What things sell a house/increase value of a house

[penberrh]

Just that really.

Both of my parents passed away recently. :(

At some point I will need to put their house on the market. It is in need of renovation (kitchen, bathroom both 20-30 years old. needs decorating; carpets need replacing) and various circumstances mean I need to maximise the selling value.

What enhances the selling value, and what isn't worth bothering with? I know nothing about this sort of stuff.

Just do the maths carefully. As it may be worth selling it as is. It's amazing how much a renovation costs and you don't want to end up worse off or with only a little more money for heaps of effort and time. Remember to factor in costs of keeping the house while you do the work. For me ( just bought a house that needs work) I wanted to see the potential. So maybe clear out personal stuff make surfaces clean. Maybe a coat of neutral paint if needed? First impressions make a huge difference so neat and tidy frontage. And air it well between viewings if it gets shut up and left. Good luck

I’m sorry about your parents.

As above, it depends. Mainly on how expensive the area is - how much value you’re add vs how much you’re going to spend.

What will add value depends on whether it’s, say, a bungalow or a family home. If it’s likely to be bought by a family, then things such as big kitchen-family room, master with ensuite, utility etc. Undertake the work only if you’ve got the money to do it properly. Don’t bother if, for example, the house is in London and you can only afford the most basic/cheapest kitchen and bathroom.

Agree it’s relative to where the house is and what sort of buyer it will appeal to.

On my road (suburban, family homes, London) it’s not worth doing anything decorative. Literally, nothing. As any family moving in will want to do it up themselves IF it’s priced accordingly.

Ask a couple of local estate agents to do 2 valuations, one as it is, and also one for if you put in new basic kitchen, bathroom and flooring.

Agreed, if it's a large/ desirable family home then don't bother. You would need a high spec £££ kitchen / bathroom to match the house which probably won't be worth the time / money / effort. A smaller property 1-2 bed for example may be ok with a cheap kitchen/ bathroom revamp which may help it sell (still might not get your money back)

I would ask a few local agents and vague opinions.

Sorry for your loss x

TBH, I'd give it a really good clean, have the carpets cleaned professionally, and if any of the rooms are really lurid then apply magnolia/white paint.
Anymore, and you are opening up a can of worms, and the cost of doing a decent renovation is unlikely to be recouped unless you can do the work yourself. Better to get it on the market asap, and ask your local estate agents what is likely to work in your local area

If it's clean and iveable as it is, I honestly wouldn't bother updating. The cost of doing it up to a good standard may well cost more than the price differential. And whatever updated items you choose, they are hardly ever going to be exactly to someone else's taste.

Some people really do prefer a doer-upper. Both my dds have bought them. One was fairly dated, the other was a probate sale and incredibly dated - but clean and liveable.

In this family we have sold two deceased relatives' houses. In both cases the cost of doing them up to a good standard would not have been worth it for the difference in price. Both sold quite easily.

And please don't underestimate the time/faff/hassle aspect of a renovation. I have done 2, and even if you do none or very little of the actual work yourself, the time and hassle factor of organising tradesmen, designing/choosing all the fittings, colours,, flooring, etc. could well be way more than you had bargained for.

I am sorry about your parents.

I’d advise getting valuations done based on how it is and what the maximum is for it if you do all the work.

In some areas, getting the work done could make you £££ if you do it well.

I’m sorry to hear of your parents

I wouldn’t bother. House we recently went to look at had a lovely “new” kitchen but it wasn’t to our taste AT ALL and put us off as we’d want to change it soon

Reading this thread because our house is going on the market soon.

We're spending about 800 pounds having the bedroom and hallway redecorated and I really hope it's the right decision. Must add they are currently in awful condition.

we skipped over a lot of houses that had been renovated for us until we found the splendid dump i currently sit in. many people don't want to pay for other people's taste.. i would sell it as it is, avoid the hassle and let the buyer be someone lunatic who wants a project.

I sold my childhood home a few years ago due to the loss of my last parent.
It had been in the family since 1962 , over the years it has been renovated, but once my parents aged, not much has been done. It still had a coloured bathroom suite.
It did have a modern , yearly serviced boiler and new double glazing but it was in need of a new kitchen and general upgrading and decorating.
It went on the market as is and sold quite quickly to someone who was looking for a project.
As long as it's clean and tidy , not damp , and people can see the potential - I'd sell it as it is now .

You don't sound like a big DIYer or person who has a strong sense of the 'right' value kitchen/bathroom to install which will add more value and also cover all your time and effort (which are considerable,mespeciallybwhen you don't usually do this stuff).

Given all this, accept you won't get the price of a fully modernised and 'done' house, but you also won't incur the expense and considerable aggravation which it's easy to underestimate.

I'd say it's probably best to get it on the market. Yes, clear it out and if you can emphasis it is structurally sound and it's really just updating which is needed, lotsbkf people who can't afford the fully done version might be keen, as it doesn't sound like a massive project.

If you do get 2 quotes of the value done up and not done up, remember to factor in the fact you might not achieve the full asking price,malus vitally the expense of your time and stress sorting it all out.

What enhances the selling value
The time of year! You will get more interest in Spring / leading up to Easter. The market will be quiet immediately after Xmas so you probably won't get much interest but, come Easter, you will get people saying "it's been on the market for three months, I wonder why it hasn't sold. What's wrong with it?"
Use the time to declutter, clean and get servicing & warranties sorted so you can hit the ground running.

I know it’s hard to decide what to do in these circumstances.

My DH has inherited 3 houses. All needed work! We didn’t have the time and only one was local. It needed a much bigger kitchen and that would have cost us a lot. It’s new owners have done all the work to their taste and to meet their needs. That’s best for everyone.

Around me, detached homes that are dated are pulled down. Especially bungalows in decent plots. They are often sold with pp. So get pp if you are in this position but don’t want to develop yourself.

If it’s a family home people like spacious kitchens, decent gardens and more than one bathroom. A laundry room and a garage are great too. If your house has some of this, you could get an agent to say how an extension would enhance the property subject to pp. Definitely spruce up the garden.

I would make sure obvious defects are sorted out though. So no damp, subsidence, cracks, missing roof tiles, useless guttering, heating not working or other expensive work such as reroofing and rewiring because it’s not safe. Make sure fences are secure and any buyers won’t get a nasty surveyors report. Make it cared for. Then it will sell at the right price!

As a kitchen designer, I occasionally get customers looking to "put a nice kitchen in a house to sell it" and my advise is always the same.

Don't.

By all means put in a cheap, serviceable kitchen if the property is in an unlivable state, but don't spend money that you don't have to because the person/persons buying your house will either:

a. Want to change the kitchen to suit their needs/tastes.
b. Not care about the kitchen as long as it's functional.

If you absolutely have to replace the kitchen, don't waste 10k putting in a kitchen that you'd be happy to have in your home; spend 3k for a kitchen that ticks the boxes.

Thanks for all your replies - lots of things to consider.

I think it depends on how bad the property is. We were left a dreadful property (damp, rotting windows, completely overgrown, no running water) in a not great area, but in a sought after city, and in the catchment area for an outstanding school.

It was valued as it was at £180k, but be prepared to take offers around 160k We spent about £70k, this included turning the downstairs bathroom into a utility room, dividing a huge bedroom to make an upstairs bathroom, rewire, new windows and doors, install GCH, put in ORP, new carpets total redec. When we finished it was valued at £350k.

Clearly this was fantastic for us, but I had to work hard to keep the costs that low. The bathroom is incredible, and I got everything in sales and spent less than £500 in total, including tiles, flooring, all fixtures, shower and screen, feature basin and tap. We went to a small local window company who were ridiculously cheap and offered a fantastic product.

I think we only achieved this because it was almost uninhabitable to start with, also the roof didn’t need any work, which would have been very expensive, and we kept the structural work to a minimum.

My sister and her partner just cleaned and gave his rented out house, a cost of magnolia. They did argue about having the carpets professionally cleaned. As they needed replacing anyway. They had 13 viewings and three offers within a week and sold for well over the asking price.

Make sure it is clean and do the carpets if required to make sure it smells ok. Don't do anything else as you will probably be throwing your time and money away.

Dealing with estates is stressful enough so don't put yourself through it

we will be downsizing soon and I really hope to find a property that needs new kitchen, bathroom and maybe layout changing. we have viewed a few houses that have had work done recently and usually I din't like the kitchens and bathrooms that have been put in. Acres of magnolia and cheap grey carpets also put me off. I'm sure that there are loads of picky people like me who want this sort of work done exactly how they want it. Much easier for you to sell as it is. It would be an attraction to me if the garden and frontage were tidy, but really I don't mind that much.

We took advice of the estate agent and did the following:

• major declutter. Put everything possible into storage

-a lick of paint on all interior walls -carpets professionally cleaned -during viewings, hide washing baskets, shoes, toothbrushes, jackets etc. No personal effects if possible.

Our house sold in 4 days just over asking price- others in the same street are left up for sale.

Also strongly agree with the time of year. Wait until spring if possible. Good luck.

I was recently in a similar sad boat.

All estate agents said the same-sell it completely unrenovated but empty so all buyers could see what did and didn’t need doing.

I'm so sorry about your parents. This must be hard when it's all their things.

In a good area with good schools, often doing nothing is your best option. Estate agents know they can sell fixer-uppers. The ones that are harder to shift are where someone's come in, fitted a B&Q value bathroom suite and value tiles, or a kitchen with no drawers, and wants to charge a premium.

Mending anything that really needs it and looks scary might be worth it, Eg replacing a failing boiler or a rotten floor. Double glazing might well turn you a profit if you can get it fitted Jan/Feb when glazers are short of work, and if it's currently single glazed. That's something that's cheaper and less of a big deal than it seems. It might be worth removing some of the carpets if the floors underneath are sound. Even if you leave the grippers down. Present it minimally furnished and scrubbed clean, to persuade people that you will empty the property fully.