Preparing a house for sale: what works are reasonable?

listermint

Paint 200 euro.

Bag of stones twenty euro. Cover the manhole.


Van rental 60 euro . Ballymount dump 60 euro.


Don't bother with a skip. Waste of money.

Deagol

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

I am putting my house up for sale soon, and had the estate agent over during the week for an appraisal, although 'praise' was in short supply.

Havr only lived in the house for a few years, and most of the work done has been structural — including very extensive works to address some subsidance, insulation, a completely new heating system, and so on. I left most of the superficial structure of the house intact, even down to an avocado-green loo, and a kitchen that hasn't been updated since the 1990s.

The estate agent has suggested changes that I estimate would cost a minimum of €5,000 to implement, to ready the house for sale. I immediately responded that I'm not going to spend money on superficial changes, like painting and landscaping, that will inevitably be undone by the new owner. It's a waste of time and money, when all of my money has already been poured into important structural works that will stand the test of time.

Now I'm starting to doubt myself. I don't want to be penny-wise and pound-foolish, but it seems so ridiculous.

What kind of budget (say % of sale price) is appropriate to spend on a house coming up for sale? How much, in your experience, does this affect the sale price?

Although I trust this estate agent, who knows her job better than I do, I'm struggling to believe that spending €5k or more is going to make a material difference.

Sold my house last year for exactly the asking price after 1 month on the market. Didn't do anything to it - buyer has since done extensive work to it so I'm glad we didn't bother. EA did suggest painting a few rooms etc... I didn't see the point.

beauf

Clean it till it's spotless.

Leave only the essential fittings strip every thing that isn't needed.

Professional paint job in a bright neutral colour, ask the painter what he recommends.

You could sell a cardboard box at the moment. It's unlikely to make any difference if you spend anymore.

If the house was slow selling in a slow area and had some issues like a poor layout, or very out of touch with its competition. Then it would make sense to update to reach its potential. But that's unlikely to be true in the current market. You'd just be wasting money.

A professional paint job I would invest in. Makes a big difference.

marto501

50k? Ah no, I cannot believe that anyone is spending 50k on readying a house for sale. That's nuts.[/quote]

No I meant they're estate sales and the new owner would need to spend 50k bringing it into the 21st century. To give you an idea we viewed a house off the navan road at 420. Needed huge work, at least 50k. It went sale agreed at 452. It really doesn't matter what the condition is, if its in a nice area of dublin it'll sell over guide at the moment

SmartinMartin

As an aside, why are you using an estate agent? In the current climate there's not much point. I'm selling another house at the minute, and I'm doing it sans EA. I've agreed a price 31k above asking. It was a rental, so I emptied it completely and allowed viewings. People were delighted to be able to view, and were telling me horror stories about other properties where they had to make a bid just to see a video of the place. I've found it a pleasant experience so far.

SmartinMartin

SmartinMartin wrote: »

As an aside, why are you using an estate agent?

For reach. They can put the property into a newspaper, and also, they will have the keys to show the property (i live 160km away).

I'm curious about DIY sales though. What do you do yourself, advertise on Daft? Might be limiting your reach, no?

3DataModem

They'll be looking for photo appeal (which these days is more important than kerb appeal).

A lot of EAs are useless, but some give good advice. Dressing a house for sale is appropriate for *some* houses.

SmartinMartin

Yes, daft for 400 quid. It goes on property.ie as well. I had 8000 views in 2 weeks. I showed the place to 30 interested parties. Got a bid of asking price on first day. No need for signs etc in this age of Google maps.

Sparkey84

you surly lose appeal with some people who are more focused on aesthetic value. but there are enough wise people out there who will understand just how more valuable the structural work is.

awec

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

For reach. They can put the property into a newspaper, and also, they will have the keys to show the property (i live 160km away).

I'm curious about DIY sales though. What do you do yourself, advertise on Daft? Might be limiting your reach, no?

It depends how much of your own personal time you are willing to give up really.

No EA means you are personally answering every single phone call from every tyre kicker, everyone asking questions, all the bids, organising and performing viewings etc.

Some people would struggle to do viewings of their own homes as they can't deal with viewers being critical of things.

If you do it yourself you should definitely get a temporary phone for it.

SmartinMartin

Yes, I used a throw away sim in a spare phone.

Treppen

enricoh wrote: »

First thing I see on most houses that get sold is a big skip dropped off! The market is hopping at the minute apparently, I'd keep spending to a minimum.

It's not about selling the house, it's about achieving a higher sale price.

People selling their house get skips dropped off before putting it on the market too (we got two as we had a clear out), last thing people want to do moving is to bring everything!

...and people not selling their house get skips too.

Muahahaha

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

For reach. They can put the property into a newspaper, and also, they will have the keys to show the property (i live 160km away).

I'm curious about DIY sales though. What do you do yourself, advertise on Daft? Might be limiting your reach, no?

Ive a mate who did a DIY sale just last month. House was worth 450k and the agent wanted a 1.5% fee, so just under 7 grand to sell it.

Instead his costs were a Daft ad for 400 odd euro, he got a professional photographer for 140 and a painter for 800 to paint absolutely everything white. He held an open viewing day for approx 15 interested parties. He had more enquiries than that but he filtered the tyre kickers out by asking for proof of funds/mortgage approval before allowing them a viewing, estate agents do this themselves anyway so its not unusual.

He said that in the current market people were very happy to be able to actually view a place so that seemed to gather lots of interest. He also purposely scheduled the viewing times as over lapping, the cute hoor wanted all the potential buyers to see that other people were interested. So he had it set up so one couple would be knocking on the door while another were inside viewing, at one point because of delays he had a small queue of five couples outside waiting for their turn. He said he thinks that worked nicely because in the end there was a bit of a bidding war and it went for 492k.

Lmkrnr

Muahahaha wrote: »

Ive a mate who did a DIY sale just last month. House was worth 450k and the agent wanted a 1.5% fee, so just under 7 grand to sell it.

Instead his costs were a Daft ad for 400 odd euro, he got a professional photographer for 140 and a painter for 800 to paint absolutely everything white. He held an open viewing day for approx 15 interested parties. He had more enquiries than that but he filtered the tyre kickers out by asking for proof of funds/mortgage approval before allowing them a viewing, estate agents do this themselves anyway so its not unusual.

He said that in the current market people were very happy to be able to actually view a place so that seemed to gather lots of interest. He also purposely scheduled the viewing times as over lapping, the cute hoor wanted all the potential buyers to see that other people were interested. So he had it set up so one couple would be knocking on the door while another were inside viewing, at one point because of delays he had a small queue of five couples outside waiting for their turn. He said he thinks that worked nicely because in the end there was a bit of a bidding war and it went for 492k.

Reminds me of 2007 !! It's a good time to be a seller.

Muahahaha

Muahahaha wrote: »

Ive a mate who did a DIY sale just last month. House was worth 450k and the agent wanted a 1.5% fee, so just under 7 grand to sell it.

Instead his costs were a Daft ad for 400 odd euro, he got a professional photographer for 140 and a painter for 800 to paint absolutely everything white. He held an open viewing day for approx 15 interested parties. He had more enquiries than that but he filtered the tyre kickers out by asking for proof of funds/mortgage approval before allowing them a viewing, estate agents do this themselves anyway so its not unusual.

He said that in the current market people were very happy to be able to actually view a place so that seemed to gather lots of interest. He also purposely scheduled the viewing times as over lapping, the cute hoor wanted all the potential buyers to see that other people were interested. So he had it set up so one couple would be knocking on the door while another were inside viewing, at one point because of delays he had a small queue of five couples outside waiting for their turn. He said he thinks that worked nicely because in the end there was a bit of a bidding war and it went for 492k.

That actually sounds like fun, oddly enough. I do somewhat resent paying thousands to an EA for running two viewings a week. Would happily work up there from the house for a month and do viewings, that's no problem, but I wonder how much of a limitation is advertising only on Daft.

I need to do more research on this, thanks.

Mad_maxx

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

Take this as an example. There is a manhole, which possibly creates a right of access, in the middle of the back garden, so she's saying to put a circle of gravel over it and place an urn or a table there.

At best this is deceptive, at worst, she wants some kind of BBC Garden Rescue project that seems purely wasteful.

I am willing to strip wallpaper and paint everything beige, as you suggest, but I'm not keen on the idea of shopping for an urn that will end up in a skip. Would anyone even care?

Put a whiskey barell planter with flowers- shrubs on top of it , nobody likes moving those

beauf

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

That actually sounds like fun, oddly enough. I do somewhat resent paying thousands to an EA for running two viewings a week. Would happily work up there from the house for a month and do viewings, that's no problem, but I wonder how much of a limitation is advertising only on Daft.

I need to do more research on this, thanks.

I would say you are mainly paying for the EA experience in negotiation in getting you the best price. Not just for opening the door a few times a week.

Muahahaha

A Tyrant Named Miltiades! wrote: »

That actually sounds like fun, oddly enough. I do somewhat resent paying thousands to an EA for running two viewings a week. Would happily work up there from the house for a month and do viewings, that's no problem, but I wonder how much of a limitation is advertising only on Daft.

I need to do more research on this, thanks.

If you're willing to put in a bit of leg work yourself then it can be a good money saver.

I dont think you are limited at all by only advertising on Daft. At the end of the day them and Myhome have the market sewn up but anyone who is seriously house hunting is going to cover their bases and check both websites anyway and not restrict their search only to MyHome.ie. You can pay extra on Daft to get your house listed as a premium listing so it stands out.

One thing my mate said about selling his own house was that meeting buyers gave him the opportunity to explain to them all the upgrades he had done over the years. Stuff like telling them the attic had been insulated 3 years ago, brand new windows 5 years ago, etc. He had his paperwork showing the works done photocopied and handed out to give to buyers so they knew he was being straight up. Doing that helped him get the highest price in the estate going by the property price register. Of course it helps that we're in a rising market too but in his own words he said he could explain and sell his own house far better than any estate agent ever could.

I think with tools like the property price register its a lot easier to sell your own house these days. It gives you a benchmark of its value compared to what neighbouring houses sold for so you are not blind in the market like we were before the register came in. Also the data there is actual selling prices rather than asking prices so its a lot more accurate.

JimmyVik

Nobody is going top have the same taste as you, so dont even try.
Paint it (Magnolia, white) and tidy it up.
Dont worry about things like settlement cracks etc. Just fill and paint over them. They look unsightly, but are no issue and totally normal.
Though you would think a house was falling down when some people see a settlement crack in a ceiling or where an extension has been built.
Thats all.

Anyone buying is going to put their own stamp on it.
If they want to trim trees, paint a different colour, choose method of insulation, replace heating, they can do all that to their taste.

Not magnolia everywhere. It went out of fashion several years ago. Stick to white or very light grey.

Dolbhad

You don’t need to do much is this climate. Paint walls a neutral colour - yellow and Magnolia I like when they have been painted over, even if white.

Main thing is to clean the house. House we bought wasn’t cleaned - you could see the mould around the place. Handy for us as we knew what we were getting into but if I was selling, I’d have gotten rid of it. Same with cobwebs etc. And de clutter the house and organise the garden abit.

Also think in this climate it might be worth spending the money on a aucitoneer who is very IT Savy. Some auctioneers couldn’t take a decent photo - doubt they could to be walk through videos and virtual tours which is important to get legitimate offers in. You don’t want someone to secure the property and then view it in person and pull out.

If I had the cash to spend I’d be happy to have a good aucitoneer (operative word is good) just cause I wouldn’t want to deal work offers and bidding and viewings. Generally would want nothing to do with the purchaser. But I rather do it myself than a **** aucitoneer.

JustAThought

If I was preparing a house for sale - particularly one that had had as many structural /subsidence issues as yours had - I would make as big an effort as I could. Garden, stones, planter, scrubbed spotless, all dated and ancient furniture removed, everything painted white - as a minimum.

Whether I did the kitchen and bathroom suite would depend on what price range I was putching at or hoping to get. Someone paying 800k for a house will not be hesitating over an avacado loo but someone stretched to find 240k might - it could be the thing that breaks them or makes the house too expensive to consider.

I’d also be a bit worried about the surveys and what you might draw attention to - for me a suspicion or history of subsidence would be an absolute no - but I guess if the cracks were plastered and painted I wouldn’t know to ask or look. Shores also would be a red flag - but if there was a ton of pebbles and pots again I wouldn’t see it or know about it until I was emotionally committed and had a survey done - assuming yhe surveyor did a proper job.

Kitchens are expensive - can you stage it or paint the presses professionally if they are awful & dark & damaged? A clean fresh look makes the room look bigger and more attractive - even a tablecloth and flowers can help improve a place - especially of you can demonstrate you can fit a table & 6 chairs in there - let them imagine island - but meet them half way and show them one could fit!!

Dolbhad

Also I should had our house had cracks in it which were old cracks showing a shift in the house - not settlement cracks.

They didn’t hide it so flagged it for our engineer but sealing them up. The house needed full new set of drains and a wall partially underpinned. The drains were the big issue. Water was going back under the house and weaken the structure of the house.

It was our dream forever house so we were happy to take the risk. They got an engineer, we got an engineer and they went back and forth on price. In the end the house insurance for sellers would cover the works and we waited it out for it to be done. As there was a cert of completion from engineer re subsidence work, through a broker, we got subsidence cover but had to pay a bit for it but it was an extra peace of mind.

Drains testing is very common and recommend by engineers. We paid €350 for it in Cork. You could get one done and see if it highlights any issue. If can be done cheaply, you could do the work.

Or roll the dice and see what issues comes up for a purchaser.

We didn’t pay also full asking. We
Agreed 45k under asking - but that was agreed before we knew of issues. The house was overpriced and sitting in market about a year at that point. We only went sale agreed September 2020 but I say the way bidding is going now, they could have gotten it now.

Seaswimmer

we are putting a house up for executors sale. It is chock full of ornaments, crystal, and other items accumulated over a life time. Why advice would you give for the estate agents photo shoot? Empty out everything and take the photos and pile the stuff back in, simply tidy and leave as is or try and clear out everything. We are not really in a position to sort through stuff as yet but want to get the house on the market soon.
Are potential buyers more likely to be swayed if a lot of household items, furniture were included for no extra cost? Or do they expect a house to be pretty much empty?

Treppen

Seaswimmer wrote: »

we are putting a house up for executors sale. It is chock full of ornaments, crystal, and other items accumulated over a life time. Why advice would you give for the estate agents photo shoot? Empty out everything and take the photos and pile the stuff back in, simply tidy and leave as is or try and clear out everything. We are not really in a position to sort through stuff as yet but want to get the house on the market soon.
Are potential buyers more likely to be swayed if a lot of household items, furniture were included for no extra cost? Or do they expect a house to be pretty much empty?

Depends what furniture you are talking about but I would assume when the house is listed, it should be in the state that it's going to be in when you buy it and move in.

One way or another you are going to have to declutter. I would aim to have it done before photos. Empty rooms make it look bigger and gets the buyer thinking about what they would put where, but if it's full of stuff from the former owner then it would just distract me thinking about the person's life etc.

dennyk

Seaswimmer wrote: »

we are putting a house up for executors sale. It is chock full of ornaments, crystal, and other items accumulated over a life time. Why advice would you give for the estate agents photo shoot? Empty out everything and take the photos and pile the stuff back in, simply tidy and leave as is or try and clear out everything. We are not really in a position to sort through stuff as yet but want to get the house on the market soon.
Are potential buyers more likely to be swayed if a lot of household items, furniture were included for no extra cost? Or do they expect a house to be pretty much empty?

Decluttering is the way to go. Get rid of everything except some basic furnishings so that the rooms don't look completely empty. Relocate the rest of the contents elsewhere (rent a storage unit out of the estate's funds if necessary) so they can be sorted through, assessed, and handled by the executor as needed. You don't want the house to look like "someone else's home" (and especially not some elderly hoarder's home); it will be more attractive if it's a neutral canvas on which the potential buyers can project their own ideas of the perfect home.

Most buyers are not going to be interested in furniture being included with the house unless they're buying to let, or unless the existing furniture is somehow integral to the value of the place (e.g. it's really nice bespoke stuff that's part of a professionally designed interior, or it's period furniture in a period property that's been restored). No buyers will be interested in acquiring "ornaments, crystal, and other items accumulated over a life time" along with the house, as that's just a bunch of junk that they will now have to get rid of themselves. If you do get an interested buyer who would like to keep some of the bigger furnishings, you could always consider negotiating that with them, but keep in mind that a bunch of random used generic furniture is not going to add much if anything to the sale price. Consider it more of a deal-sweetener if you happen to get a buyer who's coming from rented accommodations and could make use of some of those items. You could also offer to sell some of the furnishings to a buyer as a separate transaction, if the executor feels they have enough actual value that they can't just be tossed in for free.