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?

I think a lot of it is subjective though, like freestanding ovens and ugly fireplaces. Everyone saying the smell of dog but then one person the smell of cleaning products... You can’t please everyone.

The owners being there, with friends, and one of them going locking themselves into the bathroom about a minute after we arrive, spending a full quarter of an hour in there while we are waiting to view it, then finally emerging - along with the stench of fetid corpses, making us all gag - and nobody mentioning a thing

Damp smells, cracks in drain area, damp walls.

Air fresheners, especially reed diffusers, have had to leave houses because of those, they make me feel ill very quickly.

Completely paved garden or astro turf, too much trouble to make it a proper garden with real grass. An unkempt garden would not worry me though.

Chinese Knotweed.

A kitchen that's too small.
Dated bathroom.
I look past decor / carpets etc as all that can be easily replaced.
Hate those plug in air fresheners - just open the windows!

Went to see a house where the owner had 4 pugs and an aversion to opening windows (they were all nailed shut) The dog smell was horrendous and to make it worse she had those automatic air fresheners in every single room, blasting out nausea inducing artificial fragrance. The house was nice but we both agreed that if we bought it we'd have to strip the house back to bare walls/floors, we just knew the smell would linger no matter what.

The owners being there.

Cold houses. I hate walking into a viewing and the house being really cold. It immediately puts me off.

Also dislike houses with no character.
I love older houses with original features eg stained glass, ceiling roses, fireplaces, high ceilings etc.

Well alot of comments like awkward shaped rooms aren't going to help you since you're in process of selling.

Definitely remove weeds from the garden and tidy it up. Put some flowers in pots to brighten it up, even some bright flowers in a pot by front door is welcoming.

For me, its about how much work do I have to do to the house...lots of houses I saw had door ways in shoddy state with dents in it, the walls were also in bad shape e.g. not smooth. Repainting isn't a problem but to fix rough walls is costly.

Present rooms with enough furniture to give an idea of how the space can be used.

Your agent should give you some good tips too and get feedback after viewings so if its something you can change

@DarkGreen

The garden is south facing and not overlooked but it is messy needs weeding and we haven't done any fancy patio its just a bit of patio as you walk out then grass to the end. Would this put you off?

A tidy garden is better. I hate seeing overgrown or poorly managed gardens on RightMove. A home is everything not just the house imo.

I'm pro-paving, anti-decking. If the house is outstanding but the owners have put decking in the back garden, I'm mentally burning it on the bonfire already.

Ugly décor is subjective to a person's taste, i.e. there's not much point changing what you have as that might not suit their taste either.

Much has already been mentioned but cannot be changed i.e. the location / neighbourhood of the house.

You will get feedback from the prospective buyers or the Estate Agent might remark on a common theme. If it can't be changed, then that's just the way it is. If it can, then that's up to you.

Structural issues that haven't been addressed
Poor fencing
Shared driveways (not in your case, obviously)
Bad smells, although the first house I had did have some issues with cat wee, but hospital grade disinfectant sorted it
Parking issues
Downstairs bathroom
Thin party walls
Damp/mould
Shit lighting

Decor wouldn't bother me because I'd change it straight away anyway. I'd also clean everything but I'd hate for everything to be completely rancid and filthy.

Musty smells/dog smells..clean everything and polish so it smells nice but not of air freshener

Move your cars just before they arrive so parking is easy

I prefer not to have the owner there when a I view.

It would depend on price. I would assume that on street parking is clear in the details and is factored into the price.

The things which would stop me viewing are the things which I couldnt fix ie location. Everything else would be down to price.

For photos do declutter, make sure the bed doesnt look like somebody has just jumped out of it. Minimise toiletries in the bathroom. They look messy no matter how designer they are.

If you can, knock the garden weeds down with a strimmer. All gardens look a bit sad in winter.

For viewings make sure the house is aired for a good couple of hours then shortly before viewers arrive close windows. Make sure kitchen and bathroom are spotless with toilet seat down, clutter cleared away. We would hide all the toiletries and put fluffy 'stunt towels' out.

Good luck.

You can't change the facts of the house so clean and clutter free (I took all coats off the rack in narrow hallway and dumped in car for viewings) weed the garden. I paid a handy man to have a day fixing little things like door handles etc. It just needs to look neat and cared for.

We have an extremely ripe-smelling dog they can probably smell her next door. Guess we're stuck here.

We were put off one house because the seller kept saying how great the neighbours were, and how they were always seeing each other for drinks and bringing food round. I'm all for cordial relations, but I'm not massively outgoing and I couldn't deal with that. It wasn't the only factor, but it would always put me off.

Clutter.

A lot of the above is subjective - I guess it just depends if people want to do work to the house or not. To what degree.

But I would advise you to spend £200 on getting a gardener in to tidy the garden. I don't know if you mean front or back, or both, but it does help to make the whole house look both cared for and more attractive.

I have to be honest, if it’s really dirty and grimey, dirty sheets, dirty towels, smell of animals, needing a hoover and good clean it does put me off.

Also next to a main road or no parking, sorry.

Past that, things like misleading pics making it look bigger than it is, or in better condition than it is, ans lots of clutter is not good. I can see past it, but it leads to disappointment.

I also dislike the owners being there, you feel you need to be nice. When with the agent you can be more honest and say no and why.

I really dislike houses that have some refurbishment such as new kitchen, bathroom etc but have a roof that is 120 years old, rewiring that hasn't been updated in years, ancient boiler etc. Give me a house that's well maintained but dated and I can redecorate, fit new bathroom etc in my own time and to my taste.

I would definitely get the weeding done before the pictures are taken. Otherwise people will look at them and think the garden is too much hard work to maintain. If the garden looks tidy, they're less likely to think about it and realise that it will be a lot of work. These days, with everyone so busy, gardens that require a lot of maintenance can be off putting.

@DarkGreen

The garden is south facing and not overlooked but it is messy needs weeding and we haven't done any fancy patio its just a bit of patio as you walk out then grass to the end. Would this put you off?

The lack of patio, no, because I can fix that, but the messy weeds, yes, I’d think if you didn’t care to manage your garden you very likely did not bother with your house either.

Main thing for me is smells and actual dirt

Can’t stand cooking smells, stale smells or smells of air freshener

A persons pictures or trinkets of taste in style would never put me off

Reed diffusers would make me walk out as soon as I walked in. I can’t breathe around them.

I like there to be books and some stuff. Too neat and tidy seems soulless and I find it hard to imagine living there.

at the famous MN sense of smell

"no dogs to have lived within 20m of the house within the past 20 years..."

Too many big old manky plant containers full of dead plants to take to the tip. Every bloody house we buy seems to have them. This time, I wouldn't even view ones with more than a couple.

Ive never viewed a house. But things that would put me off:

Musty house smell-have a candle burning and open the windows.

Pets in the house.

Unmade beds

Cluttered kitchen- shows no storage.

I love looking at Rightmove and im amazed at how some houses are sold. My friend is looking at a house to rent and we looked at some and there was so much crap out in the kitchen, on top of the fridge/boxes stacked up.?