Cheapest way to redo tiny galley kitchen before selling house

[TootsieWantsToRelocate]

We’ve finally decided to sell up and move on! We have to move fast as we need to get a mortgage offer accepted within the next few weeks before our circumstances change (but that’s a whole other thread.)

Before the house goes on the market we really need to do the kitchen. It’s tiny at 3m x 2m. We can’t do much about that, but we can try to make it look nice. There are tiles missing, plaster coming off the walks. No real cupboards, just free standing units. Torn Lino on the floor. So as well as plastering and tiling the walls and floors and fitting the units, we need to chase the electrics, chase some plumbing and move a sink from one side to the other.

I’ve had a quote for all the work for £3.5k, which seems a lot. All the materials (units, new hob, tiles, etc) should cost about £1.5k. So all in all we’re looking at £5k. Does that sounds reasonable? I think it’s a lot for such a small space.

Another option is to ask the individual tradespeople to do bits of the world k e.g pay plasterer/tiler, electrician, plumber, joiner separately. Maybe that would be cheaper. Any top tips?

Sorry... ‘world k’ should be ‘work’

I'd leave it. If you do a cheap patch job and what you choose is not to buyer's taste they will rip it out anyway and I can't stand that waste.

Just go to market as seen and understand you'll get offers reflecting the work that needs doing. A cheap kitchen that won't last will not increase the price that much.

Thanks leather. I also hate the thought of waste and I struggled with the decision because of that... but the kitchen at the moment is dreadful and I can see buyers mentally knocking of a decent chunk because of it.

Houses in our area (the SE) seem to be marketed at £425-450k (rare); £400-425k (common); £375-400k (if work needs doing). I don’t want to drop into the lowest band for the sake of a £5k kitchen as the rest of the house is decent.

I’m already worried we’d be in the lower band as our kitchen and dining room our separate and most others have knocked through.

Lots to think about...

Sorry, that should be ‘are not separate’

I'd be tempted to say leave it, i took out a 3month old kitchen cos the layout was all wrong for me! I did sell it. but as yours is only small you couldn't really go that far wrong.
The quote sounds a lot though, does that include all the work? Changing electrics, tiling etc?

If you will recoup the money spent then do it - look at the sold prices of similar houses with better kitchens. If opening up the kitchen into the dining room will give you a better chance of selling at the price you want then have the wall taken out.

The alternative is that your house is marketed at slightly less and the marketing details state something along the lines of 'priced to sell - some modernisation work is required'. People will discount an asking price by more than it actually costs to do the work because of the disruption, mess and stress.

veuveo - yes, it’s for all the work, but I still think £3.5k (plus £1.5k materials) sounds a lot as it’s such a tiny space.

wowfudge - my concern is that buyers will knock £15k or more off the house as it really is in a terrible state. I’d rather take the ‘hit’ of the disruption and do the work for considerably less than that. I’m looking now at houses that are sold as ‘in need of modernisation’ and they are going for lots less than what I would want. The rest of the house would appeal to anyone who wants to move in without any work to do (fresh decor, plain carpets or wood floors, white walls, decent bathroom) but kitchen is hideous and only just functional.

If you suspect people will knock £15k off because of the terrible state the house is in; adding a £3k kitchen will really not make much difference.

Get some more quotes. That's way too much for what is essentially a spot of plasteirng and the laying down of a small amount of lino. As it just has to look OK while new buyer decides how they want to redo it, I'd get the cheapest neutral lino, plainest tiles and just scrub everything else within an inch of its life, put some good quality kitchenware in there to draw the eye and make sure it smells clean and fresh.

Iamagreyhoundhearmeroar the rest of the house is lovely. It’s just the kitchen that is shocking.

I think we’re going to do the work. We won’t lose money (just time and sanity). I’ll get some more quotes.

I’m going against the grain here and some potential buyers will see a poorly maintained kitchen and worry that there are other big problems hiding for them and will be put off.

Oh sorry. Misunderstood.

I'd look at doing the flooring, plastering and retile. That will make it look so much better and cared for.
That way the units (given a good scrub) might look like a 'choice' but one easy to remove and replace.
Oh and as stupid as it sounds, clear out all you don't use/need and the accessories the kitchen.

I once had a house that came with turquoise walls and 1 wall of HUGE limegreen and turquoise floral wallpaper behind the bath. I'd not updated it since moving in and the time had come to sell. We had stacks of viewers and it wasn't until a friend pointed out it was the one memorable feature of a very ordinary house that I realised why it wasn't selling. In that people would be comparing 'the house with the vivid bathroom' to others. Took the wallpaper off - there was a huge crack which was why that wall was papered, filled crack, re-papered.
I picked a neutral wallpaper & mushroom paint for the other walls. Paint wasn't dry and first to view offered and bought.

So yes, if that's the 'memorable feature' room then I'd spend a little on the kitchen. Would a secondhand kitchen work? Are the remaining tiles OK and can you match in or add a contrast to the missing ones?
Or can you submit plans to extend the kitchen to make a decent sized room? (Probably not enough time to do this for you) but have any similar houses nearby done this, so you can explain 'we've not done the kitchen yet because we wanted to extend like this: (pictures of neighbouring kitchen extension)' - as a buyer not afraid of DIY that'd appeal to me.

Good tips Ariela. Sadly I think our kitchen is quite memorable as in ‘what have they done in here?’. I don’t think much is salvageable. It’s basically a 1960s free standing kitchen that we tried to update with paint - it failed and looks terrible. We redid the rest of the house over the years and that looks good. A new buyer could extend but it would cost a lot as the back of the house is built on a sloping terrace!

Have you had a quote for knocking through to the dining room at the same time? Since you're already doing plastering and flooring it might not add to much to the price and, I imagine, a large kitchen diner would increase appeal.

Would a 5k kitchen in a 400k house not look cheap and need pulling out anyway? I'm north west where a 3.5k kitchen including tiling and flooring would be very very cheap quality to get that kind of price

I'd be tempted to leave if and price it as so rather then put in a cheap kitchen that's coming out anyway

Does the 1.5k include appliances? For a house in that price bracket I think buyers would expect a good hob/ oven and built in microwave and dishwasher. Flooring could be wood effect LVT or similar, tiling the bare minimum or just have upstands?

The thing is I think a kitchen really sets the standard of a house and a shabby one will pull the price down by more than the £5-10k it would cost to update it. Is it big enough for full depth units both sides?

That price bracket... whether that's expensive or not is completely dependant on the location, surely? Out of context it's meaningless.

I think it’s worth the money to invest in a basic new modern kitchen. You leave in a ‘god we have to redo this kitchen immediately’ standard of kitchen, and mentally people allocate too much in their heads to re-doing it. It also puts off people who don’t want to do any building work.

I would recommend doing it on the cheap - white DIY kitchens and Ikea do a very cheap and surprisingly good quality wooden effect laminate (sounds awful but really looks great for the price) and basic appliances etc. Then ensure agents don’t mention the kitchen is new when people are viewing (as they assume it’s bad value).

To be fair @Lilmisskittykat it depends where you are. We're in a 4 bed detached house that we paid £350k for in 2014 and the kitchen is truly horrific, it's probably worth £400k now. There's doors falling off, mosaic tiles that are impossible to clean, the worst built in oven ever, torn, rippled vinyl. We're planning on adding an extension and big kitchen, but there's some awful 4 bed houses around here for £400k with terrible kitchens x

Even if kitchen is budget, it can be clean, new, neutral and uncluttered. buyers are using their imagination to imagine living in the house. As you say, the rest of the house is good quality so don’t let one room put them off.

Ps Op. in our first house, I put in a new kitchen, new flooring, new oven and tiles for £3k including fitting. Shop around. Can you fit Ikea doors to your existing cabinets. Really hunt around for cheap tiles etc

We did our small kitchen up for under £2K. Units were the B&Q white country style, really nice all in with (fake) oak mix laminate worktops, cooker, extractor etc came to £1150. It took a local workman 4 days labour to put it in and he charged £800. £5000 is way too much imo.

I would update if it's a mess. Agree that could add a knock through to the dining room to really make it appeal.

I live in a cheap part of London (so only slightly more expensive than your area sounds) and think you can put in a budget kitchen (e.g. one of the nicer Ikea models) but make sure it's well laid out and fitted with half decent appliances, like Bosch or Samsung - I don't think you'll get those + cabinets for 1.5k, though. Putting in the cheapest white cabinets from B&Q + cheapest appliances will cost only a little less overall (due to high labour costs) but will really cheapen the house and put people off.

And think about the timescales - finding builders, getting quotes, waiting for them to be available + kitchen units delivered etc takes quite a few weeks.