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If buying a house, what would make you want to walk straight back out?

354 replies

JMSA · 07/11/2025 16:41

I mean it lighthearted-ish, as we probably wouldn’t be quite so rude! But what is an absolute dealbreaker for you?
For me it would be the presence of a Saniflo/macerator toilet. Evil things.

OP posts:
chilliheeler123 · 07/11/2025 17:56

Anything that either couldn’t be resolved with the departure of the current occupiers, or soon after without costing the earth.

Sex dungeons, pet snakes, clutter wouldn’t bother me as all are immediately fixed when the former owner leaves. If I liked the house for its potential, I’d just try and look past anything temporarily unpleasant.

Horrible neighbours, damp, poor natural lighting, tiny rooms are all problems that would either be impossible or expensive to fix so I wouldn’t see much point in continuing with the viewing.

MaryGreenhill · 07/11/2025 17:56

Japanese Knotweed

AbbeyGrange · 07/11/2025 17:57

Houses that are too open plan as in no seperate sitting/living room, it's fine in a flat but not a house....

Iocanepowder · 07/11/2025 17:57

Family and I have had left after:

Teenager still in bed at 12pm
Elderly family member asleep on sofa

Made us all feel really awkward

RandomUsernameHere · 07/11/2025 17:58

It depends, we completely renovated our current house so nothing interior mattered when we viewed it as everything was ripped out. If not doing a renovation project though, it would be any bad smells such as dog or damp and bad DIY.

GrannyAchingsShepherdsHut · 07/11/2025 17:59

crackofdoom · 07/11/2025 17:49

A massive hole opened up in the car park with some poor guy's mini sticking out of it at a 45 degree angle.

(Ongoing Cornish incident, IYKYK)

Tbf, being in Redruth would be bad enough! 😂

BigSkies2022 · 07/11/2025 18:00

PVC windows. Those plastic conservatories that people loved to jam onto houses in the 80's. Concrete tiles on the roof. Obviously all the other stuff that people have mentioned - cigarette smoke, dirty house. Once I was shown a house with tenants in situ, and got a eyeful of one of the tenants' prick and arse. Didn't get beyond the front hall before backing right out.

TBH, we've spent the last 15 years getting our house sorted, and it was already well cared for and had good bones. Some crap plumbing, a fireplace that was basically a big hole in the chimney breast, and we've changed all three bathrooms, ripped up carpets and sanded and sealed floors. Added decent insulation and improved lighting and landscaped the gardens, front and back. Built in storage and decorated. New boiler, better rads. And that's before we've even touched the kitchen, which is the next big thing.

So there's a big bit of me which never wants to move again, and certainly not to an old house, however pretty, that we have to sort out properly to our own spec and preferences. I'll be looking for contemporary, with everything to high spec, maybe trade some floor and garden space for high-end design. Neff house, that sort of thing! If anyone is selling...

verybighouseinthecountry · 07/11/2025 18:00

Viewed a house once in a very MC, leafy part of town. Houses usually sell within the week as they don't come on often and go way over the asking price. It was an old house but very well kept outside. As soon as I stepped inside something felt very off though. The downstairs rooms were all wallpapered in what I'd describe as 'B&M teen' themed - so that black faux brick wallpaper in the drawing room, the living room had graffiti style wallpaper, it just felt so childish and out of character. Apparently it had just been redecorated too. Upstairs was worse, lots of occult/Satanic flags pinned onto walls/ceilings and in what I assume was a teen's bedroom effigy style dolls. Gave me a very bad vibe and it took ages to sell.

Theyreeatingthedogs · 07/11/2025 18:00

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/11/2025 17:50

I was about to say big England flag next door.

Where did that extraneous "l" come from?

AquaForce · 07/11/2025 18:00

I saw a maisonette once with a shower cubicle on the landing. A proper working shower just hanging out at the top of the stairs.

Also paddle stairs are a nope for me.

BigSkies2022 · 07/11/2025 18:01

Oh, a really sad one: terminally ill husband of the vendor being nursed in hospital bed in the sitting room.

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/11/2025 18:01

Theyreeatingthedogs · 07/11/2025 18:00

Where did that extraneous "l" come from?

Eh?

coxesorangepippin · 07/11/2025 18:02

Any undetached house

Denim4ever · 07/11/2025 18:02

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/11/2025 17:53

Not that unusual in old terraced houses where the bathroom has been added on.

Absolutely, many Victorian or older houses have a downstairs bathroom. Our village is full of houses with downstairs bathrooms. It's not necessarily the only bathroom. Our main bathroom is in the most 'modern' bit of a very old house and downstairs. It's not an extension of the Victorian bit of the house but was originally 2 rooms, the loo would have been separate and accessed from outside. Some people make them a utility keeping the loo sep. We are not in a terrace.

Lulu1919 · 07/11/2025 18:03

If it smells of pets or cooked food ...ie fish or cabbage etc .
If it's dirty and very untidy..ie beds not made or bathrooms not shiny or washing up piled up.
If there are people in bed when I look in bedrooms....this has happened more than once !

Lastfroginthebox · 07/11/2025 18:03

We walked into one house where the smell of wee was so overpowering, it made our eyes water. There was no sign of any pets. The elderly owners were moving into a home...

CaptainMyCaptain · 07/11/2025 18:04

coxesorangepippin · 07/11/2025 18:02

Any undetached house

Presumably if you're looking for a detached house you wouldn't get any where a terraced house to walk away from?

LancashireButterPie · 07/11/2025 18:04

Pet smells.
Grubby house smells.
Generally dirty.
Neighbours from hell next door.
Leylandii or very tall trees in next door's garden.
Japanese knotweed.
Overly hard landscaped back garden or fake grass.

Denim4ever · 07/11/2025 18:05

AquaForce · 07/11/2025 18:00

I saw a maisonette once with a shower cubicle on the landing. A proper working shower just hanging out at the top of the stairs.

Also paddle stairs are a nope for me.

George Clarke had a house like that featured on one of his makeover progs

lifeonmars100 · 07/11/2025 18:05

LindorDoubleChoc · 07/11/2025 16:50

Neighbouring properties being in a state, litter on the street.

You have described where I live, but the houses sell regardless because BTL landlords snap them up and make a fortune renting them out as unoficial HMOs. When a for sale sign goes up it will take less than a month for the property to be sold. There is one currently on the market and I had a look online, it is a shithole with a couple of doors that have been wrenched off the hinges and are propped up against . the wall but it will sell

CatHugger · 07/11/2025 18:06

If it was filthy or stunk of cigarettes/weed or had drug paraphernalia.
Garden/outbuildings full of crap.
Visibly structurally unsound.
Dodgy-looking neighbouring houses/neighbours.
England/UK flags outside of major sporting events.

saltandvinegarchipsticks · 07/11/2025 18:07

We went to see a house which looked lovely in the photographs, but reeked of dog and weed. Shortest viewing ever.

Dawnintheageofaquariams · 07/11/2025 18:08

Union Jacks on the lamposts nearby.

AquaForce · 07/11/2025 18:10

Denim4ever · 07/11/2025 18:02

Absolutely, many Victorian or older houses have a downstairs bathroom. Our village is full of houses with downstairs bathrooms. It's not necessarily the only bathroom. Our main bathroom is in the most 'modern' bit of a very old house and downstairs. It's not an extension of the Victorian bit of the house but was originally 2 rooms, the loo would have been separate and accessed from outside. Some people make them a utility keeping the loo sep. We are not in a terrace.

My parents converted a couple of houses like this in the 60s and 70s. There was a condition on one of the mortgages that they had plans in place to convert the old wash house and outside toilet to an indoor bathroom.

Simplelifeneeded · 07/11/2025 18:10

Not having a separate kitchen and living room. I once lived in a flat like this and when I moved out the sofa smelt like cooking. I never noticed when living there until the sofa was in the new place.

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