House Critic

If you’re planning on selling your home but your kitchen is old and grotty should you replace it?

The answer is going to depend on a number of things. How much money you have to spend? Whether it will actually increase the value of your house? Will it make your house easier to sell?

The chances are that in a falling market you won’t get money back for improvements you do. If you try and skimp on costs then you end up putting an obviously cheap and nasty kitchen in which might be as off-putting as an old one.

So what to do?

Clean it really well. Get the oven professionally cleaned if you can – it costs about £50 to have it cleaned so it looks like new! Scrub the rest of the work tops and doors.

Declutter. Get rid of all the bits of junk you have out on your work surfaces. Re-grout the tiles if they’re grotty and won’t come clean – or try a grouting whitener pen.
Use nice accessories to make the most of the kitchen. A nice bowl of fruit or a flower arrangement can really make your kitchen look nice.

Some people believe that setting out a cafetiere on a tray with some nice cups can add a real finishing touch – others think it’s very pretentious and won’t help sell the property. See how it looks though – sometimes adding a touch of lifestyle to your property is what inspires people to think they want to live there!

Look up at walls too – a fresh coat of emulsion can brighten a kitchen up for a few pounds and will only take a little time to do. Dust round light fittings too – and clear junk from the tops of cupboards too.

If you have a breakfast bar then put some chairs at it, if there’s room! This can make your kitchen look very usable as an eating space. Dressing the table area for a meal can also complete the look.

Think about brightening a kitchen up by changing the blind and adding a colour matched rug to the floor. Don’t forget that any nice accessories you buy can go with you to your new house too – so buy things you like!

Cheap ways of changing the way a kitchen looks are to replace the cupboard doors. You should be able to do this simply by swapping them over. Take measurements to a few shops and get it priced up properly. New door fronts will completely change the kitchen look for very little effort but a small cost. Certainly it’ll be cheaper than ripping out a kitchen.

Sink cleaning products are available to make your sink really shine again. It’s worth putting some time into this as a shiny sink looks excellent. Don’t have a draining board covered with anything. Make sure you get rid of all washing up as soon as possible so that it doesn’t build up before a viewing.

Make sure your kitchen smells nice. You don’t have to brew coffee or bake bread, but ensure it’s clean and that the bin is empty and also cleaned out. Put your recycling out in the main bins too – don’t leave it cluttering up the kitchen.

If you have a small kitchen then use bright colours to make it look bigger – use gadgets with reflective surfaces to help enhance the space too.

Decluttering is vital – you have to clear out gadgets you don’t use and ensure there’s space on your worktops. If they don’t all fit in your cupboards then get rid of the stuff you don’t use.

There are 23 bungalows for sale within a 1 mile radius of where I live! Prices are £235k for a 2 bedroom one and the cheapest is £110,000.
This to me seems massively expensive.
Why are they so expensive? It might be because there aren’t huge numbers of them, they are in demand for a certain age group and perhaps demand outstrips supply. Data to back that up though isn’t there – one has been for sale since 19 November 2009 – a long time! So perhaps there’s demand but people are reluctant to actually pay these astromonical prices for them.


The first bungalows were built on the North coast of Kent at Westgate On Sea and Birchington – the name bungalow comes from a Hindi word bangala which means from Bengal as the properties first built had similar roof lines to the buildings in Bengal.

Many bungalows were built on decent size plots making them valuable if you can get permission to squeeze another house on the site, or demolish the existing home and throw some flats up.
The all on one floor living space can be a bit wierd – but it’s great if you have trouble with stairs. A suprising number of bungalows get extended into the roof space and get turned into dormer bungalows. A bungoalow extended with velus (in line roof windows) is usually known as a chalet style bungalow.

Rightmove allows you to view only bungalows in their search results!

This lib dem MP can’t afford to buy a house because he can’t raise the deposit.

His £66,000 salary from representing the St Austell and Newquay constituency in Cornwall since last year’s General Election isn’t enough for him to save a deposit.

It’s not just the deposit holding him back though – high house prices are also to blame! And in pretty areas like Cornwall there are a huge number of second home owners.

Lot 34 from their catalogue for May 2011 lists a house with a free hillman imp!

You can view their catalogues here

It’s not as rare as it might sound. During the boom years one building society gave away cars with mortgages! Some developers are currently throwing in a car if you buy the property. Shame they haven’t worked out that it’d be better to drop the price!

One estate agent has recently come to my attention as one that likes to keep buyers guessing.
This house is for sale – it’s not got a photo or a map – just a vague general description!

I can understand that some people want to keep their house sale private from nosey neighbours, but a good estate agent would vet people before allowing viewings, especially on such an expensive house – so I don’t see the point in hiding the house or location.

For many people buying a house is about falling in love with a building or a location – and to remove these key aspects from the internet listings strikes me as a little odd.

If you’re going to do your own viewings then there are a few rules to bear in mind. Assuming the house is spotless and looks and smells fantastic then you should turn your attention to other matters.


What are you going to wear? Clearly being in pyjamas is not acceptable. Having your hair in curlers is probably also a no-no!


What about the rest of the family. Get them out of the house. Send them to the shop for a paper or to the park. Get the dog out of the house too. Some people don’t like dogs and almost no one enjoys having a dog jump up at them or barking.

Having someone asleep in bed is a huge problem – if someone works nights then they will have to have disturbed sleep if you have a viewing lined up. Try to arrange viewings for when they will be awake anyway.


Don’t have anyone using the shower or loo either. I’ve read horror stories about people being in the bath during viewings.

Greet your viewers with a smile too! Even if they are late you should greet them with a smile. Should you offer them a drink? I’ve only ever been offered a drink once when I’ve been viewing houses, and to be honest it was a bit weird.


Lock up your valuables – make sure your handbag isn’t where anyone could rifle through it. Don’t leave money out anywhere and don’t leave them alone in rooms for any length of time.

Ignore any comments about your decoration that they come out with. Pretend you didn’t hear them slating your lovely wallpaper or choice of paint for the lounge door. If they want to pay the asking price then they can be as rude as they want.


Show them round and then ask if they want to look at any rooms again. You can let them wander round on their own if you like and in most houses they won’t get lost. If you have a huge house then you might want to give them the guided tour. But in a normal size house this can be a bit repetitive pointing out the obvious function of each room.

Answer their questions – perhaps have copies of utility bills out – or have totals for the last winter’s bill – as this is something that people are interested in. Write down when the boiler was last serviced and by whom. If you have chimneys then write down when they were last swept as well. If you have cavity wall insulation then tell them!

If you’re not sure of an answer say you don’t know – but offer to research the information for them and pass it on via the estate agent.


Always ensure viewings are booked through the estate agent and consider keeping someone else in the house with you.

Ask them questions – are they ready to move, are they new to the area, what other properties have they looked at in the area?


Some people will be tyre kickers – that is, people who like viewing houses. Some people will be first time buyers and may have little experience of viewing a house. Some will be professional landlords looking to extend their portfolio. All these people need dealing with in a polite, professional manner. You may be able to tell whether someone is a landlord by the lack of questions they ask. First time buyers might ask many questions.


They may ask if you have found somewhere else to buy yet. If you haven’t then be honest – and they ask if you would consider moving into rented if they want to buy quickly, then be honest – and that might mean saying you don’t know!


After your viewing you should expect your estate agent to contact them with feedback about the viewing and whether they liked it. This feedback can be useful for you to know about as it can help future viewings.