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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To share my property porn peeves

201 replies

Canigetaoooh · 18/08/2023 22:56

I love nothing more than a relaxing nosey on rightmove.

but want to share my dislikes.

new homes. Nothing wrong with them to live in. But we see nothing interesting in themes. They all look kinda “same”.

islands with a cooker or the main sink in them. Happy with a prep sink in them though

stairs in the living room

fully open plan

bedrooms off of the kitchen table or utility room

OP posts:
Thread gallery
5
AndrexPuppy · 19/08/2023 11:11

Fake grass
Open plan
Glass balustrades on staircases
Open tread staircases
Spiral staircases
Twiddly metal/wrought iron balustrades on staircases (I have a thing about staircases)
Jacuzzi baths
Hot tubs and/or swimming pools
bars (indoor or outdoor)
Executive style gated estates
Cool white (blue white) lighting

Enko · 19/08/2023 11:15

daisychain01 · 19/08/2023 09:24

Isn't there some planning law about that, from a health and hygiene perspective. Maybe I just dreamt it, but to me, I cannot think of a worse location for a toilet. The ones I have seen have always had a corridor to create a degree of separation.

stairs in the living room
I agree OP, we went to visit a property when we were house hunting, and it had a wrought iron spiral staircase in the living room and I was put off it for that reason. DH being a bloke couldn't care less!

Show quote history

In the past people have thought that a bathroom or toilet couldn't open out into a kitchen, but this isn't the case. As long as there is a basin where people can wash their hands before returning to the kitchen, then one door is enough. And you don't need a lobby.

I grew up in Scandinavia and even after 30odd years here I cant get used to that and dismiss houses due to this.

ThreeLittleDots · 19/08/2023 11:15

semis where the lounges are next to each other

HarrietJet · 19/08/2023 11:15
  • Open plan (if I didn't want walls and doors I would live in a field, I have kids and pets I need to section the house)

Haha, yes.

AndrexPuppy · 19/08/2023 11:16

Ah yes @JusthereforXmas, the blinding white kitchens are a pet peeve for me too. Especially the glossy modern handleless ones. They look like operating theatres.

Crikeyalmighty · 19/08/2023 11:18

Mine are

Enormous kitchens and poxy lounges in the same house. We don't have kids at home anymore so o want a decent lounge

Kitchens on ground floor but lounge on 1st

Loft conversions with no loo or shower room - unless it's a really big house with 3 other good sized bedrooms plus and it can just be an office

MereDintofPandiculation · 19/08/2023 11:21

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 19/08/2023 09:19

Yes, they do . We bought a ( very old) house with exposed beams in the dining room which had been a barn, and they were a dust trap and a spider hotel. DH used to go up a tall ladder every few months and clean them.

And also with very high ceilings, all the heat rises ( basic physics there) we reckoned it was two degrees warmer at beam height than in the floor. I get that if you are bonkers enough to live in a barn conversion ( guilty as charged) this comes with the territory, but when we used to watch Grand Designs, we found ourselves shouting at the Tv ‘ put a ceiling in!’ .

Re listings: please label the photo so I know which room it is . Room dimensions on the floor plan predispose me to really looking at the house. Drone shots from above with the garden outlined are very useful.

Pictures of your champagne bucket and two glasses are completely useless, waste my time and make me think that the current owner is a pretentious wa….r. ( I’m looking at you 89 ……Road)

Show quote history

We used to rent a flat above some !8C stables. Stairs from the front door arrived in the middle of the high-ceilinged, beamed living room. We never used it as a living room! It was an icy void that we crossed on our way to the bedroom wing.

On the other hand, it looked stunning at Christmas with all the beams festooned in bunches of holly.

MereDintofPandiculation · 19/08/2023 11:23

In the past people have thought that a bathroom or toilet couldn't open out into a kitchen, but this isn't the case. As long as there is a basin where people can wash their hands before returning to the kitchen, then one door is enough. And you don't need a lobby. I thought the building regs were changed about 20 years ago, and previously you needed two doors.

HarrietJet · 19/08/2023 11:26

MereDintofPandiculation · 19/08/2023 11:23

In the past people have thought that a bathroom or toilet couldn't open out into a kitchen, but this isn't the case. As long as there is a basin where people can wash their hands before returning to the kitchen, then one door is enough. And you don't need a lobby. I thought the building regs were changed about 20 years ago, and previously you needed two doors.

Passing building regs doesn't make it any less grim, though...

Coastalcreeksider · 19/08/2023 11:29

Totally open plan where kitchen, lounge and dining room have been knocked into one big room. Horrible.

Toilets in a tiny room without a washbasin in them, it's usually the next room with bath/shower and sink.

Wsmi · 19/08/2023 11:30

Not saying sq.ft.

A 2 bedroom 1000 sq. ft semi with stud walls to create an extra bedroom is not a 3 bedroom house. It’s a poor attempt at squeezing in bedrooms where there isn’t space.

People fall for the number of bedrooms all the time rather than thinking about how much actual space they are getting. This is why this country has rabbit hutches where bedrooms can barely fit in anything other than a double bed. A 2 person bedroom should comfortably fit in a king sized bedroom, enough built in wardrobe space and seating area. As is the case in many other countries around the world.

zingally · 19/08/2023 11:31

I'm actively looking to move at the mo, so I know what you mean OP!

My automatic "no"s are:

  • Open plan kitchen and living room. I don't want to be trying to relax on the sofa after dinner, with the oven fan blaring behind me!
  • Front doors straight into the living room. I need at least a porch to separate street dirt from my living space.
  • Also need a bit of space from the pavement to my front window. Need at least a little bit of front garden or driveway.
mumda · 19/08/2023 11:34

I watched something called "escape to the town" this week.
A couple with 900k wanting to move from London with their tiny baby to a lovely town.
They wanted character.
And she showed them character properties but they were too dark. "You could lighten this room" he said, but you'd have to paint the beams and woodwork which defeats the object of having character.
One house had road noise but was at the top of their budget (6 bedroom and lovely) and so they didn't have any money for double glazing.
I think they were just tyre kickers for a new show to be honest.

I absolutely love rightmove.
I do mostly look at very expensive houses.

My pet hates:

  • Baths in the bedroom
  • No floor plan
  • No matterport (Or equivalent) on very expensive houses
  • Not having enough money to buy the nice houses.
  • No map plan showing the extent of the land
  • Tiny gardens on very expensive houses
  • Photos of things that are going to be removed when the owner leaves
  • Spiral staircases
  • Floating staircases/Glass stairs
  • Any staircase that is not solid
Matriarchofmenopausemansion · 19/08/2023 12:12

I agree, I thought there were regulations about that...it's absolutely mingin'..... someone stirring the fricassee , and someone having a massive Barry White inches away...💩🤢

AndrexPuppy · 19/08/2023 12:26

mumda · 19/08/2023 11:34

I watched something called "escape to the town" this week.
A couple with 900k wanting to move from London with their tiny baby to a lovely town.
They wanted character.
And she showed them character properties but they were too dark. "You could lighten this room" he said, but you'd have to paint the beams and woodwork which defeats the object of having character.
One house had road noise but was at the top of their budget (6 bedroom and lovely) and so they didn't have any money for double glazing.
I think they were just tyre kickers for a new show to be honest.

I absolutely love rightmove.
I do mostly look at very expensive houses.

My pet hates:

  • Baths in the bedroom
  • No floor plan
  • No matterport (Or equivalent) on very expensive houses
  • Not having enough money to buy the nice houses.
  • No map plan showing the extent of the land
  • Tiny gardens on very expensive houses
  • Photos of things that are going to be removed when the owner leaves
  • Spiral staircases
  • Floating staircases/Glass stairs
  • Any staircase that is not solid

What’s a “matterport”?

Matriarchofmenopausemansion · 19/08/2023 12:28

UPVC conservatories...no utility room....grey laminate.. rainfall showers without a fanny rinser....bedrooms with no built in storage....

Akiddleetivy2woodenchu · 19/08/2023 12:32

Kitchen and sitting room all in one. Seems to be the case in all new flats.

JusthereforXmas · 19/08/2023 12:34

AndrexPuppy · 19/08/2023 12:26

What’s a “matterport”?

Show quote history

According to google its a 3D lazer scan of a room.

TetrapanaxRex · 19/08/2023 12:36

Mock panelling. I hat a hideous trend.

I agree about the metro times - ruddy awful things.

I don't like lime green walls either.

Lionoso · 19/08/2023 12:41

Houses with tiny landings at the top of the stairs. So you exit a bedroom nearly to the stairs, always feels precarious.

Long narrow living rooms. Keep seeing this in new build houses, it puts me off instantly.

TVs wall mounted but at ridiculous high levels. Who wants to watch TV craning your neck upwards. Even worse if it's over a fireplace.

Artificial grass.

cancan678 · 19/08/2023 12:44

No floor plan. Real pet hate. Screams something to hide

Fightyouforthatpie · 19/08/2023 12:45

Mapletreelane · 19/08/2023 09:08

Bathrooms photos - When the loo seat is up on pictures if bathrooms...why would you leave it up for the photo? And the Toilet Duck and bathroom spray are.lined up on the bathroom window sill. Just why! Wouldn't if course put me off looking, just get frustrated at the estate agents who are probably getting paid £££ and not sorting that out for the photos.

Actually just crap estate agent photos full stop irritate me. They are supposed to be offering a professional service yet can't even take a decent photo.

I really can't get excited about the position of the bog seat and seeing someone's toilet duck. When did we all get so ridiculous? Photos are to give an idea, not some kind of art competition.

JudgeJ · 19/08/2023 12:46

usernother · 19/08/2023 09:09

Plastic grass doesn't bother me because you can get rid of it easily. I can always tell when photos have been stretched.

Me too. The 5 feet wide washing machine is always a give away especialy if it looks normal on other photos!

Fightyouforthatpie · 19/08/2023 12:47

Not sure what the point of all the people moaning about wall mounted tellys is either - surely if you don't want the fucker on the wall you just don't put it up there? Or is this thread just things to sneer at about other people's tastes?

JudgeJ · 19/08/2023 12:48

Long narrow living rooms. Keep seeing this in new build houses, it puts me off instantly.

When we were looking I discounted anything with worse than a 2:1 length:width ratio, they're not rooms, they're glorified corridors.