What puts you off buying a house?

[notwhyicamehere]

Other than structural things or location- which can't be changed, what are the seemingly little things that would put you off buying a house?
For me, seeing tumble dryer or vacuum in a random room screams not enough space/ storage. As well as loads of bathroom clutter.

AIBU to dismiss houses based on things like this?

Looking to sell soon so looking to avoid those mistakes!

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER

WTF is the matter with people who are put off by beds not being made and loo seats up, etc?

Unmade beds show lack of routine. They look messy. It brings to mind thoughts of sweat or other bodily fluids.

Loo seats am not so picky. Just have to be sparkling clean!

I think I’m easily pleased reading this
I think if I really love the house I’m willing to accept a lot of things. We bought a house with a washing machine in the bathroom which wasn’t ideal but the rest of it was so lovely we compromised. And it was fine!

My big things are

Decor - don’t mind painting/plastering/sprucing things up but we aren’t really looking for full renovation projects at this point, so if there’s a full refurb needed or it hasn’t been touched since the 80s then I don’t want to make that investment (we saw this a lot when we were buying our first place, a lot of starter homes in our budget had previously belonged to elderly people that their family were selling - lots of shag carpets in the bathroom and orange kitchens).

Also if it’s got modern but garish decor - I saw one place with black walls with glittery borders, big hideous murals in the bedrooms, almost fluorescent yellow bathroom tiles - fair play to having your own taste but I couldn’t see past it and picture the house as a blank canvas!

Bedroom sizes - hate when properties are described as having double bedrooms but actually there’s only room just a double bed with a tiny border of space around it and not room for much else.
Also when somewhere boasts 3/4 bedrooms but it becomes clear they’ve just chopped up a large bedroom into two smaller box ones.

That’s pretty much it! Like so many others it’s more about the overall property and location.

Clutter (makes me think not enough storage space).

General grubbiness or things in need of repair, makes me think the building isn’t well cared for.

Pets present (distracting and make the place smell).

Owners present (you can’t look around properly).

Bad smells, like bins or drains.

Garden not cared for.

Unmade beds show lack of routine. They look messy. It brings to mind thoughts of sweat or other bodily fluids.

But you wouldn't be sleeping in their bed. It'd be your house, with your bed. They, and their beds, would be moving out.

@WithoutALookout

Did we find out why Covid would reduce fitted appliances?

I once viewed a house with a massive water feature (like fountain with a pond around it) in the conservatory. No. Just no.

Smells. Dogs, air fresheners, food, especially greasy food lingering.

Spotlights everywhere.

Grey fixtures and fitting eg kitchen units/bathrooms.

Neighbours' houses and gardens being unkempt.

because its much easier to replace freestanding appliances than fitted ones. I am 67 with a bad back and two duff knees and I can replace an unfitted dishwasher or washing machine alone but fitted ones are a whole different ballgame. When the kitchen was new all the appliances were fitted but I was widowed afterwards and as the fitted ones failed I replaced with unfitted....also much more choice with unfitted and there have been shortages

if the property didn’t have a tonne of sockets then it was out of the running

But getting extra sockets put in is such an easy thing to do. That seems a mad reason

But then so does divan beds & pelmet curtains 🤔

@DavidTheDog

Unmade beds show lack of routine. They look messy. It brings to mind thoughts of sweat or other bodily fluids.

But you wouldn't be sleeping in their bed. It'd be your house, with your bed. They, and their beds, would be moving out.

yeah but general low standards of hygiene...straws in the wind

@DavidTheDog

Unmade beds show lack of routine. They look messy. It brings to mind thoughts of sweat or other bodily fluids.

But you wouldn't be sleeping in their bed. It'd be your house, with your bed. They, and their beds, would be moving out.

Bonkers, isn’t it? Feedback to estate agent “It’s a lovely house, it would be perfect but I’m not offering because the bed wasn’t made”. 🤣

Rights of way over the property
Plastic windows or conservatories
That brown colour brick from the 80s
Boring patch of lawn with no flowerbeds
Fake grass

This thread is making me laugh tonight!

I know that toilet seats left up and messy beds and clutter indicate different standards of care, but surely these are things you take in to consideration in the same way as having to re-fence the back garden or replace the double-glazing. Considerations, not complete barriers.

General grottiness. I'd always wonder what was lurking.

My main issue would be anything quirky that can't be fixed . Essentially houses you see for sale for months- hilly garden/near a motorway/road noise etc. I'd be worried about resale.
Also:
North facing garden
Grey houses where there's a premium price. Ie grey windows/doors/rendering etc.
Too perfect- I like a project 😬

My house is so many of the things people talk about. It's the worst house on the best street but I'm loving renovating it

Boring patch of lawn with no flowerbeds Really? I bought a house like that and have had lots of fun over the years turning it in to a wildlife garden.

(I'm aware that my wildlife garden would put off a lot of buyers).

Also, and this is a biggy, when the estate agent's description is radically different from the reality. I went to see a house that was described as 'very well presented' and it needed complete refurbishment. They were obviously having trouble shifting it (and it was about £40K overpriced, which was nearly 20%).

@fashionablefennel

Ridiculous ideas but costly to put right.

A free standing bath in the bedroom for example.

Yes! This is my number one pet hate when were looking at houses. If there's one visible in a photo we dont view.

The other one for me is square floor tiles laid in a diamond shape relative to room, I'm guessing there was a period of time when this was all the rage but I think it looks awful

I go into lots of houses that haven't been updated since the 80's and sometimes a lot earlier, some would also give a lot of people on here the screaming abdabs with the amount of clutter, general filth, walls orange with tar from cigarettes and one has an exhibit worthy display of spiders webs.

Some have amazing period features hidden away, some will need a lot of TLC and some will need the full 'back to brick' works, but I can see the potential in all of them and can imagine how they could look in the future

Black/white kitchens with shiny floors, hate all of that as well as grey and white taking over and too much wallpaper.; odd wall okay as long as subtle and not garish

@HotChocolateLover

Not enough plug sockets! We’re just about to move into our second house and it was a mistake we made in our current house. When we were looking now, if the property didn’t have a tonne of sockets then it was out of the running!

This! Our house was built with one, yes one single socket in each bedroom. We didn't notice when we bought it but have had to add more since. Unnecessary hassle.

@DavidTheDog they are complete barriers if you don’t have the money or capacity to do a lot of refurbishments though. Some people need to move into something that’s not going to take a lot of work so want to avoid anything that seems like there’s a risk of hidden issues.

Front patio pretending to be a drive
No storage (or potential to add it)
Bedroom too small to fit a bed in it (unless it's in addition to the bedrooms required)
Very bright/strong colour painted walls or wallpaper both are a pain to get rid of
Grey kitchen (probably too new to skip but I hate the colour)

Single-glazed windows (cold, high bills, bad for climate) or bad UPVC replacements. I'd need to factor in the replacement cost.

Built-in appliances as I think they're tacky, plus usually poor performing and trickier to replace.

Built-in cupboards as again I think they're tacky, make the room inflexible, and would be expensive to remove and make good the walls etc.

Period property with original features and all the character stripped out and replaced with shiny modern replacements. This is the worst as it's almost impossible to undo. The others are all just extra costs so not deal-breakers.

yeah but general low standards of hygiene...straws in the wind

First thing in any property i moved into was a deep clean. Previous occupants' hygiene is no concern. Not being super clean also doesn't mean house is in disrepair

Smokers house as a PITA to get the smell out unless gutting before moving in.

Terrible parking/ limited spaces

General look of neighbours gardens/ friendliness of passing people if seen.

I would'nt buy a house without a driveway- Probably the main thing for me.
An over crowded street ( Houses from every angle and parking on road) is also off putting.
Overlooking neighbours gardens and theirs into yours. ( Recently went to a house where all houses had big balconies and then gardens below- no privacy at all in any of the gardens)
Not having a seperate dining room or room to put a table in kitchen (Our table is in our living room and I really dislike it!)

Trees in gardens. My oh owned a house with giant ferns in his garden when I met him. It put me off dealing with any kind of tree as his took ages to sort out as he’d left them to grown untamed.
Huh??? Aren’t gardens supposed to have trees? We have about 7. I can’t imagine a garden without a tree unless I’m thinking about one of those new build gardens which just have new lawn but I always assumed that people changed that around once they moved in.