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Original poster

Which things would put you off a house most?

107 replies

blinkowl · 30/04/2018 00:25

If you were a family looking to buy?

  • kitchen needing redoing pretty much immediately
  • no shower
  • drive not very attractive (OLD!)
  • carpets rather than floorboards
  • woodchip in kitchen & front room (but not the dining room or anywhere else)

Trying to decide where to spend a bit of money before selling!

The house will attract families - it's a solidly build 1930s ex-council 3 bed semi, near decent state primaries & secondary. Possibly those with not a lot of spare cash as it's in the cheaper part of town!

OP posts:
joopy79 · 30/04/2018 00:28

No shower would put me off,
The kitchen wouldn't bother me as it would mean I can design my own kitchen

Mamabear1475 · 30/04/2018 00:28

Small bathroom.
A box room
Old windows
An all time bathroom (just dislike them)
Tiny kitchen
No back garden
Tiny front porches (just one front door will do me) Grin

Mamabear1475 · 30/04/2018 00:29

Wouldn't be fussed about anything else, everyone here prefers a bath and it's good when you have small children

MinorRSole · 30/04/2018 00:29

The shower. It wouldn't be an absolute deal breaker as easy enough sorted but would make me stop and think and if choosing between 2 it may well be enough to veto yours

SleepingStandingUp · 30/04/2018 00:30
  • kitchen needing redoing pretty much immediately - from a functional or aesthetic perspective?
  • no shower - what IS there?

Are the lack of facilities reflected in the price? They'd be HUGE deterrents to me.

  • drive not very attractive (OLD!) - is it littered with potholes destined to ruin my car?
  • carpets rather than floorboards - are they functionally clean?
  • woodchip in kitchen & front room (but not the dining room or anywhere else) - no asbestos etc? annoying but not the biggest issue
sdaisy26 · 30/04/2018 07:40

I wouldn't care at all about the woodchip or carpets.

Drive - depends what it's like.

Shower & kitchen, I would be reflecting need to sort in my offer price and could be the deciding factor between that house & another one.

GaryBaldyBiscuit · 30/04/2018 07:41

No shower.
Woodchip.
Kitchen.
Carpets.
Driveway.

This is assuming that the kitchen is functional in the sense there are usable worktops and sink and cupboards and space for cooker washing machine and hopefully dishwasher. If none if that is correct then kitchen moves to first spot.

Whatalovelymug · 30/04/2018 07:43

To be honest, if that was all reflected in the price, it wouldn’t bother me at all. I’d like to choose my own new stuff as currently I live in a house where developers have put in new bathroom/kitchen neither of which is to my taste but I’m not going to rip it out. As long as things are usable and the house is clean, that’s ok with me.

StylishMummy · 30/04/2018 07:47

Wood chip can be a chuffing nightmare!
Shower is also non negotiable

Drive can be done in time

Kitchen can be done cheaply from ikea or similar & would probably add to the value

Flooring- personally I prefer carpets with children as mine are tiny so need soft surfaces

Joinourclub · 30/04/2018 07:48

Only the kitchen would put me off. And that is only if it was unusable and really needed replacing immediately.

annandale · 30/04/2018 07:52

I would assume woodchip meant the walls were dodgy.

Lots of people want to spend less and do more. I would just declutter, clean and drop the price.

Angryosaurus · 30/04/2018 08:00

I think the driveway. It’s all about first impressions for me. Plus redoing a drive can cost thousands.

If it was the right house the rest wouldn’t bother me too much

Personwithhorse · 30/04/2018 08:02

We had wood chip in some of the ceilings in the house we bought recently, ceilings were OK I think it was just fashion like the effect called artic (?) the swirly ceilings. In one room it was just painted and not noticeable, in the kitchen we had it removed, it did not take long.

Hate it on walls, however ...

angelopal · 30/04/2018 08:39

Number 1 would be the shower. Everything else can fixed over time but a shower is required straight away.

How bad is the kitchen? If unusable then that would be a close second.

noitsnotteatimeyet · 30/04/2018 08:41

We’re hoping to move next year do have recently had a couple of estate agents round to get a provisional valuation and advice on what we needed to do before putting the house on the market. We’ve been here since 2001 and did major building work in 2003/4 so although it’s all structurally sound the decor etc is looking a bit tired. The agents advised us just to declutter and fix anything obvious (eg water damage from upstairs bathroom when teenage boys forgot to turn the taps off Hmm) but other than that to leave it. In order to compete with houses on the next price level we’d have to do about £200K of work which we wouldn’t recoup so they said unless we were planning to stay here for 4-5 years and get some benefit out of it just to leave it alone! Anyone moving in here will rip out the current kitchen and bathroom and redo to their taste which is fine by me ..,

ILikeMyChickenFried · 30/04/2018 08:43

Woodchip.

Did up a house covered in it. It's evil.

StealthNinjaMum · 30/04/2018 08:43

The wood chip would put me off the most - in fact any wallpaper does. I have lived in a couple of houses of a certain age where the wallpaper was impossible to remove without pulling off bits of wall and I know that lots of people (my mother for example) have covered cracks with wood chip deliberately to hide them.

The lack of shower would depend on whether there was space for one or whether a shower attachment could be quickly fitted to a bath. It would be hard to live without a shower and if I was new to the area would be nervous about finding an unknown plumber to do the work as soon as I move in.

TSSDNCOP · 30/04/2018 08:46

Even if there was a shower over the bath I’d be ok with the rest. I’d be buying it as a blank slate and I’d expect the price to reflect that, in which case I’d see the potential.

fairylightsdown · 30/04/2018 08:47

Shower & woodchip

greendale17 · 30/04/2018 08:52

-Shared driveway

  • Tiled floors (apart from bathroom & kitchen)
  • Front and back garden blocked paved over
  • Small kitchen
  • Overlooked back garden
namechanger14 · 30/04/2018 09:53

There are only a few things that would put me right off:-

Carpets in bathroom(s) (don't care if it's lino or tile, but never carpet)

Globby, flakey, yellowing gloss on woodwork
mouldy, groty grout
Lots of pics, shelves on the wall (means lots of holes to fill and if couple with wood chip would make me thing a plasterer is needed)

MyFamilyAndOtherAnimals1 · 30/04/2018 10:02

I'd leave the kitchen because you'd need to spend so much and it still probably wouldn't be up to the owners' tastes. - unless, of course, you have a lot of money to spend, in which go for it - because a good kitchen can sell a house... Confused - could you paint the chipboard a fashionable shade (similar to farrow & ball?) - that might help?
Are there floorboards underneath the rugs? Could you rip them up in one room and sand them down? perhaps in one room? - because that wouldn't be very expensive and would make it look lovely. - Or, if the carpets are in a nice condition (ie clean) then I wouldn't worry about them either.
As others have said, could you put a shower over the bath? It would be better than nothing?
Good luck OP! - let us know what you decide to do!

notangelinajolie · 30/04/2018 10:14

Non of those would put me off if the house was right for me. I would want to change the kitchen and bathroom anyway. I would be more concerned about location and schools which sound good as far as your house is concerned. If the condition is reflected in the price then I would leave it. One thing I would be doing is decluttering and cleaning.

namechanger14 · 30/04/2018 15:48

forgot to say
A big no no, (that would see me running out the house), is salmon or avocado, (or any other vomit inducing colours they came up with), bathsuites.
Whoever thought they were a good idea should be hunted down and shot!

Original poster
blinkowl · 30/04/2018 15:54

Oh! I posted this late last night and totally forgot.

What a lovely surprise, all these replies, thank you! I'll have a read...

OP posts:
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