Q & A

This week's questions:  What happens if my lender goes bust? Should I revamp to generate more interest?

What happens if my lender goes bust?

Q What happens to my mortgage if my lender goes bust?

AYou wrote this e-mail last week when nerves over banking were particularly frayed in terms of a banking collapse. A week later things appear (though who knows!) to have settled down considerably. However if you, at any time, thought that a collapsed bank had the silver lining of a mortgage write-off, then bad news. If your lender goes under, the loan book - which will include your mortgage - will be taken over by somebody else and your mortgage will continue with payments at the same level and with the original terms and conditions.

Should I revamp to generate more interest?

QI was interested to read in your supplement last week that a guy who couldn't sell his house last year had totally refurbished it on the basis of the criticisms from potential buyers. I am in the same position. My 1970s house has been on the market for 10 months with very little interest. I am considering giving it a makeover, particularly putting in a new kitchen, an en suite and a new bathroom, as these are the things a couple of the viewers complained about. How do I calculate if it's worth it?

AHave you costed these improvements? It's difficult to see how you could get all this work done for less than €25,000 (and that's for modest-sized rooms) because bathrooms and kitchens are the most expensive rooms to makeover as they involve all the trades. Would you be better off knocking that amount off the asking price, even though during the course of 10 months you will undoubtedly have been advised by your estate agent to drop the price a couple of times already?

Then there's the hassle of getting the work done, are you really up for that? If you start work you will have to take the house off the market for a while, as no one wants to view a building site. Do you want that?

You don't say what price bracket your house is in and that does matter - the price of doing the improvements might be small in terms of the price you might achieve. Have a meeting with your agent to discuss future strategy and be prepared to hear some bad news on the price you should be looking for. Most viewers in most houses have strong views about kitchens and bathrooms, and even if you update yours, there's no guarantee that the next lot of viewers will like your taste.

Unless the kitchen units are hanging off the wall and the worktop is so worn it looks permanently filthy, you might be better going back to the basics of house presentation: clean from top to bottom; fix things such as doors, windows, etc, that are broken; declutter; refresh the paintwork, especially in kitchens and bathrooms; and pay attention to the exterior. Your agent is going to have to hone his or her sales skills and enthusiastically point out to viewers how easy it would be to improve the kitchen and bathroom to their taste, to, in that horrible phrase, "put their own stamp on it".

Your questions:

Send your queries to Property questions, The Irish Times, The Irish Times Building, 24-28 Tara Street, Dublin 2 or email propertyquestions@irish-times.ie. Unfortunately it is not possible to respond to all questions.

The above is a representative sample of queries received. This column is a readers' service and is not intended to replace professional advice. No individual correspondence will be entered into.