How much do you think kitchen and bathroom can devalue house?

[Nervousvendor]

We’re hoping to put our house on the market this year.

Having had a recce on Rightmove I’ve worked out the average selling price for a house of the same size in our street.

Our house has a couple of advantages over 4 of these houses - it’s end terraced, huge corner plot so big garden and proper drive way. The most expensive of the 5 sold was an end terrace. However! The bathroom and kitchen are diabolical. Not in a ‘change/paint the cabinet doors’ type of way either. There’s no getting away from the fact that both need to be replaced - they’re perfectly functional, just ugly, old and past their time. Every other room will be freshly plastered, painted etc. I really, really don’t want to replace them to just move.

All the other houses that have sold in the last two or so years have had decent enough and modern bathrooms and kitchens.

I know it’s so hard to say but is ours likely to just be worth a kitchen and bathroom replacement cost less than the others? Or will it really detract from the value?

I’m hoping we can get away without picturing them on the listing

Anyone sold a house with similar issues?

I would do a deep clean and declutter and potentially some small cheap changes - could you paint the kitchen unit doors a neutral colour for example, or lay some new vinyl flooring in the bathroom? It may be worth spending a small amount of time and money making the current kitchen and bathroom look as good as they can so that buyers don’t feel they will have to change either immediately.

I think you’re right and that some new cheap flooring would make a big difference especially with this leak we’ve had now!

I’ll attach a pic of the style of the main units. I’m not sure how well they’d paint as they’re completely smooth so I can picture the paint just moving around rather than adhering. There’s only really one double wall unit and one double base unit in this style then there’s one single wall cupboard which is similar but with a metal handle then this built in wooden number that houses the sink so it’s all a bit of a mismatch as well. Not really a fitted kitchen as we known them. Certainly nothing like as nice as the picture I’ve posted.

I’m decluttering like a crazy lady right now. We actually have great storage in this house but we don’t use it properly so I’m sorting that out.

Also definitely need to replace the bath panel as it’s broken.

Funnily enough that is almost identical to the kitchen we have just taken out we found some newspaper behind a cupboard from 1985, and we have managed to live with it since last July so I would just get it very clean and let someone else have the mess, expense and chaos of putting a new one in vinyl flooring would probably cost around £200 - £300 and would definitely freshen up the look of it

So stylish isn’t it and the mismatch adds to the effect

Sitting writing my list of things to do before we sell the house - odd jobs rather than cleaning because that’s a given! It might take me a year to get it all done

not finished yet but mine has gone from first pics to second pics

I'd definitely paint the units, tiles and floor, and use DC Fix on the worktops if they look worn. Then it will look smart and modern for photos and viewings - doesn't need to look expensive, as everyone has said they will just be replaced anyway.

Oh what a difference Issey, I love your worktop!

You can definitely paint the units. Frenchic al fresco supposed to be good , I haven’t ever used it. But clean thoroughly, light sand, 2 coats of Zinsser Bin 123 and then a couple of coats of your choice. Wooster Pelikan paint caddy with liners, mini roller and decent brush make it all much easier,

I’ve used. Johnstone’s colour matched to Farrow and Ball before with success and am doing some in Betolux Akva in a minute which is a floor paint and supposed to be hard wearing . Like you we’re getting ready to go on the market. Trying to delay doing it at the moment but will crack on in a minute.

I'm normally all for leaving it - people with plenty of budget might rip it all out anyway. In fact in posh areas the houses that sell quickest are often those that need the most work. However with an ex-council house in a cheaper area a refit might be worth it, almost counter-intuitively. Basic units are fine, laminate work surface is fine, but keep tiling pale and minimal if possible and don't get the cheapest of cheap square tiles.

It comes down to potential market. I think there might be plenty of people in yours (ex council house tenants, BTL landlords) who might see a refitted kitchen and bathroom as a real asset. It'll make the house easy to move into or rent out, suit those with less cash flow, and they are less likely than buyers in more affluent markets to want to change it anyway because it's "not to their taste". But you do have to watch you don't overspend.

I'd want it left as is, and priced accordingly. Then I'd still offer a little lower. I'm trying to buy at the moment and I really want a house where I can rip out the kitchen and bathroom guilt free. Too often you see ones that are made to just scrape past acceptable and I can bring myself to rip out anything that is new even if I hate it.

I might try and find a wee hidden corner I could sand to see how that would go.

Murmurur you make really good points actually. I was saying to my partner last night that I think we should finish off what we already have planned to do then get the estate agents round to get it valued and we could even ask them when they’re here if they think it would be worth doing and how much a basic kitchen and bathroom would add. If we did go ahead with something like that I wouldn’t necessarily be looking to make a profit from it - as long as we recouped our costs and if it made the house more appealing it could be worth thinking about!

The house is only two bedrooms too so it’s definitely a first time buy (like us) or for a single person or whatever.

@Dugup I know what you mean. The house I’m looking at to maybe buy if we get this sold is a 15 year old (ish) house and still has the original builders kitchen and bathrooms in it so it would be a MASSIVE improvement on what we live with now and they’re completely inoffensive but you could 100% go in and rip it out and not feel bad about it.

Dont change them, just declutter, clean and paint the walls white.

I sort of agree with Murmurer. Your house will sell much more quickly if it's ready to move into. Look at some cheap new builds (these are "starter homes" near me) for how they make the most of basic builders-merchant kitchens and bathrooms. You could get it all done with change from £10k if it's just replacing units and a bit of paint/plaster/tiling. As long as you don't think you will uncover structural issues or anything.

@NotMeNoNo I’ve just seen a kitchen nearly identical to that but in cream for sale on Gumtree for £300. Wish I knew how much it would cost to get something like that fitted.

www.facebook.com/groups/TheFrenchicFanForum Join this group, loads of painted kitchens to look at, as its only a small kitchen, might be worth having a bash? (Paint the inside of one door, see how it looks with 2 or 3 coats X)

Alternatively, just replace the kitchen doors?

A house on my street sold recently for c 40k less than you'd expect that needed everything replacing including windows a d doors, that's probably less than itd cost to do all that stuff yourself to a good standard, but I think lots of people want to renovate themselves (definitely rather than cheap replacements?). This is probably 1/6 of the value of the house.

I feel that people buying a home under £100k won't rip a new kitchen and bathroom out that's not to their taste, you can't be so fussy at that end of the market. If they are good at DIY they'll buy a doer upper instead.

You could get a quote for fitting a kitchen but it should be in the £500-1000 range for a small and simple job.

I'm not sure there's any point painting units if there aren't enough of them, they don't match and they are that dated style with a wood strip handle (probably with brown insides and falling out shelves). You can do it to a good kitchen that's the wrong colour but hard to save a wreck of one.

I’ve scrolled through a couple of hash tags on Insta and can’t see any upcycles of the type of kitchen we have. Lots of beige wood effect shakers being painted and flat units being spruced up but nothing like our beauty

I have had a bit of a brain wave though - I don’t know if IF the painting worked we could somehow glue on a strip of wood round the outside of the doors to create a shaker look? This would then streamline all of the units but there’s still the dated tiles, the WOODCHIP WALLPAPER etc.

Some upcycles look so good but they definitely have a better starting point than I do.

Would no more nails type stuff be strong enough to hold wood onto cabinet doors do you think? With people obviously using the handles?

Hi, if you do want to replace doors only you can buy individual ones in standard sizes at B&Q, might be worth a check. typical prices £15-£20 per door.

www.diy.com/departments/kitchen/kitchen-cabinets/cabinet-doors/balsamita/_/N-rnhZ1z0lr6q sorry link here

I reckon they'd expect £10k as that is how much it would cost thereabouts.
I'd just buy a cheap white plastic one and put that in tbh.
Kitchen, well you can paint the walls, brighten it up, maybe then all the doors would just need replacing on the carcusses?
Go over any sealant to freshen that up, go over the grout on tiles etc.
It's amazing what a difference you can make doing this.
Have been in the same position and doing that nobody mentioned new kitchen or bathroom, thought they could be thinking it.