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?

@Neron

The owners being there, especially if they lead/follow you around

Yes. From bitter experience. It's a distraction.

Smell. It should smell nice, but too much of "pretty" smell makes me wonder if seller is hiding something.

Yy to smells sometimes going right into the fabric of the building. Not had that yet myself but I’ve heard some people going to the extent of stripping plaster off, back to the brick, as fag smoke had completely penetrated. But this would be for somewhere that had been smoked in for decades.

bedroom ceiling covered in mirrors - and creepy seller telling me how interesting they were.

based on my current home:
Close to a junction with traffic lights - my flat used to be on the principal route east out of the fire station about half a mile away. Fire station closed a few years ago, so sirens not quite as bad.
Low ceilings - mine are about 5m high, so many properties, especially modern ones, make me feel quite claustrophobic and crowded in.

The house needs to be clean and (as) clutter free as possible. I can see past furniture and your taste in decorating.

Garden - tidy, weeded, grass mown etc - but seeing as its winter, it's going to be a bit shabby.

The main things I'm looking for are layout (i.e. does the house agree with what's in the plan, and is there anything that isn't in the plan, eg low ceilings etc), is it in a general good state of repair (if bits are falling off that I can see, then there will probably be more bits about to fall off that I can't see), is there a need to replace anything major such as kitchen / bathrooms / double glazing in the next few years (could I live with what you have). You will always get people saying I love carpets, or I love wooden flooring, or I love tiles, and you're not going to be able to cater for all of those, but those are 'relatively' cheap to replace, compared to a brand new kitchen, for example.

@DarkGreen

What about wooden fence panels, should I paint them or leave them natural wood? They are all different shades

I'd paint them the same colour to give an air of uniformity & upkeep. I'd use a natural wood stain or colour as opposed to going blue or green as that's not going to be to everyone's taste whereas wood can be painted blue more easily.

The hint of a cat , ew.

A lot f these things are personal taste and/or can't be changed by OP.

I do think there are a few basics that are important because not everyone is as good as envisioning a space differently. So absolutely, needs to be clean, smell free and as clutter-free as possible. I saw a house recently and intellectually, I think it's not as pokey as it felt but I just couldn't envision it because it was so cluttered. I do not have the imagination to understand how it could be. Ditto garden - doesn't need to be national trust standard but basically tidy and if you have nice garden furniture you can put out attractively, all the better.

Also do what you can to make the front look smart. Nothing more off-putting than pulling up to a house viewing and seeing the front yard filled with weeds, cracked and peeling door paint etc.

Most other things really are to taste. I'd rather an old manky kitchen than a modern one that's not to my taste, but other people can't get past an old fashioned kitchen.

leave bowls of white vinegar out to get rid of cigarette smells - read about it when i was selling my fathers flat, and it worked brilliantly.

Clutter, laundry baskets with dirty washing , damp towels in the bathroom ( chuck them in the hamper for the inspection), bowls of pet food.
Re structural things - kitchens with only a tiny bench put me off because I cook all the time. Not enough kitchen cupboards. Not enough storage - linen or other cupboards. Windows that look right into neighbour’s houses. Houses that are on main streets or busy streets.

Lots of people missing the point a bit here, it's fine to say you'd never buy a house with no parking or with small/awkward rooms or on a busy road or whatever but I think OP is looking for tips on things she can change!

Personally OP I can look past pretty much anything in terms of smell or appearance/presentation of the house as I am pretty cold/unemotional about it so am really just looking at the fundamentals of size etc, but from my experience of selling houses a lot of people go a lot more by how the house 'feels' and want it a bit more 'staged' for want of a better word so they can imagine themselves living there. Also people who haven't done much work to a house can get a bit paranoid that minor jobs like redecorating to their taste will cost ££££ and take ages and this can put them off, so unless your house is a total fixer upper it's worth making everything seem neutral and 'move in ready'. I wouldn't spend a lot of money as in all likelihood you won't see it back when you sell but do:

-Have a massive tidy and declutter - lots of stuff everywhere even children's toys etc in a family house can make people feel it lacks storage and/or is too small. When I was selling a place that genuinely was small I used to fill up my car and garage for every viewing with stuff that normally lived in the house plus dropped off some lesser used stuff at my MIL's for a few weeks to give more impression of spaciousness.

-I've give the garden a good tidy and weed, if you have or can borrow some nice patio furniture to put in the sunniest spot that would good, maybe give the fence a lick of wood stain to smarten up? Put some nice pot plants around the place for colour.

-Make sure everywhere is clean and smells good, personally I think it's ridiculous to not buy a place because it smells bad, even a hellhole which has been damp or lived in by a chain smoker or 100 feral cats, never mind just the 'normal' bad smells of everyday living can be made to smell fine with a few days solid airing, replace carpets and thorough clean but I am 100% confident there are people who won't buy a place because it smells 'off' to them, I think even sub consciously it affects what they think of it and how at home they feel. If you can try and make it smell of something natural and nice - clean laundry, fresh bread, coffee, freshly cut grass, that kind of scent as opposed to unnatural heavy air fresheners.

-Any minor DIY jobs like dripping taps, chipped or damaged painting, cupboard doors loose should be fixed. Again you may think these are so minor why bother fixing them but it just gives the impression of a place which isn't well looked after and can worry people it's a 'tip of the iceburg' situation.

-Make sure the photos on your estate agents website/right move etc are taken in good light, flattering angles and show nice uncluttered rooms 'set up' in the way you are saying them can be used, e.g. if a room is marketed as a bedroom it should have a bed in (ideally a proper double bed if it's a double room although appreciate if it's a childs bedroom at the moment that may be difficult), if a dining room should have a dining table and chairs etc. Half the battle is getting people through the door! Don't be dishonest though e.g. implying there's off road parking when there isn't as this will just piss people off looking at you my last estate agent--

Good luck!

On street parking on a road that's double parked. I'd love to live in a Victorian terrace. But the stress of parking would put me off.

I’d be put off by the owners or pets being present. Especially dogs, you can’t view at house properly with someone’s dog yapping at you.

Pet hair and smell.

Clutter and general dirtiness. Makes it look uncared for and neglected so you start thinking of other things they could have neglected like maintenance of gutters, damp protection, electrics etc.

Dirty bathrooms especially black mould or limescale build up. Stale towels hanging up. Grotty smelly shower curtains. Grubby sinks and toilets.

Smell of damp or artificial air freshener or stale smoke put me off immediately.

Garden not maintained implies owners haven’t bothered to maintain other things so I’d worry house had been neglected and would cost a lot to put right.

Can you get a gardener round to at least weed and tidy up your garden before viewings?

A house that looks scruffy and unloved from the outside. Kerb appeal is important.
Lots of jobs needing doing.
Clutter
Worn out carpets
Dirt
General air of neglect and not having spent money and time on maintenance.
Dodgy roof
Overlooked garden.

(Assuming it’s structurally sound) If it smelled strongly of smoke or pets, most other things can be sorted out.
Would want to know there were no planning applications for development close by.

Re: my previous post about ugly bathrooms and not wanting the bother of changing them, have just seen this property mentioned on another thread, the bath room is my nightmare

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/88297144#/media?id=media1

Bad smell
Bad neighbours
Noise pollution from roads, factory etc
Parking
Shoddy plumbing & electrical work
Old boiler

The owners following you around, I agree. Use a proper estate agent. Especially the man who gave me the hard sell and told me how great everything was - I couldn’t get out of there fast enough!

Too much clutter as it makes you think / realise that the storage is insufficient.

Surely it depends on the buyer. We are DIY people and my partner is a tradesmen. A recently decorated property would put us off. We like to do renovation so a property recently done up wouldnt appeal to us. No point wasting money ripping out brand new work, but very boring with nothing to do in a pristine house and having to live with things someone else chose.

The only other things putting us off would be anything less than outstanding schools in the area as we hope to start a family soon so schools are a must have. Only having a bathroom downstairs would be a sticking point too. On road parking wouldnt be an issue so long as the road wasnt chocca block. Have lived somewhere before where it was all out war who parked where but here there is plenty of road space to get in front of your house.

@NoSauce

Definitely dog smell. We’ve rejected a few houses because of dog smell

Why?? The dog wouldn’t be there if you bought the house. Cleaning, decorating and new carpets would get rid of a doggy odor.

Not everyone wants to redecorate or do new carpets though

I suspect part of the problem with "smelly houses" is that the 101 feral cats could be masking the smell of, say, a serious damp problem which would require a hell of a lot more than a bit of airing and a new carpet to fix. So if I walk into a house that pongs of cat, I can't be sure that if the cat smell were to be cleared I wouldn't then smell damp or dry rot.

It's about decluttering, cleaning and de-smelling well enough that people can actually see what's on offer.

Firstly, the photos should reflect reality, and the sales particulars should flag up potential issues - so if there's no parking, mention that, if your neighbours are 3ft away, don't have a photo that makes it look like they're 30 feet away. That way you're not wasting your own time and other people's.

It's about making it value for money - if the kitchen & bathroom need replacing, then provided the asking price reflects that, it should be OK.

What will put buyers off is an asking price with a "done" house where it clearly isn't. As others have said, if jobs have been done where its clear its a poor DIY attempt, buyers could be worried that you haven't properly maintained it / cut corners elsewhere.

Can’t believe the pp who cited “lots of bottles in the bathroom” as something that would put them off buying a house. So you see your dream Queen Anne country house at an affordable price but you think, “Nah, I’ll pass. Those bottles in the bathroom...”

If it looks uncared for and isn't priced accordingly. If you can't be bothered to weed the garden, hoover, or open a window before a viewing I'd wonder what else you couldn't be bothered to do.

Clean, clutter free.

I'll overlook most of this if the price is OK, I just want it livable to start with and for it to be affordable within my budget. What put us off most was people who'd redone the house themselves substandard or in bad taste and were asking for the price for a finished house knowing we'd need to do it all again.

Artex, horrible fireplaces, structural cracks, damp with no obvious cause.