Selling house with issues

[Ohwhathaveidonenow]

Husband and I have no support network and really don't know how to proceed. Bought a house in a bit of a rush 4 and a bit years ago as needed to relocate urgently. I am at home full time with kids and costs of living have ended up more than we imagined. We haven't had time or money to keep up with house maintenance and improvements that we imagined and we are now quite unhappy with the area we live in, while the house is quickly deteriorating (damp, dated and damaged decor, pointing, windows, boiler, bathroom). It's large and Victorian. Basically we feel a bit foolish and are resigned to the fact that we will probably end up losing money. It's never going to look good, but we're stuck about how much to do to it before putting it on the market. We don't have a lot of slack in our time and any jobs would require him to take holiday from work to either do the tasks or to take the kids while I do them. Budget is extremely tight. Basically we just want shot of it but don't want to lose more money than is necessary. Any words of wisdom?

Just price it realistically and save yourself the aggro.

I’d be surprised if you’d lose money given how bonkers the market is a present (regardless of condition of house). Have you had it valued?

No not had it valued yet. Kind of felt like we needed to do some decluttering and deep cleaning and possibly some diy but that's not happening and we're just getting more stressed about the enormity of the task ahead of us. So many homes look so polished and pristine when they go on the market and that's just not achievable. Brings up a lot of feelings of guilt and inadequacy which basically paralyses us and we just stall. We are at least on the same page about it all and not blaming each other.

We sold an absolute dump last year. It went for £20k less than a similar house in better condition on the same street. We got £7k more than we bought it for. You have nothing to lose by getting a valuation. If it comes out too low then you can think about doing some basics. I bet it won’t though.

I think decluttering will be essential as you'll need to do it for when you eventually pack up and move, so if you get it done ready to put the house on the market that's one job done out the way. Contact local charities as many of them will collect large amounts that are being donated and other than that hire a skip and be brutal with throwing things away.

It will also be much easier to clean the house properly once you've decluttered.

DIY - if you're not upto the job then don't do it, and set the price according to the work that needs doing.

We sold ours last year and it was a bit of a wreck. The people who bought it have basically ripped everything out and are re-doing everything. I wish we hadn't bothered to do the small bit of sprucing up that we did.

Thank you. This is all really helpful. I think we'll have a blitz on decluttering and then basic cleaning and get it on the market. Grateful for everyone's input.

Just to add to this, we've been looking for houses to do up (its all we can afford for the area we want) and one house had recently done the kitchen but nothing else which was actually annoying as if it hadn't been done we would have knocked through and done something different. Basically, decluttering will be useful but don't do any improvements as people will want to do their own thing anyway. Good luck with it!

It will sell if its priced well. I would declutter and clean and then accept viewings.

Do your decluttering then price it to sell. Lots of people want a fixer upper - it’s a chance to get it exactly how they want it.

We bought a doer upper which we were slowly doing as we were both working full time. We then had to move due to DH having to relocate with work. We didn’t throw any more money at it, just made sure it was clean and tidy. It went for only £10k more than we’d paid for it but it was off our backs.

Anything will sell at the right price. You will need to accept that will not be as high as if you did the work. I have only bought twice, but both times specifically wanted ones to do up, so I could get a bigger place and spend rhe money over time. No way I would have what I have now if I had gone for mew build, although I also wouldn't have had all the hassle.

I sold my parents house needs 50k of work on it for 30k over the asking price
Sold in 1 day and had 7 offers
Declutter and clean
Honest it it’s got 4 walls a roof kitchen and bathroom it will sell 😂

A good EA ought to be able to look past a bit of clutter so might be worth having one round to give an initial valuation? You'd need to clear it up for the photos / viewings etc but if that's holding you back from even getting started with selling you might be better just to get the ball rolling. They'd prob also have views to share on whether it's worth bothering with DIY etc ahead of selling - they'll have the best sense of likely buyers / what they'll be looking for.

You’ll need to declutter when you move so you might as well do it now. I’d then pay someone to deep clean. I wouldn’t bother with DIY unless it were something super simple that could be done in the evening when the kids were in bed.