Talking Property

The fear factor in renovating  is stopping house sales, says ISABEL MORTON

THANKFULLY, common sense is back in fashion. It had disappeared entirely for quite a while, when the nation was drunk with affluence but theres nothing like a bit of deprivation to get the brain working properly again.

There was a time, when I was worn out advising people not to use three bedrooms to create a gargantuan master bedroom suite.

I pleaded with them to think ahead to the day they’d be selling and explained how the average buyer wouldn’t thank them for reducing the number of bedrooms so dramatically, but invariably I failed. Those were the days, when fantasies were indulged without much consideration.

Some months ago, I got a call from one such homeowner, desperately trying to work out how she was going to reconfigure her home again, as her estate agent told her she wouldn’t have a hope in hell of attracting a viewer, let alone an offer, for what should have been a comfortable five-bedroom family home but had been reduced to a two-bed.

Admittedly, the two bedrooms in question were magnificent: the master en suite bathroom was so big and luxurious, that apart from being appointed with the best of designer bathroom fittings, it also included a seating area with flat screen television and a large sofa in front of the remotely controlled gas fire.

It also had a sophisticated sound system, mood lighting, which changed colour at the press of a button and an integrated fridge which, she calmly told me, was to avoid ruining a romantic moment by having to run down to the kitchen for a bottle of bubbly and two long-stem glasses.

But, as both the era and the romance were long over and the property had to be sold, she had to bite the bullet and return the bedroom floor layout to something, which made logical sense for the average family lifestyle.

An extreme example perhaps, but not unusual, as en suite bathrooms became synonymous with the Tiger era: the more money we thought we had, the larger and more numerous and luxurious our en suite bathrooms became.

Today’s canny buyers have no desire to pay for someone else’s folly, particularly now, at a time when banks are just not lending money for renovation and decoration.

Property buyers these days, may be few and far between but never have they been so educated and well informed. Most have fought long and hard for every cent they’ve managed to extract from their lending institution and they’re going to make very sure that they get maximum value for their budget.

“It’s a Catch-22 situation, said one estate agent. “In a falling market, vendors are reluctant to invest any money in their homes prior to selling, indeed, many just don’t have the cash to spend.

“Yet, on the other side of the fence, buyers are equally reluctant to take on a renovation project because the final costs are unknown.

“Most just can’t carry the cost of paying rent and a mortgage at the same time, let alone cover the cost of the renovation work required.”

Properties, which sit on the market for months on end, are invariably those in need of a lot of work.

‘“It’s the fear factor,” explained one couple viewing a period house in need of a complete overhaul.

“We can’t take the risk of getting our figures wrong and ending up living on a building site for years. We view these older houses because we love them, but always end up running away in terror at the thought of all the things which could go wrong.”

Even the few who are lucky enough to have a little cash set aside for renovation work invariably shy away from becoming involved in a building project.

Buyers look at the asking price, then start adding costs such as legal fees and stamp duty, renovation costs, including a contingency budget for emergencies, then a budget to cover renting elsewhere until the work is completed and finally, they add another sum of money, to cover the worry and hassle involved.

These figures are hard enough to get right but, in addition, the purchaser also has to calculate what the value of the final product might be, in the event that their financial circumstances change and they are forced to sell.

This is usually the ultimate stumbling block, as there is still no way of finding out actual sale prices and this is compounded by the ongoing fear that property values will fall further. And, as all this has to be evaluated prior to making an offer on a property, which may or may not be accepted, it is no wonder that people complain that the sales process has slowed down to a snail’s pace and become extremely stressful.

Time perhaps, to take a long luxurious soak in the Jacuzzi baths before it’s ripped out and thrown in the skip, along with our luxuriant dreams.

* Isabel Morton is a property consultant