Hello Everyone

[Gattaca]

My contract with the house seller would agree the deduction of the whole contract cost from house sale proceeds OR from the exchange deposit monies

There is such a massive flaw with this though as I see it....

This means that the cost of kitchen and its fit becomes amalgamated with the cost of the house. If that fit is a £5K (or worse if more) and if the buyer has bought the house at the current market value or a touch on the high side and then the kitchen will add 5K or 10K on to the house sale price to pay for the kitchen and the surveyor will not take that into account unless you can convince him that the kitchen will add that much to the house value. In turn he goes back to the mortgage company valuing it for less than the sale price this in turn means the mortgage company will not lend against the full amount. And in the current housing market climate that is a VERY real danger!

The absolute danger is that then your business model starts causing house sales to fall through, if this happens more than the odd time your reputation will preceed you and any house seller will not even entertain a buyer that comes wanting to use your proposition!

I can tell you what my answer would be to a buyer if asked if I was willing to that would be - and I wouldn't need time to think about it!

Just my 2p!

Hello Blue Joe,

This is a very valid point and the business I worked for previously came unstuck with this problem as they 'inflated' the house value to take into account the improvements, trying to convince surveyors that the house would be worth more after works have finished. I would point out this company refitted kitchen, bathroom, all floor covering and complete redecoration ( which made the project management,.....err....challenging/chuffin impossible)

My concept differs. The price deduction is taken from the eventual proceeds of the house sale. If the agreed price is downvalued by a surveyor, both the seller and buyer need to renegotiate the price, but the kitchen package price remains unaltered or removed completely ( If a seller chooses not to go ahead with our package, but proceeds with the sale we levy an admin fee split with our local fitter on completion, this fee is to cover initial visit & CAD plan costs)

My experience of sellers trying to sell houses with poor kitchens is that have to continue to reduce their price to even lure a viewing. When a potential, buyer does visit, they want a price reduction to apply to the whole house even though with a new kitchen it would make the house more desirable.
The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors own research suggests that a new kitchen can improve a properties value by around 4.5% but this should be a tool to help the buyer as the concept really offers house sellers an option to substantially improve their chances of selling, not to improve the price they will get.

Another aspect of the current house market is potential buyers access to cash. It is recognised that the bigger deposit they put down on a house equates to a better mortgage rate and this in turn leaves little money for home improvement post sale. My suggestion is that the house seller 'uses' the equity built up in the house to offer an attractive, personalised option to a potential buyer.

You make a very valid point and it one of main things I have worked on before I moved toward the fitting aspect of the idea.

Many thanks for your post

Regards

Phill