What would you do? Improving home to sell

Declutter or skip everything. Clean it and fix the kitchen drawers and cupboards. There's so much that needs doing once you start you won't be able to stop.

Pine and stipple ceilings blurgh

Make sure it doesn't smell of fags, old people or dogs.
 
gazo7000 said:
Hi all,

Yeah I'm currently in the process of decluttering but only have weekends and just imagine the amount of stuff to throw away in a 4 storey house this large. I've been at it for 4 weekends now and still no sight of it ending.

I did think at the start about removing the wallpaper and carpet, putting in neutral colours but what about the doors, French doors, staircase and sills? Won't they look odd with white walls?

Cheers for all the feedback.
Click to expand...

Possibly, but I think anything would be better than patterned wallpaper. It's not as if to a third party that somehow fits with everything else - I guess it's just that you're accustomed to it so in your eyes it's normal.
 
anything I don't mind said:
So you don't think you could get any more money on the sale price if people are not forced to decorate?
Click to expand...

It's very unlikely you'd do the decorating exactly to someone else's taste so they'd probably want to do it anyway. If it's plain people may tolerate it for a bit though from my experience it's far easier to decorate it to taste before moving in.
 
What would you guys do to this? This is the big lounge with indoor balcony/gallery area.

image.jpg

image.jpg
 
Gribs said:
It's very unlikely you'd do the decorating exactly to someone else's taste so they'd probably want to do it anyway. If it's plain people may tolerate it for a bit though from my experience it's far easier to decorate it to taste before moving in.
Click to expand...

As a seller why does it matter what the buyers wants to do when it is sold? The important thing is will decorating increase the sale price and make you more money. Even if they are going to rip it out anyway, there might be a chance that you can get a higher price if it looks in better condition. I agree though time wise if you are doing house sales often then its probably better to not do a thing to it. In this case its his only house (i assume) that he inherited, i think, so it may be worth spending time to improve it if it means more money? The question is will it get more money from just removing wallpaper and making it appear more modern and well kept. I am not sure how much difference it will make.
 
There is so much work there that i would certainly take macca's advice and just get it clean and tidy. You'll never get through that lot yourself and i would be doubtful that getting it done professionally would pay off.

By coincidence we have the same thing at the moment;
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-52725197.html

Just not worth doing the work to it so its cleaned, tidy, and is being sold as is.
 
Interior brick, dark wood, tongue and groove ceilings :p

Just leave it or torch it. I think your problem is that despite the large windows in certain areas it looks incredibly dark still, and you won't fix that easily.
 
Last edited:
I can source an industrial airless sprayer from friends which will make all the painting a lot easier.

Regarding the ceilings in the kitchen and lounge, it may be dated but would it be an idea to paint them a light/neutral colour to brighten up the rooms?
 
Just clear the junk, clean, air and get it on the market you are over thinking it!, if it doesn't attract a suitable price then look to change stuff but you'll be amazed the way people queue up to over pay for a 'project'!
 
Looks more farmhouse style than dated, granted it's not modern but not everybody wants that. I just hope there's not an avocado bathroom suite ;)

I'd just de-clutter, I'd leave a few pieces of furniture to demonstrate how the spaces can be lived in, but there should be virtually nothing else in the house. Big skip and fill it!

Other than that, put all the lights on for photo's and viewings.
 
Just to echo a lot of the same suggestions really. Declutter, and paint the walls using neutral colours (i.e. off-white / magnolia) to create the impression of more space. I would leave the wooden panneling on the ceilings as they are, they are not terrible - provided everywhere else is clutter free.
 
Having now seen the pics I would inclined to put the paintbrush down unless you plan to do a significant refurb to try and achieve a higher return, painting would probably be fairly futile. Prospective buyers aren't likely to be swayed by it, as the house would still need a fair bit of modernisation to meet today's swanky standards. A good clean and a few minor repairs to give the impression that the house was cared for would be enough.
 
If you've only got weekends, painting it will take a looooooooooong time, so I'd only go down that route if you don't want to sell it anytime soon. As above, fix the kitchen cupboard fronts etc.

My Mum and her sisters have just had to sell their Dad's house. They cleaned it, removed everything bar core furniture and sold it like that. Let the potential buyer put their stamp on it.

We've also been looking at houses recently and looked at one somebody had done up to sell. It had a new kitchen but, whilst clean & shiny, it lacked any real thought or flair. We'd had ended up taking it straight it.
 
Leave as is.

Unless you're going add some square footage, a bit of decorating won't do much.

I also see a lot of wallpaper. Who knows what's underneath, or how difficult it will be to get off .Once you start there's no going back.

Get a figure in you head, get the property on the market, if you don't get sensible offers, listen to the estate agent feed back and consider your options.

It looks in good shape to me so I doubt you'll look back.
 
Last edited:
Cheers everyone for the feedback, much appreciated.

Obviously I've still got a lot of de-cluttering to do and will return when I decide what to do.

The main advice I'm taking is possibly strip the wallpaper, painting to make it look clean and fix the kitchen cabinets.
 
After seeing the pictures you definitely need to lighten the place up a bit! Those pelmets defo need to go and a good de-clutter should help no end.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom