Would cosmetic wear and tear put buyers off our cottage?

[FuzzyBumbleeBee]

We've decided to move but I'm worried about the state of the house
I don't want to and can't afford to spend a few hundred in painting and filling holes plus the house we want is already on the market and pretty perfect so will be snapped up quick as other houses in the area have been, it's only been up a week so we have the estate agents coming Friday to value and do photos on ours so we should be good to go by next weekend

Our house is good and solid no structural issues, we had the roof fixed in the last 6months the chimney was redone because of damp

The house has a lot of work needed in terms of sprucing it up eg lots of areas paint needs re doing or touching up, marks from stair gates on the walls, rough patches on the wall due to being rather lazy when we filled a hole and not sanding it properly before painting
The kitchen cabinet paint is starting to chip ect
The garden has the kids rather large paddling pool which I won't move as it then uncovers the large patch of mud underneath were the grass died things like that

Would this put you off?

I'm hoping the fact we are close to the beach, pretty old cottage, in town centre, good sized garden, working fireplace and while we are a 2 bed on paper it's actually used as a 3 bed easily with dining room and living room will sway someone to ignore the chips ect

I've already spent out in paint for my kids rooms as they need re doing due to the damp damage before it was fixed and that's cost a couple hundred, and I have emergency dental work due next week as well as the dog getting castrated which I can't delay so really can't waste money on even more paint for the downstairs this month and don't want to delay for fear if missing out in this property

I would paint it, it looks uncared for.

The house was an absolute state when we brought it and we've spent years doing the big things like new (second hand) kitchen as there was only 2 cupboards
The garden was basically a tip so that's been re done and is probably the best feature apart from the open fire so we have all the documents to show the house is structurally good which I hope will help

But having done the big things we have neglected the general look if it eg not touching up properly as we just kept moving to the next big thing

Fingers crossed as even though I'm taking on what is being said and do now think we need to get those bits done I also don't want to risk waiting and will probably just chuck it on the market and hope

This is a house a few roads away from us that's up for sale to give an idea, ours doesn't have a drive but we are in a much better general decorative state

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/165595049#/?channel=RES_BUY

Avocado bathroom suite! You've got me. 😍

there are only 4 types of buyer, so obviously you are reducing the number interested in yours:

1. ready to move into no work needed, "high" price paid
2. expecting to do cosmetic work to reflect their own taste, might offer close to full price
3. willing to do cosmetic (only) work on a neglected property, will expect to offer lower than it will cost them to do such work
4. buyers who value your location above the state of the property and will pay accordingly.

you won't know how many are currently in each group until you are on the market.
If you cannot afford to do it up for sale purposes, what makes you think you can afford the place you want if your budget is that tight?

As PPs have said, it will put off some who don’t want to decorate and some who will be concerned about what else might be needed if the basics have been neglected. I wouldn’t look at the one you linked to either and not just because of the avocado bathroom. It looks drab and uncared for.

"if it's viewed before we get it all done it's just seen as well loved"

Sorry but no one has ever looked at an unkempt, frankly quite dirty looking house and thought that looks 'well loved'.

Yes, it would put me off, it looks a bit of a dump to be perfectly honest.

@FuzzyBumbleeBee , I actually do love the bathroom, and remember that MNers live in palaces and consider anything that's not done to the latest trend as a 'reno' or 'doer-upper'.

I think youre really cheeky re the paddling pool

A bit tatty round the edges isn't a problem. As long as everything is squeaky clean and smells nice, people aren't going to worry.

It looks uncared for and that would put me off.

Sorry I think it looks awful. It makes it look dirty and unkempt. The skirting on stairs and the opposite doorframe look filthy. It sounds as if they aren’t actually dirty just scuffed but I’d be very put off that you thought it fine to market in that state.
I painted all our skirts, stairs hand rail and downstairs door frames in a day and with a litre of paint. It’s really not much effort and it will make a huge difference.

I just touched up your photo to show the difference painted woodwork would make. It’s a massive massive improvement. Dirty and shabby to clean, sharp and fresh.

I would paint the door frames and touch up worst walls before getting photos taken. It would possibly deter people that would be happy to do cosmetic work by needs assuming it needs more doing. You want your photos to show your house in its best light.

We use the tough and durable range in b & q as you can use the same paint on wood work and walls - no need for masking up and fiddling around wood work etc.

We can afford the place we want, our mortgage advisor has already gone through costs with us it would actually save us money as we will be increasing the term as we have less than 10 years left currently
He has already said he can get all associated fees sorted within the sale so we have nothing to pay out of pocket as he did for us when buying this house

I cannot afford to paint right now because
In the last few months I have paid out 3k to fix the roof
Nearly 1k in dental work and there is more to come next week so a good estimate would be 1.5k in total for dental by the time it's all done
I cannot put this off I am unable to eat solid food currently and am loosing significant weight due to it,
Almost 1k in car repairs
The dog is booked for castration which is £245 while I could move it this it's the perfect time as I am off for the week to look after him and the kids in school holidays
Paid for the paint, plaster ECT to fix the upstairs rooms walls from the damp caused by the roof leak which was £250
That's 6k in the last few months, 5k that wasn't expected to be needed I knew the dog and mot but didn't expect everything else

Until payday I just can't stretch the money that's left any further
A tin of paint may only be £20 but I just don't have that spare till the end of the month and don't want to miss out on the house

Not dirty I wipe skirting down weekly as my dogs shed worse than any other dog breed I've ever met
But is badly scuffed and has many years of paint showing though so once a layer is kicked off you can see the older paint underneath as with the door frame as well

I think you might be in denial about how bad it looks.

I agree.

I also think you’re misguided if you think that you’ll get it on the market and find someone who wants to buy it as is, before the house you want is sold.

You say that houses sell quickly in your area. I think you’d be surprised at how long they can be on the market. Perhaps your area is slower at catching up with the trend, but most places aren’t moving and houses that sell are priced very competitively or are immaculate. Even doer uppers aren’t that popular because of the cost of materials and tradesmen. You’ve mentioned previous damp- a survey might find that, let alone all the cosmetic work that needs doing now.

You have so many other expenses, I don’t think this is the time to think about selling. Leave it and revisit it when you’ve spruced up yours.

I know it looks bad, that's why I posted asking if it would put people off
I'm too used to seeing it and wanted other opinions

I have already agreed it actually does need doing but that financially it's not possible in the next couple of weeks
I mean I could apply for a credit card and put it on that but but the time I did that and it turned up I might as well have just waited till payday

I don't agree it's dirty as someone said as I clean constantly

I'll see what the estate agents say when they come as they may be able to hide the worst of it on photos with different angles giving me time to get the painting done before anyone views it

You’ve had the roof fixed, chimney fixed, and the house looks scruffy. I’d be really wary of what else would need doing. You might know there are no structural issues, but the average buyer doesn’t, and unless they love everything else about the house aren’t going to want to pay out for a survey to find out.

I’d be steering clear on the basis it doesn’t look like you’ve kept on top of the upkeep. But you’re saying you can’t afford a pot of paint and are determined to go ahead with selling so I guess that’s an end of it?

Selling houses is tricky and stressful, what you don't want to do is put it on the market, have viewings and no offers because of the state of it. You then have to lower the price, which makes buyers wary or take it off the market, decorate and then relist with new photos.
Buyers are constantly looking on Rightmove and get to know the houses in their price range, they may then overlook yours as they remember it as being scruffy.

You need it looking pretty for the pics, and as soon as it goes live you'll get the most viewings so I don't think your market then paint option would work unfortunately.

You can buy filler for a few quid in toolstation or screw fix and use an old knife. Trade white paint is 15quid for 10l so will fix most issues

It wouldn't put me off as current house was a mess when we bought it but it did sell for 26k under asking price

I'm not hugely fussed on cleanliness as long as it's not smoke ridden and filthy as cleaning is less effort than painting. Nothing is selling at the moment really so take a long market time with a pinch of salt

I agree with this. It sounds like money is very tight. How are you going to afford to move? Solicitors and search costs along with survey costs for your new place? Hopefully you have some good equity in your current place but as others have said. It looks scruffy and uncared for and others will see this too.

Sorry.

That photo implies you might not look after the house and there might be other issues. General grubbiness would put me off to an extent.

In all honesty OP I think there’s a difference between “tired” and “unloved”. The house we have recently bought was tired, it needed a full redecoration as it was clear it hadn’t been done for a while, but it was also clear it was a much-loved home.

Those photos make your house look unloved, and that would make me think you haven’t been keeping up with maintenance stuff. For example, scuffs at the bottom of doors, skirting boards etc. would be okay, as that indicates normal wear and tear that has not been prioritised, but having them across the whole doorframe like that look very suspect.