Asking what puts you off when viewing a house to buy?

[DarkGreen]

We have had our house valued but we are just getting the house ready to sell. Touching it up bits and tidying up.

For context its a 2 bed terraced house on a country lane with no driveway but space on the Road to park outside the house. It is an old house.

What areas and things should we focus on? What would you look for and what would put you off?

It must be a bit wierd and freezing at the moment for buyers doing viewings when you’re meant to leave the windows open for Covid safety etc

I have viewed several houses where dog poo was freely available. One had a litter of labrador pups and there were smears of shit all over the place. It was also next to a tennis court which no-one had had mentioned. A supply of balls for the dogs at least.

Another, with a boot room, dog leads hanging up. House was grubby, floors dirty, dog poo on the lawn, topped off by a spaniel taking a dump as we stood on the lawn looking at the back of the house.

Have also viewed houses with dogs, houses were clean, no smell, dogs not allowed upstairs, asked if we could have the dog too, but they said no so we didn't buy the house .

It's funny some people don't want a new kitchen / bathroom.

I definitely WOULD want them. Save me having builders in.

@BettyAndVeronica

It's funny some people don't want a new kitchen / bathroom.

I definitely WOULD want them. Save me having builders in.

It’s not funny to want to choose your own. I don’t want to pay a premium for someone else’s taste or miss out on the fun of choosing what I want.

@BettyAndVeronica

It's funny some people don't want a new kitchen / bathroom.

I definitely WOULD want them. Save me having builders in.

If it was my taste I wouldn't mind too much but unfortunately people modernise without a thought to whether it fits with the age of the house. Some of the new styles are truly ugly, which is fine in a modern house but not in a beautiful old one.

If I can smell anything such as air freshener, coffee, baking etc it just makes me suspicious of what smell the owner is really trying to cover up.
Make sure it's clean, tidy and not cluttered.
I don't like viewing a property if the owner is present (even if they move in to a different room, or in the garden once they've shown you around).

All I care about is, does the property tick my list of requirements that can't be changed (location, outlook, aspect, size and level of garden, distance to amenities; local noise).

The owners, state of decor , furnishings, , kitchen/bathroom fittings, tidiness are irrelevant. I only look for telltales of neglect, bodged repairs, good maintenance, cracks/ leaks/infestations, solid workmanship.

@Sunshineandflipflops

Paved/tarmacced over front garden.

Really?! When we moved here, half the drive was badly tarmacked and the other half was grass. The grass served no purpose, meat lugging the lawn mower round to the front to keep it looking ok and meant we had to squeeze our 2 cars on the drive. We had the whole lot paved nicely, with a couple of bedding areas and it made such a difference to the use and look of the house.

Yes. I’d rather have the grass, thanks, no matter how nicely done your paving is. A front garden is much more attractive than a fully paved space filled with cars.

No point listing things you can't change, like the parking.

We've recently been viewing houses. Out of about 10 supposedly high end houses, I would say only 1 was clutter free and properly clean. The grease in the kitchens 🤮. It might not stop me buying but it definitely makes it less desirable / valuable in my eyes.

Also hate any refurbishment clearly done on the cheap. Obviously this is relative to the house price point but cheap materials and surfaces are usually pretty obvious, particularly when you touch them.

As pp have said, you can get rid of smells. One house we owned had previously had a smelly dog in it, so we just ripped up all the carpets and threw out the curtains etc. Painted the grey walls a light colour, got rid of artex, corner bath etc. It's all changeable. Generally, the more neutral the quicker it sells.

Isn't the issue with artex that it may have asbestos in it?

Small kitchen

Signs of damp, or anything else that suggests structural work will be needed.

It's irritatingly common - but only having access to the back garden via the kitchen. I want a back door that goes into any other room!

Bathroom that comes straight off the kitchen.

Neighbours house in serious disrepair.

A kitchen which is functional but not to my taste - this is absolutely ridiculous, but I want to either have one that's good and nice, or one that's so grim I have an excuse to rip it out immediately!

@SlopesOff

I have viewed several houses where dog poo was freely available. One had a litter of labrador pups and there were smears of shit all over the place. It was also next to a tennis court which no-one had had mentioned. A supply of balls for the dogs at least.

Another, with a boot room, dog leads hanging up. House was grubby, floors dirty, dog poo on the lawn, topped off by a spaniel taking a dump as we stood on the lawn looking at the back of the house.

Have also viewed houses with dogs, houses were clean, no smell, dogs not allowed upstairs, asked if we could have the dog too, but they said no so we didn't buy the house .

You jest, but DDog did literally come with my house (well, a previous, rented one! He came with me when I moved too)

Yes. I’d rather have the grass, thanks, no matter how nicely done your paving is. A front garden is much more attractive than a fully paved space filled with cars.

No off road parking is a deal breaker for me. I would rather have somewhere that I could get the car off the road than a lawned front garden and no off road parking.

No mains gas is also a deal breaker.

I miss front gardens. I don't care if I can't park my car underneath my front window.

OP - serious amount of rubbish on here considering your first post.

Worth painting the front door and cleaning what you can of the outside including windows and ledges.
Worth decluttering and removing dog/cat bowls if you have them..
Worth doing some basic work on the garden and as PP have said, a few plant pots and borrowing garden furniture.
Worth making sure everything is as clean as it can be and yes to loo seat down.
That's all you can do.

loo or bathroom without a windowl not necessarioy fixable i realise

no tennis court
no massive drive
no mc donalds within spitting distance
no room big enough to play pigpong in

i realise i have to lower my expectations and earn millions

Dogs . Any evidence of them .

To those of you thinking of concreting/paving front or back gardens - please check the green alternatives that allow water seepage. So water doesn't cascade onto the street, block drains etc It's not more expensive.

Badly fitted kitchen/bathroom/permanent fixtures. Also any marks, stains or damage to those isnt good.

Lack of privacy/being overlooked in the garden.

Dont mind old carpets/paintwork/wallpaper as I would expect to decorate before I moved anywhere new. I wouldnt feel comfortable not redecorating unless everything was brand new. I don't know what has been on previous occupiers carpets so would prefer to rip them out.

Clutter would make me feel like the house lacks basic storage.

Dont mind a garden that needs a bit of work doing to it as its something that can be dealt with over time.

I hate overpowering smells both bad and good. So no smells.

Knowing that major works are needed, eg roof replacement, electrical/gas works etc

No drive.

Honestly unless there are serious cracks in the buildings nothing would really put me off. I feel you need to look at what you could do with a house rather than focus on what it looks like now. Maybe just no clutter and light painted walls would help.

Also surprised dogs would put people off, especially if there are hard floors and not much carpet. When we moved in to our house I felt it smelt a bit doggy (and we had a dog) but only in the lounge where there was a carpet. We cleaned the carpet and smell was gone.

We went into a house where the bloke sat on on a grubby sofa in his underpants and vest ( all grimy) watching telly. The lady showed us round - the whole place was filthy but I could see through it..
then we were shown the bathroom... I have never seen anything like it. Filthy doesn't describe it but I think the icing on the cake was the used tampons sat on top of the filthy cistern... my husband adjective me if I thought it was some sort of installation art piece a la Tracy Emin...

We left and the bloody estate agent rang us all giddy with excitement thinking it was perfect for us ... as it was on paper... I told him what we had seen.. he wouldn't listen to us.. he just kept saying we could put our mark on it.

Tbh I doubt anyone could've put any mark on that shit hole...

No off road parking is a deal breaker for me. I would rather have somewhere that I could get the car off the road than a lawned front garden and no off road parking

Same for me. The house we bought just over a year ago has a huge front garden which is just covered in shingle for parking. I would take that over grass and plants and it was one of the plus points for us.

If the house is in my price range, in my desired location, has a garden facing the way I want it and the house is appealing to me - kerb appeal and layout - things I don't like, but that can be changed, wouldn't bother me.

@Ginfordinner

Yes. I’d rather have the grass, thanks, no matter how nicely done your paving is. A front garden is much more attractive than a fully paved space filled with cars.

No off road parking is a deal breaker for me. I would rather have somewhere that I could get the car off the road than a lawned front garden and no off road parking.

No mains gas is also a deal breaker.

The poster who had paved over her garden had a drive that they could fit two cars on before they paved over the rest of it. She said she didn’t see the point in the grass.