To think some little things make a house look expensive?

[Stressmode]

Selling my house and trying to make it look like normal people live there! My husband disagrees and says people will only be looking at bricks and mortar. However I recon there are certain things that help people a feel for a place and show it off well. Not just because I am selling my house but because I want to get some nice stuff for my next place. I am autistic so kind of struggle with this stuff.

What little things make a house feel elevated (classy, expensive, nice… not sure which) ?

Not got much budget, but trying to work out which things help with interiors.

Neat, clean, fresh smelling, well maintained. No dripping taps, running toilet, sticky floors, clothes laying about. You want it to be obvious that the house was well cared for by the current owner. If it looks a bit neglected and shabby, buyers will assume there are hidden problems. Don't try to cover bad odors with scented candles and air freshener. When I was house shopping, I immediately eliminated 2 houses from consideration based on odors. One reeked of cigarettes, even though it was currently unoccupied and had fresh paint. The other had several strongly scented candles burning, plus plug-in air fresheners, with an undercurrent of sewage. Obviously trying to hide some sort of plumbing issue.

A friend bought a posh flat - upmarket furnishings, big flower arrangements, classical music playing when she went to view. Turned out the music was to disguise the constant noise of the traffic outside.

Clean. Uncluttered, fresh self-coloured bedding. Nothing on work tops. No laundry

I’m quite savvy but DH I have noticed is easily put off a house which needs work and has potential. We have missed a fair few had massive
potential. Equally if he likes the owner and there is a nice car in the driveway then he turns his head.

I ignore frippery completely. I dislike all the meme stuff like “this house runs on gin and love”. But decluttering is essential.

Most real selling points are fixed and unchangeable (eg location and number of rooms) but there are little details that can make one of two identical houses look more expensive than the other. Door handles, light fittings, rugs for instance can elevate a ‘basic’ room to a more tasteful one, and make it stand out against next door who has left these things as they were. Much depends on the age and style of the house though.

I’ve just put brass art deco handles on the interior doors and have had lots of compliments, but it’s a 1920s house, so they look original. The actual original ones were plain wooden knobs, so the new ones make the house look higher end than it would have been when new. Similarly, plastic light switches and cheap door knobs and knockers can easily be switched out for better ones, and make a difference to the look of the house for relatively little effort.

Rugs, lamps etc can go with you when you move, and don’t overlook rechargeable lamps - you can put them anywhere and if you avoid the very basic ones they look like plug-in versions, so can give the impression that there are more sockets (and therefore placement options) as well as showing off areas of the room better than a harsh overhead light. Try Pooky for decent rechargeable lighting. They even do wall lights/picture lights that don’t need wiring in.

Speaking of lighting, check that all bulbs are the same ‘temperature’. Either all white light or all warm light - never mixed.

Short curtains look cheap, but curtains are expensive and might not fit your new windows, so it might not be worth spending on new ones. If you have short ones and can take them down and manage with blinds it might look better, but you really need to play around with what you’ve got to see what works. Make sure cushions are properly stuffed. Get pads that are a size bigger than the covers so they aren’t droopy. Again they can come with you.

Have fun 😀. Some things will attract some buyers and not others, but balance spending so that most goes on things you can take to the new place when you move.

Obviously it would be silly to make a conscious decision like that, but I think you do get a ‘feeling’ about a place. Assuming it’s going to be your home for a good while and not just something to flip, we buy houses with our hearts as well as our heads. I can imagine how something like clothes hanging everywhere could make a place feel claustrophobic and that might subconsciously affect your overall opinion of the house without even realising it perhaps.

Plus, as PPs have stated, it gives a bad impression of the sellers which could be a bit of a worry.

What kind of brainless turnip does a person have to be that a wedding photo or jazzy coloured wall would put them off buying a house?

Paint exists, and people take photos with them generally. Good heavens.

I didn’t buy a house because the owners had a ‘page 3’ calendar in the kitchen ( this was 25 years ago but I’ll never forget it ) They were a married couple with kids too. I just remember thinking ‘ughh, I’d never want to live here’

I've no idea. It's so odd. There was one thread about selling a house on here and someone was put off by "the crumpled duvets" 🙄

then where does it go? seriously? as much as possible was culled brutal etc etc but there was still stuff and I couldn’t afford a storage unit whilst selling so things did have to go in cupboards, I’ve seen a full cupboard whilst viewing but it didn’t put me off coz I know people have lives 🤷🏽‍♀️

We looked at lots of properties before we moved into this one 6 months ago. Here is a list of things I don't want to see:

Crumbs on work surfaces
Sink full of washing up
Holes punched into internal doors
Urine around the toilet, staining the floor
Large crack in the glass of the living room window
Owners clothing on the bedroom floor

Of course all of the above is fixable however I had spent years making my old property as lovely as humanly possible, it was spotless for every viewing and we were regularly complimented on the condition of our home. I wanted to move into a home with owners that had a similar mindset to me, I don't have the energy for a big project at the moment so the house being ready to live in immediately (as well as location, price etc) definitely influenced my decision to buy it. Not because I am an advertisers wet dream but because it suited me to buy something 'done' at this point in life.

You are presenting an image and it is one that you care and have standards. Sounds weird?! Viewers are more likely to assume that if the house looks cared for it will be the same with the bricks and mortar. Those of you who say it doesn't matter are being naive as to most viewers it will matter very much even if they are not aware of it. Also it might not sell the house as such but would certainly give it an edge compared to similar ones on the market. And further down the line if you have a good sort out/streamline now it will help when you are packing up to move.

Fair point, so in our case, the market conditions were reasonably ok, and getting viewings was not difficult, but you will have to believe me that the price it sold for was ridiculous.... there was a bidding war that just exploded. We actually worried quite badly that the banks would not lend the amount, and in fact they did question it - their valuer told us so! - but thankfully the sale proceeded in the end.

It was a generally decent house but not that special, the staging and deep cleaning gave it a bit of a wow factor/ luxury feel. I'm utterly convinced that if I sold it without any effort to spruce it up we would have got AT LEAST 60K less for it. My mind still boggles at what it sold for.

I agree.
I'm not sure "expensive and classy" will appeal to everyone.
Far too near the " glitzy and tacky" look to be safe.

I have super rich family members and their homes are muddy and full of dog hair.
Dressing a home should emphasise space, light, cleanliness, warmth, functionality. I agree that scruffiness may put seeds of doubt in potential buyers minds about the structure and maintainance of a property.
Clutter needs to be stored away, culled or moved elsewhere. It gives an impression that a house has poor storage capacity and is too small.

Renting storage may sound expensive but it may be crucial to a sale.
I sold my and my mothers home in the same month, both houses had offers within weeks. Dealing with clutter before a move was very helpful.

I'm old enough to remember House Doctor with Ann Maurice. As well as making sure your place is uncluttered, clean, fresh smelling etc she always made the rooms show their function. E.g if you have a dining room, make sure it has a table and chairs in it, rather than the washing, a hamster cage and an exercise bike that we all usually keep in there! It was a good show. Wonder if there's reruns showing somewhere.

While dodgy wall art and crumpled duvets are obviously not something that are going to make someone refuse to buy an otherwise perfect house, people are often looking at five, six, maybe ten other houses in their price bracket. You don't want ANYTHING, not one single thing to put them off yours, however subliminally. If it comes down to two houses to choose between which are otherwise identical, they are more likely to choose the one which was nicely present with clear space, plain walls and neatly made beds because the overall impression it made was better.

Humans are very easily subliminally affected. How many houses have you been in that have just had 'an atmosphere'? You want to avoid anything at all that might put someone off.

For us, we hired a storage unit and put all the clutter there. Then bought a nice sofa from Facebook marketplace and matching cushions from a charity shop. This really came through well in the photos. Beds carefully made, use cushions to make the bedding look expensive, look at examples of styling that hotels use. Everything was clean and tidy inside and out. We got professional cleaners in although I thought they didn't do an amazing job so I went over it all again. One thing I forgot was to clean the shower screen properly and you could see that in the photos but only just. Also, make sure the estate agent you are using does good photos, check out how they have photos other houses for guidance. That should be a factor in who you chose. Some photos really make the most of what's on offer while others not taken by a professional make a nice house look crap.

It might be subconscious for some people.

I didn't bother with a house because we couldn't view the main bedroom, they'd agreed a viewing at around 10am when one of the couple had worked nights. They offered to do the viewing in the afternoon but we had something else on.

Their loss.

While I understand those that “only look at the bricks and mortar”, you would be amazed at the number that throw in the ridiculous “we will have to replace the… (kitchen/bathroom)” comment in an attempt to knock £10,00 - £50,000 off the asking price…But, if the fitted spaces look clean, bright and in good condition, prospective buyers will not have any excuse to try to negotiate a price drop if it’s on the market for the going rate.
IME, people these days are going to replace everything, anyway, so if it’s not an obvious doer-upper, you are more likely to get the full asking price.
It amazes me how little thought and investment that some people put into what is often, arguably, their biggest asset - some houses we have looked at had holes in walls and doors kicked off the hinges plus no sign that anything had been kept in good repair, so those were avoided: if they weren’t tackling general maintenance, what might we find with the roof Etc.?

I went to a viewing once and the owner answered the door actually smoking a cigarette. It put me right off before we'd even looked at the house - which stank and the walls and ceiling were covered in yellow stains.

So keep the house fresh and smelling nice!

This. I'm a property developer-a house can be a total shithole but if it is structurally sound in a good area I care not.

True, it's like all these houses with dogs. Sometimes they really stink.

😂