If you're looking to buy, what would put you off the most?

[WhoNose88]

Neither buying nor selling for a year or two, but I'm looking around to keep an eye on things and idly curious about what would put other people off.

For me, it would be a garden with no plants (just decking or paving, or that horrible astroturf stuff) or a house with only a shower, no bath (the kids love their baths!).

What are things that would put you off?

Bad layouts.

Busy road.

Super-bad area.

Zero outside space. I don't mind a small courtyard space as can add plants and things in tubs. I'm not a big gardener but do like to have somewhere to sit and look at green things.

Overgrown garden.
A hoarder owner.
Loads and loads of pets.
Aeroplane noise.

Neighbours

Tiny kitchen, off bus and train routes, huge garden

Any kind of shared access - looked round some where neighbours had right to go through gardens with bin therefore you could never lock your gate, shared path to driveways......no way, to easy to cause problems

Japanese knotweed - pulled out last-minute when that came up on survey

Drastic improvements required - my budget didn’t stretch past cosmetic so if a whole new bathroom/kitchen was required of every single wall needed plastering and new windows required I couldn’t have done it

Front door straight to pavement - loads of new builds seem to do this, I don’t need a huge front garden but I wanted some space between passers by and my front window!

Low ceilings

Severely neglected properties. If it looks badly damaged and rough on the outside it’s probably in dire need within the walls too

Dog shit

Dark
Narrow rooms like the long thin knocked through living/dining rooms you get in small Victorian terraces, I like square!
Busy road
Rough area

No parking for all household cars
No conservatory
No garage
Social housing
Poor build quality
Out look also is important

@VenusClapTrap yes plastic windows...... how about grey pvc windows????

@MrsDeanWinchester75 I'm so with u regarding grey windows..... just why? I just don't get it. They look cheap and nasty.

@safariboot new build completely. Nightmare stories everywhere.

@FairyLightBlanket45 agreed!

Neighbours!

I'd avoid (in this order):
Bad location
New build
North facing garden
Not too close to a pub

I'd actively seek a large garden and 1970s house because the rooms tend to be larger and lighter. Decorative stuff doesn't matter to me, it will get done eventually when we have saved up.

Conservatory (unless it could be removed easily).
Small garden.
Wasted space (i.e. massive bathroom upstairs making one of the bedrooms small).
Being overlooked.
En-suite bathrooms. Hate them.
No driveway.
If it wasn't open plan downstairs.

All of the above are dealbreakers for me.

No off-street parking
A bedroom that is half a bedroom
Weird distribution
Overlooked
Lack of light.

No downstairs bathroom
No hidden away space that could be used as place to store general crap - mop bucket, cat's litter tray etc
Parking provisions that are likely to cause issues!
Next to construction site, school etc

Would not buy a property that didn't have:

off street parking
a bath
a hallway to separate front door from lounge
a garden with some real greenery

and would never buy anywhere that had an open plan kitchen/lounge

I wouldn’t buy a property that had a shared garden or driveway.

small garden,
downstairs bathroom,
ease of access through front door
storage heaters

Unpleasant, difficult or scruffy/trashed neighbouring houses (unless in the process of being redone). High crime area or scruffy neighbourhood in general.

Anything aesthetic to do with the house - window frames, garden style, kitchens, bathrooms, carpets etc can be changed.

Unpleasant, difficult neighbours that should say.

When we next move we'll have a very focussed search area and will be moving for more space, so won't be able to be too fussy beyond that!

However, we would definitely want off street parking and a garden (however small.)

Tiny courtyard garden, overlooked, no bath, no separate shower, tiny kitchen, attached to another property, no garage ... I'm quite an exacting customer! We are browsing at the moment and know exactly what we want but have zero chance of being able to afford it in the location we have to live for work reasons (I'm hoping that dh will get headhunted to my preferred living location!)

For everyone saying no downstairs bathroom - this was on my never list.

However the rest of the house won us over and I love a downstairs bathroom!

When guests are round they don't go traipsing upstairs - especially children.

When your children are older you can leave them in the bath but still easily be in earshot.

Handy for potty training!