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paulnlou
11-07-2010, 10:32 AM
Hi All

Me and my girlfriend have recently purchased a property to develop, its a reposession property and we got it for a decent price. Our aim is to develop the property and sell it for a profit and use the profit to put into the next property etc.

The property is in decent condition and just needs some cosmetic work, new bathroom, replastering, new kitchen work tops, carpet, flooring, shower, tiling, painting etc.

I have a few questions as to what will acheive the best price upon sale.

Bathroom:

The bathroom has no plaster on the walls at all, no shower etc. My girlfriend wants to plaster the whole bathroom, tile just the shower area and install a shower linked to the taps on the bath. However, I feel that we will get a better finish and a better price if we tile the whole bathroom onto the plaster board, and install a shower fitted into the wall. I feel that it will look better and acheive a better return.

The bathroom is an important room in the house so I feel that it is important that we get this right.

What is your opinion, i dont want personal taste to take over from achieving best price but feel that I could acheive a better finish by tiling the whole bathroom and it would cost the same as the money saved on not plastering the whole room would be spent on extra tiles?

I am going to discuss this with a local estate agent too. What do you think?

Kitchen

The kitchen is not bad, the units seem ok but the work tops aren't nice. We looking to remove the units, skim the kitchen, replace the units with a new work top and a new floor. The units are cream so we were thinking of a dark wood work top and a dark wood laminate floor or vinyl. Tile the wall around the hob and the sink.

Living room

This room is a nice big room, it just needs skimming, painting and a fire fitted as it currently has no fire or fire place. We're looking to get a wall hung flat screen electronic fire, looks smart and also means we dont need to kmnock out the fire place and clear the chimney etc.

The only issue that we have with the living room is the bay window. Its the original 1954 bay window with nice glass pattern. However, the house overlooks the A1 so the road noise is quite high and this is a single glazed. The previous owner has fitted a second layer of glass behind the bay window which is so ugly, its like a box behind each section of the bay. I would like to repaint the bay window frame and look at alternative means of a secondary glazing. I think that the secondry glazing would still be ugly but better than whats there now. The alternative is to replace the bay window with a new double glazed unit but that would cost approx £1,500 so I am unsure what to do. My gut feeling is to get a new secondary glazing to save on the budget but as the living room is the main room of the house then maybe a nice new tidy double glazed unit is the best idea?

Bedrooms

The bedrooms are all in decent condition, just need skimming, painted and carpet fitted. The only issue in the bedroom is the windows. All the windows are double glazed with a sliding secondary glazed unit. This isnt the smartest looking on units but it does kill out some of the road noise. My girlfriend wants to remove these as she thinks they're ugle but I feel that as these do kill some of the road noise they should stay. I am unsure what a potential buyer would want, less noise or smarter looking windows? Maybe we should leave the units in and they buyer could decide whether to remove them or not?

Gardens

The back garden is very small, probably only going to be suitable for a washing line. We are looking to flatten the garden out and place a membraine over the garden and putr some pebbles down to tidy it up a bit.

Front garden is very overgrown with a decent sized lawn. We're just going to tidy the front garden up and maybve place some turf and flowers etc.

The garage door is currently blue, we cant decide whether to paint it black or white. I feel that white will brighten the front of the house, my girlfriend wants to paint it black as she feels it will look smart, opinions please?

Think thats it all now. Any advice, on all or any of the above would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Paul and Louise

quarterday
11-07-2010, 11:36 AM
You dont say whether it is held on a lease or freehold

paulnlou
11-07-2010, 14:22 PM
Sorry, it is a freehold.

quarterday
11-07-2010, 14:30 PM
Sorry, it is a freehold.


Thats one good thing.....

Given the location on the A1 it might be worth investigating the age of the double glazing (all of which is date stamped somewhere such as in the hinged side) If more than a few years old it might be the case that upgrading the sealed units produced worthwhile savings in sound insulation.

Double glazing suppliers are a notorious bunch. You need to get a few quotes and be sure your firm is FENSA registered (or there may be difficulties selling).

The spec is critical. Generally the wider the gap between the two leaves of glass the better. This is probably more important on the front elevation than the rear. If it makes a big difference it might be £1500 very well spent. You ought to be able to negotiate effectively; I cant imagine that the industry is exactly busy in the middle of summer with the house market almost catatonic!!

The best double glazing is I believe gas filled. Incidentally double glazing salesmen are amongst the highest pressure "closers" in the world. Dont be bullied or rushed, they expect to settle about half to two thirds of the price that they quote you. I would suggest doing one room first to see if it really does make a difference.

enjoy

bry123
12-07-2010, 11:57 AM
In my humble opinion...

If you don't have room for a bath and a separate shower cubicle, a shower fixed above the bath is definitely preferable- showers fixed to the taps often have very little water pressure, and are really only suitable for rinsing hair... Many buyers would be put off by a poor shower set-up.

Have a look at what neighbouring properties have done r.e. double glazing, garden landscaping and garage colours- try to blend in as you don't want the house to stick out like a sore thumb!

Double glazing is definitely preferable to secondary glazing, but if none of the other properties in the road have double glazing, prospective buyers are less likely to expect it or think it necessary.

Good luck and enjoy!

Bry