How much to spend to get a house ready for sale?

[Cobblersandhogwash]

We'd like to sell our house.

The kitchen is okay. Functional. I hate it personally.

The carpets are looking pretty tatty and soiled.

The current value of the house is estimated at £950k.

What I propose is new but inexpensive carpets throughout.

Painting and plastering where necessary.

Making sure all plumbing is working well.

I'm hesitant to put in a new kitchen say from Howdens. But do you think it would be worth it? We think it would cost between £12 and £20k.

Plus we paid £2k extra for the previous owner to leave the Falcon range oven. Should we do the same for the next owners or just include it in the price?

@harajukubabe, where are you looking to buy?

It's just that our EA said we should market it for £1m but given the kitchen, we felt £950k would reflect a discount.

@Twillow yes! The floor is so weird.

They are tiles from Spain. Very thick and however much I bleach the floor, they still look grubby!! Frustrating.

Get a good agent and take their advice. Lots of things you’d think matter, they’ll advise you actually don’t because most buyers want to change things anyway.
Practical things like secure parking, decent room sizes and garden are usually what sway decisions.

Ask an estate agent how much more the house will be worth with new carpets, kitchen, bathroom. If the uplift in the value is greater than the cost, it's probably worth doing.

I would be tempted to paint those kitchen cupboards in a really nice, light Farrow & Ball shade. It will dramatically change the look of it for very little outlay.

We asked the EA about replacing the kitchen and he said not owrth it as may not be to buyers taste. EA recommended getting someone in to spray paint our cupboard doors cream. About 1K I think. Looked smart and fresh.

I'd also do the carpet replacement in the reception/entry rooms. If you think they look tatty, the buyers probably will too.

Then you can concentrate your energy on decluttering and staging.

For people that are expecting it to be perfect for 950k surely its all relative to the area? If other houses in the road that are slightly more modern are 1.1m for example maybe 950k is a bargain?
Where I live I am astounded at the price of some doer-uppers as they are priced almost the same as the ones that are ready to move in.

I wouldn't replace your kitchen but I would retile it first.
Yes to replacing the carpets too

I would have suggested just getting carpets professionally cleaned but poster upthread made a good point about new carpets saving vendors the hassle when they move in - this will increase the saleabilty of your house if not the price.
Don't spend 12 to 20 k on a new kitchen but maybe look into repspraying the existing one.

We had similar tiles in a previous kitchen and they never looked clean!

I cannot understand a house being best part of 1mil and having a kitchen like that 😮 I truly don't mean that offensively OP, but I'm wondering why you didn't replace a kitchen you've said you hate?

I actually like the kitchen cupboards - they aren't MDF but good quality and can be painted and handles changed. I'd not spend out anything as you can reduce the price if buyers say they need to update bits. Let them choose rather than replacing things twice.

@Isohungy when we moved in there were three rooms that needed completely redoing. Think ceiling falling in, walls in a really bad way, flooring missing in parts. We spent a lot of money making those rooms good.

So next up was the kitchen. We lived with it because it was functional and not in a state of dereliction like those other rooms.

Dh has now got a job offer elsewhere and we would like to go. Hence our not replacing the kitchen with one we would like as we are now not staying here as per our previous plans.

I'd be willing to bet that kitchen cost more than 20k to put in - it's proper wood. Replacing it with MDF is madness IMO. If you must spend then look at waxing the wood surfaces (or you can stain it darker) and painting the cupboards - I think duck egg would look nice with the floor but maybe not with the black oven. White is a good neutral and would look clean and also fine for a base colour if the owners wanted to change it.

If you want carpets changed, I agree with pp oatmeal/neutral colours but again I think unless they are badly stained (can you get a carpet cleaner in?) the new owners will probably want to re-do those anyway and probably with nice thick underlay that you won't want to spend out on.

I wouldn't waste money on a new kitchen that very likely won't be to someone else's taste, or cheap carpets that will very likely only be ripped out.
The price should obviously reflect work that needs doing, compared to anywhere already done up locally.

Clean everything as far as poss - maybe spend a bit on getting a cleaning team in for a really thorough go at everything?

I'd certainly touch up any paint that's obviously chipped or flaking off.

For the tiles painting and stenciling although (again only if you must spend) I'd take them off and just paint the wall as a blank canvas for the new owners.

To get the maximum out of the house I'd get it properly deep cleaned first and then reappraise things - pay for it if there's an overwhelming amount to do. Do you have a friend you would trust to tell you honestly what they think of the place?

I would replace the kitchen worktops as you can tell in the photos what poor condition they are in, especially around the sink. Get the units tidied up by a joiner/handyman and have them professionally spray painted cream. It will make the world of difference. Have that floor professionally cleaned and sealed - there are companies who specialise in that kind of work. It may not be to everyone's taste but it will look much, much better properly cleaned, sealed and polished.

Shouldn't cost the earth to do this work either. Kitchens and bathroom sell houses. That kitchen looks bad so people will be mentally knocking £30-50k off any asking price.

I like the kitchen! The floors are a bit odd but the cabinets are lovely.

I would get the carpets cleaned and paint or stain the kitchen units and get new handles to make them look mod. The floor tiles look like they need a good scrubber brush or vinegar steam wash. A deep clean would be worth considering. Pinterest will give you ideas for 'staging' (cushions, white linens and fluffy towels for viewings). Little touches go a long way.

I would sort the floor too- it looks very lived in! Are they Norfolk Pamments? Perhaps re-tile in white rustic tiles?

Sorry, not white floor tiles, white wall tiles

Posted too soon. Worktops need refinishing and sealing they will come up great.

The tiles are steam cleaned and bleached every week. I don't know why they still look grubby. It's a bizarre achievement of whoever fired them!!

Been looking at Pinterest. I think a lot could be done to really improve the kitchen significantly without massive cost.

I'd never really looked into before because we were always going to replace the whole thing before we decided to move.

Include the price of the £2k oven in the house sale or pay £12k for a new kitchen for the new owners?

I’d leave the kitchen alone as you don’t know what the new owners might like - they could rip it out and start again.

Make everywhere immaculate for the photographs - look at decluttering and purchasing a dozen bottles of wine or champagne for the wine rack

I seem to be a pretty lone voice that likes the tiles and likes the cupboards. Is it a rural property? If I bought it, from the two pictures you've showed I'd paint the cupboards/replace them with white cabinets in the same style.

£950,000 is a reasonable asking price for a family home (3/4 bed terrace with garden) in most of London. That price could well reflect a less than perfect interior.

You could do an awful lot with that kitchen. FWIW, a previous house I had in Norfolk had a wooden hand built kitchen. Not posh, but built by a carpenter. Lovely iroko worktops. It was installed by the previous owners and painted dark green & maroon, shaker style. We moved in & painted it pale blue. Then a Paint Library grey. Next owners painted it white (I saw it for sale on the Internet). Current owners? Who knows? I added a fabulous island unit with grey, cream & brown granite top to blend with iroko. Next owners took it out & put a table in - so not so fabulous to them then.
What I'm saying is it's a canvas for the next buyer. I'm guessing it's a period house? A shiny new kitchen would put me right off as unlikely to be to my exact taste. An immaculately cleaned one would be perfect as I would be able to take my time.
Have a look for strong cleaning products for that floor. It's a great floor, just needs a real scrub!!