To hate sellers 'sprucing up' properties to sell, with hideous effect?

[pandarific]

...and then of course putting the price up to a turn-key condition level, when you know you'd need to rip out half of it. Honestly, a nice bucket of white paint applied throughout would be fine!

You don't need to install a nice new bathroom in floor-to-ceiling beige-brown tile. Or deck over/concrete over every blade of grass in otherwise substantially sized garden. Or install 'fancy' kitchen cupboards in the well known poplar neutral shades of gloss red and black. Or paint dado rails in matching fancy colours.

Augh!

We have seen a lot of properties online lately where the estate agents have made them look absolutely amazing through photoshop etc so of course when you pull up the actual property looks COMPLETELY different than the photos and it’s a huge shock/dissapointment. They really do themselves and the sellers no favours and waste buyers time.

When we bought this house, it had textured wallpaper on every wall and ceiling which was then painted over with navy blue or mint green gloss paint. In the v damp second bedroom, the wallpaper paste wouldn't work so they'd superglued the paper on. Obviously, the textured wallpaper was designed to cover the actual fucking holes in every ceiling and damp, crumbling brickwork. It was clear there were significant issues. Why literally paper over the cracks? Even if we didn't have eyes, the surveyor did.

One new roof, new ceilings and a complete gutting and replaster later, I still have nightmares in anaglypta.

I am not sure that it’s pointless tbh, We did our house up, stuck a load of stuff in storage so no clutter, did a fancy fruit bowl, well placed cushions, wall art, flowers and room fragrance, got well over the asking price. Agent was impressed with our (fairly superficial) effort.

@hdh747 damn. Thanks. We’re getting a decorator out to survey the work and quote but now you mention it I’ll expect a higher bill. Thank you!

Seller painted the windows to 'spruce' it up (and also bizarrely painted the lead flashing). When we pointed out to the agent that all the sashes were painted shut, the vendor can back and said that one window in every room opened! One window in every other room did open, but I obviously have higher standards in wanting functional windows! We'd have been happier if he'd have paid some attention to the leaking gutters when he had the scaffold up to paint the windiws shut....

yep. please don't bother with the sprucing. I'm just going to discount any property that is priced to include someone else's taste.

Hope it's not too bad @ConciseandNice - ours was the same and tbh hacking off the plaster with the woodchip on was easier than getting the ruddy woodchip off. Sure it'll be worth it in the end though.

Same thing happened us as another pp @ConciseandNice, I spent two weeks steaming off the woodchip wallpaper wallpaper only for aplasterer to say 'yup, all needs to go or it'll fall down.' Gutting. Everything crossed yours is fine!

Have just bid on a property where the vendor proudly said "I will be leaving xyz (fucking shite) furnitire/fittings

No thanks, love. If you accept our offer a condition of sale will be that your property is left completely empty

We had to trail the biggest load of shite out of our current house, and don't get me started on the polystyrene cornicing.
We expected it though, the house was dirt cheap and the only issues were cosmetic.
I swear, every other house we looked at had fucking bright purple or forest green or mad printed feature walls, those overly dressed beds, that sort of thing. Lots of glossy shiny bits. OK Sharon, I know you like it and you've put a lot into matching your curtains to your carpet, but your taste is not mine and I don't want to give you some sort of 20k appreciation fee.

Abso-bloody-lutely. When I was house hunting I saw several houses that had been tarted up and they looked hideous - feature walls (are we still in the 90s?), cheap laminate flooring, equally cheap looking faux rustic kitchens and all the lovely original fireplaces and sash windows ripped out, boarded over and/or replaced with uPVC. They looked like Margot Leadbetter's wet dreams.

I could probably have afforded them when they were in their original state but committing these crimes against anyone with functioning eye sight added about 20% to the price. And I'd have had to find the money to undo it all.

God yes, all we did was declutter, paint it white and clean it.
I hate laminate with a passion so that would be ripped up.
I hate decking with a passion, see previous.
I can see past anything to see potential. Keep your money in your pockets

Run our last house had polystyrene coving and cornicing. It's a flipping fire hazard so why people put it up is beyond me.
Christ that was hard work getting the bastard stuff down because it appeared someone had superglued it on.

We were already pretty much magnolia throughout. We bought new neutral bed covers and cushions to dress them, put everything non-essential in storage, did a good clean every day, put a fruitbowl on the kitchen table and big vases of lilies everywhere. I can honestly say the offers flooded in.

You just need to look at the threads on here about plastic grass - it's like marmite. (I think it's a crime against humanity personally).

I'd much rather buy a house that's outdated but well lived than a house that's been done up (badly!) to sell.

MN, you're brutally honest, right? I'm interested in the below house - could I make it bright/airy/modern or has it not got the bones for that?

www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-53652135.html?premiumA=true

Wood chip wallpaper. If I ever think about moving, I will automatically reject any house with wood chip wallpaper.

I'm surprised removing painted wood chip wallpaper isn't one of the labours of Hercules....

The 'flying' kitchen cabinet is a little weird, but I'd say the house is already halfway there. Not sure about the grey and dingy decking and patio though

@IJustHadToNameChange that bloody decking/patio would be the first to go. I want some plants/greenery, dammit!

I would think you could make it far more to my taste. I guess they like it like that.

haha I came in to say the shiny patterned feature wall in hideously bright colour in every room. What's wrong with a nice off white throughout

We bought a house where they had nailed the carpets down. Each bedroom had about 200 nails. Took us days to get them all out

God, yes, we pulled off a little bit of the cornicing and put it in the fire, just out of interest. I have never seen anything burn so fast. I refused to sleep in the house until it was all down. How the fuck people survived smoking indoors /open fires with that shit on the ceiling, I do not know.

Decking is an absolute pet hate of mine. It is lethal and slippery after a few years. Also, if you have decking, I can guarantee that you also have rats nesting beneath it, and/or a wasp's nest. But definitely the rats.

Does it have 3 or 4 bedrooms? I’m possibly being thick but the first floor on the floor plan appears have only 3?

It seems quite cruel to the poor garden doesn't it!