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?

[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?

[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

[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

[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