[Closed] Home improvements as selling points.

What you see sells as it were, and kitchens/ bathrooms are key, do the boiler by all means but unless the electrics are shot then leave them. Most people will make a decision within a few minutes of entering your house so will concentrate on its cosmetics first. People these days want space and so anything that makes it look bigger inside is a good thing and if you have a garden make sure its tidy (and ideally look easy to look after). I say this after 12 months of looking for a new house and giving up..!

I'd consider refreshing the kitchen, new doors / worktop as cheaply as possible. Boiler and wiring can be expensive and messy, a shabby kitchen could put a potential buyer off from the start, chances are they will already be emotionally committed by the time a survey suggests new wiring and boiler, you may need to negotiate over selling price but it'll be easier than doing it yourself (especially the wiring).

It depends on your market. When we were looking we preferred places with grotty/dated kitchens so we could put in a kitchen that suited us. Viewed a couple of places where kitchens had been put in to sell and knew the sellers would be trying to recoup the cost of that when we'd just want to rip it out and start over.

A load of cabinets described as a new kitchen are the most pointless thing you can do t osell a house, most women prefer a brand new kitchen, with the fridge , dish washer etc where they want it, not where it put by the previous owner.

New front door, decent garden, no weeds, clean gutters, and neuighbours with fridges in the front garden are more important selling points.

Depending on your target market I'd just sell it as it is. If anything really needs doing price accordingly and make any potential buyers aware of that. Personally speaking I'd prefer the choice of doing the work or not, and would rather pay for a kitchen of my choosing.

Also bear in mind a potential buyer might not have the money to pay an extra £5k for your choice of kitchen, it could be something they'd prefer to do later once finances have settled down.

Most buyers will not have any spare cash for a year or two after buying a house and if it doesn't have the kind of features that you would expect at the price you are going to find it hard to sell.

I've just spent 18 months trying to sell mine. So today the new windows are being fitted, on Thursday the new boiler is coming, I'm just about to go and pick up a new fireplace and the carpets are ordered and will be fitted as soon as I've redecorated the hall stairs and landing.

I think the world of house buyers falls into 2 camps, those like me who would rather do everything themselves and those who want the whole place done top to bottom. I'm not sure partly doing it up is worthwhile unless there is something far worse than everything else.

redo the kitchen on the cheap, Ikea do very reasonably priced units.

anything else locally selling?
get round them and have a look at the competition. What price/features are things up at and keep an eye on whats selling and what isn't.

You should get an idea of the maximum price for the house and what you can afford to do. It's amazing what a tidy and a lick of paint can achieve.

To pay top prices you want it to be perfect for you, if not your over paying for something you will change. Unless you think you can get more for doing your improvements than it costs you think twice.

I've been put off buying houses that had clearly had recent money spent on them on new kitchens etc that weren't to our taste. Seems risky IMO.

BigJohn, so you currently have a ripped out fireplace ?

😛

as above, mate selling his house, kitchen needs doing and bathroom, 3 separate estate agents said dont bother doing them up, the buyer will want to put their own stamp on the house.

If that's literal - yes.

If that's a euphemism - sadly yes too. Courtesy of Stafford Balti.

Didn't Kazoo Funk Orchestra mention that?