How much would you do a place up to sell?

[Suspicioussam]

We have lived in our flat for 8 years and it was 6 years old when we bought it so it's 14 years old. in that time the carpets haven't been changed (but are in good nick) the bathrooms and kitchen still the same etc.
We really don't want to waste money on the flat that we could spend on a house but I'm not sure whether we should pay for a kitchen facelift type job? Our units are modern in appearance but dark brown which isn't fashionable and show wear and tear. Is it worth spending thousands changing it?! Really torn about what to do

Estate agents will say no, as people want projects to do up. I have bought houses with tired bathrooms, kitchens etc, having knocked he asking price down because of them, and done them up after a few years when we are ready to move on and sold them within a month, recouping the cost of the works plus ££. So I would say yes I would spend the ££ which goes against the conventional advice. It will all depend on your location and the local market however.

I would just give the place a lick of paint.

Personally I wouldn't do a lot other than make sure there was nothing obviously wrong like doors that don't open or look wonky in the kitchen, dirty grout in the bathroom, etc. If it's a ftb sort of flat then people will just want the right price and will want to feel they can live in it and do it up as they want to / can afford to. I wouldn't do anything other than a massive clean and tidy up, buy a few bits and bobs you can take with you anyway (like nice towels, candles, plants, new kettle) to make the place look as smart as possible. Good luck!

I've learned the hard way to put minimal effort in. People will change it anyway.

That's really interesting advice and the total opposite to what I was expecting. It's not really a typical first time buyers flat. It's 1350 square feet as it's a split level with large rooms.
That actually makes it quite hard to sell (we tried in 2017) because it's out of reach of some first time buyers but it doesn't have a garden so puts families off.
We desperately want to move this time. 2 kids, no garden, split level so kids are on a different floor to us, it's just not practical anymore.
My mum is convinced we need to redo the kitchen but I don't want to pay thousands for a kitchen that may not be the buyers taste anyway and might get ripped out! Paintwise it's all been done recently and is neutral but my sons room is a very bright colour! I could see how that could be a bit off putting but it's only one room.

If you just want a cosmetic ‘quick fix’ you can repaint your kitchen units to make it more saleable. If your flat is more high end than FTB paying a professional painter to do a freshen up may cost a few hundred pounds but it’s cheaper than a new kitchen

Where are you and who are you appealing to? If its not FTB, and its not families, who do you think you're targeting? Are you appealing to people who will have the funds / inclination to install new kitchens / bathrooms or will people want it move in ready?

If you replace the kitchen, will the bathroom / carpets look tired? Is it a case of leave it all / do it all?

I agree with a pp that buyers will usually knock off more than it would cost to do - is the benefit of getting that difference enough for the hassle / inconvenience of doing it before you move.

If its a difficult property to sell and you're desperate to move, maybe its just worth pricing it with a view to a buyer wanting to do all the work themselves.

Get a couple of agents round to do valuations and ask what work they would recommend doing. We did this and all they said to do was paint the front door, despite the fact that kitchen, paintwork and carpets were all looking tired. House sold fairly quickly.

Take the measurements of the rooms and go to a kitchen and bathroom place and get them to mock up the rooms for you, you can have them available for viewers to look at to see the potential.

At an absolute push I'd get some new doors for the kitchen cabinets in a basic white style. Preferably second hand so costs are low.

Otherwise, fresh paint everywhere, pick up any little odd DIY jobs you've just ignored, declutter.

Can we see the kitchen and bathroom?

Get a couple of agents round to do valuations and ask what work they would recommend doing

Would disagree with this. Estate agents will always say you don't need to do any work. They want the house on the market and their commission. It makes almost no difference at say 1% commission whether a house sells for for £40,000 or £50,000 more.

I wouldn't go as far as a new kitchen. Our list includes things like replacing a broken bath panel and painting a ceiling, little things to look more polished. Agree that people like to put their stamp on things. Good luck with selling, it seems to be a sellers market at the moment so fingers crossed for you.

Will depend on the market where you are, but in our family we (both senior managers, grown up kids, looking for a nice home to take us into retirement) and also our dc (FTB, looking for first property) - so both ends of the market - often see homes where the vendors have spent ££ putting in a fancy new kitchen or bathroom then price the property to recoup what they have paid out. It is really off putting - it is rarely done the way you would choose, but then you can't afford to buy a property at the top end of your budget and then replace a new kitchen.
That said, everything is just flying out of the EAs windows where we are at the moment, so some people must be buying them.

I would paint the kitchen units, I used Bedec multi surface paint, need need to sand or prime. Change the cupboard handles. I also purchased moroccan style large stick on tiles to put over some of the existing white tiles.
I recently put in a new bathroom suite on a budget, you can pick them up quite cheaply, it is the fitting that costs. I also painted my bathroom tiles.
I am in two minds whether I am doing this for myself or with selling in mind.
Flats are harder to sell, so updating on a budget is the way to go. Good luck.

Personally I wouldn't bother, unless it would limit your pool of buyers. My dad is thinking of selling his house and asked me to look at replacing the kitchen (which is entirely functional, just dated) and I told him not to bother. Kitchens are pretty personal in taste (bathrooms less so) so I would prefer to do the work myself.

I've ruled out a few houses recently because the kitchens were clearly almost new but absolutely not to my taste (black gloss, red gloss, dingy miserable grey, ugh) - not saying this is what you'd put in but personally speaking I would rather something tired but functional over new and likely to be unfashionable within a few years.

*Told dad not to bother because anyone buying his house would likely want to remodel the interior, knock down walls etc, so any kitchen would just get ripped out.

I'm a bit nervous of posting pics in case anyone recognise me.
Bathrooms are quite inoffensive, one is all white with dark blue walls and the other is mostly white with magnolia walls that definitely need a paint before we sell. The kitchen is like a medium/dark brown covering with long steel handles, then black worktops. It looks modern but dated if that's possible.

To answer some other questions...
In terms of the market we are looking for, I think young professional couples without children, or families with older children that don't need a garden or older couples/downsizers.
We bought it as a young professional couple as a first property but we got a good price otherwise it would have been out of reach. Some first time buyers could afford it but I think our pool of people will be quite small compared to most flats and houses.
It is in very commutable part of outer London but I'm aware that houses are selling much faster than flats right now.

I like the advice to price it slightly lower so people don't mind paying to do the work themselves. I think it's mostly the kitchen a buyer would want to replace, they might also want to replace the cream carpets (which are everywhere!) And get a new shower cubicle as it's looking a bit shabby now.

@dubyalass I completely agree with you about looking at kitchens in houses. When I see houses with brand new shiny kitchens it puts me off as I prefer a more country style kitchen, wooden worktops with white doors would be my choice.
Im not keen on black at all and I don't like a super modern look. I think someone buying our flat might like to go super modern with it as it's the kind of property that could set it off so whatever we do might get ripped out anyway.

Yeah, I'd leave it be. Clean and tidy is my main criterion - so many manky-looking kitchens out there! Oh and enough work surfaces. My current kitchen (in rented) is tiny and I get so frustrated trying to find space when I'm cooking!

Almost exact same situation here and we haven't redone the bathrooms or kitchen, but have had positive feedback from viewings so far in the condition. So yeah, leave it!

There are companies that do cheap replacement lichen doors & side panels etc, I would look into that

I sold a similar property (though period conversion) in London recently. Kitchen wasn’t in brilliant shape and main bathroom as very dated. Was on the market for 3 months but then got two asking price offers in one day! Sold to a couple with teenage children as very close to a very popular secondary school. I would probably give the kitchen a lick of paint but otherwise not do anything other than price it sensibly. As you say it’s just a smaller pool of buyers.

Just clean, tidy and make good anything that might indicate that the property hasn't been cared for. People don't mind "tired" as long as they aren't worried something is seriously wrong or would need expensive structural renovations.

See if you can find old episodes of House Doctor. I think the advice was to spend 1 - 2% of the asking price on sprucing the place up.

Estate agents are eager to market the property so don't want you to delay by doing works.