outside.
• Painting walls white if you have any dodgy room colours
• Grouting pens in the bathroom (this made a HUGE difference to my bathroom, it was amazing)
• Super cheap carpet down throughout if the carpets are bad (I did this, I got the cheapest carpet you can from carpet right and it didn't need underlay and it looked great for selling)
• Def replace the bathroom carpet with something else!

All brilliant ideas - thank you!

Thanks so much everyone

Just getting someone in to clean the living room carpet might make all the difference. Agree take carpet out of bathroom though and get rid of rusty garden furniture.

Past that declutter it and give it a good clean, the truth is the asking price will need to reflect the condition, so people may expect to put in a new kitchen and bathroom etc.

Priced right anything sells, and there is no point doing the big stuff, but do make it clean, tidy and presentable.

i sold my house in 5 days in october, that sale fell through because their buyers pulled out so we were back on the market for 4 weeks in december/janurary . our second sale finally fell through because we couldnt find anywhere to buy!!! we're cool with that 'cos at least now we dont feel we have to settle for a house with far too many compromises.

we also have no family and a 5 year old and a 2 year old who needs a lot of watching, so the who process of 1st, 2nd and even 3rd viewings was exhausting as we both work full time and one of us is a daily rate contractor who loses out on pay to do viewings!! we have so much kids stuff.

At the end of the day, it has to look like somewhere you'd want to live, you're selling a dream/ lifestyle (and all that crap) plus the estate agent photos will be forever committed to the internet and you'll have nosey school mums/dads/ neighbours noseying at your house online).

your house:

-tidy garden with outdoor furniture left out and nicely arranged

• i think if you can get rid of bold walls/ decoration, then do. people loved our white walls everywhere.

• aubergine suite is fine, make sure its clean, no water marks or limescale on shower screen and everything else neutral, putty or taupe walls and wooden effect vinyl?

• definitely replace living roomcarpet, even a cheap polyprop will be attractive to a new buyer for the interim,

• defo put vinyl in the bathroom, carpet is very off putting and a trap for urine splashes etc!!

• definitely have a neat garden, not sure re-turf is necessary but short grass, massive weed areas even just trimmed back/down and tidy hedges.

after a round of viewing properties recently, i have been shocked and i'm even the sort of person who seeks perfection!

• dirty carpet
• smelling of dogs
• stale smelling rooms

-crusty limescale shower screens

• mouldy sealant
• no dusty bath foam bottles/ deep heat cream/ dripping shower gels

my tips (which exhausted me and got me so stressed) and whilst its very hard to live like this/ tidy things back to an empty/minimal state because its a functional home with kids etc:

• no toys set out, put them all away, even if its in the boot of your car

• no coffee/teas caddy/sugar tins/condiments/cooking sauces

arranged on work tops cluttering it and looking jarring and scruffy, unless its orla kiely or the white company or "feature" accessories. no scruffy 10 year old tea towels in kitchen.

• clean towels in bathroom and all crappy head and shoulders etc stored away in a plastic bag and bunged in a cupboard

• if you have too much furniture, remove it, make the room look big, eg we got rid coffee and lamp tables.

• carpet pile vacuumed nicely and plumped up.

• sofa plumped.

• no bundles of post/ letters/ kids art around house

• house plants that cost me 2.50 from ikea looked nice and fresh

sorry its so long, we worked very hard on our sale and i think the effort is worth it because we got virtually the asking price.

by the way, our bathroom is very old and slightly yellowing bath panels etc and needs replacing in the next few years, so we made sure we cleaned it within and inch of life, zero clutter, and fresh towels.

i would just tidy and have the house deep cleaned including the carpets. I would only paint if the paint is peeling or shabby. The same outside - tidy the garden and touch up any peeling paint. I wouldn't spend lots of money on new turf etc. Clean up the patio and decking if you have it. I wouldn't even change the bathroom carpet - maybe just put a rug over it if it doesn't clean up well. Put it on the market once it"s clean and tidy and then if it doesn't sell (ask the estate agent for feedback) make some larger changes as suggested by the buyers, if they are do-able within your budget.

Thank so so much everyone - these are just so helpful.

Just to explain why we are returning, there have been health issues in extended family and we've all been struggling to manage day to day so there literally is no lawn - just jungle of knee high plants in places

Returning?! I mean returfing

I meant to say I'm also thinking about sanding down and revarnishing the kitchen worktop which is solid wood. My only concern if I do it myself is whether it will look awful