DIY Home: Giving New Life To Deceased Estates

Discover DIY home improvement ideas for giving new life to deceased estates, transforming neglected properties into functional and inviting spaces.

Taking over a deceased estate can feel a little confronting. Especially when you realise you’re dealing with years, sometimes decades, of furniture, memories, paperwork, and clutter that somebody else left behind.

For many Australians, inherited homes can evoke mixed emotions. For sure, there’s usually sentimental value attached to the property. However, there’s also a long list of jobs you need to get done. If you are lucky, the home may only need a basic clean-up and a few cosmetic updates. If you are not, you might need to do a full reset to make the property ready to sell, rent out, or live in yourself.

While the latter might seem like an intimidating task, you’ll go a long way towards achieving it if you can break the process down into small, sizeable chunks. Let’s look at how best you can breathe life back into deceased estates.

Where Should You Start When You First Enter The Deceased Estate?

Unlike regular homes that are bought and sold, a deceased estate property might not have been updated for years. In particular, if it were the centre of a legal dispute.

That’s why, when you first enter the property, you might find yourself having to deal with old carpet, dated kitchens, packed garages, overgrown gardens, or spare bedrooms that slowly turned into storage rooms over time.

Perhaps the easiest way to get overwhelmed is to try to tackle the whole property at once. Instead, a much more sensible approach is to thoroughly clean and declutter it on a room-by-room basis first.

As good a place to start is to do a deceased estate clean-up with 1300 Rubbish. They can help you responsibly dispose of the obvious junk items first, which could include:

• Broken furniture

• Old mattresses

• Damaged appliances

• Expired pantry items

• Uninspiring artwork

• Other things you don’t want to keep

This process can be physically and mentally exhausting, and could potentially take weeks to complete. However, once it is done, the overall mood of the house and the project will change noticeably.

What DIY Improvements Can Instantly Refresh an Older Home?

With all the clutter gone, you can turn your attention towards making some DIY improvements that will enhance the livability of the property.

Probably the easiest thing to do is to give the place a fresh lick of paint. It is amazing how much brighter and cleaner you can make the place feel just by updating your walls and surfaces with lighter neutral colours, such as white, warm beige, or soft grey.

At the same time, you should consider updating the lighting, as it can make a massive difference to how the property looks and feels. Even something as simple as swapping old yellow light bulbs for more modern and eye-catching ones can make rooms feel new without spending much money at all.

Of course, it’s smart to check for any maintenance problems, such as leaking taps, cracked roof tiles, broken screens, or peeling paint, and take steps to rectify them. If your budget allows, a great way to restore the deceased estate home to its former glory is to enhance the flooring. Sometimes, if you pull up stained and dirty carpet, it might reveal timber flooring underneath that can simply be polished instead of replaced to create a “wow” factor.

Other simple upgrades you can make include:

• Repainting kitchen cabinets

• Replacing old handles and tapware

• Updating mirrors

• Refreshing bathroom accessories

• Replacing old curtains or blinds

Additionally, you’d also be surprised how much of an impact doing basic outdoor work can have on the estate. Just by mowing overgrown lawns, trimming hedges, pressure washing pathways, and adding fresh mulch, you can completely transform the property’s curb appeal and overall first impression.

Can Restoring a Deceased Estate Increase Property Value?

In many cases, making cosmetic upgrades or even more extensive renovations to a deceased estate can significantly increase its value. However, before you spend a significant amount of money on this, it is worth consulting a real estate professional. They can give you a decent idea of your ROI and enhancements to focus on first.

Having said that, you should be aware that for many families, sprucing up deceased estates is more about giving the property a second life than it is about making money from it.

How Do You Prepare a Deceased Estate Property for Sale?

If you do want to gain financially from the property, you’ll need to prepare it for sale or rent. Essentially, this means that once the repairs and cleaning are finished, you should focus on its presentation.

Just like any property listed on the market, you’ll want buyers to imagine themselves living there. That’s why neutral styling works so well, because it will appeal to a wider audience than something, for example, with bright avocado walls. It is also a good idea to remove any personal items and keep the room designs simple, as this will create a much more welcoming atmosphere.

Other little touches you can take are to arrange professional window cleaning and to fill the room with beautiful fresh flowers. You can find some good inspiration for the latter here.

How Do You Prepare a Deceased Estate Property for Rent?

If you want to rent out the property, you’ll need to ensure it is healthy, safe, and legally compliant with state and national laws. This includes ensuring:

• All structural issues, plumbing issues, and electrical faults are fixed.

• That the property is in a tenantable condition

• Hardwired or compliant smoke alarms are installed and tested

• Safety Barriers are erected around the swimming pool or spa (if the property has one)

The property must also be registered and meet minimum housing standards. Lastly, it is important to identify a good real estate company to source and manage tenants on your behalf.