If buying a 4 bed house in naice area what do you want and what would put you off?

[TreasuredMim]

4 detached house in naice area in catchment area for good schools and with good road/rail links. Locality is great so what else, besides being appropriately priced, would you want/need and what would put you off?

Help me tweak my house to attract buyers

A good sized garden with privacy, a double driveway, a play park nearby

My deal breakers:

No off street parking.
Smell of cigarettes.
Damp.

Otherwise a nice, clean, cosy home will nearly always sell.

Look at the little things. Light switches, door handles. People notice that stuff.

This is what we are looking for with two older teens and a primary aged child

Our list is:
Garden
Driveway
At least two toilets/bathrooms
Large enough kitchen
Two living spaces
Storage!! This seems to be a problem in newer builds
Not on a main road (but appreciate that cant be changed!)

good sized garden, off street parking. House to have good bones & be able to walk easily to a corner shop. Anything else I can fix or do without.

I think the best thing you can do is declutter, clutter makes it look like there is not enough storage. Unfortunately all the things you can tweek are easily changed, it's the bits you can't change ge that would put me off a property, being overlooked, small rooms etc.

4 bed I expect to have a largish family or small family and guests often, or work from home.

So:
Decent entry storage for lots of shoes, coats, school bags, various other crap. Enough space for pram

Enough plugs one room can be an office without million extension leads

Living room and dining space big enough to seat 6 each min.

Kitchen decent ish size

At least 2 toilets

Separate utility area ( not in kitchen)

Even doors or light switches wouldn't bother me but a new build probably would.

I'd want
a child-friendly garden
OSP
a utility room
a second bathroom
equal sized bedrooms (OK if B1 is bigger but at least two others should be similar sizes

Ideally, a kitchen diner not separate cooking and eating spaces.

But not all open plan - a grown up living space that can be kept neat.

Storage!!

I've seen some beautiful houses which have next to no storage. People want to hide their shit behind a cupboard door.

And land. I don't mean acres and acres but a decent garden, off-street parking, the house set back away from the path/road outside.

Off-puts:
Dogs next door
On or near a busy road
Too near a river or on a flood plain

Likes:
A proper conservatory
Decent utility room
Plenty of built-in storage cupboards
An airing cupboard
Big hallway
Period features

For a 4 bed house I’d want- plenty of off-road parking for our 3 cars and frequent visitors; decent size back garden; utility room with space for washing machine, separate tumble drier, hoover, ironing board etc; en-suite to the main bedroom, downstairs loo, not open plan downstairs (or easy to bung in partition wall); plenty of kitchen worktop and cupboard space.

Ooh interesting thread. We're currently in a 3 bed (but in an amazing location) and are having a bit of a "love it or list it" crisis. Do we extend to give what we want or move? For me the things that are a must have are:

At least 3 of the bedrooms need to be decent doubles, 4th must be bigger than a box room
2 bathrooms or at a push 1 bathroom and a nice w/c
Open plan kitchen-diner with ample room to seat up to 10 and with access onto the garden.
A separate adult living room
Nice private garden
Period features

Things that would 100% put me off:

No character
Small bedrooms
No storage
Big jobs needing done (eg re-wiring, putting in central heating)
An inflated price due to upgrades having just been done that are to a very specific taste (eg brand new kitchen but in bright red. New carpets throughout in a lovely shade of vomit etc)

We were looking for a 4 bed detached (and bought one last year.) Things that were on our must have list were:

Downstairs loo.
Driveway parking for two cars.
Garden that wasn't too overlooked.
Garage for storage.
Living room separate to kitchen/dining space...not all open plan.
Bedrooms to be reasonable sized for teenagers, don't have to be huge but at least fit a small double bed, wardrobe and deak and 4th bedroom big enough for a double guest bed and a desk for working from home.
Decor, not too bothered as would most likely change it anyway.

Thanks all - very helpful. I'm actually doing well on most of the points but very period features and no utility. Also not much in the way of storage eg cupboards though rooms big enough to accommodate storage facilities.

Please keep your views coming.

Absolute must haves:
Two bathrooms one with shower
Playroom or study
Good sized kitchen/diner
Reasonable sized garden preferably non shade south facing.
Off street parking

Nice to have
Utility
Under stairs storage/room in hall for coats boots etc
Modern kitchen/bathroom
Tasteful neutral decorating and carpet
Garage/shed

Things that would really put me off:
Tiny bathroom
Open plan (I'd rather have all separate, but definitely lounge as a different room)
Small garden
Massive kitchens (I do loads of cooking, but I just feel some now are silly big and not homely)
Nowhere to put shoes and coats (hall/cupboard/boot room etc)
No downstairs toilet
Bifolds
No utility space
No parking

Things I'd generally prefer(but may not all be realistic in one place):
Garage
Parking not directly by lounge window
Some character, but not too much
Nice looking and cosy feel
Some sort of fire/log burner
At least 3 doubles. In fact I'd choose a 3 bed with 3 doubles over a 4 bed with only two doubles.
Outside building as office or space for one.

Bad smells, dirt and cold are also off putting but an usually be sorted fairly easily.

Declutter. Then no one will notice lack of storage.

-separate rooms, not all open plan

• french doors rather than bi-fold doors -front door that fits house character not that of a nightclub
• no panelling on walls
• separate utility/downstairs loo
• at least 2 bathrooms upstairs
• separate shower in at least one bathroom
• parking for two cars -at least 3 double rooms
• walls not covered in loads of pictures that will need to be repaired

Basically, a house that has been well taken care of with an up to date kitchen in a muted colour.

I’m looking for a 4-bed and put off by:

Weird layouts with little scope for long-term change
Knocked-through sitting rooms with the doorway closed off
All-paved driveways, making a hedge/privacy plants tricky
Shabby garages and saggy porches
Badly done gardens – built-in hot tubs, weird decks, crap fences, too much paving, knackered sheds. Things that are expensive to fix!
Grey fake wood flooring
Nasty windows
Very glossy, shiny, modern kitchens
Spotlight light everywhere like a pox
En suites
Poky kitchens
Bad loft conversions
Mismatched bedroom sizes

Must have:
Garage
Off road parking
Reasonable size garden
Not in the arse end of nowhere - walking distance to a park/shop/pub
Downstairs loo (or easy fix to put one in)

Nice to have:
En-suite
Utility
Not right on the road
Decent space for visitors to park
Open kitchen diner
Separate lounge
Decent sized hallway
Space to put shit like coats/shoes/hats etc

Top tips as I’m currently on the market and looking:
Clear out all crap (or hide it)
Consider removing furniture if it makes the space look less cramped
Don’t have airers etc up

Take some pics and get someone else to critique them as often you become blind to your own crap

South-facing Garden
Close to Hobbies (climbing, wild swimming)
Garage
Storage space
Lots of open green space other than garden
Light inside

We’re house hunting for 4 bed detached at the moment. Not sure these are things that you can tweak but our essentials list is:

• open plan kitchen diner rather than separate dining room
• office (additional to 4 bedrooms)
• utility room
• separate en suite
• decent size flat garden
• garage
• off street parking
• relatively new kitchen/bathrooms that don’t need replacing
• good schools
• not main road

And desirables:

• integral garage
• side access to garden (i.e. not through house or garage)
• separate space that can be used for playroom
• gas hob
• garden not overlooked
• garden not north facing

This is so funny because there are things on people’s lists I’d actively hate – integral garage, en suite, gas hob – and you’ve got things like bifolds that some want and some don’t. Many of those you’re not going to be able to tweak let alone to suit all buyers.

So really it’s about appealing to a buyer who would want your house, which means:

Clean
Decluttered
In good condition
Nothing to frighten the horses like a gloss-purple kitchen

Everything else is subjective

Kitchen/ dining/ family room
Separate living room
Cloakroom and utility space
En suite
Separate shower
Garage and parking spaces
Flat garden, preferably south facing

Can you post a link to your house, or some pictures, so we can give advice?