Selling a house that's in need of modernisation

[steveindenmark]

I used to buy 'do up' houses and sell them. My only advice is be realistic about the price. I dont mean what the estate agent thinks is realistic. They are on commission and will want to sell it for the most money and dont care how long it takes. Sell it cheap and get it off your hands.

As for clearing the house. Won't charity shops do that?

 

[fossyant]

I think there is far too much sentimental 'crap' in the house to get someone in - it needs a family member to empty it - we've specifically said we don't want anything as we haven't got room, other than a small dryer (ours is rusting to bits it's that old) and I'll have my "nanny cam" back, and make it a "bike cam" for my garage !!

Think we have family agreement to do no renovations, and just clear it. MIL accepting the house needs to go - it's effectively a liability standing unoccupied.

 

[Profpointy]

<snip>
. My only advice is be realistic about the price. I dont mean what the estate agent thinks is realistic. They are on commission and will want to sell it for the most money and dont care how long it takes.

<snip>

I don't think the above is right, or at least only partly right. Estate agents are essentially selling twice: they are selling their services to you, and then they are selling your house to the buyer. They need to puff up the claimed price to entice the seller, then try and squeeze the price down to get the sale with as little work as possible. The extra commission for getting an extra £10k would only be a couple of hundred quid so they are far better off selling quickly for a a much lower price and getting their £5k in the bag.

 

[wormo]

As mentioned earlier empty and sell. I wouldn't bother incurring unecessary costs. I'm sure a property developer would snap it up.

 

[Archie_tect]

Fossyant,

If you pay The British Heart Foundation £300 for their House Clearance Service [ring 0808 250 0040] they will clear the house completely and then sell what they can. They then let you know how much they've raised from the sale. So they got £300 to clear + raised another £680... it's a cause I'm pleased to support.

Cheers.

 

[ColinJ]

If you pay The British Heart Foundation £300 for their House Clearance Service [ring 0808 250 0040] they will clear the house completely and then sell what they can. They then let you know how much they've raised from the sale. So they got £300 to clear + raised another £680... it's a cause I'm pleased to support.

Now there's a coincidence... I am sitting on a sofa that I bought from the BHF furniture store in Halifax and a mate has just texted me to ask if I want my old 2-seater sofa back. (I gave it to him when I bought this one.) I told him to drop it off at the BHF store if he doesn't want it any more.

 

[fossyant]

Bit of progress. Cleared a car's load of crap out of the house, had it valued (for the council's deferred payment attachment) and got rid of the medical bed.

Mrs F has got confirmation of the difference between her mum being in the nursing home via council funding (i.e. keeping the house with a deferred payment) or funding directly (i.e. selling the house).

Wait for it:-

If we enter into a 'private' agreement should we sell the house, this would cost us an additional £1,500 per month, so £18k per year difference.

So we are not selling the house, and will chip away at clearing it out.

 

[Archie_tect]

@fossyant

You can get the rates on an empty house stopped for 6 months which is a big help.

Is there any benefit in looking at alternative ideas- eg: take out an interest only loan to release equity from the house to pay nursing home fees so you keep the house as is- you then get tax relief on the interest on the loan, but keep the asset?

 

[nickyboy]

@fossyant

You can get the rates on an empty house stopped for 6 months which is a big help.

Is there any benefit in looking at alternative ideas- eg: take out an interest only loan to release equity from the house to pay nursing home fees so you keep the house as is- you then get tax relief on the interest on the loan, but keep the asset?

Equity release loans are priced at a significant premium to the normal mortgage market as the lender has no idea when they will get their money back. Maybe tomorrow, maybe in 20 years. As the amount drawn down compounds over time it can become a real problem. You should get professional advice on this matter

FWIW, we have just sold my Mum's house after she passed away earlier this year. The house was in reasonable condition but had an accumulation of 53 years of stuff. This is what we did:
1) Take out anything valuable asap as the house would be unoccupied (you have to let the house and contents insurer know it's unoccupied anyway. Failure to do so could invalidate the policy)
2) Declutter the surfaces but leave all the furniture in place to give it a lived in feel for sale
3) When close to completion, hired a skip and arrange for British Heart Foundation to take a number of items (in hindsight we should have paid them to do the full house clearance)
4) Took out the remaining things of use or of sentimental value, skipped the rest, leaving an empty house for the new owners

We spent nothing on the house itself. I think unless you're looking to hold onto it for rent then any money spent would be lost in the sale process.

 

[Levo-Lon]

Be very weary of getting them sharks involved @fossyant compound interest can make 20k a100k in a few yrs.

Lots of people suddenly finding the house they used is now a millstone

 

[Bazzer]

@fossyant

You can get the rates on an empty house stopped for 6 months which is a big help.

Is there any benefit in looking at alternative ideas- eg: take out an interest only loan to release equity from the house to pay nursing home fees so you keep the house as is- you then get tax relief on the interest on the loan, but keep the asset?

Are you sure?
This is not a loan for business purposes. It is not the asset upon which the loan is raised which is relevant but the purpose to which the loan is used.

 

[fossyant]

We are arranging a deferred charge on the house via the council (so no finance companies involved) - the fees are pretty minimal and it should fund her Nursing home place for about 4-5 years (assuming she lasts that long) by then she'll have nothing and it will be the state that pays. Not renting it out as the house needs updating, and we don't have the time.

 

[PaulSB]

As an aside are people aware one can put property in to trust? The trust becomes the legal owner and the occupants tenants for life. There are advantages, mainly no property owned for the LA to chase, if one has to go in to care.

I'm still talking to the solicitor about what I see as potential pitfalls but overall this seems sensible longer term planning.

 

[Beebo]

As an aside are people aware one can put property in to trust? The trust becomes the legal owner and the occupants tenants for life. There are advantages, mainly no property owned for the LA to chase, if one has to go in to care.

I'm still talking to the solicitor about what I see as potential pitfalls but overall this seems sensible longer term planning.

I think that loop hole was closed a few years ago. The LA can recover costs if the significant reason for entering the Trust was to avoid paying care fees.

 

[PaulSB]

I think that loop hole was closed a few years ago. The LA can recover costs if the significant reason for entering the Trust was to avoid paying care fees.

This is true. However we have no significant reason to avoid fees. Our solicitor has made it clear she will not act for us if that's the intention.