putting home on the market

Interestingly we have put our house on the market and our estate agents advised against renewing kitchen and bathroom. Although not modern they are in good repair and we were told people often prefer to change them anyway. Once you are out of contract it might be better to change agents to one that that is able to sell the positive aspects of your home which sounds very comfortable. In all our houses we have lived in we always ended up changing the kitchens and bathrooms when we cou,d afford it!

Definitely change EA. In our previous house we replaced our bathroom less than a year before selling it. Shortly after moving I drove past and saw our lovely new bathroom fittings on the drive waiting for the skip.

If the EA isn't enthusiastic about a house, how are they going to sell it to potential buyers? They need to find ways to accentuate the positives, not look for things that 'need' to be changed. If they can't do that even when they are hoping to get your business, it doesn't bode well for getting a sale.

Sounds like the estate agent is an air head.

I've moved house many times and think it's a waste of money to have things like new kitchen/ bathrooms installed before putting up for sale. The first thing we've always done once moved is to completely change/update these rooms to suit our particular taste. I think your estate agent is probably not very experienced and definitely very rude - find another if it's not too late.

I'd leave it and let new buyers change it if they please. I moved into a lovely house in a good school area and houses did not come up very often in this area. The only downside was sellers had just installed a new kitchen. I felt like I had to live with it as we had paid a lot for house and the new kitchen would have been some of that price. It was only after about 12 years once it was no longer looking new did I feel I could have a kitchen of my own choosing. I'd much rather have had an older kitchen and cheaper house price so I could pick my own kitchen. I chose solid oak too OP. I know it's not fashionable but I like it and I have little herb and spice drawers too which I've not seen in more modern kitchens and I use those a lot.

I've just completed on the sale of my house which we happily lived in for years but definitely needed a new kitchen and some other modernisation etc. The house was simply priced to reflect this.
I used a personal estate agent from EXP - his commission rate was 1.5% and he ' held my hand' every step of the way. Every viewing, even the buyer's survey of the house, he said
'Take the dog for a walk, I'll be here to deal with it all'. He kept me informed, allayed my anxiety/stress and absolutely nothing was too much trouble. I couldn't recommend more an estate agent like this rather than the High Street chains

Agree with you - don’t listen to the obnoxious EA - people always put their own ‘stamp’ on the homes they buy! Your selling! If the price reflects that then it’s definitely not your problem! Change the EA and definitely don’t have them as exclusive! Good luck

She’s being an ass and very rude
Just out my house up for sale and it needs a nee kitchen and bathroom and I have been offered over the asking price
Get another EA

I agree with other GNs here. Definitely seek another estate agent. (Perhaps ask a few in, and find someone you feel that you can work with.) Explain the situation and ask the agent to be realistic about the price you can expect, assuming that the house is sold "as is". Other than that, de-cluttering and keeping the house clean and tidy is important, IMO. Also (maybe) the odd bit of painting. Good luck!

We have new neighbours. Our previous neighbours did nothing to the house or garden fir their first 10 years, then 18 months ago they set about extensions, kitchens bathrooms made the garden look beautiful , must have spent a fortune, but the new neighbours have ripped everything out, including the entire garden, sold the brand new greenhouse and lovely raised beds, and are starting all over again. Sadly they are extending the extension…..
My first new kitchen was in this current house. I had had to wait 25 years and with mortgage rates open eye watering 18% always kept whatever kitchen bathroom etc that was already in the house. If it was clean and not falling apart that was good enough for us.
Do nothing OP, just clear clutter if you have any and give everything a nice polish. Good luck with the move.

It is said that when the property market is on a downward trend, this fact is often not accepted by vendors who are not happy to be told their house isn’t now worth what it was just a few months ago.

If they then insist on it being marketed at too high a price it will languish on the market.

It’s the old conundrum though isn’t it? Vendors want as much as they possibly can get for their home, and buyers of course are on the lookout for a bargain!

I wouldn't dream of changing the kitchen or bathroom. Let it be reflected in the price. I moved last year and all I did was move out a few chests of drawers from the bedrooms to make them appear more roomy. They were stored in my son's garage.

I was an estate agent for 30 years. If I was asked, I always advised people not to change kitchens and bathrooms but to adjust the price accordingly.
As others have said people like to put their own stamp on the property.
As an aside, when we moved to our current house 6 years ago we inherited a dated solid wood kitchen. We had the cupboards painted, changed the tiling (floors and walls) new handles on the kitchen units and improved the lighting. An excellent, fashionable and good quality kitchen for less than £3,000.

I wouldn't dream of suggesting that the OP is making up her post, but maybe the EA said that in order to achieve a particular price then work would need to be done, which is not quite the same as saying that the house wouldn't sell without it? Sometimes it is the implications of what we hear that stick, rather than the words themselves. I know a friend of mine thought he should get the same price for his house as the neighbours had; but they had an extra bedroom and bathroom in the loft, so of course their house was worth more. He could have got the same price if he built into his loft, but nobody was saying that that is what he should do - he just needed to be more realistic about what his house was worth as it stood.

I would have thought that the time taken to get a new kitchen and bathroom would work against everyone's interests, particularly in a falling market. Neither are the sort of thing that can be done in a couple of weeks, and the time taken is time lost to viewings. Having said that, I think a lot depends on who is likely to buy the house. As I've said, we bought a 'do it upper' when we were young, but I wouldn't do it at my age now. An older person might want something ready to move into after a lick of paint and new carpets, but a young couple might be looking ahead to a time when they can afford to upgrade, but in the meantime be glad of somewhere near the schools they want for their children. A bungalow with work to do might stick, but a family house in the right area will usually sell if the price is right.

I’m afraid I don’t believe that any estate agent would tell any potential client, let alone an 80 year old lady, that they had to ‘rip out’ the kitchen and bathroom in order to sell the house. They might say that the value they put on the house is perhaps disappointing because it needs some updating, but such houses, appropriately priced, often sell quickly because they represent an opportunity for a buyer to profit from some work. So I rather doubt that any agent would use the words the OP quotes.

Foxygloves

What are you implying Sago ?

I’m implying that no agent would say such a thing, it is not in their interests.
We have bought and sold 15 houses never have we been told to change anything, every agent knows you could spend 30k putting a new country style kitchen in and the target market would want a hi gloss minimalist kitchen.
The classic phrase is “ in need of some updating”.

Sagoyou have been fortunate in the estate agents you have dealt with. I have dealt with agents who overpriced property, even though we queried it and then blame us for the over pricing when it did not sell - because it was overpriced, encourage us to bid for a property and when we chased them up because we got no response, told us they didn't know why we had put an offer in as the house had been under offer for weeeks and contracts were about to be exchanged.

I am pretty sure that an estate agent would act like this especially with an older woman on her own.

You are not unreasonable and glad you put the estate agent in her place. There are poor estate agents out there and she is one. Sell with another.

Your house will appeal to the right buyer, someone who may want to put their own stamp on it anyway, someone who can see potential. Oak doors can be painted nowadays and will anyway be better quality than cheap chipboard/mdf ones.

Some 'trendy' kitchens now [a few I've seen in showrooms/tv] are going to look dated in the future, and quite quickly, anyway. Fashions change too quickly in so many areas nowadays [clothing/shoes/furniture/flooring/bathrooms/garden design/cars etc. etc], just good ways to keep the economy/capitalism going, make the big boys rich and appealing to the Jones's who get their identity from showing off to their peer group and think spending wasting money is impressing their friends. So many fall for it.

Back to the point. You will find someone who appreciates what your home offers as you do, every home suits someone, it's just finding the match. And pricing it correctly. Houses sell themselves. Good to have a reputable, polite estate agent as the middle man though, not someone who sounds quite amateurish.

What are you implying Sago ?

I don’t think a word of this is true!
No agent would ever give such advice, they price the property accordingly.

Just to say, not that long ago both our dds bought houses with extremely dated decor, but clean and perfectly liveable. Old Ks and Bs certainly didn’t put them off.

These days with the cost of mortgages rising people are often looking for something they can “do up”. You could spend money on a kitchen and bathroom that buyers don’t want as they often have their own ideas. Agree ask another estate agent to visit. Don’t forget the agent wants the highest price for your property as they get the commission. You have a perfectly decent kitchen and to hell with spending unnecessary money which you won’t get back.

Utter nonsense.. Change estate agents people with vision see past the existing layout.
My daughter and her now husband bought their 1st house 10 years ago when they were both 21.
Ripped everything out, made significant changes sold 5 years later for a big profit.
2nd home exactly the same..
Do what you want to do, don't listen to not rude estate agents.

You are not being unreasonable. Definitely not. Lots of good advice above. You don't have to do anything that you are not comfortable with.