I am about to sell a 2 br weatherboard house in inner-west Melbourne and need advice about how much work to do on garden and repainting.
It has been tenanted for 2 1/2 years while we have been interstate and needs some work. It was fully renovated about 8 years ago, and so some things (eg paint) are starting to wear. I am assuming our market is either first home buyers and investors so they will want to purchase with nothing to do.
These are the things I need to fix:
1) Some restumping/ reblocking due to subsidence with the drought. I think I need to do this as priority.
2) Replastering to fix cracks created with the subsidence, and then repainting. Obviously this needs to be done for aesthetic reasons.
3) Garden has gone to pot, there is one tree and a couple of shrubs that are OK. It's not a large garden but has looked quite nice in the past with cottage-style planting.
So my questions are:
Should I go for minimum repainting (about half the walls are cracked and will need replastering) or do the whole interior? ALso, the current colour scheme is cottagey (yellows and greens, quite subtle, not over the top) which looks nice on the style of house. However lots of people seem to say that white sells better. So if I repaint should I maintain the current colour scheme or just go for white/ off white?
How far should I go with the garden? Just try to take it back to bones or try to replant it fully, restore the watering system etc? If we were to live in it again I would put in a water tank and redo the garden properly, but not sure if this would be a smart investment for sale.
Any advice appreciated!
Sasha, what suburb is your house in? Do you have any pics to post?
Tools
Thanks Tools!
Yarraville, so quite close to the city, pretty trendy. Close to transport, shops etc.
I don't have any pics at present, but it is a double-fronted Edwardian, 2 br cottage, nice corner block about 300m2. I think it has good street appeal with period detail, and it is light and spacious inside (not a train-carriage kind of layout), again with some period detail (not all original but all nicely done).
Hope that description helps?
So it has already had some renovations over the years? If you were to sell it now as is and save yourself the hassle of repairs/renovations, what price would you put on it?
Tools
I had an agent look at it 18 months ago who estimated a sale price of $430000 (if the repairs were done). The area has gone up about 13% over the past 12 months. So I would say at least 430 as-is, however I believe we would get 470, possibly higher, with the repairs.
My estimate of the costs is 3-5000 for the restumping, about 5000 for the plastering and minimum painting. So that would be the minimum I'd be looking at, with the aim of realising that higher price. I guess I'm trying to figure out if spending another 10K to really take it to the next level beyond that is worth it.
I am keen to hear the advice that follows:)
Good luck
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