House maintenance prior to selling

[Smurf1976]

I'm considering selling my house (PPOR) and for unrelated reasons also possibly helping a family member selling their place in the next few months.

So I'm just thinking about what, if anything, I should be doing to the houses to maximise value and make them more attractive to buyers? I'll have time over the coming weeks (Christmas etc) to some work and have the skills to do it properly for most things but will get professionals to do some things if that makes sense.

Apart from obvious things like general tidying up the garden, steam cleaning the carpets and so on what else is sensible to do from a purely financial / selling perspective?

My house: Built mid-1990's and located 8km from the Hobart CBD by road. It's a "middle" sort of area - families and retirees mostly. 3 bedroom brick house and it's nothing special - 14sq on a roughly 600m2 block so pretty typical of the area. It's mostly in good condition except:

*Hasn't been painted internally in at least 10 years since I moved in. There's a few chips and scratches etc (normal wear and tear). It doesn't bother me but anyone looking at the house would probably conclude it needs painting.

*Has a wood heater with the hearth definitely needing replacement. Patched it safely but in a very non-aesthetic way so that it's safe but anyone inspecting the place will be sure to notice the concrete in the living room immediately.

So do I paint the place before selling? Or am I better off not worrying about that since any buyer will probably want a different colour etc? I'm happy to paint it all but don't want to waste time and $ if there's really no benefit to me in doing so.

And what about the wood heater? Replace the hearth fixes the problem as such and is fairly cheap. Or am I better off taking it out completely and putting a heat pump (reverse cycle A/C for the non-Tasmanians) in instead thus making the place more attractive to anyone who doesn't want to bother with firewood and lighting fires etc? Vast majority of other houses in the area have A/C for heating.

Now for the other house......

Built late-1970's and located about 15km from the Hobart CBD. 3 bedroom house about 14sq on a roughly 800m2 block.

Area is middle-lower with a mix of people living there. It's a privately built house originally but there's an assortment of Housing Department (or whatever it's called these days) housing a short walk away.

No significant renovations have ever been done and it's in generally poor condition apart from the internal paintwork (good condition apart from one room that's easily fixed) and modern reverse cycle air-conditioning unit in the living room. Everything else from the kitchen benches (which are bright red!) to the external paintwork is old and generally worn out and in poor condition. The house is structurally sound however. The carpet in particular is very worn (original 1970's) and for whatever reason literally everything is carpeted including the laundry and ensuite (seriously, no idea why that was done). Bathrooms are functional but dated and a few shower tiles are cracked and so on. One of the kitchen cupboard doors is broken but the oven and hotplates are functional. You get the picture. Place is liveable and safe but definitely dated and worn and needs quite a bit of work.

So what to do?

Sell as is?

Spend the $ to paint the exterior, replace everything in the bathrooms and kitchen and put new carpet throughout?

Something in between?

In the case of this second house the sale if it happens will be urgent. Owner currently in hospital following an incident and may need to permanently move into a nursing home depending on how it all goes medically but won't know until February next year. So there's time to do things around the house if that makes sense but any sale will be urgent if it happens. I'm looking after everything for them at the moment and my aim in this context will be to maximise the price they get for the house if they do need to sell.

In both cases I'm not really concerned about how much of my own time is required since between weekends, evenings and over Christmas I've got quite a bit of time available. Just looking to maximise value in both cases.

Any advice appreciated.

Cheers

 

[tech/a]

Walk through it as a prospective buyer.
List what you would pick
Cost out the work
If it’s more than the increase in property price
To cover it—-do nothing

It maybe worth having a professional house presenter look
Through.
Pure furniture presentation can make a huge difference

 

[greggles]

I think it's prudent to always freshen up any property that's going on the market. A fresh coat of paint in interior areas and some landscaping of gardens can add a lot of value for a minimal investment. While I take your point that the purchasers may want a different colour scheme, I think it's a good bet to select colours that have broad appeal, such as whites and creams. Also, lighter colours brighten up an interior space and can make a house seem larger.

 

[luutzu]

I think you're already on to it but let's give it a shot.

Depends on the property market, its most likely buyer and what they plan to do with the property.

In the current (seller's) market where it's unlikely the buyer would be living in the property themselves, as long as it doesn't kill anyone or need too much urgent repair, the buyers would be fine with it.

And if they do plan to live in it, they might even like the fact that it need a bit of work because, they figured, it'll save them a few grand.

If it's a buyer's market, then there's all that nitty gritty look and proper inspection by qualified inspectors. In a market like Sydney nowadays, any dump can be flogged off and goes for $1M+ with a "For Rent" sign out within a week.

 

[SirRumpole]

Personally, as a buyer I would prefer to move into a place that didn't need any work, but I'm a lazy sod.

So, nicely painted inside and out if necessary. Neat and tidy garden , make it look as though the previous owner cared. Structurally sound of course, no tiles missing, everything clean.

As was said before, walk around as if you were going to buy it yourself and ask yourself what you would need to do, then do it.

I guess it's a matter of whether you think that the work is worth the extra money you will get for it.

You could always advertise it as a "renovators delight".

 

[Macquack]

Houses sell because of their appeal to the buyer at a certain price level in a certain location.

It is easy to throw money at any existing house and make it more appealing to buyers.

The trick is not to overcapitalise, and at least get your money back.

 

[moXJO]

Ask the real estate agent if its worth it or not.
A lot of buyers will redo the internal of the house themselves. But you might cut out a portion of the lazy market that just want to move in if you do nothing.

Its a big question on how the market is down there right now- to how much you do. If its a buyers market and stuff is selling fast then you don't need to spend much.

 

[dutchie]

Don't spend any money.
Make sure that when inspections occur that the house is neat and tidy, especially an uncluttered kitchen, an uncluttered and sparkling clean bathroom and laundry.

More important is the price that you ask and how negotiable you are. Both these will depend on the urgency to sell.
Never set the price too low.
(The seller is in control if they are not desperate to sell)

 

[Country Lad]

When I sold houses it was usually after they were rented, but when selling our own residences, I did pretty well the same. Talked to real estate agent and found a few people who recently purchased a house (where possible in the same area) and invited them for coffee and asked them to inspect the house.
Paid particular attention to the sort of thing that made the house they bought, or the ones they were keen on, interesting to them. Did some of the stuff needed to make it more attractive as long as it didn't over-capitalise the house. The trick is to make it more attractive, not fix everything.

 

[Smurf1976]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Reading the comments and giving it some thought I'm now thinking:

My house - fix the heater hearth and paint the inside but that's it. Cost isn't much for materials and I don't mind putting my own time in. Can't really lose $ with that approach and the time involved isn't huge.

Other house - if it's broken then fix / replace it definitely. Stuff that's just dated but is still safe and functional I'll leave as is. Plus paint the exterior since that will make a big improvement to appearance for not a lot of $.

As a bit of background the other house is owned by a family member who was taken to hospital (in an ambulance) following an incident last month. Likely to be there at least 3 months and possibly longer. Beyond that the outcome is unknown but there's a significant chance they'll be going into some sort of care facility (nursing home etc) permanently and will never return to their own home. They're mentally alert, physically not good, and I'm sorting out everything they can't do at the moment. So any sale of the house if it happens will be done fairly quickly if that becomes necessary hence fixing things etc whilst it's empty. Needless to say there's a bit of emotion mixed in with that hence my post to get others thoughts.

The two sales are unrelated as such. Just an unfortunate co-incidence that the second one has arisen but my own has been planned for a while.

Any further comments I'm happy to hear them so please post.

Cheers

 

[sptrawler]

Smurph, I don't think you need any help, sussing out what is the best plan, you wouldn't be in the job you're in if you didn't have common sense and an analytical brain. lol

 

[Smurf1976]

Well I won’t argue there and I’d be biased anyway....

Always good to hear other opinions though. Plus whilst not stock related at least it’s a financial subject with a new thread.

More seriously for the second house it has all come as a huge shock and there’s definitely some emotion involved so I’m trying to ensure that doesn’t cloud my judgment in any way.

Not good getting a phone call from the neighbours saying that a family member is in the hospital emergency department. Few days later and it turns out there’s a significant chance they’ll need permanent care so a huge shock there.

So I’m just getting my mind around everything that needs to happen really. Making sure their bills are paid and the cat’s fed. Sorting out the house to be ready whichever way it goes medically. Plus I’ll be moving myself whilst all this is going on. Plus go to work. Plus must remember to sleep and eat too. Plus whatever else I’ve forgotten or not thought of yet. And Christmas really is coming. And.....

 

[sptrawler]

Well I won’t argue there and I’d be biased anyway....

Always good to hear other opinions though. Plus whilst not stock related at least it’s a financial subject with a new thread.

More seriously for the second house it has all come as a huge shock and there’s definitely some emotion involved so I’m trying to ensure that doesn’t cloud my judgment in any way.

Not good getting a phone call from the neighbours saying that a family member is in the hospital emergency department. Few days later and it turns out there’s a significant chance they’ll need permanent care so a huge shock there.

So I’m just getting my mind around everything that needs to happen really. Making sure their bills are paid and the cat’s fed. Sorting out the house to be ready whichever way it goes medically. Plus I’ll be moving myself whilst all this is going on. Plus go to work. Plus must remember to sleep and eat too. Plus whatever else I’ve forgotten or not thought of yet. And Christmas really is coming. And.....

See, you've got it sorted. LOL
Take your time, nothing has to be done tomorrow, value the asset, be objective. Easy

 

[basilio]

Perhaps out of left field but consider advertising the house on Gumtree or privately. Agents fees aren't cheap and a private sale can make/save a few grand. You can use an Agents valuations as a guide perhaps.

For what its worth my wife sold properties in Canada last year/this year and used self sell websites. Exceptionally successful outcomes in terms of speed and price obtained. I think Real Estate agents can be overated.