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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Shitty homes

219 replies

madcatladyforever · 27/09/2019 19:24

AIBU to think that if you have bought a huge investment i.e a house you should take take care of it?
I've moved 300 miles from home with work and I'm renting a bedsit while I look for a house to buy.
Every single one I've looked at is a shit hole. Dirty, not decorated in years, a mess and overgrown garden. I feel so despondent.
I don't want to buy a house I'm going to have to do tons of work on and start from scratch in the garden
My own house was modest but it was nicely painted by me, the garden with a bit of hard work was lovely and it sold in 2 weeks after going on the market. The buyers said it was the nicest house in the price range.
I really don't want to buy some shit hole and spend the next 5 years doing it up and having to deep clean it at my age.
Houses here are much cheaper but just so run down and dirty.
If you had an expensive investment would you not want to maintain and look after it inside and out? I just cannot understand the mentality.
I had a look at what should have been a lovely bungalow today in an area of oupstanding natural beauty owned by a sinice bloke and it would have taken several big skips to remove all the crap from the house and Garden before even starting to refurbish and he wanted top dollar for it.

OP posts:
Passthecherrycoke · 27/09/2019 19:25

Have you ever thought people can’t afford to? Many people sell a house because they can’t afford it Anymore, I’ve been there

IAmALazyArse · 27/09/2019 19:26

You might up your budget then.

Rentonsstillgettingit · 27/09/2019 19:29

naybe people have different priorities in different parts of the country. I know where I grew up people might have big old houses but they could not give a stuff for Pinterest tactic makeovers, perfect garden etc, whereas where I now live in the city it is way more expected that your “old” house should be all revamped and MUST have a wood burner etc. It is just different priorities though, neither is right. You might end up like them!

IAmALazyArse · 27/09/2019 19:30

Damn it!

You might want to up your budget then. I have never seen these issues in medium priced houses. Just in the cheapest doer uppers where it's expected and the price reflects the works needed. If you want done up, you have to pay for it.

To your IABU. Lots of the houses like you describe were IME owned by people with medical issues or elderly.

LittleLongDog · 27/09/2019 19:33

In an ideal world, you’re not wrong. But don’t you think you’re being a bit narrow minded to presume that everyone is in an ideal situation? Illness, apathy, other priorities - there are reasons why people aren’t able to keep their homes up to your standard.

Original poster
madcatladyforever · 27/09/2019 19:33

I couldn't afford to. When I moved I was skint bit basic b@questions white paint hardly costs anything and getting down and scrubbing everything/mowing the lawn once a week costs nothing.
Even I can manage to go down to the dump in my car every week with household and garden rubbish rathere than just stacking it up behind the shed. Having no money is not an excuse for having a filthy home!!! Ffs

OP posts:
FactorFifty · 27/09/2019 19:33

I think a lot of people just scrape paying the mortgage, council tax and bills, and have time/energy for work and kids.

It's understandable DIY falls to the bottom of the priorities.

Original poster
madcatladyforever · 27/09/2019 19:37

Seriously you all think it's OK to expect top price for a filthy unkempt home?
Would you not make an effort for selling!?

OP posts:
ThinkerThunkk · 27/09/2019 19:38

You just have to move out further. If I sold my 'average' house here I could buy 'top end' 10 miles away. Or be mortgage free 20 miles away

Passthecherrycoke · 27/09/2019 19:40

madcatladyforever That’s not skint is it?

They can ask what they want for their house. Someone else might pay it. They might need a certain amount to pay off the mortgage

IAmALazyArse · 27/09/2019 19:42

expect top price
Never have I seen what you describe for a "top price". Either up your budget to get done up house or get cheap and do the works

Ratcatcher9 · 27/09/2019 19:42

I think it's possible they can't actually afford to. We scrape by, paying the mortgage, council tax, bills, working, kids at school, keeping garden tidy etc, but there's no money for improvements. Bathroom is still the same turquoise suite that was put in there in the seventies, presumably. We can't afford to just rip it out for the sake of having a white one. Carpets are 20 years old. Really need replacing, but we can't afford that. Boiler possibly 30 years old, but again, it works, and we can't afford a new one. So there you go.

FactorFifty · 27/09/2019 19:43

I have viewed hundreds of houses (property sector) and very rarely have I actually seen a filthy home on the market.

Unkempt, needing rennovation, yes. But sadly not everyone has the means or knowhow to make the most of their house.

Property demand as it is, yes they can get often get top whack for it, too.

Plus, houses can soon be cleaned. It's good to look past the surface and see the potential, instead.

HundredMilesAnHour · 27/09/2019 19:43

white paint hardly costs anything and getting down and scrubbing everything/mowing the lawn once a week costs nothing.
Even I can manage to go down to the dump in my car every week with household and garden rubbish rathere than just stacking it up behind the shed

You've obviously never been that short of money when you make comments like these. White paint can cost from £14 per can upwards. For some people that's a choice of feeding their kids that week or buying paint. They might not have a lawnmower and can't afford to get one. They may not be physically capable of mowing and don't have anyone to ask to do it for them (and can't afford to pay someone to do it). Maybe they don't have a car to drive to the dump!

Give your head a wobble. So many people in this country are struggling to keep their heads above water, some are failing even. Yet you think everyone should be buying paint and driving to the dump with their rubbish. People have other priorities.

Puzzledbyart · 27/09/2019 19:47

You must have looked at my house Grin
Expensive on the paper, but a proper tip inside. Just don't have any time at all to maintain it, and no good eye / talent to create comfort.

RedRec · 27/09/2019 19:47

Surely you can tell whether it is a show home or a shithole before you go, by looking at the photos?

WhatsInAName19 · 27/09/2019 19:47

If you're saying that it's all the houses in your price bracket that are filthy, unkempt and neglected, and they are selling at those prices, then that is obviously just the going rate for a property of that specification and quality rather than “top price”.

Lolwhat · 27/09/2019 19:51

Some people don’t have the money, some people are disabled, some people just don’t have the time, there are so many reasons as to why people’s house aren’t up to your standards

MrsMaiselsMuff · 27/09/2019 19:51

Why not give us an idea of where you're looking? I struggle to believe that all the houses in your area are as bad as you claim.

TheBouquets · 27/09/2019 19:55

I certainly don't like viewing a dirty house. I like a house to look homely and not the almost empty types without any sign of life being lived in them that I have seen for sale.
Have you tried making an offer lower than their price? You could mention that you are reducing the price because of the costs to rectify (and state what you see needs to be done)

Frouby · 27/09/2019 19:55

It might be top end of your budget OP, but not top end of the market.

It's worth what someone is willing to pay. Clutter and grime might take a couple of hundred quid to deal with. White paint a couple hundred more. You just need to use your imagination.

Twickerhun · 27/09/2019 19:57

Quite a lot of people are Time poor and are struggling to manage these days.

swimlyn · 27/09/2019 20:00

A woman on a TV prog recently said that they move house rather than redecorate! Apparently she’s moved seven times in ten years. Clearly they must have received many low offers due to the state of the house.

I appreciate what people say about how expensive paint is etc, but if you can’t afford paint, you can’t afford to move house either.

ShinyMe · 27/09/2019 20:01

You'd probably think my house is a bit of a shithole. My garden fence has had a broken panel for a couple of years and my garden is a bit overgrown. One of my gutters is a bit loose. One of my internal door handles is broken. My kitchen was new in the 90s, and hasn't been redone since. I painted all the rooms except the kitchen when I moved in in 2000 but not since. My patio slabs have become slightly uneven over the years. I have 19 years' worth of stuff accumulated. If I was selling, I'd maybe fix the door handle and the garden fence, but I wouldn't redo the kitchen because I'd leave the buyers to sort what they want, and I'd expect it to be reflected in the price.

I live alone and work full time and sometimes I get very tired and have back issues, so I don't garden as much as I could. I haven't redecorated the house because I like it how it is. I haven't had the kitchen redone because I can't afford it. It's all perfectly fine for what I need, and I'm not trying to sell it. I don't really care if people think it's a shithole. It works for me, and I'm not forcing you to buy it.

2018SoFarSoGreat · 27/09/2019 20:06

I do believe it is all about expectations, OP.

We would have loved to buy a cheaper home last time aroudn, but looking at them (online, a couple of drive by's, several vieweings,) made us realize that they were not for us. It ended up costing us significantly more than we had anticipated, but we got a house that was clean, well kept inside and out, and we are happy. We paid through the nose, though.

It is what you can stomach, along with what you can afford. Seems to go hand in hand.