Selling a house

[Flouts1]

I have to sell my parents house ( not in London) in the southwest

I’ve never sold before only bought so is the process massively different
I’ve applied for probate
Got 3 quotes from Estate Agents which have all came in around the same price and they all said the same stuff .

It’s a project - think elderly persons house not modern but solid
Had a new roof 15 - 20 years ago
New Gas central heating 4 years ago
Double glazing & electrics are ok according to the estate agents
I’ve had it completely cleared out and despite the estate agents saying not to bother I had the garden completely cut back as you literally couldn’t get into due to it being overgrown so at least now you can see the garden and I think that would put people off if they could access the garden to see why it’s like .
Bathroom is a wet room / type disabled bathroom but was only put in 4 years ago so toilet shower sink is all fairly new
So far I’ve spent £1500 on house clearance and garden clearance
Is there anything else I should do before it goes on the market

It would need replastering and painting but I’m not doing that 😂

I’m going to get a cleaner in to give it a good deep clean as it’s very dusty from the house clearance and there are no carpets in the bedrooms .
But essentially it’s a project dooer upper with a lot of potential in a very popular area as it’s 10 mins to main station which can get you to London in 90 mins

2 -3 excellent primary schools that are sought after a lovely huge popular park and houses generally only come up when someone dies 😂

If you were buying a project / dooer upper type house is there anything you would expect to see or expect to be done before you put in an offer
Is there anything I can tell the estate agent to tell the potential viewers or what they might need to know
My parents lived there for 50 years
next door neighbour around 20 years
Neighbours on the other side is a council owned house but you wouldn’t know it and they are very quiet couple lived there about 22 years

There is rear access which is great if you are doing building work as it’s huge but there is a communal gate and you buy a key for £50 to access the back

I just keep thinking I’m missing something

It can be harder to sell an empty house as a lot of people cannot visualise the space furnished and therefore cannot grasp what size it is. However, I'd give it a few weeks and see how it goes. Ask for feedback from viewings.

Are there any things that need doing/fixing? Worth sorting them before the house is marketed as people see them as an indicator of a lack of maintenance.

Good idea on the cleaning.

@WeAreTheHeroes
Thank you
I did think about that when clearing it out but there was a lot of stuff so it was either leave it all in there or take it all out

it could do with some plastering in some areas but I don’t want to do that once you start you might as well do the whole house 😂

It has a lot of the original Victorian features
It’s structurally sound in that there is a good roof GCH double glazing so none of those cost to factor in

It’s just a typical old persons house that’s not modern or been updated

It’s got potential in that downstairs is one big room but it used to be two rooms and still has both of the doors so easy to make it back into two separate rooms
Easy to do a dormer type extension or loft if wanted
Off street parking although you need to open a gate to access it
I think because I live in a new modern type house it’s different looking at older type house as it wouldn’t be one that I would buy although it’s in a very popular location and you just don’t get houses coming up in this area unless someone dies my parents lived there for over 45 years and I still know most of the neighbours in the street

A builder could easily spend 10k -15k and flip it for about upward 50k profit
If I had the time & knowledge I would do that but as I struggle to change a lightbulb I don’t think that’s a plan 😂

The kinds of places where houses don't come up for sale very often tend to be sought after. As long as it's priced right it should sell. If you're not getting viewings then it's a sign the asking price is too high rather than anything else. I hope it all goes smoothly.

See if you can get some secondhand staging furniture from gumtree. Crisp white bedding and some plants etc. Empty houses look awful.

I think you’ve done enough already OP. All the elements that will appeal to buyers are already in place, i.e location, size, potential, garden, proximity to schools, station etc.

It might not appeal to someone who just wants to unpack and move in but many people are looking for renovation projects.

I live in the southwest and have been house hunting and in the middle of a purchase.

Houses here are going for a crazy amount not one property we bid on didn't go well over asking price.

Yes it definitely makes a difference when viewing a house seeing a cleared garden and a lick of paint to make it look more pleasing to the eye.

I must admit we preferred viewing houses where it wasn't empty just so we could get an idea of how the space was being used.

You really shouldn't have a problem selling it. When looking at properties families that had lived there for many years into retirement the carpets were really really dated so if you really did want to go all out to make it look more up to date I would do this if its very dated.

Sounds great, better presented than most empty probate sales you see. The deep clean will be worth it.

My only query is the probate. If you don’t have probate when you put the house on the market the agents need to tell interested buyers (as there is uncertainty about when it might go through). My mum bought in this situation- they told me when I put the offer in. My mum was pretty desperate (this summer, nothing in the market!) and knew she could stay with me, so it didn’t put her off. But it might put other people off. My mum’s solicitor warned me it could take months/ over a year for probate to be granted - it didn’t, they’d applied for probate same time they put it on the market and it was granted about a month later, so all fine.

As someone who has bought two probate properties, definitely don't stage it with furniture.

The probate we're in now was filthy and jam packed with the previous owners stuff. We would have been delighted to have no carpets (less to clear), no furniture and other detritus and clean!!

Just stick it on the market - now is a great time to sell because there is a housing shortage and a lot of folk in rented having sold during the stamp duty holiday but unable to find their onward purchase.

@MrsBobDylan unless I took my furniture from my house there is no way I could “stage it “ cleaning wise I’m going to get in cleaners to to a deep clean of the kitchen including the cupboards bathroom widow seals ledges

I’ve been shocked when looking at some old probate type houses and they are really bad as you can’t see the potential behind all the clutter so I though empty it and give a clear view

@WhatsWrongWithMyUsername with the probate I used a firm as I needed to do a full inheritance tax form and it was beyond my capabilities 😂 Although I did do my mums
They have been very good at updating me every week so far - although nothings happening and they reckon 8 -12 weeks and it been a month so far I didn’t want to put the house on the market until I had at least started probate and by the time it gets viewing I reckon it will be about 7 weeks in probate

It’s not a complicated one just that there was a lifetime interest possession for my dad so it made the IHT form a bit more in depth and I didn’t want to mess it up

Thank you now I just have to find a cleaner 😂

I've sold 2 family houses after family members have passed away.

Both were deep cleaned, and sold empty. I didn't update anything.

Both ended up going to sealed bids and well over asking price.

So yes, I'd just put on the market clean and empty - someone will want it.

@Jaffapaffa
That’s what I’m thinking
I’ve paid £1500 so far which has come out my parents money so it’s not costing me anything as such
So I think a bit more on a cleaner to clean it properly will make a big difference

My advice is don’t do any work to it, sell it as is. Whoever buys the house will no doubt just gut it and kit it out to their taste.

This is where it’s really important to get the pricing right. I’d be inclined to go slightly lower to attract a lot of interest and let people bid it out. Good luck Op 😊

You say it's structurally sound, have you had a survey done confirming this? If so, I would ask the company how much it would cost for them to allow you to share this with purchasers/give them reliance on it.

Would really give comfort to a lot of bidders if they can bid with the benefit of that report rather than spending money themselves.

@Henlie
Thank you
I’ve written a letter to the estate agent I want to use just outlining what I’ve done such as garden and clearing it out
And useful info like how long my parents lived there
How long the neighbours on both side have lived there ( 20 years plus ) single lady on one side older couple on the other side with no children in any of the houses as I know from mumsnets bad neighbours Is normally the thing they worry about the most 😂

Along with info like when the GCH was put in
When the bathroom was done
Date of the roof & electrics being done
How to get access to the back of the house as there is a gate that you need a key to open .

Just stuff that I think people might ask and he might not be able to answer straight away

@dancingqueen345

I haven’t but when my dad was going to sale when my mum passed away in 2018 he had a full survey done for the same reason you mentioned to make it easy for potential buyers and it was noted that the home was as to be expected for its age and no issues
with the roof and structures far as I can remember

I might see if I can find this as although it was 2-3 years ago nothing been done to the house since

I just sold a probate property, we did as you have done, cleared out all furniture and had it as clean as we could get it. Kept the garden tamed. Left the tired old carpets and curtains. It was tired and needed redecorating and the kitchen and bathroom would benefit from replacing but it was livable in as it was. It sold quite quickly to an older lady who was going to get the work done room by room.

@CrotchetyQuaver that’s good to know
I am not sure if it’s worth doing a full survey as I’m not sure buyers would trust it

If I did do that as money isn’t a problem and a full survey seems to be about £670 inc VAT do they need the survey to proceed with

Could I then sell it to them if they proceed or is it a waste of money from my end
I know when I’ve sold a car I’ve always paid for full HPI check so that anyone buying knows it’s not under finance and not been written off

@Flouts1 I wouldn't do a survey, I thought about it myself, but our bungalow was about 30years old and not obviously anything wrong, a couple of small patches of mould on the walls inside I couldn't clean off but more likely due to furniture placement than anything else (we've found similar in our own house when we've redecorated behind chests of drawers). I'm not even sure if our buyer had a survey done, but she never tried to renegotiate the price which was good!
I'd see what the viewers feedback is like before doing that

@CrotchetyQuaver

Thank you I will see if i can dig out my dads old survey see what it says

I wouldn’t bother staging it: people looking for a project tend to have an eye for how they want things to look, so will be able to assess empty rooms and picture them plastered and decorated. People who need to see a bed to think “bedroom” are probably after a move-in-ready house and wouldn’t be interested.

Get good photos from multiple angles that include the period detailing – projects that have features intact are gold! I wouldn’t care about seeing someone else’s sofa in situ: I’m looking for ceiling roses, cornicing, sash windows, etc.

Also: no carpets in the bedroom is good if you’ve got original floorboards. I’d be tempted to take them up all over: less dust, less dated, another opportunity for magpies like me to think “Ooh, floorboards to sand” rather than wondering if there’s a crap subfloor underneath.

Ask the EA you want to use to recommend a cleaner. If they do lettings and management as well as sales they will definitely know people they can recommend.

@hotmeatymilk
That’s what I think if I need a bed in a bedroom to tell me it’s a bed then it’s not the house for me
There is a fabulous park that you can see from the bedroom windows that I will ask the estate agent to take a picture off to show how close it is to the park
I’ve taken up the carpets upstairs and yes it’s the original floorboard that are in surprisingly good nick
Downstairs it’s bloody laminate 😂
It’s got original ceiling rose and cornicing

It's exactly the sort of project that tons of people are looking for, but I agree with the PP that you pitch the price just below what you want to attract interest and let people bid it up. And if you can find your dad's survey, even three years old, it would reassure prospective buyers that you have disclosed fully without incurring further cost. Have you got an EPC?

When I sold DM's bungalow we emptied it and cleaned it up a bit, the garden was reasonable anyway, we didn't bother putting furniture in it and left the carpets and curtains in

Is it actually worth cleaning? Don’t want to sound like a minger but if the kitchen is likely to get ripped out anyway (which with a fixer upper that hasn’t been touched for 20 years is very likely) then spending money cleaning out the inside of cupboards that will end up in a skip seems a bit daft to me!