Probate Sale - new kitchen or not?
Discussion
I need to sell my late Mum's house, which was part way through being refurbished to make it easier for her to live in. As a result the kitchen is currently a bit of a mess - it's had underfloor heating installed, with new floor tiles. I think the cupboard doors are foil wrapped and most of them are blown and lots of the cabinets are chipped.
I'm currently trying to work out whether it's best to just try and make what's there as nice as I can, or to put in a brand new kitchen. The bathroom and utility area are both newly done, so the current kitchen does stick out.
I read the thread on kitchen installation costs with interest and a fair amount of horror. My thinking is I can do the whole thing for £5k + appliances. I will need to rein in my own preferences and go for things like laminate worktops instead of quartz. For context the house should sell for around £750,000.
I'm not in any rush to sell the house, I'd prefer to wait until the World is a slightly more stable place.
I'm currently trying to work out whether it's best to just try and make what's there as nice as I can, or to put in a brand new kitchen. The bathroom and utility area are both newly done, so the current kitchen does stick out.
I read the thread on kitchen installation costs with interest and a fair amount of horror. My thinking is I can do the whole thing for £5k + appliances. I will need to rein in my own preferences and go for things like laminate worktops instead of quartz. For context the house should sell for around £750,000.
I'm not in any rush to sell the house, I'd prefer to wait until the World is a slightly more stable place.
Tbh if you aren't planning on selling anytime soon and assuming you also aren't going to live in it I'd probably not bother doing anything to it.
People buying a £750k house probably would prefer a kitchen that costs a bit more than your £5k and whilst the money would possibly be got back doubt it would make the difference between a sale or not and indeed the sale price.
I had to sell my Aunts house when she went into a care home and this hadn't been lived in for a decade - don't ask.
It had suffered a water leak and there was no kitchen ceiling.
The agent said just clear it and we will market it - obviously location and timing helps but still got £620k for it.
People buying a £750k house probably would prefer a kitchen that costs a bit more than your £5k and whilst the money would possibly be got back doubt it would make the difference between a sale or not and indeed the sale price.
I had to sell my Aunts house when she went into a care home and this hadn't been lived in for a decade - don't ask.
It had suffered a water leak and there was no kitchen ceiling.
The agent said just clear it and we will market it - obviously location and timing helps but still got £620k for it.
Normally I would say sell as is - in some cases (IME) houses that are untouched and clearly an estate sale are sometimes in demand more.
However if the bathrooms are brand new, it may well look odd like you say. Could it be photographed sympathetically in the kitchen?
Also you say you are in no rush but dont underestimate how long it can take in this market to get to completion - it can be 6 months or more just for a simple chain. Complex chains you might end up into next year for completion - its a lottery. Summer holidays always delay things as the entire industry seems to go away in overlapping holidays for 6 weeks. Our early August completion estimate ended up being the last week of September...
The best time, again IME, to market is early spring - i.e now.
However if the bathrooms are brand new, it may well look odd like you say. Could it be photographed sympathetically in the kitchen?
Also you say you are in no rush but dont underestimate how long it can take in this market to get to completion - it can be 6 months or more just for a simple chain. Complex chains you might end up into next year for completion - its a lottery. Summer holidays always delay things as the entire industry seems to go away in overlapping holidays for 6 weeks. Our early August completion estimate ended up being the last week of September...
The best time, again IME, to market is early spring - i.e now.
Cheap kitchen in a 750k house is coming straight out and at best put in the utility/garage. Someone dropping 750k on a house is imo likely to be happy/capable of spending 25k upwards to get what they want and qould probably rather give you 5k less in 1st place and use that for better appliablnces etc. I'm not flash but have spent more to get quality and durability, solid wood cabinets and slate worktops for me will outlast chipboard and laminate. Cost of laminate worktop online I ordered a short length of slate locally for utility as again durability wise vs £ it made sense
On a £750k house you are probably looking for buyers who will want a nice kitchen, and many of them will be happy to buy their choice after buying the house.
It's not like the FTB market, where people often want a turnkey house because they don't have the cash to spend after buying.
The problem is, some people are entirely incapable of looking at a wreck or an empty space and thinking 'I could have a nice kitchen here'.
And some people don't want to move into a project.
Whatever you do, it influences who is most likely to buy.
Could you get it to a state where people could live with it short term, for less money?
We have recently spent a bit of time and a few hundred quid on my mate's annex kitchen.
It's now clean, functional and gives an OK first impression.
A couple of new doors, a new worktop and base unit where the boiler was moved, some repairs and painting.
It's not what I'd choose, but I've lived with much worse.
A lot of houses where the kitchen looks Ok on Rightmove, it's pretty ropey on close inspection.
Can you make it look OK in a photo?
It's not like the FTB market, where people often want a turnkey house because they don't have the cash to spend after buying.
The problem is, some people are entirely incapable of looking at a wreck or an empty space and thinking 'I could have a nice kitchen here'.
And some people don't want to move into a project.
Whatever you do, it influences who is most likely to buy.
Could you get it to a state where people could live with it short term, for less money?
We have recently spent a bit of time and a few hundred quid on my mate's annex kitchen.
It's now clean, functional and gives an OK first impression.
A couple of new doors, a new worktop and base unit where the boiler was moved, some repairs and painting.
It's not what I'd choose, but I've lived with much worse.
A lot of houses where the kitchen looks Ok on Rightmove, it's pretty ropey on close inspection.
Can you make it look OK in a photo?
OutInTheShed said:
The problem is, some people are entirely incapable of looking at a wreck or an empty space and thinking 'I could have a nice kitchen here'.
And some people don't want to move into a project.
Completely agree and one option could be for the OP to get half a dozen CGI's of different kitchen styles / designs prepared with approximate costing by a kitchen designer. To me it would be better spending £1,000 on that than £5,000 on a cheap kitchen that a buyer's going to rip out. And some people don't want to move into a project.
Is it worth £750k with a good kitchen or one in it's current state? I'd have thought buyers at that level either want a pre-refurb place that they can rip out & add value to or a finished place they can move into - your house falls between the two. A buyer is going to have move in & then put up with a couple of months of disruption & expense & that will limit your market & what you get for it. Any buyer is immediately going to want to knock £30k-40k off for the cost of the new kitchen & some won't be interested at all.
Have you got all the certificates for any work done so far? That could be another issue. Round here the kitchen & bathroom fitters are not booked up very far in advance as money dries up so you might be able to get a medium quality job for a reasonable cost.
Have you got all the certificates for any work done so far? That could be another issue. Round here the kitchen & bathroom fitters are not booked up very far in advance as money dries up so you might be able to get a medium quality job for a reasonable cost.
Presumably it would be the estate spending money on a kitchen rather than you? The purpose of an estate usually is to liquidate the assets and distribute the proceeds to the will's beneficiaries, are there other people or beneficiaries that may have an opinion on spending the money as well? Probate houses stand out a mile to buyers and it's assumed that the discounted value will be spend on renovations. As long as the house is habitable and has a functioning kitchen suitable to be mortgaged, i'd not be spending any money other than marketing the sale, a cheap kitchen will be be ripped out by the new owners anyway.
OP you say you're not in a rush to sell, remember , once probate is granted you usually only get 6 months before council tax needs to paid in full.
I went through this a few years ago, consensus was not to spend too much as most buyers would be ripping everything out. We just tarted up the kitchen, a good clean and some cupboard paint on the doors.
I went through this a few years ago, consensus was not to spend too much as most buyers would be ripping everything out. We just tarted up the kitchen, a good clean and some cupboard paint on the doors.
Edited by megaphone on Tuesday 5th May 13:17
Unless it’s the size of a postage stamp (i wouldn't bother if it is) you won’t get a decent kitchen for £5k. I’ve just fitted this in a £400k house and the units alone were a smidge over £4k, appliances and sink £2k (AEG) and quartz worktops £2.5k, its part of a full refurb so already plumbed, wired and plastered, if those were added inc fitting you are looking at £15k min. 
I have a developer client that put a ~£50k+ kitchen in a ~£1m house (oop north so not in the usual PH values...)
Went back to do the 12month defects and... the kitchen had been ripped out as it wasn't what the new owners wanted
Ultimately, you can't second guess what someone will want, but (as said) most probate buyers are aware the property will need some 'refurbishment', which means they can put their mark on it...
If it is functional then it will tick boxes for mortgage purposes, it equally means that someone moving in (already in the refurb mindset) can say 'there is a functional kitchen, that is all we need as we are going to rip it out'.
Went back to do the 12month defects and... the kitchen had been ripped out as it wasn't what the new owners wanted
Ultimately, you can't second guess what someone will want, but (as said) most probate buyers are aware the property will need some 'refurbishment', which means they can put their mark on it...
If it is functional then it will tick boxes for mortgage purposes, it equally means that someone moving in (already in the refurb mindset) can say 'there is a functional kitchen, that is all we need as we are going to rip it out'.
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