Selling House - what needs to be finished??

I am thinking on selling my house in 2015 but there are a number of thing that haven't been completed yet. Its a relatively new build. Upstairs most of the floors are bare concrete. I haven't painted outside, the garden hasn't been flattened yet, I haven't finished the garage etc.

Downstairs I have all the flooring down except the main sitting room where i also don't have a fireplace installed.

Would it be wise to finish these things and paint before putting the house up for sale. The house was valued recently at significantly above what i owe on the mortgage so Negative Equity shouldn't be an issue.

When I moved into my new place, there was no building work to do. All the painting inside was done. I was happy that all the floors were bare concrete and this allowed me to take time to pick my own tiles, carpet, wooden flooring. I suspect most buyers are like me in this respect. People differ greatly in their choice of fireplace also.

Finish the garage and tidy the garden. Allow a new owner to put their own stamp on it, but paint the outside perhaps.

I differ with STEINER in certain respects. Painting is very much a matter of choice - what colour you like might not be everybody's taste. When we moved in to our house, every single piece of paintwork had to be done, but it was done in Mrs.M colour scheme. As for a fireplace, sure you can get one of these for a very small price overall.

I wouldn't be fretting and worrying about little things like the garden. Many of the items you have mentioned are very much a matter of personal choice. As an ex-developer, there are two things that sell a house, A Kitchen and bathrooms - everything else is a piece of cake. Keep the women happy and you'll get a sale.

Thanks for the replies folks. I think i'll at least finish the garage and flatten the garden. It is quite a jungle at the min. I'll not go planting shrubs and the like. As you say steiner people like to put there own stamp on a place, my only worry there is would people think the house is unfinished and look to get a hefty discount.
I have the kitchens and bathrooms all done thankfully and they are pretty nice. Well apart from the ensuite and master bedroom. Its hard to know how much to do to not affect the sale price but then i don't want to go spending money i may not need to.

Put yourself in a buyers shoes - prep the house as you would expect it to be if you were purchasing. Get opinions from friends and family and ask for honest replies. Some may not be to your liking while others may be.
IMHO I would leave enough work for a purchaser to put their own stamp on it. But I would do some exterior work - just from a presentation point of view. A lot of purchasers will drive by and if it looks attractive on the outside it may encourage them to make a viewing.
But don't overdo it. Having sold our house last year we put a lot of effort into presenting our house and it worked - very much in our favour.
Best of luck.

Tired Paul said:

Put yourself in a buyers shoes - prep the house as you would expect it to be if you were purchasing. Get opinions from friends and family and ask for honest replies. Some may not be to your liking while others may be.
IMHO I would leave enough work for a purchaser to put their own stamp on it. But I would do some exterior work - just from a presentation point of view. A lot of purchasers will drive by and if it looks attractive on the outside it may encourage them to make a viewing.
But don't overdo it. Having sold our house last year we put a lot of effort into presenting our house and it worked - very much in our favour.
Best of luck.

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Thanks tired paul. Yeah presenting the outside well is probably a good idea. Would you leave bare concrete floors? What sort of things did you do to present your house well?

If I were viewing your house with the intention to buy, I wouldn't be concerned with the lack of floor coverings or fireplaces. As you're intending to sell, I'm guessing you're not going to be spending big money on the house from here on in. Putting cheap floors or fireplaces in purely to secure a sale could deter potential buyers. As others have said, it's an opportunity for the new owners to put their own stamp on the house.

Like Tired Paul has suggested, I would concentrate on the outside appearance of the house. I would level out the garden, finish the garage and have it as tidy as possible....first impressions count!

diver said:

If I were viewing your house with the intention to buy, I wouldn't be concerned with the lack of floor coverings or fireplaces. As you're intending to sell, I'm guessing you're not going to be spending big money on the house from here on in. Putting cheap floors or fireplaces in purely to secure a sale could deter potential buyers. As others have said, it's an opportunity for the new owners to put their own stamp on the house.

Like Tired Paul has suggested, I would concentrate on the outside appearance of the house. I would level out the garden, finish the garage and have it as tidy as possible....first impressions count!

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Hi diver, its a delicate balance now i suppose. I would spend money on decent floor coverings and a fireplace if i believed it would help the sale and improve the price i may get (or more specifically not adversely affect the price). I agree with you that putting in some cheap floors and fireplace for the sake of covering them would be a bad idea.

The advice so far seems to be to leave them bare and let a potential buyer put their own stamp on the property. I'll definitely flatten the garden and complete the garage and try to present the place well.

changes said:

Thanks tired paul. Yeah presenting the outside well is probably a good idea. Would you leave bare concrete floors? What sort of things did you do to present your house well?

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We had 3 bedrooms upstairs and to be fair two floors were in a bad state. We contemplated the cost of replacing as opposed to the cost of leaving it - maybe a few stratically placed rugs etc. Our EA advised us to leave the carpets as they were - he said most buyers would look beyond shabby carpets.
For the viewings and broucher photos we decluttered, decluttered and decluttered. If it wasn't moved, looked at or touched in the previous 6 months it was either dumped / charity shop / given to family or friends or put into storage.
No family photos, windows cleaned, all bulbs working, general tidy in every room, fresh flowers, etc etc. There are plenty sites on the techniques to use here.