How much to spend on fixing up a house for sale?

[Sabee]

Good morning 💐

We bought a house a few years ago. It needed work, and we’ve done a few bits (bay window roof, replacing broken tiles etc) but not most of what needed to be done.

In that time we had another baby, and amongst other reasons, we will be looking to sell in a year or so as it’s no longer suitable.

It’s not really in a condition to sell, and it definitely needs basics like redecoration.

How much should you spend on a house to resell it?

Is it enough to paint it up? Or should we think about carpets? We haven’t even had the chance to furnish it properly as we had to spend money on redoing electrics etc which we had saved for the house.

Any advice would be much appreciated, thank you 💐

Anyone buying it will want to make their own changes so whatever you do might be wasted effort

It's a 'how long is a piece of string?' situation. You bought the house as seen, knowing what you needed to do, so someone else will; it depends on how much you expect to profit by doing the work and whether you can recoup the cost of carpets etc.

Thank you, yes I agree - but I do want to do a minimum to help sell it well - not sure what that is?

Knitted fairies - thank you

Will need to look at numbers too I guess.

It’s tough really because some people might be put off by having to redecorate/install new carpets etc whereas others would prefer to just pay a bit less and choose their own carpets etc.

Are there any really bright colours/garish wallpapers? I would replace anything like that with something neutral as a start.

You need to make it look the best you can on minimal money so think about how you spend it. Definitely fresh pain throughout, including woodwork to make it look clean and fresh. Can you hire someone to clean carpets instead of replacing? You need to dress the rooms so buyers can see what they are intended for - so if you don't have enough furniture (e.g dining table in dining room or a bed in a spare room) buy some - even if you look on Gumtree...2nd hand furniture is really cheap. People do want a blank canvas but lots of people don't have vision so you still have to present the house in its best light. Even if new owners completely re-dedecorate, you will still get more for it if it's looks nice, clean and is in a reasonable condition - even spending a couple of thousand could add significantly more than this to it's value.

Paint not pain!

@simonsaysitschtistmas

Thank you, yes, the kitchen has bits which are bright green - but we haven’t painted it at all since we moved in - the whole house needs painting!

@Keepyourginup

Thank you, makes sense!

Getting the carpets cleaned would be a good idea... the thing is, they are different in different places, so not a good feel... they are all a neutral tone though..?

We have the essentials - but nothing has been dressed - we were waiting to do it up before putting up pictures etc...

Neutral is good! Maybe dot some nice rugs around for a splash of colour/ texture. Make sure sofa cushions/bedding/curtains are clean and fresh....and if any windows are bare, put up a blind/curtains....you just want it all the look clean/fresh/homely so people can imagine living there themselves. Good luck with your move

Lots of good tips, thank you! 🌷

Like you, we bought a house to do up and then had to move due to A new job.

The house was basically sound but quite dated decor. So we

painted everywhere in neutral tones ( we painted over the existing wallpaper )

replaced the dated patterned carpet in the hall / living / kitchen / dining with a light wood laminate ( this was the most expensive thing we did )

Put our Extra sofa and large living room unit into storage, along with all our boxes of book and other stuff and most of the Crap from the bedrooms. This made these rooms look twice the size.

Bought a nice rug for living room, cushions for slightly dated sofa And throw and cushions for bedrooms ( took them with us of course ).

We borrowed some more cushions and stylish lamps and pictures from an obliging family member who has more money and better taste

Got rid of all family photos , kids pictures and ornaments. Totally depersonalised the house. This part felt quite sad actually but helped us ‘ move on’ .

Bought cheap Ikea neutral coloured curtains for living room and bedrooms instead of the weird floral ones and Venetian blinds we inherited With the house

Replaced single ceiling light in living room with a new one with more bulbs. Made the room much brighter.

Changed dated taps in bathroom, Used a grout pen and painted the non tiled part of wall and ceiling. Replaced the light wth a brighter one.

We “styled” everywhere to within an inch of its life.

We were gobsmacked at how much better it all looked and Wished we had done some of it sooner , so we got the benefit ourselves. But we kept saying “ there’s no point as we will be ripping out the kitchen / bathroom next year “.

Basically all the bedrooms, living room and hall were totally transformed. Really bright and much bigger.

Even the dated kitchen and bathroom looked better with better lighting and painted and clutter removed. Of course nothing could disguise dated fittings but The rooms looked much bigger.

I think we spent about £1.5- 1.8 k, mostly on the new flooring and storage. I’m not counting cost of the accessories as we took them all with us, and we borrowed some. We did all the painting and new lighting ourselves.

We got about £20-25 k more for the house and it sold very quickly, we had lots of viewings and several Good offers.

@PAND0RA wow, thank you for the comprehensive tips! And costings - that was super helpful 💐

5% of sale price, otherwise spending too much

You’re welcome @Sabee

I'd rather pay less for one that needs work as I'd do it to suit my taste.

I would be put off by laminate flooring being laid just to sell. We looked at a house where the seller had laid cheap laminate everywhere, we were factoring in removing it and replacing with carpet or sanding floors. Dont waste money, just make sure its clean and rooms can be seen.

I would ask the advice of a local estate agent. They should be able to tell you whether it is worthwhile making any changes. Lots of buyers like a 'project'.

@Weenurse thanks - hopefully want to spend much much less than that!

@321youreback I understand...but the thing is that people never seem to make fair offers! Some want a huge chunk off just for redecoration that doesn’t reflect the value of the house.

Although the house needs work, it’s nothing like needing a new roof etc. Although the windows need work; that’s something that can be fixed long term; painted up, will look decent.

@Fern204 thank you; the less money I spend the better!

@weepingwillow22 Thank you; it’s a good idea. But I think I wanted to just be able to do the essentials after reflecting on the posts above.., We don’t have much savings; we will be saving and doing things over the coming months!

Thank you everyone for your feedback 💐

I haven’t read all of the replies.

We’ve done pretty much the same thing as you - bought a do-er upper, done a bit and decided to move

We’re pretty much finishing it off. Not to the standard we would had we been planning to stay but it’ll look 20 times better than it did when we bought it. We’d already rewired so need to replaster to cover all the channels in the walls and we’d already decided to change the horrible old council doors. The carpets are totally wrecked just from being old, my kids being animals and the work that’s been done so we will replace those too. My partner is also just doing the garden as well but luckily that’s just a materials cost situation as he can do most of it himself.

For the past year at least we’ve swithered over staying or selling up and we’re still not 100% but we’re doing the house so it’s nice enough to still live in but will be nice for selling too.

I had a thread here the other day asking about bathrooms and kitchens when it comes to selling/value because it’s those two rooms that will let our house down hugely. I’m still not certain what to do about them but everywhere else will be brand spanking new when we sell so hopefully that will at least help to sell it even though the value will be affected.

I’m trying not to look at it as wasted time or money. People literally do buy houses to do exactly what we’ve done although I’m sure those people do lots of the work themselves whereas we haven’t. As long as we make back the money we’ve spent I’ll be happy and it gives us a nicer house in the meantime

Good luck, whatever you choose to do. It’s so hard!

People kept telling me ‘just paint it’ etc but our house was way too far gone for that.

I guess it depends on if your buyer wants to put their own spin on the property or not as to how much to spend doing it up.

I bought two years ago - the first house we looked at was amazing, huge, rooms for days (you'd have to let your partner know you'd made it to the kitchen safely and you wouldn't see the kids for a week) - however it was also rotten. So damp whole walls of wallpaper had slid off the wall and were lying in slushy mouldy heaps on a squidgy carpet. Single pane cracked windows all around.

It was well within our budget, and we just had the budget to do it up as well... but it was just too much work with our busy lives. It was snapped up by someone quickly though who wanted a project.

To me the biggest downfall was it had no parking. Interiors can be changed, things like parking and gardens can't.

The house we ended up buying was an identikit new build which was perfectly "done" inside. I'm still pining for my mouldy (not quite) mansion however!

Painting can make a big difference imo and is relatively cheap to do. I read somewhere that people tend to look more closely at the walls rather than floors when viewing houses.

We're doing our's up to sell at the moment and most of the sunk costs are going into bits that need doing in the garden, which we would be doing if we were staying put. Tearing down an old shed and putting a fence up in it's place and laying turf, so about £250 spent there. I've also bought some contact paper (£70) to redo the kitchen worktops as they're a bit marked and currently a dark colour so make the room look a bit dingy. Other than that, I'll probably buy a few 'neutral' rugs, towels, bits of artwork, but obviously we can take these with us.

We've spent money on a new roof, boiler, installing a driveway and bathroom in the 5 years we've been there, so hoping someone will see past the decor which may not be their taste and make us a reasonable offer.

I'd be tempted to do little. It's a lived in house and a buyer will often want to do things their way.

Do a tidy up and ponder whether a room or two needs a lick of paint?

I had my 2 bed flat repainted the year before selling because I needed to get new tenants and it was a bit tatty looking. It was expensive - around £5000 to paint in off white throughout. However I sold it quickly and at asking price. The EA told me the buyers want to completely repaint and renovate which led me to wonder if it had been worth it. But - it may have made the property look more attractive to them. Personally I would declutter and make as minimalist as possible, and would do any repairs needed, but would not spend on renovating an outdated kitchen, bathroom etc. Just be prepared to price realistically.