Shall I get a free standing kitchen?

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We're hoping to sell next year but don't have a lot of money to do up the house.

The kitchen is awful, whoever moves in will definitely have to tear it out but I can't afford to by a new fitted kitchen and have it installed. Plus it'd be a gamble, the new people might want to rip it out anyway.

WIBU to just rip it all out, paint it a nice colour and put a freestanding kitchen in? I was thinking this could be a good solution as I think I could afford it, it'd look much nicer than what we have there s o hopefully increase saleability and if they're just going to rip it out anyway then we could sell it on - or leave it there if they want it.

The current kitchen is a tatty, falling apart 80s number! I always meant to replace it but it's (just about) functional so it never reached the top of the priority list.

A free-standing seems like a straightforward solution that I think I can afford. What am I missing?! Will it put buyers off?

It's a galley kitchen which already has a freestanding range oven. (Which is probably overkill for the size of kitchen by we love it!)

FWIW my house will likely either be bought by a property developer or a young family who want to be near the good schools and can live with this house's off putting quirks to get more space for their money. (That's why we bought it, anyway. Most people moving round here are young families)

We once did an absolutely amazing job on an 80s kitchen just with cheap B&Q doors and handles and then laid a laminate floor. The cost was

I actually really like the 80's kitchen If it is tatty then give it a lick of paint, frenchic seems to be all the rage now. I'm on the fb page and it is amazing what a coat of paint can do.

The problem is, you'd be spending money on a kitchen that most buyers would still negotiate a price decrease for. They'll still view it as a kitchen they need to replace. Freestanding kitchens can look amazing in the right property, but from your description of your house, I'm not sure it will work.

Your politics is getting in the way of clear sight about your sale of this house in my view. Are people who improve properties and let them out the devil? I suggest you take their money if they offer it and move on. They are just running a business. If you didn’t want this possibility and wanted a nice little family to have your house it might have bern better to maintain it. So now you are not in the position to choose buyers or look at buyers through rose tinted glasses. Just try and sell it.

Wow, a lot of assumptions in this post! Are you quite sure your politics aren't getting in the way of clear sight?

It's got nothing to do with wanting to sell to a "nice little family", I'd be delighted to sell to whomever wants to buy it, I've got nothing against property developers.

It's more about widening the appeal. When we bought, there was only one property developer interested and they pulled out. Far from worrying that I will sell to a developer, I'm more worried that I won't and that if the house isn't attractive to people with young families then we could be waiting for a buyer for a long time or have to discount so much that I can't afford to move to the place I want to.

I expect to sell to a young family as those are the people who are buying round here. Nothing to do with sentimentality and everything to do with knowing the local market.

@PresentingPercy

I don’t consider what thecatsmother is describing to be a proper kitchen. Kitchens are cooked, hobs, work surfaces, sinks etc. A loose collection of furniture with little work surface isn’t what most people think of as a kitchen. The cost for a new owner is still there. There is, essentially, no kitchen!

Both these are freestanding kitchens. One is budget (Ikea) and one's bespoke.

Both look like "proper" kitchens to me - wouldn't you agree?

[quote Flamingolingo]We once did an absolutely amazing job on an 80s kitchen just with cheap B&Q doors and handles and then laid a laminate floor. The cost was

If your house is worth £200k then you simply have to price it to take a new kitchen into account

This is exactly it, though. I think I can put a new kitchen in for less than people will want off for a new kitchen.

How much would you ask for off an asking price for a new kitchen? I bet I can make a functional kitchen for a fraction of the price.

I did a kitchen in my old flat for about £2.5k (again, to move).

I’d leave it. When we’ve been house hunting my heart sinks when I see a new kitchen and soars when I see one that is crying out to be ripped out. Anything you do is going to cost money. Just save it and use it to give you more latitude on price.

@VinylDetective

I’d leave it. When we’ve been house hunting my heart sinks when I see a new kitchen and soars when I see one that is crying out to be ripped out. Anything you do is going to cost money. Just save it and use it to give you more latitude on price.

But are you a first time buyer who's buying a house at the absolute bottom of the price range for houses with the same number of bedrooms?

Are you a buyer who's prioritising space over aesthetics because you can't afford the pretty houses?

Wow so much hate for free standing kitchens! Just shows how tastes change. We have had a free standing kitchen in the past and personally I think they can look pretty good - but you need uniformity of style /colour across units to make it look like a "proper" kitchen. I think IKEA also do free-standing units for small /galley kitchens, so you may not need that much space. They do need as much design /thinking about the space as fitted kitchens though. I actually think it's quite a clever idea, as the OP is right it will take less effort for a buyer to replace, but will hopefully look better than a rubbish fitted kitchen, which I think a lot of buyers just won't be able to see past.
And the statement above that you can't get a mortgage on a house with a free standing kitchen is wrong by the way. A house needs a working kitchen (connected to gas /electricity /water) to be mortgagable, but the style of the kitchen is irrelevant.

For my own lights, I would prefer a freestanding kitchen. I'm not keen on the majority of fitted kitchens in real, ordinary houses.

In fact I am tearing out a quite new fitted kitchen in my new place and just fitting one small set of cupboards/sink/dishwasher/hob along one wall - 3 units wide max. I've got a fantastic 9 foot table already and am having a freestanding larder/pantry cupboard made by a local chippie. Going to spend my wall o' doors money on some beautiful reclaimed flagstones.

That's this specific house. I'm confident I can add value doing this on this house, but I've done up a lot of houses. It might not always be true. Some houses would clearly not be improved by the sort of changes I am making here (removing beech laminate kitchen from a Georgian character cottage).

Well it wasn’t me who didn’t want to have a developer buy it. I have no politics. I would just want the best money and not talk down potential buyers because of some anti landlord beliefs. I don’t care either way and I would worry about what else you hadn’t maintained. A developer wouldn’t.

You don’t have a great property by your own admission. It’s had leaks, you have warped a unit, bits are hanging off it and a cupboard door is missing (Why not put it back?) plus it’s obviously as old as the hills if it’s 500mm. I guess you don’t have the money to do anything about making it look like the kitchens above. But it’s not me with the problem and no money.

All the posters saying they would spend money - this house is worth £200k and the op doesn’t have much money. Perhaps no cupboards but shelves and curtains would work? New work surface over.

Selling a house is about making it look like the best possible version of itself. So if it's got an old kitchen, it should at least look useable in the interim, clean and maintained. Can it be repaired using some basic carpentry skills, bits of wood, hinge repair plates etc. Did you lose the missing door, can you replace with a matching plain one or swipe one from a wall unit?

The least wasteful thing to do is some small repairs and let the buyer decide what to do next. Or just leave it and take the hit on your asking price of a "tatty looking" house.

I’d just tidy it up - replace broken hinges, see if you can shuffle units around to allow you to get rid of the one with the broken door (or replace door with a curtain), etc etc.
Make it look like it’s been reasonably well maintained even if it’s very old and dated. Buyers are unlikely to add much on for a newer kitchen, esp if cheap.

I think the trouble with free standing for this situation is that the walls would need to be in top notch condition, so if you pull out the existing kitchen the walls behind are in a state you are going to have a big expense / work to make the walls nice enough to have units stood against them. Fitted can hide a horrid wall.
The last house I sold was an ex-council, first time buyers type place. We had just put a brand new kitchen in (low-end, B&Q) as we didn't foresee ourselves moving for a long time so we put it in for us. Then we unexpectedly made a decision to move (opportunity popped up) only 3 months later. The nice new kitchen paid for itself (and some more) by bumping up the price we got for the house.
But if I had known I was going to move out I probably would not have decided to put a kitchen in. All was well that ended well.

Fitted can hide a horrid wall

Excellent point. When our old kitchen was removed all the plaster behind it was blown.

If you can do it cheap enough and not personal I think it will help. In one of our houses the kitchen was cheap but new and lasted us 10 years.

Lots of perfectly good kitchens come up for sale on eBay and marketplace. Keep an eye for a set of units that would fit and find a handyman to fit for you.

Or fit a basic run of IKEA units then supplement with extra freestanding storage you can take when you move.

Ask an estate agent what they think. We were going to do our kitchen up to sell - estate agent advised against it. We sold in 2 days, having not dropped the price at all.

Ours is really awful by the way - so small, so tatty!

Without a kitchen the house won't be mortgagable. Just leave the kitchen in situ, you've muddled through with it, the next owners may need to do the same u til money allows.
I'd never buy a house with a freestanding kitchen as it means you'd have to run 2 properties whilst fitting a kitchen.

@Darkestseasonofall

Without a kitchen the house won't be mortgagable. Just leave the kitchen in situ, you've muddled through with it, the next owners may need to do the same u til money allows. I'd never buy a house with a freestanding kitchen as it means you'd have to run 2 properties whilst fitting a kitchen.

And if the freestanding kitchen was one if these, would you feel the same?

(One is an IKEA kitchen, one bespoke, both freestanding).

That thing about the mortgage isn't true btw. Quoting a poster above:

the statement above that you can't get a mortgage on a house with a free standing kitchen is wrong by the way. A house needs a working kitchen (connected to gas /electricity /water) to be mortgagable, but the style of the kitchen is irrelevant

Hmm, can't see my pics. Will try to post pics again but I wonder if MM is saying silly burgers with me and both will appear now!

*should be MN and silly buggers!

Ooh, that's something I hadn't considered. Hmmm.... will think about this...