Getting house ready to sell

[ADVICENEEDED987]

Posted this in chat earlier but didn't get any responses so thought I might be better off posting here.

I would love some advise please on how to go about getting my house ready for sale.

I'm going through a divorce and the house will need to be sold shortly once we have our split of finances agreed. I hired a skip and have cleared so much junk from the house, garden and shed. I've taken a storage unit to help make the house look less cluttered, have sold stuff, donated lots to charity and have repainted some of the rooms. I've spent days tidying the garden but the house just doesn't feel tidy or clean enough to put it on the market yet and I just don't know what wise to do to get it looking good enough.

I work full time and my three children live with me so I have very little time to do anything else to the house. It feels as though as soon as a room is looking nice, the kids make a mess and it is back to square 1. On top of that the shower now looks like it is leaking, the built in fridge is temperamental and I've had issues with the electrics which will all need sorting but I've run out of money!

Ex wants the house on the market within days but I'm not ready for that yet. I've put forward a financial settlement offer to him but he hasn't said if he accepts it or not yet so I think I would be mad to sell the house yet (my solicitor had advised not to until finances are sorted). Even if finances were agreed I just don't know how to find the time to keep the house & garden looking perfect for photos and viewings with 3 kids at home and a full time job!

I would love any advise on how to get the house looking lovely and how to keep it that way with 3 children! Thanks

Price it reasonably- put anything you can with kids in toy storage.

Speak to the EA and see if there's enough demand for an open day in your area so you can just do one massive clean before and take kids out for the day.

If they are school age worth waiting until they are back and then do room by room. Really bloody hard tbh.

Ps don't let your ex screw you over - he might want everything done asap but unless he's willing to do the work himself tell him to swing. No court order would be quick as he will like it so he can't force your hand into a decision- listen to YOUR lawyer and if he cuts up tough just say any communication re the house he needs to contact your solicitor (and they aren't easily bullied)

Pss- I know it feels like your world is breaking, but I promise you divorcing my ex husband was the best thing I ever did. You will be ok and so will your kids.

Your doing a great job xxx

Following!!! We are about to sell and I’ve lost count of the times I’ve really tidied/ decluttered a room only for the children to go to a birthday party and come back with a bag of plastic tat/ bring home a million paintings from school/ decide that now is the moment to get out ALL the lego etc etc

if it’s any consolation though the last two times I have sold houses they were far from perfect and for different reasons there wasn’t much we could do about it (I had a one week old baby and a two year old last time….) and we sold them pretty easily both times in not particularly good markets. Realistic pricing is probably the key there.

I think it’ll be a bit easier once the kids are back at school anyway (and I will probably let them watch more TV to avoid them messing up their rooms once viewing starts if I’m honest!!)

It really is bloody hard getting and keeping a house sale ready when you have children. Don't let your ex rush you, the children need stability at the moment.

An open house would be a good idea - once the DC are back at school. Perhaps you could take the day off work the day before the open house to blitz. Make sure surfaces are clear, beds are made, windows are clean. Put bags of clutter (kids toys etc) in the boot of the car and park it a couple of streets away. Open all the windows beforehand to thoroughly air the place. A bunch of flowers on the dining table or somewhere.

If you aren't read to sell the house and put it on the market before September then I would wait until the spring. This allows time for your financials to be agreed with your ex and better time to sell. Our house is under offer and we haven't found an onward purchase yet and the agent said, if our buyer pulls out next month if we haven't found anything, then wait until the spring to put it back on as the market goes quiet from September onwards...not sure how true this is. But don't be pressured into selling up too quickly.

Buyers don't look at the crap - they will probably gut it and just want the plot and the shell and the local school etc

This time of year is usually the best time to sell as people like to be in their new home before Christmas (but not too close to Christmas - if that makes sense)

As long as not clutter everywhere - which it seems like you’ve got rid of - then I’d just pop a few air fresheners in the rooms and get it on the market.
I wouldn’t do any more refurbishment work to the property; new owners will put their stamp on things so you’d be wasting money…

Ask ex to do XYZ to make it happen

Have HIS DC so you can tidy etc
Him pay for a deep clean
Him pay to get X fixed

Etc

Thank you @housemovepickle . I did ask the EA about an open day instead of viewings on different days. He said he thought he would prefer to try to schedule viewings for anyone they have on their books who might be interested all on one weekend but wouldn't necessarily advertise it as an open weekend on rightmove.

Unfortunately I work in a school so can't take any leave once the kids are back. During the school holidays I've either been at work (I don't get the whole holidays off unfortunately) or have had all three children to look after so have barely managed to get anything done. It just feels like a never ending routine if tidying up, gardening and cleaning!

Ex has fixed a few things around the house but isn't keen to do anything else to it. We've been separated a long time now and I'm ready to move but I aren't do it it until we have the financial order. I've told ex once we have instructed solicitors to write up the order it can then go on the market but I will not exchange contracts until the order has been approved by court (this is apparently taking 3-4 weeks at the moment).

Thank you for all the replies and suggestions.

Ex has helped with fixing a few bits and pieces but doesn't want to do anything else as says buyers expect to fix things so they're is no point him doing it.

I've had someone in to do a bit of cleaning a few weeks ago and am now trying to keep on top of it to make sure it stays reasonably clean but I feel like I am failing. The kids can definitely make mess faster than I clear it up! Ex definitely wouldn't help pay for a deep clean just before listing the house for sale or before viewings, he would take great delight in taking me how lazy that is and what a waste of money it is.

I'm hoping it can be on the market within a few weeks, as long as we are in the process of getting the financial order written up and submitted to the court. The fixed rate term has finished on the mortgage and I'm now paying over 8% interest and it's crippling me financially. Realistically I can't afford to pay that much for more than about 6 months.

Have you spoken to the mortgage provider about payment holiday or going interest only?

Yes, I've switched to interest only for a few months but that's still a hefty monthly payment (I was previously on a rate of 2.2% so it has been a big jump). Once I'm back to making capital repayments too I'm going to really struggle

A (very) minor cosmetic thing we did was have a nicely ironed plain white duvet cover and pillowcase(s) for each bed, then before viewings I just put them on top of our existing duvet cover and gave it a fluff. Made the room seem much fresher with almost no effort. I think I used it for about 4 or 5 different viewings, so it looked a bit crumpled by the end but infinitely better than a duvet that has been slept in.

That's a good idea, thank you. I've bought new bedlinen for a couple of the beds that's all ironed ready.

i appreciate it might be too complicated to do but we have also just come to the end of our interest rate fix and onto an 8% SVR….and can’t really re-fix due to selling (we’re anticipating 6 months of payments from now). But it is going to be cheaper to go onto a (new) interest only tracker product rather than stay on the SVR as trackers have no re-payment penalties, and the interest rate is lower. There is a product fee but even so it will save us over a thousand pounds over 6 months to go onto the tracker. Might be worth asking a broker about?

Thank you for the suggestion, I hadn't thought of looking at a tracker rate. The main issue is that as it is in joint names I'm not sure if my ex would even be happy to do that

We had a 'viewing box'. Basically a large plastic crate with 'viewing' bedding and towels and linen spray in it. An hour before viewers but after cleaning and vacuuming we would put the viewing stuff out and sprayed each room and into the viewing box went current bedding and towels, framed photos, wall calendar and any other personal bits, current admin stuff, last minute toys, counter top detritus etc. This box either went in the car or shed while viewing was going on. After viewers the contents were swapped for next time. Remember to put everything back where it was otherwise the system falls down! 😀

Even if not completely ready, could consider asking the agents to do a “whisper sale” whereby they don’t stick it on Rightmove but they mail the details to existing wannabe buyers and see if anyone wants it. We did this and are now under offer with the benefit of if it doesn’t work out, we’ve kept our powder dry as it’s never been obviously on the market. However, it is somewhat agent and locality dependent. Where we are there are a lot of second homes which are more or less always for sale at the right price, albeit not officially.

If both your names are on the mortgage, and the deal is better than the one you're on, you don't necessarily need his permission. Give your lender a ring to find out for sure, but this was my situation 4 years ago - my ex complained to them about it but because we were on a better deal they closed his complaint.

This is a great idea, I had been thinking of doing similar. I've bought new towels, bed linen, tea towels etc that will only be used for the house viewings. All stored in a box in my wardrobe at the moment. Love the idea of swapping it all over and hiding the old stuff in the box in car boot during viewings

@whatsappdoc I've not used linen spray before, do you just spray it on to bedlinen/furniture etc to make it smell fresh? Any particular one you would recommend?

@ADVICENEEDED987 I just used a room spray when everything was neat and tidy. A quick burst and shut the door. Then no one was allowed in until afterwards!

We had a flat ready to go on the market on Saturday because we'd been able to spend all day cleaning but now it's Tuesday and our 5 year old is around and we are back to work, it's going to need another clean.

We are going away on Saturday and hopefully viewings will take place whilst we are away. I'm not sure how we will manage when we are back as I work from home a lot and my daughter just creates mess wherever she goes.