I want to sell my house but can’t face doing all the odd jobs

[Crumpetloverrr]

I have been thinking of selling up for a couple of years but the thought of getting the house ready for sale is putting me off.

I am a single parent and I am rubbish at diy with no interest although I can do the basics if I have to. I used to have a great handyman to call on but he has moved.

I live in a tiny house so it should be easy to maintain but everything seems to have gone wrong or broken all of a sudden.

There are so many jobs to do I don’t know where to start eg take loads of stuff to the tip, get council to take away old furniture (heavy to move out the front on my own,) replace the oven hob, repair the shower screen, fill holes in walls, fix door handles, fix loo seat, clean carpets etc etc as well as cleaning and scrubbing everything eg blinds, skirting boards and decluttering and keeping on top of it for viewings.

Does everyone have so much to do when they sell up? I have moved a lot over the years but had a partner who could fix anything and it all seems overwhelming doing it on my own.

Any tips on what to do, how to do it all and where to start?

I would get all the rubbish gone to start with. Our tip is taking appointments. Maybe a friend can help you move the big stuff to the yard? Then ask for recommendations on facebook or similar for a handyman to do the bits that really need doing. Then clean until it is sparkling.

If you cannot find a handyman or do not want to do the bits then you could just adjust the price accordingly.

I made a room by room list, and gave myself a year to do it in, though in reality it ended up being 7 months, as I didn't start tackling anything for ages (due to procrastination!).

Doing it that way meant it didn't seem too overwhelming, and I was able to do a task and tick off jobs every few days, so got a good sense of satisfaction and kept me motivated.

We'll be putting our house on the market in a couple of weeks, and hopefully sorting everything out beforehand will have paid off!

Start with the smallest, easiest thing. Anything to just get that motivation going. Don't even think about the rest. Something you like doing or want to do. You could even choose to clear out one drawer. Or fill one hole or paint one tiny wall in the bathroom. Something nice and easy. Don't worry about the rest. One thing at a time. Then decide next. Motivation always follows action, not vice versa. Do not wait for the motivation, as it will never arive until you actually start.

here's an article, there are loads of others on it.
www.deanbokhari.com/acton-leads-motivation/

P.S. I have a DH who is monumentally lazy when it comes to DIY, and had been saying he'd sort jobs for the past 3 years.

Having realised DH would keep putting it off forever, and risk us never moving, I bought myself a tool kit, drill and bit set, brushes and paint kit and searched YouTube, whenever I needed to do any job e.g. "how to paint a wall evenly".

PS once you actually get going it will be much easier!

It's the old saying 'how do you eat an elephant - in small chunks' :) Get a notebook, go into each room, and make a list of what needs doing. You can then choose each day from the list if you want to, and give yourself 'days off'. When my husband died I was left with a five bed house beeding full renovation and had to do some horrible jobs before selling, I recognise your sinking feeling, but once I'd started I felt a lot better. I managed to sell at auction in the end - I wonder if the mould has come through on the wall yet!

I would start with the furniture. Can it be broken down? We usually break heavy things up with an axe or saw before we take to the tip so that might be an option. Alternatively pay a removals company to take it to the tip for you.

Then list all the jobs you can see. Next call an estate agent to value the property based on the work outstanding. If that figure works for you then market it at that and you focus on cleaning.

Good tips thanks. I will go round the house and make a list tomorrow and I will try to do one thing a day and if I do more that’s a bonus. Only thing is it will take a long time at that rate.

I think once you get going OP you will find your pace picks up considerably. However to start with, make the smallest dents in the pile. Then watch the pace get more and more :)

I wrote a list for each room on a post it and stuck the post it up on the door of each room.. every time I did something I crossed it out. Being able to see the list was finite and seeing that I was making progress really helped.

Is the furniture good enough to put on free cycle or gumtree- then you'll get it taken away for you.

I’ve found it very useful to break my lists down into short - medium and takes time.
Short is anything under 5 minutes. Medium might require a trip out to get supplies. Takes time is anything longer.

It helps to break the inertia to just focus on a 5 minute task. Even once a day (they often end up taking longer than 5 minutes) gets a sense of accomplishment.

And then I start to see the 5 minute jobs embedded in other tasks (like ordering picture hangers or paint or sand paper) or cleaning down a wall at the end of the washing up when I have hot soapy water anyway.

For me, it’s as much about breaking through the paralysis as anything else.

Another option is to have the estate agent round and get a valuation without the odd jobs. New cooker/small holes in wall, you might be able to escape with only a small price drop as a bit of a fixer upper. Get a few agents in and they will tell you exactly what jobs to do to sell.

I’ve just bought a house where half the door handles don’t work properly... never noticed :)

We had loads to do and did it in this order:

Declutter and throw out rubbish, we got Clearabee round to speed things up but more expensive than take to tip. Check skips in your area - ours are once a week only pre book so pre book now if you want that.

Furniture - Put on ebay or freecycle with starting price of £1 on ebay / free on freecycle with photos, say will need help to take downstairs. We also did council for some but I had DH to move it. Freecycle you do get people who say will come and don't so ebay can be more reliable but still takes a while.

Odd jobs maybe worth seeing if you can buy in parts needed try youself and if can't do it see if can get handyman. If you ask on local facebook for recommendations may well get some.

Cleaning would do last and maybe worth if have money hiring a cleaner though can also do bit by bit.

Or could just sell as is / do part of above and take a hit on price.

I think everyone here has suggested great tips.

We get rid of so much just by sticking it for free on market place - ensure you state the collector needs to get it out the house/dismantle etc themselves if you can't. For the big bits that are left I would just accept that you may have to pay someone to do it.

Some of the odd jobs you can do yourself. YouTube will be your best friend. I am useless at DIY and had no experience, but changing a loo seat is so easy, and filling in holes in walls is too. Shower screen may be easier to take down and replace?

Then clean one room or target at a time. As PPs have said, since you get going it gets much easier. Good luck!

I have got rid of stuff quickly on gumtree in the past but wasn’t sure if people were using it at the moment with the Covid restrictions. Some of the stuff is only fit for the tip eg old washing machine which has died a death.

I can do small jobs like fill walls or painting or changing spotlights. Not sure about the loo seat but I can try! It’s the heavy jobs that I find hard eg replacing a cupboard door that needs to be held up high to screw back on.

The other thing is cost eg the oven hob is cracked and it will cost about £150 for a new one and then say £80 to have it fitted by an electrician.

I think it’s worth doing the jobs. It’s just the thought of it.

Could you afford to have a handyman come and do the things you can't handle? If you batch up those things, it might be half a day to re-attach the cupboard door, sort the door handle, replace the toilet seat, and shift heavy broken stuff outside. Could you ask friends / neighbours for recommendations, since your previous person has moved? Or even text the previous person and ask who they passed clients onto after they left?

If your council does a bulky waste collection they would come and remove the washing machine etc if it was on the kerb (costs about £10 per item here).

I've recently gone through the house painting unfinished skirting, grouting kitchen tiles, touching up paintwork and decluttering. That was with the intention of selling, but since decided to stay Now re-arranging all furniture and doing re-decorating, because getting the small jobs done made me want to carry on.

Am also a lone parent like you - good idea to split the jobs into things you can manage (with YouTube guides and the reader's digest big book of DIY here) and things that need another person. I can build most flatpack, for example, but have drawn the line at wardrobes because the main frame pieces are too heavy for me to hold safely while joining them.

Take before and after photos of each tiny job and demand admiration for them - kept me going!

Local scrap man will take washing machine, check local fb page to find one.

Gumtree/ freecycle are doing contact less collections, in not sure how that works with bulky furniture- people are leaving things outside.