Selling a problem house - what to do or not do

[D1bram]

Hi, looking for some advice.

My partner moved in with me around 18months ago, leaving here house empty - she now faces the fact it needs to be sold sooner rather than later.

Complicating factors;
- It is half(ish) owned by her ex (who doesn't live there either)
- It needs considerable work including; new kitchen, bathroom, rewiring, replastering and decoration/flooring throughout
- Both front and rear gardens are over grown

It is an ex local authority mid-terrace, reasonable sized 3 bed in an OK but cheap area, it would maybe be worth £100k with the above resolved.

I have suggested we buy her ex out, refurb and rent it out but she just wants rid.

He has no interest in doing anything with it or spending any cash on it - happy to leave it rotting basically.

She suggests clearing the gardens and patching a bedroom ceiling (something stored badly in the loft fell through it) which I sort of get but I'm reluctant to fork out from OUR savings to do this while ex sits idly by.

My thoughts are sell as is, get what they get. Any minor titivation isn't going to hide what is really needed any it will probably be bought by an investor type as BTL knowing what it needs.

Any opinions from those who know please?

[dazmanultra]

Even though you're selling a project, you still need to present it in the best way possible and get people to come and have a look.

Get it as clean and tidy as possible. Your partner's suggestion of sorting the garden and patching a ceiling makes sense.

[paulwirral]

Clean it out of everything so people can see the bare bones and bang it up for sale , depending on your local market you should get a quick offer , house like that sell for cash offers where I live to the renovation crowd .

[D1bram]

Yes I should add I'm all up for clearing it out and cleaning...

I'm half convinced to sort the garden, patching the ceiling just seems a pointless expense given the rest of the house needs plaster?

[crofty1984]

dazmanultra said:

Even though you're selling a project, you still need to present it in the best way possible and get people to come and have a look.

Get it as clean and tidy as possible. Your partner's suggestion of sorting the garden and patching a ceiling makes sense.

Yep. All the rest I'd leave, you won't add on the price of a kitchen. But do the garden, fix that ceiling and maybe spend a weekend repainting if you're feeling adventurous.

[thepeoplespal]

I'd definitely patch or renew the ceiling as anyone interested in it and not having experience will baulk at what else is wrong, so ultimately less competition from other buyers.

[Wacky Racer]

Will her ex agree to the sale?

Sorting the garden shouldn't take much, two days hard graft and a skip.

Then put it up for auction with a realistic reserve. (See homes under the hammer)

[fat80b]

Is the partner happy to sell? - from what you've said, it sounds like there is a risk that you do some work and then they might not play ball.

I think your plan sounds right. Do the minimum to get it saleable. Trim the garden, maybe chuck some white paint around but don't spend any real money just in case.

Get it listed and get rid.

[Robertj21a]

First job is to get her ex to agree, in writing, what is acceptable to him. Otherwise you're wasting your time.

[bungz]

If it was me I would get it valued in its current state, a conservative figure then present this to the ex and see if they would be prepared to be bought out.

That would give you the possibility of tarting it up and then selling it on for a bit more thus making it worth while and sidestepping the possibility of the ex not contributing.

Could be a nice little earner.

[D1bram]

He wants to sell and get his half of any cash.

At a push my thoughts are that we would pay for any work (begrudgingly) from our joint savings and take that from the top of the proceeds of the sale. Though I'd rather of course he stumped up half in the first place.

For the avoidance of future debate though we have already established ANYTHING needs to be agreed in writing

[D1bram]

bungz said:

If it was me I would get it valued in its current state, a conservative figure then present this to the ex and see if they would be prepared to be bought out.

That would give you the possibility of tarting it up and then selling it on for a bit more thus making it worth while and sidestepping the possibility of the ex not contributing.

Could be a nice little earner.

That was my first thought, but my partner is very reluctant and would just rather be rid of it

[The Moose]

I’d get his agreement and then put it into an auction

[bigandclever]

D1bram said:

He wants to sell and get his half of any cash.

Unless he’s a pleasant chap, if he’s got any sense (not morals) he’ll want more than that. His angle may well be ‘you want me out, I’m not bothered, here’s what it will cost you’. Had it happen to me, many years ago, it’s a power trip. I know that’s not what you asked

[D1bram]

bigandclever said:

Unless he’s a pleasant chap, if he’s got any sense (not morals) he’ll want more than that. His angle may well be ‘you want me out, I’m not bothered, here’s what it will cost you’. Had it happen to me, many years ago, it’s a power trip. I know that’s not what you asked

Appreciate what you are saying and I was there with my ex who continued to live in our house for 2 years after I left while I paid the mortgage...

However he's not living there either and has moved on so, although we don't expect an easy ride, he does want it gone too

[Little Lofty]

Where is it? I’ve just bought very similar.

[Sheepshanks]

Probably famous last words - but I've seen such houses go for pretty well what you'd think would be their normal price. One in our village had half the roof caved in and sold at auction for £167K. In good nick it might have made £185K.

I think people watch Homes under the Hammer where they do a full refurb in 4 weeks and come in a fiver under their £3K budget.

[bennno]

D1bram said:

Hi, looking for some advice.

My partner moved in with me around 18months ago, leaving here house empty - she now faces the fact it needs to be sold sooner rather than later.

Complicating factors;
- It is half(ish) owned by her ex (who doesn't live there either)
- It needs considerable work including; new kitchen, bathroom, rewiring, replastering and decoration/flooring throughout
- Both front and rear gardens are over grown

It is an ex local authority mid-terrace, reasonable sized 3 bed in an OK but cheap area, it would maybe be worth £100k with the above resolved.

I have suggested we buy her ex out, refurb and rent it out but she just wants rid.

He has no interest in doing anything with it or spending any cash on it - happy to leave it rotting basically.

She suggests clearing the gardens and patching a bedroom ceiling (something stored badly in the loft fell through it) which I sort of get but I'm reluctant to fork out from OUR savings to do this while ex sits idly by.

My thoughts are sell as is, get what they get. Any minor titivation isn't going to hide what is really needed any it will probably be bought by an investor type as BTL knowing what it needs.

Any opinions from those who know please?

Just get 3 agents round to value it, plenty after a project currently.

Presumably they are still having to pay council tax between them, plus either a mortgage or have cash tied up?

Present the valuations and they will both need to sign to agree to sell it.

Under no circumstances should you invest cash refurbishing it in it whilst somebody else still owns 50% - recipe for disaster and your costs will be far higher than a developer looking at it on the basis of work he needs to do.

[8-P]

I'd be apprehensive about getting your money back. Chap over the road from me has buggered about with his no end and now cant sell it, even thought its reasonably priced. He turned the attached doubled garage into an annex and added a second stair case. It looks a bit odd because the garage doors are now windows, and clearly a bit of a niche market.So he chucked shed loads of cash at it - fitted air con, a hot tub that he is leaving, knocked a few walls down, put a proper roof on the conservatory, re decorated everywhere and loads more but still, it hasnt shifted. IMHO he would have done better doing nothing and dropping the price 50k.

[D1bram]

Sheepshanks said:

Probably famous last words - but I've seen such houses go for pretty well what you'd think would be their normal price. One in our village had half the roof caved in and sold at auction for £167K. In good nick it might have made £185K.

I think people watch Homes under the Hammer where they do a full refurb in 4 weeks and come in a fiver under their £3K budget.

Funny enough, I often think the same. Part of the reason for our impetus is that I’m looking to sell up too and we intend buying a place together. I’m looking at period type properties and I often note the same!

Thanks for the input, to answer a couple of questions, yes, my partner is still paying mortgage and council tax, we were honest so now instead of each paying council tax with single person discount we both pay the full whack!

We certainly wouldn’t be looking to spend a lot while it’s co-owned, only sorting smaller issues.

We’ll definitely get some advice of local agents though