Thinking of selling..

Tisserand

I bought my house a number of years ago but never quite settled as I really wanted a single storey house and now a cottage has come on the market. I am going to put my own house on the market now and need some advice as to what work I should do, if any, on my house before I put it up for sale. The house still has the previous owners' stamp on it to a large extent as I didn't do a lot to it myself as I always knew I wasn't going to stay.

The bespoke kitchen has cherry and cream units and very dark green chinese slate tiles. The tiles wouldn't exactly be in vogue at the moment - should I leave them be, or have them taken up and replaced with say, cream tiles?

The floors in the sitting room and dining room are the original red deal floors which I got sanded and restained when I moved here, but could do with being done again - just wondering if I should do this, or leave them be as the new owners might have different ideas.

Also - painting? The rooms are ok but the wall up the side of the stairs is a bit scuffed and unfortunately the matt paint is unwashable and the colour is no longer available!

I would appreciate some advice and tips, and how much should I spend getting the house up to 'viewing' quality?

colm_mcm

Paint everything white

Cerco

The most important thing is to have your house spotless, especially toilet, bath room and kitchen. After that do any essential repairs and only decorate where it is essential.
Bring in auctioneers, I would say three at least, and get their estimates for your asking/ selling in price. Ask them for their impression of the property and if they recommend any changes/upgrades.

Do your own homework on properties for sale in your area and selling prices for any recently sold (propertypriceregister.ie)
It is not unknown for people selling properties to view other properties for sale in the area, particularly if any are on open view.

Remember most purchasers will like to put their own stamp on the property by changing kitchens, decor etc.

Steve

'Magnolia' is your friend.

Well proven.

Cerco

+1 to above.
If you must paint walls then use neutral coloured emulsion. Magnolia is very popular and effective.

listermint

Clean clean clean clean.clean bathrooms clean kitchen clean rooms clean windows clean front garden clean back garden and then paint any areas that need to be painted quite neutral.

Finally remove and garish furniture that stands out to somewhere less obtrusive as it grabs the eye .

Tile can be painted relatively easily also just as an aside

Tisserand

Many thanks for all your replies. Luckily all my house is painted cream/white/magnolia and as I live alone, it has been very easy to keep it clean. I have a bit of clutter which I will get rid of shortly but all your posts have left me very reassured that I am on the right path anyway with what I have done so far.

Sleepy

De-cluttering is the main one. Don't even think about changing tiles / kitchens / bathrooms etc. You'll never see the money back.

Tisserand

Sleepy wrote: »

De-cluttering is the main one. Don't even think about changing tiles / kitchens / bathrooms etc. You'll never see the money back.

Glad to hear this! Thanks a mil.

muffler

Sleepy wrote: »

De-cluttering is the main one. Don't even think about changing tiles / kitchens / bathrooms etc. You'll never see the money back.

Yup, have to agree with this. There's a place for everything and everything in it's place an all that jazz.

Leave all your floors, kitchen, fittings etc as they are and give them a good cleaning/polishing as appropriate and paint with magnolia as previously suggested. Get the painting out of the way first as some of that stuff can pong a bit.

Don't upgrade anything as you wont get a return on it.

Best of luck with it.