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

[JMSA]

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.

With estate agents photos:
. Having washing out, inside or outside - you knew when the photographer was coming, do a load when they go
. Having the TV on. Takes 2 seconds to switch it off
. Not tidying up - like dirty plates in the sink, clothes on the floor

Sussing the area out:
. Crap parking - both to the property and surrounding properties.
. Fly tipping
. Loads of screaming kids
. Neglected property or neighbouring as sometimes neighbouring neglect properties, if semi/terraced, the problem can go into the property you are interested in such as roof

Actual property
. Smelly - smoking, urine, damp
. Not enough kitchen work tops. Some properties have just enough room for a microwave, kettle and another item. Hardly any room to prepare food.
. Too much work before moving in properly.

I always wonder how really open plan houses avoid this as there's no escaping haddock even with the extraction on full blast 🐟 🍟

London in my early twenties.
Viewed a flat that had a toilet in the corner of the kitchen with a shower curtain rail around it.

Bad smells, noisy neighbours, poltergeist activity 🙂

No allocated parking - whether that's a garage, car port or allocated parking space specifically for the property. Couldn't be do with faffing on trying to find a place to park on the street every time I came home (and also the associated hassle with other people parking poorly or getting annoyed if you park outside of their house etc.)

Also any evidence of noisy neighbours or a street and other nearby properties that look like a shit tip.

Once inside the property any awful smells such as mould or damp. Cat and dog piss would be offputting but not a deal breaker because you can get rid of those smells but it might mean new flooring throughout.
And then depending on my budget, a bathroom and/or kitchen which needed to be completely ripped out. If I had enough money to do the work that would be fine, but if I didn't it would put me off.

Redruth is going up in the world!

(when bits of it aren't going suddenly and unexpectedly down in the world 😄)

I'm quite open, we where looking to buy a doer up anyway.

I wont live in the rough end of our town, so any house their is off instantly.

I instantly striked any house off from viewing that from photos clearly had an indoor free range rabbits. Rabbits are not house trained (I don't care what any rabbit owner says they just because they hit the litter tray occasionally does not make it so) and the damage and smell from rabbits can be horrendous (smaller caged animals like hamsters, rats, chinchillas etc... dont bother me). Only 2 or 3 house in 2 years fell under this rule though.

I wont bother going to see a house that clearly insanely hoarded, no point viewing if you cannot actually SEE any of the house (clutter does not bother me, if you live their I expect to see your stuff but when every inch is covered so you cant even see the walls nope). Once again only 2 houses fell under that rule too.

One of the free range rabbit houses also was blatantly FILTHY (like an inch thick grime on everything) from the photos which I noticed before noticing the rabbits and instantly thought 'ewww'. I don't expect wildly clean as we looked at lots of dated doer ups but there a difference from 40-50 years of wear and tear and actual feces and grease soaked into everything. Even without the rabbits I would have crossed it off for that.

I also won't go see a house listed as a '4 bed' if the 4th bedroom is actually the dining room. I need a 4 bed and you are clearly an average 3 bed, 2 reception room house and lying doesn't change that.

Hate open plan and clearly flipped houses too, never my taste and impractical but if I can re-close up the open plan with a stud wall I might still go look but not if they have put huge kitchen through it (or something else harder/expensive to move).

Other than that if it meets my requirements I would go have a look.

I did view one house that had no photos. It was on very cheap for being a good street and just a few houses from where I lived so no hassle to pop in. I quickly learned WHY it had no photos though. It was basically all in one hoarded, damp, smelly indoor pets, virtually derelict (water running down walls, mold everywhere) and stunk to high heaven of raw sewage (apparently the drain under the house had collapsed pulling it away from the adjoining neighbor hense the leaks, cracks, damp and smell).

Should have been a health hazard, more shocking is a whole family where living in it. The only house I have ever seen where I thought demolision is the only job for this. A flipper bought it, 'facelifted' it in record time (no where near enough time to do the structural work needed, just tape over the cracks, air it out and a lick of paint job) and whacked it up for a crazy amount of money... and it has not sold.

You can't really avoid it. I still prefer an open kitchen but you have to be mindful that soft furnishings need washed more often. Or just eat sandwiches 😂

Front garden covered in gravel or paved over like a great big car park. Back garden paved or covered in decking or plastic grass. No living plants to be seen.

House is on a busy main road.

Noisy music coming from neighbours.

Interior is either painted entirely in grey, or covered in dark shiny wallpaper.

Estate agent just breezed past it like it was perfectly normal 😂

Outside - England flags hanging from lamp posts or windows.

Inside damp/mould or no dining area. Some houses I have viewed online the only place people could eat meals is on their knees on the sofa.

Interestingly , I had this today …..
House is on the market and notified yesterday of 2 viewings today while I wfh- estate agent accompanying them .
Today I wake up and detect awful smell - it’s stagnant water not draining from
shower .
Haven't had time to get plumber or plunger .
Warned agent - emailed her and she bought them anyway !

Oh I just though one house we striked off at viewing despite being well kept and a lovely couple was a house that had a combination of the worlds smalled kitchen (you could touch each side of it from standing in the middle, it was square), death stairs that where like climbing everest and damp (couldnt see any damp but could smell it) and as it was built on a steep hill with one floor underground at one side like a basement (where the damp smell was) it would be near impossible to fix properly.

Ah IKIK

Good call, not the seller themselves but if neighbors had flags up I would walk away.

Neighbours with crap all over their gardens, plastic grass.

Smell. Could be cat wee, neighbour's curry, fags, spray deodorant, whatever- immediate exit from me.

Oh and if the neighbours were flying Palestine flags

Stairs in the living room - we had this years ago in rented and the TV was so loud upstairs. Also being overlooked, lack of parking, no storage would put me off

Ive not ventured upstairs in a couple of smelly houses, heading for the door the EA said someone's put in an offer, was that meant to make me reconsider .. also a tenant was still in a property complaining about her landlord, i wasnt making anyone homeless

Damp smell, cigarette smell, grease smell, dog smell. All terrible to get rid of. Any of the neighbours using their gardens/yards as tips. Any constantly barking dog in the area. If neighbours can see right in, no privacy. Storage heaters. The ones that are all grey. Death trap arty staircases. Flaggy neighbourhood. The ‘landlord special’ ones where everything is done but done poorly. Things like crooked eyesore sockets and grainy paint jobs and botched tiling.
In reference to a post above, I also once viewed a rental flat where the toilet was in the corner of the kitchen with a shower curtain around it. The ‘shower’ was just a detachable head and the idea was that you attached it to the kitchen tap to shower over the loo. I left.

Half this stuff is evident from listings so if you reject on it after a viewing you’re a time waster. OP asked about stuff that puts you off that’s presumably not evident in advance. So. Neighbour stuff. Damp.
I bought a house that had been used as a dog rescue and it stank. But it’s London and can’t afford to be fussy. Literally. It got sorted (and neighbours were lovely!).
Who cares about sex dungeons etc. People take their nonsense with them.

Corner houses or by an alley way are off putting to me.

also stairs in lounge or those open slat 70s stairs give me a nightmare

no bath

toilet opening into a lounge was one I saw recently

Loo near the kitchen. No hallway.

Stairs with gaps
spiral staircase