Are property shows exaggerating?

[user1470849338]

Or do people actually care that much about the paint colour when looking for a house?
Just watching Sarah Beeney's Selling Houses (or whatever it's called) and I can't believe people are easily put off by decoration or lack off.
Although the minging carpets would make me feel a bit bleugh

[wowfudge]

I showed a friend the listing for our house when we were buying it. Her reaction to the garish decor and clutter was, 'Oh I just couldn't buy somewhere that wasn't already done to my taste'. She did say we would be able to make it really nice .

I think the Amanda Lamb more recent series are worse; she usually dictates some tacky fashion wallpaper and other crap, although some of the ideas are sound. The average house needs to be decluttered, tidied, de-personalised and thoroughly cleaned. Any unfinished DIY jobs or things which need doing should be attended to and that's pretty much it.

[greenfolder]

I agree. Many of the houses I am looking at now and have bought in the past are typical houses last done up in the 80s and 90s. Not to my taste but it's the blinking house you are buying!

[stripeyduvet]

OP I completely agree. It always astonishes me that buyers expect sellers to read their minds and have a house all decorated just how they like it. I've seen programs where people think there are no kids rooms in a house because the second and third bedrooms are not kid themed!

I don't understand why wouldn't want to redecorate the whole house when you buy it, it's your house so make it look like it! That's part of the joy of house ownership for me!

[Ditsy4]

Some people just can't see beyond the decor though. DH is like that however I have vision so bought two houses which were needing gutted. First one was in a right state but turned it around within 9mths including new kitchen floor, three and a half new ceilings, kitchen and bathroom and decorated throughout. Second one I did in six weeks just cosmetic and I did the kitchen and bathroom later as I had son and lodgers in it. I did it for less than my budget of £6,000 too.

Some of the decor they put in makes me think urgh!

[ShortLass]

I have watched a lot of the Amanda Lamb's Selling Houses and there are quite a few times when you see the house at the beginning and think, ooh lovely. Then some ghastly garish wallpaper appears to ruin it.

But the main point she is making, I think, is valid. Twenty years ago, it was all about making houses a blank canvas. Now, people are flicking through Rightmove and looking for something to stand out and one-after-another magnolia room with no personality isn't going to attract people on line.

I think putting a bed in a room helps make visualise it as a bedroom, and so forth.

For some people, having that incentive of the TV cameras in helps them get done what they really knew needed doing. They also get £1000 and that ften helps them do the thing they would be otherise struggling to afford. For people with homes stuck on the market, there is some good advice and quite a lot manage to sell on the back of it. Others, maybe, aren't selling because of other factors such as price.

At the end of the day, it's a TV show. It's entertainment. It works well as that. I also think you can get a few good ideas from it. Just perhaps not the garish wallpaper.

[RebelandaStunner]

A bit OTT because it's for telly, but we hate DIY and try to buy places that are more or less done.
As long as it's just decorating fine, but
we wouldn't want painted over wood chip to deal with or kitchen tiles like they sometimes do on those programmes.
The Amanda Lamb one I awful.

[RebelandaStunner]

*is

[user1470849338]

I think it was the Amanda Lamb one I was watching, she seemed curiously obsessed with wallpaper.
We're house hunting atm and it might be just because it's our first home but I can't wait to get in and start decorating. Fair enough if there's an avocado green bathroom and completely agree with dressing the room with beds, etc to get a feel of the size, but I wouldn't be impressed to find wallpaper over wallpaper over lining paper after I bought!

[Ratley]

I don't get it either, we get bored with decor really quickly and probably repaint and paper once a year or so three years at most with same colour/paper in here.

[namechangedtoday15]

I don't think people who come on a property / DIY page of Mumsnet are representative of the general population though . I think there is a massive chunk of the buying public who can't see beyond the current decor / can but can't or won't do DIY / just have no real interest and want to move into a ready made house.