... what extent to renovate a starter flat before sale?

[Edinburgerdian98]

We own a decent starter flat in the west side of Edinburgh. 2 bed plus study box room, separate kitchen and living room, 1 bathroom. Large rooms in an iffy area, good transport links, all painted magnolia and cream carpets. Will be selling unfurnished.

However, we're not sure how much to plough into renovating it before putting it on the market. We're planning to repaint and gloss, but the main problem is a threadbare carpet in the 3m X 3m bedroom plus same in the small hall.

We think it's worth around 110k (yet to have a formal valuation) but we're not sure if to replace the bedroom and hallway carpet during sprucing it up... I'm worried about paying hundreds of pounds on getting and fitting a new carpet only to find out it's not made a jot of difference to sellability or sales price.

Obviously big repairs like needing a rewire or finding a leaky roof etc affects sales prices.. but what about situations like this?

Example pic of the rooms (not a close up of carpet)

Carpet damage (moths!)

Don't replace the carpets. You will not get the money back.
An important thing that a lot of people seem to miss is the grouting in the bathroom and kitchen. It must look either new or clean.

good tip re grouting, i'd never have thought about that!

interesting my gut feel about the carpets is something you agree with.. i've no idea what would normally get negotiated down for a starter flat... i thought £1k replacing carpets might avoid a £5k expected discount popping up down the selling process... !! but equally i don't want to spend £1k replacing carpets if it might not make much difference.

I wouldn't try to knock off 5k for carpets. Houses are sold as seen. Discounts are for things like undervaluation potentially or unforeseen structural issues or damp.

Is it being sold empty? Are you able to borrow a few basic items of furniture to stage it? Many buyers struggle to visualise room sizes and potential layouts without furniture to work with, even just showing that the rooms comfortably fit a sofa and dining table, double bed and wardrobe etc can help.

Agree don’t replace carpets. Many people dislike them and would take them straight up to lay wood or LVT (I would) so wouldn’t see new carpets as any kind of bonus.

I would get rid of the damaged carpets. Skip them and then people viewing know that that is a thing that needs sorting. The moth damage will put people off and getting rid of the carpets will help sort the moths out

How sure are you that it's only worth £110k? We own a tiny one bed tenement flat in the west of Edinburgh and it was valued at £150k over a year ago. You might be further away from the city centre but I'd still be surprised if the value is that low.

Are there still moths in the flat? That is probably something you want to deal with as it might put people off.

Absolutely this. Get rid of the carpets and get the flat professionally treated. I would never move into a property with evidence of a moth problem, they are a nightmare to get rid of whilst you are living there.