Selling a dated house you've just inherited

If you have suddenly inherited a dated house from a relative or friend you might be looking for some quick tips to spruce it up and remove the most dated features from the home for a quick sale. You don't want to scare off potential buyers with a dark mission brown brick interior, but you don't want to spend too much as the new buyer will want to add their own touches. Here are some tips. 

Render the dated brick structures

Many Australian houses built in the sixties and seventies featured dark "mission brown" walls internally. These walls are dated and can make areas feel smaller and dark. Luckily it's relatively easy  to render over the brick walls with a cement/plaster mix. The walls can then be painted a neutral shade. This presents the house in the best light and gives a blank slate for the prospective buyers to imagine adding their own colours and decorations to the house. This is a good job for a remodelling contractor so that you get a smooth and attractive finish. 

Patch a dated bathroom

While the coloured bathrooms in older houses can seem quite scary they are actually on trend at the moment, so it can be well worth leaving in place. If the bathroom room has scratches and marks on the porcelain these can be easily patched with DIY paint from the hardware store. More serious damage can be fixed by a bath resealer for the fraction of the cost of a new bathroom. Doing more than this can be expensive and buyers may still want to remove your work to add their own touch to the bathroom no matter what you chose to install. 

Cover (or replace) worn carpets

If you have worn carpets these can add to a generally run down feel for the house. Depending on what is under the carpets new buyers might either choose to remove the carpets and refinish the floorboards underneath, or lay new carpets throughout. You can either cover worn areas with rugs and hall runners as a temporary measure for home opens or if you have a little more money you can get the carpets relaid with cheaper grade, hardwearing carpets. It's not a good idea to spend any more than you need on carpets as the new buyers may prefer a different colours or floor finishing so evaluate both options and go with the cheapest. 

If you are looking to sell a dated house making some simple changes such as rendering dark walls and patching scratched bathware can make a huge difference to the appeal of a property. Why not chat to a remodelling contractor to discuss your options?