Any renovators on here? Is it worth putting in a new bathroom?

[Fordy81]

My mum recently passed away and we're now dealing with the sale of her house, a 3 bed terraced in Greater London.

It all needs modernising bar the kitchen which was fitted about 6 years ago. We'll be redecorating throughout, new carpets (existing ones are nearly 40 years old), installing central heating as there's only a gas fire in there now. Some exterior work will need doing. All of this I'll be taking on myself (apart from gas and carpets).

The question is whether to put a new bathroom in. Currently it's just a shower cubicle, and is very dated. I would be doing this myself too including tiling so there's no labour costs.

I'm just wondering whether there's any experienced renovators on here to advise whether it's worth doing the bathroom or not? Will we make the money back on it?

Thanks

 

[ETAF]

put it on the market and see what offers you get in the current condition
you may find you get a reasonable amount before any of the work , just limits the market to people who are prepared to do it up themselves or have the work carried out

I assume you got a probate valuation , so you have a rough idea on value, and you could always get a few estate agents round now to market
and ask , if x,y,z done what would the value be ......
Also you can look to see what prices properties are on for now and what was paid in the past in the area

i know people who buy around us , just rip everything out and start again

 

[Wayners]

Put on market and see If it sells.
Get feedback from viewers and estate agents and only then address any problems.
If buyers want to negotiate because of an issue consider fixing.
I've seen brand new kitchens and bathrooms torn out by new owners

 

[ETAF]

I've seen brand new kitchens and bathrooms torn out by new owners

yep, that seems to happen around here a lot now

 

[conny]

One of my houses had the bathroom renewed just before we bought it. Didn't know at the time of viewing so when we were making plans then that was coming out ASAP.. Bought the house, moved in and started ripping it out. Putting the bath in the skip first, so I could toss the old tiles etc inside the bath, and the neighbour came out to introduce herself. She couldn't believe what we were doing because it had only been fitted a few weeks before it was put on the market, LOL.
It was ghastly! All kinds of different coloured swirls on the tiles and the bath had some sort of rope filligree around the edges and circles of it around the base of the taps. Would be a nightmare to keep it clean.

 

[Brigadier]

Is the current bathroom - shower, wc, basin, rad / towel rail - functional?

If "yes", you could put it on "as is": this would cost nowt, and would open your market to both speculators, and those who want it as a home to move straight into.

Ripping out makes it less attractive to the second group.

If no, it is currently only good for the first group.

Another option: rip out to bare, basic but functional refit - renew pipework and services, Aquapanel and skim, minimal and neutral tiling, basic sanitary set - and put that on.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

I hate to see money wasted, putting things in, only to be ripped out and replaced with new, as soon as a new owner moves in. If what is in looks reasonable and works, I would leave it as is, let the new owner save themselves some money in the short term, and put in what they want in the longer term.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

Any estate agent will tell you there's no profit to be made fitting a bathroom.

 

[cdbe]

If you are happy to do it yourself, and can do it for a couple of grand in materials, you'd be crazy not to. You should aim to bring it all up to a similar standard, a poor bathroom or kitchen will drag the rest of it down. Cheap fixtures and fittings well fitted and neutral colours will be fine.

We're house hunting at the moment, we rather unkindly call them "dead people's houses" and expect them to be cut priced - as you are doing other work, your aim should be to elevate it from this area of the market.

Bad for the environment if they subsequently rip it out but isn't everything we do!

 

[foxhole]

My mum recently passed away and we're now dealing with the sale of her house, a 3 bed terraced in Greater London.

It all needs modernising bar the kitchen which was fitted about 6 years ago. We'll be redecorating throughout, new carpets (existing ones are nearly 40 years old), installing central heating as there's only a gas fire in there now. Some exterior work will need doing. All of this I'll be taking on myself (apart from gas and carpets).

The question is whether to put a new bathroom in. Currently it's just a shower cubicle, and is very dated. I would be doing this myself too including tiling so there's no labour costs.

I'm just wondering whether there's any experienced renovators on here to advise whether it's worth doing the bathroom or not? Will we make the money back on it?

Thanks

Unless you are adding an extension and substantially upgrading the entire property then just sell as is.

 

[Diver Fred]

If you are intending to sell just give the place a thorough clean up, stick any loose wall paper back, wash the paint work down (with sugar soap), make sure the carpets and hard flooring are clean and that no doors stick. If the curtains are clean just a quick vacuum down.

Check there are no water leaks.

Do nothing else; unless the estate advised otherwise.

That was the state of the last house I moved into. With the exception that the owner left just about everything except clothes and food. Bought a fridge, then spent the next 18months bringng it up to how I wanted it. House was 15 years old when I bought it. Would I have bought it if it had been renovated, probably not. We replaced the kitchen 7 years ago. Looking to sell the EA said we don't need to do any more work.

 

[jacko555]

My house was also a "dead person's house" with the same occupants for 60 years. The family had it cleaned but left "as is". It was functional.

A new bathroom or kitchen, or even redecoration wouldn't have changed the price or appeal. You either want a house enough to spend (stupid money), or not. Any minor or superficial improvements would have been a waste and torn out.

A family member recently purchased a very nice and highly finished house. Custom made wooden kitchens, bathrooms etc.

All torn out in the first few months as it was "not their style"

Sell it as is. Just clean it up

 

[cdbe]

We'll be redecorating throughout, new carpets (existing ones are nearly 40 years old), installing central heating as there's only a gas fire in there now. Some exterior work will need doing.

The OP is already undertaking fairly extensive work to widen it's saleability away from builders/developers etc so he would be wise to complete the package with a smart DIY bathroom.

 

[oldbutnotdead]

Talk to your estate agent. I'd question the wisdom of new carpets. If you put cheap contract stuff down it'll look and feel cheap, if you put expensive stuff down its unlikely you'll recoup the cost.
Likewise with the bathroom - with the proviso that if a fullsize bath will fit in it might be worth doing.
You may well get less from a flipper or developer than from someone who wants to live there (and there's a moral choice for you to make as well) but you'll almost certainly get a quicker sale (not getting involved in chains or waiting on mortgage affordability checks).

EDIT Apologies- see you're planning redecoration as well. In that case yes a bathroom refit would make sense but don't go supercheap. Keep a careful eye on costs and timescale for all this, can easily turn into a 6 month frenzy (with double council tax, insurance, water rates etc to find)

 

[johnny2007]

It depends where you are in London.
In my experience, in affluent areas, people prefer a blank canvas because they want their own style.
So the difference between fully decorated and not is not worth the effort of refurbishing.
If I were you I would speak to an estate agent, see how much you would get as it is and after a refurbishment.
You can do your own homework by looking at similar properties for sale in the area and recently sold.