How important is the look of a house from the outside to you?

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Is it important to you that your house looks nice from the outside? Or would it not bother you living in a plain or ugly house if it meant you got more space, better location etc?

Not much TBH... DH has never liked our house from the outside...its a 1960's detached so benefits from HUGE rooms, massive windows, enormous plot and fabulous light... I am prepared to overlook the barge boarding etc for that...
As I said to him once... you don't sit on your driveway in a deck chair admiring the outside of your house do you? You spend your time in it or in the garden...

It used to be very important to me & my dh. BUT we are now stuck in a very attractive/characteristic house that is too small for us now we have 3dcs.
I used to hate new builds/ugly houses but I would compromise now to get more space if we could afford to move.
I wouldn't buy a property if I thought it was ugly & impossible to improve though.

Yes, incredibly important, but I'm not sure why.

I love coming home to it, it's part of the family.

Fairly important. In an ideal world. I just think driving up to an ugly house every night could be a bit depressing.
That said, our house looked bloody awful from the outside in the estate agents pictures so it didn't put me off looking round.
Inside is obviously more important over all but there's a lot to be said for kerb appeal.

Hugely important to me, I'm afraid. I wouldn't want to live in a fugly house if I could help it. Having said that, there's lots you can do to improve the external appearance of a house.

Mine is lovely outside and inside in terms of character, we have been here 14 years and I still pull up and go.......ahhhhhhhhhhhh that is mine, all mine, (in truth it is the banks until we clear the mortgage, and DH owns 50%) but when I pull up it is all mine.

I do spend a lot of time pottering around outside my house so like something that looks nice from the outside

Quite important but other factors like space, location and for me personally the garden would be more important ultimately. The most unattractive house I've ever seen has recently been sold fairly near us - it's big and cheap for the price but I couldn't imagine it ever being my 'home' if I'd bought it!! Agree you don't tend to sit admiring the front of your house very often though

In an ideal world yes, but it's dropped down my priority list with location, space, flow and light all more important. Where we live now, I chose the location first, knowing that the area didn't have the kind of architecture I preferred. Then we found the best of what was available.

We've lived in a picture postcard thatched cottage for 11 years. It's beautiful from the outside and my heart gives a little leap when I drive up to it.
We are just putting it on the market and looks will not be our priority, space, straight walls and no draughts will be high on the list.

My place would not be my first choice from the outside and yet it's passable and I like the look of it [White painted render with bay window]. I couldn't buy a house which was really bad to look at.

But inside every visitor is surprised, by the good proportions and feel of the accommodation and the light. I love it, and the garden is also just right. The area has everything I need and I would prefer all of the above to a good looking house but without the space and amenities close by.

l always remember a bit of advice that you're better of living in an ugly looking house than having one as your view

I've lived in a house that wasn't too nice to look at, but it did the job at a price we could afford. Now I like that we live in a bit of a beauty, so given the option I'd choose a house that appealed to me from the outside over one that wasn't so much to my taste. It all depends on the options available at the time though, location and space come higher up the priority list.

Ugly house no, but plain yes
I'd be looking for how well it's maintained/paintwork/brickwork/guttering/roof condition etc
Those sort of things would helps it's general appearance anyway and be more important to me.

It is important. Small windows especially put me off.

I loved the outside of our old family home and always felt good coming up the drive,it was the appearance that sold it too us in the first place,even if your homes are not all that attractive you can make them look nice with clean windows and paintwork kept in order to me nothing is more off putting than a scruffy front door but I did sell homes for a living so maybe just inbred to me over the years.

Not important to me. I spend my time inside so good size rooms light and airy with good storage would be my priority.

It is important to me but if everything else was right it wouldnt put me off. The exterior is changeable.
www.realhomesmagazine.co.uk/how-to/expert-advice/exterior-makeover-part-one

I couldn't give a monkeys. We lived in a beautiful Victorian house, all fancy brickwork and twiddly bits. it was a pain to maintain. Our current house is a 70s build and I have no idea how it was ever allowed to be built here as it is utterly out of keeping with the rest of the village. Inside is perfect for us. (Agree about the small windows but i would see that as a feature of the house that would put me off, not an appearance-from-the-outside thing). I don't spend much time looking at the front of my house. And whoever said about the view - I look over a gorgeous black-and-white old house with pastures :)

The thing is, when you come home, the feeling of "home" (for me) isn't basedon appearances. It is where my family are, where I feel comfortable and safe.

So no, it doesn't matter to me. It does to DH which is making it difficult when house hunting we currently live in a grand Victorian building. Likely we'll move to something built post war but it will work better for us glares at dh