Shitty homes

[madcatladyforever]

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.

@Speccy12Eyes it sounds like you are really struggling and feeling low. Sending you a hug.
I agree with pp who suggested contacting the Cit Advice Bureau to find out if you can get anymore help.
Perhaps the wise ladies of Mumsnet would have some helpful suggestions if you started a new thread. Or perhaps they could recomend some existing threads.
I'm sure plenty of people would try to help.

I'm with you OP, we've been looking and the same size house for the

Sorry! Try again...

We're looking too OP and we're noticing the same thing. Houses of the same price and the same size and some are just so unlooked after! And so dirty (although I appreciate I have high standards on this point).

And it's not about age either, we've viewed one house where it hadn't been decorated since the mid nineties (when the house was new), but it was pristine. A family had lived there and the kitchen still looked new (even though it was a cheap developers kitchen). Contrast that with the house that had been newly renovated two years previous that looked battered already: kitchen cupboard door hanging wonky, scrapes all over the walls and floors etc. And that was a couple, not even with young children.

Lots of people don't look after stuff unfortunately. And to those who are saying they don't care, it's their house, surely when you're selling you care?!

Buy the worst house on the best street.
My Dad always said this. You want to live in the best neighbourhood you can afford and you can do the house up to your own taste bit by bit and it will increase in value too.

You do know you can pay someone to clean and paint the house you buy, don't you?

If the average wage in the UK is 27k then most people can afford a couple of cans of white paint, a pot plant and nice rug. "Average" doesn't mean most typical. The figure you quote is the figure such that 50% of people earn less than this.

Some of the nicest décor is the cheapest and most natural - a branch as a curtain pole, simple homemade art Not everyone shares your taste.

Our neighbours had a fantastic garden full of shrubs, rambling roses, clematis - an oasis, not overlooked by anyone. They moved. New owners declared it a "literal jungle" and put the whole thing through the shredder, and converted it to well mown lawn. Our view from the house changed from lavender hedge and roses to the ugly 60s house at the far end of their garden.

I once found a really nice house, neatly between train station and beach, a few yards from an okay pub. Perfect for me.

Then the survey came in. The surveyor phoned me and said the only reason it was still standing was the woodworm holding hands.

When we were looking everything was a shot hole too. We ended up buying on a bog standard street and going for one that was large and well maintained. My friend went for a nicer road but the house is a money pit and was in really really poor repair. Long term she’s likely to make more profit but I genuinely couldn’t cope with the work involved. You really have to ask yourself what your main priority is and then find what meets that. It might be you need to up you budget for properties that you like but that are well maintained or lower you other expectations of the house so you can afford one in better condition

I don’t believe you’re paying “top dollar” OP, or you’d be looking at houses that weren’t shitholes. You get what you pay for.

My house is very lovely in lots of ways, lovingly refurbished floorboards, original doors etc. But not show home, and since DP died and our income has halved (and various insurances/pensions doing their best not to pay out) it has become increasingly hard to pay to get stuff fixed which we can actually live with. Also being a single parent and working 60 hours a week tends to make me feel less inclined to spend my spare time chucking paint on the walls/sorting the garden. The homes that really depress me are those that have totally had the sole ripped out and you are expected to pay a premium for some cheap 'development'. Bloody laminate where there should be floorboards, those electic fires hanging on a wall where there should be an original fire, cheap oatmeal carpets throughout, metro tiles/that fake marble stuff that looks like a hotel bathroom from 2007 and finally white/black high gloss kitchens.

Generally op you pay for a house based on it's condition. If you're looking at "shit holes" then it's unlikely they are top price.

As for why houses get in this condition, there are many reasons, lack of finances, not caring, mental health issues, physical limitations, the lot.

But generally when a sale price is set, that condition is reflected in the price.

My oh has a physical illness so keeping home and garden spick and span is difficult. I am dyspraxic and not good with practical things. I will mow the law ect but I would struggle with wall paper.

Add to the list of reasons why houses fall into disrepair- marriage / relationship breakdown. The couple may be in negative equity so they have to live under the same roof while trying to get their finances sorted.

Zero motivation to break out with the Farrow and Ball Elephant's Breathe and coordinated cushion covers ..

DM's house is slipping out of control as she ages and can't physically keep up with regular cleaning, tidying and maintainence. It was fairly recently rennovated not long before moving in... that means everything is wearing out rapidly at the same time. No one is immortal and her budget is limited so she has to prioritise, and the focus is on what improves the quality of her life. There's no point in gutting the avocado suite, the next occupant will want to put their own mark on it and will probably have a better budget to put something more contemporary in. Hopefully at whatever point a sale becomes necessary, there will be the right buyer who loves the character of the house through the work that will be required.

I agree that some people are just heavy on a house. I've known tennants that have somehow caused years of wear and tear in just a year.

I call bollocks on the "Top Price" remark.

They might be "Top Price" for your budget and for places in similar conditions but I bet my fanny flaps that these properties are no where near the "Top Price" for naice clean pretty properties where you don't need to do a thing to them.

I bet the "disgusting dirty" places are all that are available within a certain price range. So unless you want to spent your time and hard cash cleaning a property up (like most people have to do when starting out on the property ladder) then either be prepared to pay WAY over what you think you should be paying If you want a lovely naice clean freshly decorated house or aim for something smaller.

Also, why should someone spend x amount of money JUST to make a property pretty for you if other unkempt properties are selling for a similar price? Makes no sense as a seller.

In my area there are a few properties come up for STUPID amounts of money (think WELL over 800k) for semi detached houses right on a busy dual lane main road with constant traffic pollution and noise (with maybe off street parking for 2 cars max and no where to park on the actual road). These houses were bought by property developers cheap as they were run down (and grubby and crap looking) but have been done up like something out of a posh glossy mag... and one sold for well over the asking price recently because someone put a pool in the back garden (which took up most of the garden!) For half the price you could have your pick of a similar sized property in a quiet road with ample parking which just needs some tender loving care.

Paint is cheap 10 litres for £10 for decent paint from Homebase, b & q, bm, screwfix so not exactly hidden. You can add testers and mix it to make colours. I've done this many times.

But as has been said on this thread, some people can't, some won't and some don't care.

Its not true that you can get these houses cheaper though, I saw many shitholes last year when looking and they were in the same condition with estate agents but for more than the auction properties I also saw. So prices can be high for shitholes.

And upping price can make no difference. Some people live in shit.

There is a house 3 times the cost of mine as its detached and has 2 more bedrooms, in my area. It's up for sale and I was shocked when I saw the pictures on rightmove. It's gross. Some people do not care.

Use the power of mumsnet and show us some links - we'll then find you some that aren't dirty etc. I suspect like some PP that the issue is not the state of the houses, but your expectations for your budget. Whereabouts are you and how much are you looking to spend? Check out the sold house prices on Zoopla or similar and you can often view the online details for the houses that actually sold - that way you'll get an idea of the market price for a house in the area that's in a decent state

Some people are happy to spend their spare time, money and energy painting, mowing, sprucing, tidying, decorating, refurbishing, improving, and doing all the requisite thinking about how they would like the end product to look, how best to achieve it, etc. Others decide to do other things with their time and money. The good news is if you're in the first group you'll get these shitty homes looking ship shape in no time.

I think that some people are simply too overwhelmed with other things in their lives that they haven't got the time/energy to work on their houses. Other people just aren't that interested in home maintenance, they want to do other things instead (that's me). And/or people have too much stuff.

Our house is in decent shape but not beautifully decorated as we have little interest in it. That's why we plan to sell up as soon as the DC are independent and buy a tiny house or a condo...I'll have those white walls and a few nice things, no clutter at all. I can't wait!

Bloody laminate where there should be floorboards, those electic fires hanging on a wall where there should be an original fire, cheap oatmeal carpets throughout, metro tiles/that fake marble stuff that looks like a hotel bathroom from 2007 and finally white/black high gloss kitchens.

This.

When we ripped up the carpets in our house we found original parquet flooring underneath that had been covered over for decades because it wasn't the "in thing". Fashions change and it's pointless endlessly trying to keep up with them. Today's bifold doors are tomorrow’s avocado bathroom suites.

It's up to you OP
Personally I would far rather look at buying a property that needs a garden clearance and a good clean over buying the same property, where someone else had bought it cheap and did exactly that and end up pay a premium for it.

Yanbu
We were buying in expensive areas of London and I was shocked at

1. the filth
2. lack of maintenance
3. Poor quality renovations

A1.5m pound house should not have a “brand new kitchen” which is one of the cheapest Howden’s sell with a laminated counters and the front panel of the drawer shouldn’t come off in your hand

It gives me the rage

@madcatladyforever buy a new build and shut up moaning you goady judgemental person.

I worked for an EA for years in highly desirable large rural towns in Cotswolds area where stuff sold before advertised: as there was a waiting list of no chain first time buyers/those who'd sold. Even the 2bed terraces were immaculate. Its probably not a great area, with a high poverty level OP.