Refurbishing a house prior to selling: Money well spent??

[JakeD]

Is it a foregone conclusion that putting money into refurbishing one's house prior to putting it on the market is usually a good investment?

There are TV programs that seem to suggest so, but people who make TV programs are making their money from making TV programs - not from buying and refurbishing property! What's more, I often watch those progs (House Doctor etc.) and think to myself: "Wow, if I were the buyer, I'd rather they had left the place as it was and just given me the money they put into "improving" it!"

In my case, the only major jobs left to be done that would make the place significantly more attractive, would be fitting new carpets throughout, redecorating throughout, repainting the exterior rendering, and replacing the nackered wooden windows with new UPVC ones. I'd have to borrow the money to do these jobs, (say £3K or £4K) and I'm concerned about getting further into debt than I already am, because I'm already stretched. Of course, if the house sells quickly, it wouldn't matter much, but it's a bit hard to predict how long a house will take to sell.

Many thanks,

JD

[The Medway Handyman]

Advice I had from an ex estate agent (no axe to grind) was not to replace windows, paint everywhere magnolia with white gloss, make sure kitchen & bathroom are OK, make sure front looks OK.

I renovated my bathroom for about £450 & spent £400 on new door/drawer fronts for the kitchen.

[John Rumm]

some stuff can be worth doing, but its not really worth doing major work like a complete kitchen or bathroom refit or new windows since they probably won't add as much valve as they cost, and more to the point - whatever you choose will only appeal so some buyers. So if the kitchen is beyond hope, knock the value off the price and let the new owner choose what they want.

Some stuff you can pay attention to... declutter, paint light colours are eliminate that green and pink bedroom etc. Most buyers won't be looking closely at windows etc.

[Bert Coules]

In my late parents' bungalow I replaced the very dated brown-swirly carpet throughout, painted the (already painted but getting dingy) walls and woodwork (all magnolia) and replaced a few fittings (front door handle, one or two electrical sockets) which were mildly damaged or discoloured. On the advice of the estate agent, I left the bathroom and kitchen alone. Most of the rest of the work was just a very thorough clean, inside and out.

I was told to make the place welcoming and tidy and to get it into a state which could happily be lived with for a few months while the buyer decides what changes she or he wants to make. The agent had tales of would-be buyers looking at newly renovated bathrooms and kitchens and declaring "Well, I'd have to replace all that".

Bert

[The Natural Philosopher]

It depends on te quality of house: at the boring suburban end of things a well presented house with nothing needing to be done before moving in, and a clean attractive appearance devoid of the sellers 'personality' (and body odour) helps.

Larger houses that are always going to be revamped by someone with an eye and a chequebook big enough will probably disregard any prettying up

[charles]

indeed so. Both are next door neighbours put in plans to enlarge the houses within 6 months of moving in. As far as one neighbour is concerned a 4 bed-room house needs to be a 5 bedroom one, with 5 en-suite bathrooms!

[David WE Roberts]

Advice for us was very similar - don't replace kitchen and bathroom as purchaser is likely to do this anyway. Clean, light, uncluttered. Repainting the exterior rendering sounds a good idea as it will give more 'kerb appeal' (assuming that the current rendering is looking dodgy). If the rendering is just dirty it can be spruced up amazingly by a good wash. If carpets are dark and dated it may be worth doing everywhere in the same light (but cheap) carpet as this tends to make the house look bigger inside. However clean and tidy and fresh paint is usually more important.

However in our case they did say that everyone in the area expects white plastic windows. However as long as the windows are clean and neat you could discount a bit for the uPVC replacement by the purchaser. Anything obviously rotten or knackered would be a turn off and suggest other hidden problems due to neglect.

HTH

Dave R

[alan]

De-cluttering and clean windows probably has more of an impact.

[Dom Ostrowski]

In my experience the condition of a house affects how quickly it sells.

But the condition doesn't affect value by very much.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

No. Two very similar houses sold in this street recently - except one was in good decorative order with new kitchen and bathroom, etc, the other very old fashioned, but pretty sound. The second one actually sold for slightly more. It might be different for one which would appeal to a first time buyer, or for buy to rent.

[harry]

The TV programs are largely bollocks. The important thing to remember is that if it is your only lived in home any profit is tax free. Having said that, there are lots of people about these days have zero DIY abilities and expect to walk into a house and have no work to do. They go on what they see ie the superficials. It's worth putting in a bathroom and kitchen, everything else should be a minimum if you are just doing it to sell.

Outside, tidy up gardens and driveway (renewal if necessary).

Another important ting is "kerb appeal", ie, the theory that people decide whether to buy from what they see first from outside. I think that may be true. And position is a key factor.

You find that there are for sale cheaply, houses that have a very obvious problem. If you can think of a solution to this problem it may be a good buy. I have had several such houses with access problems which I fixed.

Houses with a "view" are easier to sell.

[The Natural Philosopher]

On 03/01/13 10:06,

You can refurb a house, but you cant get rid of a view of your neighbours wind turbines and solar panels..

[John Rumm]

So if its not in a good position, move it, it will sell so much better elsewhere! ;-)

[docholliday93]

Though of course a load of new doors and windows could be a cover-up of the same problems - I remember being told by someone in the property business that he regarded new front doors as a bad sign...

[tony sayer]

In article , JakeD scribeth thus

Yes in most instances..

You might .. most of the general population can't "see" anything other then what they see in front of them..

If the old ones are manky then yes..

If the decor is poor then yes 'tho bland magnolia is the real neutral colour;!. If the windows are bad then yep, replace..

Indeed...

Rule numero uno is a house is only worth what you can get anyone to pay for it;!..

Have a look around to see what similar properties are going for and how long they take to sell.

To some extent if its a standard semi then yes, do make it look as they could move in rightaway without much work needing doing, a larger place then as others have said they will do what they think fit etc..

3 to 4 K on the price of a house unless your in a very poor area is very little to spend on it.

Someone we know didn't do this and got some useless estate agents in and if she had have spent a few £K could have got another 40 odd K!..

In fact the people who moved in said that, and they only reason they managed to get it is the agents put off all the cash buyers;!...

[jgharston]

You only have a profit if you replace it with somewhere cheaper - or don't move anywhere else at all.

JGH

[JTM]

We sold ours at a time when the market was falling and it took over two years (3 firm sales fell through in that time and it was off the market for some months)

Although kitchen and bathroom were decent we (I) replaced them for about 1K + my time. We put the price up and sold it for 5K more than the original asking price.

Within weeks the new owner had started replacing the new kitchen.

Feedback from viewers was useful. . . like the people who didn't fancy having bedrooms on the ground floor. . . but it was a bungalow.

John

[harry]

Well of course. You buy the next wreck to do up.

Also down size while prices are up and upsize while prices are down.

I downsized around six years ago. Another couple of years might be a good time to think about upsizing.

[snot]

Dont waste your cash. A prospective purchaser is likely to knock the price down to cover the cost of a kitchen/bathroom/carpets/laminate and the like.

Just make sure the house looks good from the front, painted no obvious damage so it has "kerb appeal".

I didn't because I was out of cash and staring at re-possession in the medium term.

The house still sold (eventually - lack of kerb appeal was the problem).

But I took a a "big hit" on the price, think it cost me about £7K. FB

[alan]

The problem with kerb appeal is that it has little to do with the actual house and more do do with the immediate neighbourhood. A run down property in and area where neighbours look after their property will sell whereas an immaculate property in a potential slum area will not.