Advice on work to sell house

[Andy Hall]

Sigh.... the youth of today.

So there's no hope of DIY lasting beyond the current generation.....

I take your point though. Perhaps I was thinking wishfully.

[john.sabine]

As a longtime lurker and occasional poster, I have to ask, what drives you to make this sort of post?

Regards

John

[john.sabine]

As a matter of interest, roughly where is the house?

Apologies if I've missed the location, but surely it has a bearing not only on the sort of buyer but on their expectations?

Regards

John

[Owain]

Of course not; the youth of today want-it-all-done-for-them.

When I volunteered in a charity shop I suggested to one of the girl students that she could mend a loose button on a jacket. The look she gave me was as though I'd suggested reciting Milton in Swahili while hanging from her navel piercing from a trapeze.

Owain

[djc]

If the price is right it would be very attractive to a first time buyer. Anyone buying it will almost certainly want to decorate to their taste eventually. If it is done up cheaply it will not add value, the buyer will factor in the need to redo it to their standard; if done to a higher standard it is unlikely to be what the buyer really would like.

The important thing is that it is very clean and tidy; attractive to someone prepared to put in work, who can see the potential of an empty shell. Clear out everything, including garden. Present it as an opportunity for refurbishment.

[Andy Hall]

Perhaps she didn't like you checking her navel piercing....

[Doctor Drivel]

If you read what this plantpot write, you would want him to eff off. That is simple.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Talking of loony twitterings, I'm still waiting for that visit from the police you promised me in one of your even more potty moments. I'm glad the new medication has stabilised you - slightly.

[The Medway Handyman]

You may not have the money, but finding it wouldn't be a problem with an asset like that.

[Anna Kettle]

Yebbut. The parents of a lot of todays buyers are not homeowners, or weren't until maggie made it possible to buy their well maintained council house. So they dont have a DIY friendly upbringing

Without that young buyers are sensible not to buy a place that needs lots of work done. There is a lot of learning curve there, more than you might think if you imbibed it with your mother's milk

Anna

[Andy Hall]

Interesting point.

I can see your point, but was just thinking about my own experience. My parents always owned their own place and would tackle jobs like painting and decorating but never anything more substantial such as wiring, plumbing and let alone anything involving knocking walls down.

I hadn't really had that much exposure to doing any of these things for myself.

However, over a 5 year period after leaving university had bought a house that although livable in, had been bodged. It needed proper roof repair, a certain amount of timber replacement, rewiring and installation of central heating, then of course, redecorating.

I did all of these things apart from the roof work over the course of about a year not on a continuous basis. Heating and wiring designs were properly planned out using design rules and wiring regulations and so forth.

In financial terms, the investment in materials and outsourced labour was approximately a third of the initial cost of the house (although there was a good price on that), but it sold after a further three years at nearly three times the original price. Only part of that was as a result of the general rise in prices.

On the other hand, my kids have seen a environment where things are generally done by me, and better than bringing in professionals (my main motivation these days rather than cost); yet they are much more of the ilk of expecting things to be done for them.

Perhaps the original observation was right after all. I blame it on TV and the internet.

[The Natural Philosopher]

It doesn't affect the value, but it does affect teh saleability.

When yoiu move house, it is a HUGE upheaval. When its you FIRST house chjances are you are working night and day anmd living in a crummy rented load of crap/.

The attarction is a house hat, although not to your taste, is SOMETHING YOU CAN MOVE INTO IMMEDIATELY is beyond price really.

The more expensive the house, the less this matters.

People later on in life with more capital will be buying not 'what they can just afford' but 'what they want' and will like as not spend a month or three fixing it up to make it inhabitable to their taste.

Not at the bottom end of the market..not even halfway up. I bought this house at rock bottom prices..it was shabby, had damp problems, but was huge with a huge garden and dirt cheap. it took me about 8 years to save up to refurb it..in the end I rebuilt it completely - yes, underneath it WAS that bad..and was living in crap rented for a year and a half while I did it.

The house had been on the market over a year when I bought it..for 135 grand. Today after about 600k spend its worth well over a million. I couldn't afford the time or money to refurb it immediately..it was livable in from word go, and I spent bugger all on it knowing that in due course it would get the full treatment.

It was on the market for a year at 160 grand, before I negotiated the price down..no one wanted it. Frankly as a building plot it was worth what I paid for it..

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[Dave Plowman (News)]

My father, despite being a technical sort of bloke never lifted a hand round the house. Except for the gardening. Everything else was done by tradesmen. I remember my mother scraping wallpaper off once before the decorator arrived. Some domestic dispute about whether the room needed doing or not. After that it certainly did.

Surely it's more a case of if they are willing to accept someone other's taste?

I accept that many won't or can't DIY but they're in a minority - hence the popularity of groups like this and all the makeover progs on TV.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Total no sequitur, Dave.

Millions of people WATCH formula 1 motor racing and chatter all about it on the Internet, without ever even climbing in a go kart or picking up a spanner.

My wife LOVES grand designs..I must say it juts depresses me these days 'what stupid idea will she insist that I implement NOW?" is the general thought that goes through my head.

I've had more rows of the 'no it ISN'T a simple job to put two screws in to carry a 12kg mirror on a plasterboard wall' ..'No it is NOT a quick job to strip, fill, sand, and paint this horrible piece of pine crap that was 'such a bargain' at the auction..' 'no it is not a simple job to mode the toilet to the other side of the bathroom, I have to take up a block and beam floor, get a digger in the bathroom, and replace EVERYTHING'.

Most people are totally incapable of doing DIY, and haven't the faintest clue how to go about it. They bodge, or 'get a man in' and he bodges for them..No one trains anyone for manual labour these days. It's infra dig.

[Andy Hall]

Perhaps the TV could break.....

Most of these programmes are complete rubbish, and the thought of that Sarah whatever-her-name-is gives me the shUdders.

It's like children really - find a diversion.

It's this one plus the implied pressure of 'if you can't do it within the next millisecond, we'll have to get a man in'.

One sees them in DIY sheds at the weekends wandering about aimlessly and pushing small children round in push chairs.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

That's a sport. Same as the multitudes that watch footie. It's entertainment. DIY is rather different.

I can, of course, only speak for those I know as friends and workmates. Can't really think of anyone who never does any DIY.

[Owain]

Those pricetag guns can be vicious...

Owain

[Owain]

But the makeover progs do tend more towards the get-a-little-man-in and arrange some fluffy cushions afterwards.

Owain

[Doctor Drivel]

Boy you are a plantpot and really should eff off.

[ARWadsworth]

Did you not get the kids to help?

One of my best childhood memories was spending the summer holidays building an extension with my Dad.

Adam