Would needing a new kitchen put you off house

[Jumpinginwithbothfeet]

I have recently put my house on the market. It needs a new kitchen, though is perfectly usable and structurally sound. It has been priced accordingly but this seems to be putting people off. Would you buy a house in these circumstances or should I try and find the money to get it sorted?

I would go for a less expensive house with an old kitchen.
The most off putting houses are those renovated from top to bottom (not to my taste) and priced at top value.

It wouldn't put me off - in fact we bought a house in March that needed a lot of work.

However if this house had been priced at the top of our budget we wouldn't have bought it as we needed money left over.

So I think that's the key, we came to see this house knowing it needed work and knowing it was under budget so that was ok.

I'd also make sure you've reflected the true cost of the required work as our kitchen is fairly ordinary (although I'm still very excited about it and happy) but it's costing a lot more than £10k all in when we factor in prep work, the kitchen, appliances, fitting, flooring etc.

I'm sure it will be fine and just a matter of time though and not the kitchen causing a big issue.

I hope it sells soon for you.

We are looking to buy a family home a d location and size are our top priorities. We've looked at places that don't need much work and places that need new kitchen, bathrooms and overall redecoration which is fine as sometimes there is scope to extend or knock through a wall to give us a better layout.
The only thing we don't want is a house that is not habitable. Have small kids so would not want a huge job. Will look to make improvements over time.

Ours is on for £225k the next similar property up is £250k and go up from there.

Sounds fair IMHO. Has the EA said the kitchen is putting people off?

Every house (7) we've ever bought needed a new kitchen. It's never put me off.

Didn't do ours up when we sold but priced house accordingly (original 90's kitchen) and it sold fast. Bought a house with an original 70/80's kitchen and recently replaced it for a new kitchen and knock through for an eye watering sum.

Not sure I would go through that destruction derby again but very happy with the results.

@MaggieFS according to my ex when he spoke to her she did. Although I will speak to her myself soon to check.

If there are a couple of specific things that need sorted - like the worktop or the tiles, why not just fix them (cheaply ) rather than replace the whole kitchen? Make it look serviceable so that a buyer doesn't have to replace it immediately and can cope with living in it for a wee while while they plan their new kitchen.

I guess for some/a lot of people it’s more affordable to pay more for a finished house even if it’s bigger monthly mortgage payments rather than pay less for a house and find the money……interest rates on mortgages are normally less than a loan?

I agree with giving it a face lift. Repainting,,perhaps painting the tiles with tile paint, maybe you put a surround over the worktop where it is damaged?. Just so it doesn’t look as if it is signalling other maintenance problems.

The issue is most people buy at the top of their budget so don’t have a spare £20k for a kitchen so it really depends just how bad it is. We bought our house 5 years ago and at first glance the kitchen is fine but the reality is that the carcasses are falling apart and built in appliances are 18 years old and show. I’ve tolerated it but we’re replacing it this summer. The biggest issue is 4 weeks of chaos when we have 3 dc.

We've just hopefully found our new house and I agree with others that I would prefer to be able to put in a kitchen exactly to my needs rather than live with a new (possibly expensive) one that someone has has installed. I have discounted otherwise OK houses because I couldn't live with their new kitchens; the one we've offered on has a serviceable one in a brilliant space that I can now sort out to suit me.

I think if you are £25k less than the next similar property then you are priced well if it's mainly just the kitchen that needs work.

Unless it's been stuck on the market for ages, I would hang in there before spending any money on it and double check the feedback with the agent to see what people have actually said.

When I was a first time buyer the only money I had was mortgage money. They wouldn't lend 250 on a house valued at 225 so I had no way of replacing the kitchen. I was too maxed out on mortgage to save either so back then I wanted a newish kitchen. Now I have equity I don't want to have to live with someone else's shiny grey tastes. Are you more in the first time buyer price range for your area?

Like most - I'd rather buy a house with a functional kitchen and a budget to replace with one I like, than pay top dollar for a house with a kitchen that isn't to my taste at all, but would feel bad about removing / changing as it was new.

@Whatiswrongwithmyknee Yes probably a first time buyer or someone looking to buy to rent I would think. I did think that about a first timer however it is completely functional so could be done over time.

I had a house to sell with a very dated kitchen. It had imperial measurement kitchen units so I could replace doors etc as they are all now metric.

I changed the horrible blind in the window. Replaced the worktops. Painted the cupboard doors and put down sticky backed tiles on the floor and painted the walls. I did it all really cheaply, but it looked clean and cheerful. The next person to view bought it and loved the kitchen! I got asking price too!

I'm in a similar position, tired kitchen 15+ years old. I'm going to freshen it up as much as possible- paint walls, ceiling and clean thoroughly but factor it into the price.

Personally no it wouldn't put me off buying either

Personally I prefer to do it myself, as a buyer. But when we last sold, the HA advised us to modernise ours to gloss white, even though it meant taking out a high-end solid wood one. Got three asking-price offers in the first few days.We got back more than we spent on it, if the HA's valuation before we did it was correct, but we did fit it ourselves. And kept the old one and installed it in the new house. I suspect it depends on where in the market you are. Ours was a typical second-house for a young family growing out of a very small FTB house; people who may not want to bother with the upheaval of putting a new one in, but would like something modern and fashionable.

I'm sure that's the but for me the idea of living with a kitchen in the state you describe describe for a decade or more would be too much. As a ftb, that's how long it would have taken me to be able to replace it.

No,
I bought a old house with 70s fittings. I got it at a very low price. It's huge and in the middle of nowhere. Personally I'm not buying someone's kitchen or decor just the house. If the house has the right layoutvand location i disregard the fixtures and fittings.

Our current house had a dated and tired kitchen but it was functional. One of the many reasons we bought the house was because we could rip the kitchen out, take down a wall and a make it into the kitchen/dining/family room we wanted.
That work was done within 3 months of moving in and cost around 20k, worth every penny.

Hi @Jumpinginwithbothfeet I've bought and done up a few houses over the last decade and I think you might be in danger of falling between two sets of buyers. From EAs I've spoken to people tend want to buy things that are either do-er uppers or fully done, if there's only one thing to do like pp have said you're not going to really appeal to either of those sets of buyers.

What is the rest of the house like is it definitely just the kitchen that needs doing or is the kitchen the bit that would definitely need doing first? Could you post a RM link maybe, people can be really helpful about what you might be able to do to make it more saleable?

Depends on the target market.

If you have a 2 bed cottage / 1 bed flat you’re trying to sell to first time buyers then the kitchen needs to be ok, even new-looking, as they’re stretching their finances to get on the property ladder and can’t afford to replace the kitchen right away. They’re also probably both working and don’t have time/inclination to research kitchens.

If you have a 3/4 bed you’re marketing to second time buyers with a young family then the kitchen is less important although they probably still don’t want to do a refurb with toddlers around.

If you have a 4+ bed or luxury house you’re marketing to third time buyers or wealthy families then the kitchen doesn’t matter at all as they’ll rip it out straight away. For these buyers an old kitchen is better than a new one as theh love to refurb.

In my opinion 🤷‍♀️