Getting ready to sell

oneillk

Opinions welcome please.

I will be selling my house in about 3 months time and i was wondering which way to go in terms of prepping the house for the market.

Situation at the moment - 2 bed house, first bedroom has double bed and needs replacement wardrobes, second bedroom is my office so needs a bed, wardrobe etc and flooring, bathroom is plain, no tiling just painted.
kitchen, living and dining is in good order, just needs repainting maybe.

Shoul I

1) spend maybe 1-1.5k on fitting the house out properly with doubel beds matching wardrobes etc, repainting and finiahing flooring, should i tile bathroom and generaly just finish off the house to a decent standard

or

2) dont spend much and just use what i have to its best effect and ensure house is clean and tidy.

cheers.

m_stan

I'm no expert, but I do know that you need to be thinking about the potential type of buyer of your house, and making it attractive to them.

If your most likely potential buyer is a single professional, it might be best to keep the office. If it's a couple/small family/someone who wants to rent out the spare room, you'll be better making that second room a bedroom.

Don't bother tiling or anything like that. Painting woul dbe a good idea if it's really needed (bright, neutral colours only).

Make sure the place is spotless, tidy, and smells nice. Remove any clutter into the attic to make it look bigger. Arrange the furniture to best effect for the same reason.

*edit - to find out what your most likely purchaser is, ask advice from as many local estate agents as possible. *

Sponge Bob

Spend the 1.5k on making the place look more homely and very liveable in , it will pay for itself in the final price which could increase €3k for €1.5k investment.

clean and patch tiles and grout, repaint eyesores , fix all broken doors , wd40 on creaky hinges and handles , revarnish floor if tatty and sand and revarnish if really tatty. tiling of not done at all may be best left that way as tastes vary and a quality job would cost €1500 on its own.

mow lawn , kill weeds.

all of that is agood investment and much of it is cheap or elbow grease required only

pjbrady1

Make sure to get a girl to look through it. Nothing like a womans touch to rearrange furniture, paintings. If the place looks visually positive then buyers will be in good mood. If they get reminded they are buying an overpriced Irish apartment then they will be in a bad mood.

Make sure to check prices in your area and if you want to sell quickly quote at least 30,000 lower. Better to get 15,000 lower then to end up sitting on it and making a 50,000 euro mistake. There is hardly anyone in their 20's going out to buy Dublin property this Spring, similarily investors will get scarce when next Daft report comes out.

dame

If the bathroom isn't tiled at all it might be a good idea to put down new lino. Just go to local hardware/furnishings store and ask to see their off-cuts or odd bits left. You should be able to get a bit to fit cheaply. Paint the bathroom walls if they don't look fresh. Also, make sure the rest of the house is spotless but particularly bathroom and kitchen. Women in particular will notice these two areas. Good advice so far about putting clutter in attic etc. Open a window or two as well and air the place out every day til then.

pjbrady1

Make sure to get a girl to look through it. Nothing like a womans touch to rearrange furniture, paintings. If the place looks visually positive then buyers will be in good mood. If they get reminded they are buying an overpriced Irish apartment then they will be in a bad mood.

Make sure to check prices in your area and if you want to sell quickly quote at least 30,000 lower. Better to get 15,000 lower then to end up sitting on it and making a 50,000 euro mistake. There is hardly anyone in their 20's going out to buy Dublin property this Spring, similarily investors will get scarce when next Daft report comes out.

The_Conductor

If it only costs 1.5k to put a nice finish on the house, and expenditure of 1.5k is likely to add 10k to your sale price- DO IT......
At the end of the day, as alluded to above, check what your target market is. I'll most probably be buying a house later in the year, if it came with a nicely furnished office- it would be far more tempting to me than an extra bedroom (but the future potential to change its use back to a bedroom would be useful).

Maybe check what sort of properties are most in demand in your area and try to target that particular market segment. You are never going to be able to decorate your house to suit everyone- it is not worth trying.

Ps- personally I would give the new lino idea for the bathrooms a miss, I actually shuddered at the thought......

S.

faceman

If you have a good estate agent they will probably give you best advise on what to do.

mad m

oneillk wrote:

1) spend maybe 1-1.5k on fitting the house out properly with doubel beds matching wardrobes etc, repainting and finiahing flooring, should i tile bathroom and generaly just finish off the house to a decent standard

I would think it will cost a lot more than 1-1.5k to do what you want,more like double that and that would be you doing the work yourself...

DonJose

Why would you buy beds, most people who buy a house want their own beds or possibly different sized beds based on family size. I would want to move into an empty house. Spend the money on paint and flooring.

Victor

Depending on who you are selling to, I would suggest spending the absolute minimum.

Borrow a single bed to put in the corner of the office.

If selling to a commercial landlord, do not change any of the finishes, as fresh paint / tiles / flooring screams "there was something covered over when they painted this". The commercial landlord while have tradesmen who can do it better and cheaper than you. The flipside is a buyer who wants to move in straight away and who doesn't want to have to do any work.

Make sure the place is clean. Spotless! With no clutter that gives the impression of being cleaning intensive.

Zambia

This is all guess work however here is what I have done and would do again

Have a valuation be-fore this is done.

1 : Remove anything not necessary , furniture should be sparse enough standard suite , tv + stand , simple beds. Clear even excess cutelry

2: Leave a basic office with furniture but have it very simple not lot of monitors , books , etc.

3: Bleach everyting in ther kitchen and bathroom , or any bleachable surface.

4: Polish everything left

5: Look at every wall if it needs paint do it two coats can make a difference,If you have been smoking in the house well your in for a lot of paint.

6: Mow the lawn. Sweep the drive , tidy the property entrance.

7: Remove any dogs , leave cats who cares plus if the viewers are allergic they will know anyway.

8: Tiling is pricey and a personnel choice dont bother, ensure the bathroom is clean instead.

9. Remove surplus curtains especially if they are horrid.

10. Once your finished have a few people do a wlak through.

Have another valuation.

All of this if you do it may take 3-4 days will cost you less than €300.

The cost of this can be re-couped by asking the estate agent to drop their fee by .25% , be sure to bargain on this I didnt and come close of sale it cost me 1000 euro. Plus they did not deserve half that.

Example 1% on a 400,000 house - estate agent 4,000 fee + vat see the saving

Best of luck

oneillk

Thanks for the replies.

As it stands some of the furniture especially the wardrobes in bedroom and some shelving in the office must go as there are not in good condition as well as the floor in office.
I think i need to show something a bit better and will probably replace with something cheap and cheefull to brighten the place up. Other then that, i will spend as little as possible and just clear all clutter etc.

Zambia

oneillk wrote:

Thanks for the replies.

As it stands some of the furniture especially the wardrobes in bedroom and some shelving in the office must go as there are not in good condition as well as the floor in office.
I think i need to show something a bit better and will probably replace with something cheap and cheefull to brighten the place up. Other then that, i will spend as little as possible and just clear all clutter etc.

A bit of carpet will cover that for a average room it will be quite cheap.

Remove manky furniture good man

Plus when your finshed re-hover every room using some pleasant shake & vac powder.

Glad to have helped

dame

smccarrick wrote:

Ps- personally I would give the new lino idea for the bathrooms a miss, I actually shuddered at the thought......

It would be far better to have a new lino floor than no tiles at all and OP did say bathroom not tiled at present. Also having lino would make it easier for the purchaser to remove and tile to their own liking.

Have you ever viewed a house with old 70's/80's tiling in bathroom? When you're looking at it you're thinking of the trouble it'll be to rip off all those old tiles and at the same time you know you can't live with them.

Have you ever viewed a house with carpet in the en suite, bathroom, downstairs loo? This is more common than you'd think, particularly in en suites and downstairs loos, especially in houses about 10-15 years old. It really isn't pleasant to see a nice bedroom then open the door to the en suite to be met with a view of the same carpet, with a well-trodden path to the loo! I hope all the previous occupants have had good aim!

OP, if you have them - remove bathmats too and those rubber mats you see in some showers. They often look a bit mouldy (rubber mats) or have lots of trapped hair and fluff (bathmats). Really off-putting!

smccarrick, Good luck with your own future househunting - you're in for a fair few shudders!!:D

Victor

For cleaning grout, spray with neat detergent and use and old toothbrish.

dame wrote:

Have you ever viewed a house with old 70's/80's tiling in bathroom? When you're looking at it you're thinking of the trouble it'll be to rip off all those old tiles and at the same time you know you can't live with them.

I removed every tile in my sister's kitchen in 30 minutes with a hammer and a long screw driver.

Zambia

Victor wrote:

I removed every tile in my sister's kitchen in 30 minutes with a hammer and a long screw driver.

Let me guess Victor after you where finished (in 30 minutes) the wall was all nice and smooth and ready for re-tiling??:D

stovelid

Large mirrors are a good bet for making rooms look bigger..

m_stan wrote:

Remove any clutter into the attic to make it look bigger.

The_Conductor

stovelid wrote:

Large mirrors are a good bet for making rooms look bigger..

If using large mirrors for this purpose, make sure you have sufficient lighting in the room, or else it looks like a badly lit never ending cave.......

Blub2k4

Personally I'd rather empty rooms than any double beds that you could afford to put in for 1.5k plus decorating. I'd concentrate on cleaning it up and making the basis look good rather than putting in crappy cheap stuff that would be within that budget and that I would have to pay to dispose of anyway...

oneillk

oneillk wrote:

Opinions welcome please.

I will be selling my house in about 3 months time

Why not put it up for sale now? The ECB are hinting at another rate rise -

see link http://www.rte.ie/business/2007/0118/inflation.html

Which will further decrease the amount people can get in mortgage approvals
Better for it to be sold now than have to drop the price after a rate increase.
See here for people who have had to drop prices already:
http://thepropertypin.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=432

Get yourself a quick sale if ya can