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?

The only thing that would put me off a house is not being able to move on straight away. I'm fine if it needs some work, but not if the place is uninhabitable on completion.

I couldn't move in if the house was full of smoke smell, or doggy smell, that would make me heave, and hence not in a fit state for me.

I need to be able to live in the house, with a plan to do it up fully after a couple of years. Our current house we couldn't live in for 6 months when we bought it as it was a complete wreck. I had a 1 year old and a newborn living with my parents for the last 3 months, I couldn't do that again.

Noisy neighbours

Oh and when the neighbours look dodgy, have messy garden etc.

Bought a house two years ago and the seller had a golden retriever. Wasn't put off by this as thought we'd clean the carpets but oh man.... the smell. Especially when the sun warmed the carpets. Never ever could get rid of the smell no matter what we did (cleaning, washing etc). They only thing that solved it was ripping up the old carpets, and completely redecorating.

Low ceilings and tiny windows

Too much clutter everywhere - stick it in storage.

Smell of fags or dogs

Tiny box rooms advertised as bedrooms when you can't even open the door without bashing the bed.

Manky bathrooms

Grey walls

A lot of clutter of personal belongs so it's hard to see walls / floor. Its nice if its clean and tidy, but I'm good at seeing through that.

Recent decorating obviously done for the sale - why bother, the next person will want to do their own thing, and if you do a cheap touch-up, who knows what it might cover

Massive locks and over the top security - what are you scared of?

No shower, or low pressure in the shower.

Dog poo all over the lawn. To people without digs this is the weirdest thing ever. Happened at loads of places.

To be fair it’s pretty disgusting to a lot of dog owners but it’s hardly a permanent feature.

Good stuff.... clean, clean, clean. Tidy frontage, nice smell.
Bad stuff..... weeds looks like you haven't cared, stinky, nasty roof, soggy garden, big trees too close

Signs of condensation, mildew or mold, and flaky window frames.

I'm in a terrace with no off street parking, shit storage and a tiny (yet brand new and well planned) kitchen.

I'm fucked aren't I?

What would put me off would be signs of dilapidation or poor maintenance in neighbouring house(s). There's a house in our village that just won't sell, it's perfectly OK but the one opposite is a real dump. I'm sure this puts people off.

When my parents saw over our house in Barnes (years before mad prices) there was an old man in bed smoking a pipe! They still bought it.

Joris
If it's sensibly priced someone will buy it eventually.

Smells - fresh paint dogs cigarettes
Being rushed as i am looking around

Lies in estate agent details Downstairs rooms that are described as bedrooms are a real pet haye unless it is a bungalow or clearly a granny flat

Evidence of smoking
Nowhere to park off road
Dog smells
Wallpaper (especially, anaglypta/wood chip/flock varieties)
Cheap laminated floors (can't stand the 'clatter')
North-facing back garden
Large trees/hedges
Wall-mounted lighting
Feature walls
No central heating installed
Wooden window frames
Flat roofs
Open staircases
White high gloss kitchen units

Bare floors i.e. that damn laminate flooring that seems to be taking over the houses in the whole country. I won't view a house if I see that all the floors in the house just look bare and cold and unfriendly. People used to be proud of having fitted carpets. How come the change back to bare floors either wood or laminate. I can just about cope with the ground floor being bare laminate/wood on an, 'oh alright then' basis. But all the floors in the whole house ? Nope.

That made me smile, @ToffeeNotCoffee. I am the complete opposite! Polished, real wood floors make my heart sing. When I see a carpeted house it just screams "suburban" to me. First thing I think is, "How much will it cost to rip up the carpets and put install real floors?"

Horses for courses 😀

To me, the big things are:

• lack of cleanliness and/or clutter (horrible to not be able to see/judge the space because it’s full to the brim - also makes things look smaller.
• bad smells
• unfinished jobs or bad quality workmanship (you don’t have to have everything done to a high spec but well looked after and livable even if not to everyone’s taste is important (scuffed paintwork/badly fitted flooring or carpets and peeling paintwork equate to either cost, effort of both and are off-putting).

I also have a pet hate of estate agents who can’t answer questions like, ‘how old is the boiler/windows/roof etc’ so I would do them
A crib sheet of things you see as selling points and useful practical information (like boiler age, cavity wall insulation, alarm system age of fixtures & fittings and guarantees etc).

If you are showing them round yourself, always a good idea to give a viewer the gist/layout then let them have a poke about by themselves.

Although, I would make a distinction between laminate and real, hardwood floors, of course.

I had a nice show quilt, pillows, towels, tea towels etc to put out for views. Plenty of fresh air for hours then heating and lighting on.

Bad smells, dirt/stains, signs of damp, rubbish piled up outside, untidy rooms full of clutter, botched DIY jobs, overgrown garden. Pretty obvious stuff to avoid really. I wouldn’t be bothered if a house looked tired, old-fashioned or in need of a new kitchen as that should be clear in the description and reflected in the price, but a dirty house would put me off. I’d also make sure pets were out of the way, can’t assume all buyers are animal-lovers.

No parking and very small garden were our main non starters. Most other things can be addressed if the price is right. When selling our house, we didn't have any offers in 2 months. I decided to paint our wooden doors (white) and the next viewer offered just below asking price. I think it brightened the house up and was more in keeping with the style of house (modern rather than character).

As the long suffering wife of a builder I have to say that I look past all dodgy DIY, smells,
worn carpet, ugly curtains, dirt. Equally things looking like a show home wouldn’t entice me either.
I look for off street parking, garden size, scope for extensions/loft conversions etc, boiler type and position, water position, period features, damp, can’t think what else. Bathrooms and kitchens are where we will spend the most money renovating personally.
But I look past all superficial things, don’t bother baking bread or getting your best duvet cover on, save your fancy flowers for when you buy your new house, and don’t waste time scrubbing skirting boards - it doesn’t add any value to me.
I won’t want anyone else’s decor, carpets, bedding, laminate flooring, I would rip all of it up and get rid.
We do tend to buy doer uppers though, we prefer to put our own stamp on the house rather than move into a house that’s ready to live in forever as it is.

@VinylDetective neither are bad smells, grubby grout etc. To be it signals (very possibly unfairly) that someone doesn’t really care if they sell or not. I’m a keen gardener so it’s really important to me to have a proper look at it.

I’ve read a lot of these comments now and have come to the conclusion that I’m different to people on here.

Our first house needed total redecoration, we did and it was sought after with competing bids when we sold. Our second we bought for one of the best views in the county but stank so badly of fags we painted on the first day. It was vile. Again, new kitchen put in etc and sold immediately. Third house was absolutely beautiful, an old cottage but very dated - seventies shag pile carpets, avocado bathroom - looked amazing when we left. Now in a house where we will never get to the end of renovation but it’s very special. The plot is brilliant, it’s an architect designed unique house, but practically everyone was put off by the work. We don’t ever intend to sell but if we did we’ll have added tons of value and it’d sell very fast.

Where’s the Sarah Beeny in you all?!

I don't like these new estates, with their identikit houses that are very tightly packed in and overlook each other. I like my privacy way too much.

I also don't like places that don't have much built in storage, where I can hear road noise or homes that smell of smoke or pets.