Advice on work to sell house

[Steve Smith]

Hi all

Advice sought from the group before I go to the estate agents.

There is minimal money available but I am willing to do as much work as I am capable of doing. The house is a semi-detached bungalow, not sure of age but probably 60's. It has not been redecorated for about twenty years. It has carpets throughout, pink bathroom suite, polystyrene ceiling tiles and a kitchen that shouts 'renew me'.

Any suggestions as to what I might do to make it more saleable?

I realise the ceiling tiles should go but what else? I'm thinking of stripping everything - wallpaper and carpets.

Thanks

Steve

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Hi all | |Advice sought from the group before I go to the estate agents. | |There is minimal money available but I am willing to do as much work as I am |capable of doing. The house is a semi-detached bungalow, not sure of age but |probably 60's. It has not been redecorated for about twenty years. It has |carpets throughout, pink bathroom suite, polystyrene ceiling tiles and a |kitchen that shouts 'renew me'. | |Any suggestions as to what I might do to make it more saleable? | |I realise the ceiling tiles should go but what else? I'm thinking of |stripping everything - wallpaper and carpets.

Redecorate first.

Watch daytime Sat/Digital TV, lots of programs about your problem there.

[Andy Hall]

Check your wallet when you walk in and again when you leave the office...

Do you own this? Inheritance etc.? One option is to discuss with an estate agent a likely selling price now and after refurbishment. The delta may not make it worthwhile bothering or it might - depends on area and desirability. Another is to take a small mortgage secured on the property to fund some of the work. This comes out of the proceeds of course but may be a way to fund the work - assuming the outcome makes sense.

The general advice is to redecorate in a fairly neutral way because that will appeal to more people. You can always add colour but not take it away.

Certainly changing the bathroom suite is a must, as is the kitchen.

However, I think that the starting point is to look at the economics and decide whether the amount of money you would need to spend, plus a lot of work if you DIY it, is worth the return. Part of that would be budgeting the materials etc.

[The Medway Handyman]

Apart from the cosmetics, check out the electic wiring, the roof and the boiler/heating. All a big put off if surveys pick them up.

[Owain]

Ann Maurice is the guru - get her books from the library.

Bathroom / Kitchen and Garden are probably the 3 main things.

Everything else is probably just clean and paint in "light neutral tones".

Carpets might just need cleaning if they're otherwise plain and good.

Remember you can save a couple of percent if you sell privately rather than using an estate agent. Agents give free valuations or you can get sold prices for your area on the internet.

Owain

[Phil L]

Borrow 5 grand and spend it on the kitchen and bathroom, it will increase the value by 20K

[Stuart]

I'd agree with getting rid of a pink bathroom suite .That would make most people turn and walk out the door . lol...

I's also agree with considering the advantage to be gained from spending some money to assist in selling it remembering that most people are unable to see past what is in front of them .

Stuart

[Dave Fawthrop]

|Steve Smith wrote: |> Hi all |>

|> Advice sought from the group before I go to the estate agents. |>

|> There is minimal money available but I am willing to do as much work |> as I am capable of doing. The house is a semi-detached bungalow, not |> sure of age but probably 60's. It has not been redecorated for about |> twenty years. It has carpets throughout, pink bathroom suite, |> polystyrene ceiling tiles and a kitchen that shouts 'renew me'. |>

|> Any suggestions as to what I might do to make it more saleable? |>

|> I realise the ceiling tiles should go but what else? I'm thinking of |> stripping everything - wallpaper and carpets. |>

|> Thanks |>

|> Steve | |Borrow 5 grand and spend it on the kitchen and bathroom, it will increase |the value by 20K

The next door house to us, which was a wreck, was bought by a builder for GBP100,000 the kitchen and bathroom were replaced, some extra UPVC windows added, the whole place redecorated in off white, cheap gray carpets layed. It is now for sale for GBP145,000. Could not have cost more than 20,000 to do up.

Mind you house prices are rocketing in our area. :-)

[meow2222]

Generally one would remove polystyrene tiles, you may have to replaster the ceiling afterwards though. Also repaint so it all looks nice & clean & light, & declutter. Whether anything else is worth doing depends entirely on the house & location. If the place is worth minimal then you may lose out doing more, but if your area has reasonable house prices then just sorting out anything bad is really the way to go. Rot in window frames can be repaired for very little, etc. Hard to know what its weakpoints are without seeing it really.

NT

[Dave Plowman (News)]

To me it would depend on who it's aimed at. First time buyers would probably want somewhere they could move into with minimal expense. Others might want to put their own footprint on their hew home. So I'd not waste money on kitchen and bathroom - ie a new cheap but serviceable solution will fool no one, whereas spending serious money will never be recovered. Since the house is empty, I'd concentrate on the basics which are a PITA after moving in - re-wiring and a decent heating system. Both of which you can save a great deal on by at least partial DIY, depending on skills. A good roof guttering and external decoration helps too as does a tidy garden, fences and gates, etc. As regards internal decorations decorator's finish with bare floor would be my choice. As regards internal decoration

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I really don't believe this for anything other than an inexperienced house buyer. A new kitchen is one of the first things people do in a new to them house.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I doubt it would for anyone here. A cheap B&W suite with electric shower would me, though. And I wouldn't expect that to ad its cost to the house value.

[Weatherlawyer]

This poster could use some lessons in writing English. It is a peculiarity with newbies that they mistake terseness for masculinity.

You could strip the paper as that will look depressing after a few years however good it was and paint the ceiling white and the walls magnolia. Get it in 2 or 3 gallon tins.

You can lightly sand the kitchen unit doors and give them a coat of white too. Make sure you brush the lines out then coat them in eggshell.

You'll be amazed at the difference that makes and that lot will only cost a hundred quid or so.

Paint the windows and doors the same way too and there is only the furniture and carpet to think about. Get an orbital sander and use a roll of green medium grit on the walls before painting (use fine on the woodwork.)

To make the job easier, take the doors off, get a couple of those cheap plastic benches and lay them on those (do them one at a time and replace them one at a time too or you will get lost) and you'll crack the lot in a week.

It won't cost more than 2 or 3 hundred quid tops.

If the carpets are not too atrocious, a steam cleaner might sort the them out. Hire one for a week and go over them a couple of times. Make sure the hire firm doesn't give you some crappy tack. They have a habit of not maintaining their stock properly.

[meow2222]

If money's tight, lime paint is good for ceilings and ubercheap. A =A36 bag of lime will be plenty. Mix lime with water to a paste and leave in sealed tub overnight. Dilute till its like water and paint on. It looks very thin at first, but bodies up well over a few days as it cures.

eh?

eh?

NT

[Phil L]

Which poster would this be?

[Andrew Gabriel]

Hum, I don't find myself agreeing here. I don't know anyone who makes a buying decision based on the of condition of heating or wiring. People mostly don't think of these at all. A clean and tidy kitchen and bathroom are always listed as the number one features.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Then they live to regret it. It of course depends on how experienced a house owner they were before this purchase. The house didn't sound like a first time buyer type of place.

[Weatherlawyer]

If context eludes you then it doesn't matter unless you too are contemplating the same sort of thing.

The advice is sound and if the one asking for it can't see it, he shouldn't be let loose with a toothbrush, never mind a paint brush.

[Edward W. Thompson]

Other than all the suggestions for internal 'improvements' you must not neglect 'kerb appeal'. Before anyone will purchase the property you must get them through the front door, to do that the outside must look attractive. So, garden, exterior paintwork and roof must all look 'cared for'.

[mogga]

As Ms Beeney would say "they'd have got that for it even if they'd not done any work" :)