As long as he sells and buys in same market, its relative.. so don't make much difference to sell now or later.
I think buyers can see through a quick patch up job.. one thing you can't dress up is if a house is small, if it doesn't have size , you can do what you want but it's small.
When I bought my house I looked at position and then size. The other bullshit cosmetic bits can be sorted.. but if it's in a shit spot or too small, your no good .
Another free tip don't listen to real estates that say it's ok to buy near powerlines. There is a guy I know who lives basically under powerlines, he doesn't have a hair on his head, scorched off the first time he opens his back door never to grow back. He probably has 3 arms by now too