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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:
Original poster
blinkowl · 30/04/2018 15:58

no shower - what IS there?

Tiny, tiny bathroom, that most sane people would make a shower room, but I prefer baths. So there is literally a bath, a sink and a strip of floor about a foot wide between the bath and the wall with the door in it!

It's not going to be a cheap job.

The water pressure needs sorting out if we're going to put a shower in, the hot simply isn't good enough for the shower. (It's not about the distance from the tank, there's something up with distribution of hot water upstairs that's not a problem on a day to day level, but wouldn't power a shower).

As I'm a bath-only person and refused to even look at houses with no bath, I wondered if shower people felt as strongly.

OP posts:
Original poster
blinkowl · 30/04/2018 16:00

Small bathroom

Would you consider a house with a tiny bathroom but room to extend, if you liked it otherwise?

It would be relatively easy to extend into the attic to allow for a second large bedroom, turning the smallest bedroom into a large bathroom.

OP posts:
FunkyHeroCat · 30/04/2018 16:01

The kitchen - we had one done as soon as we moved with a young family and it was a nightmare - days without water, workmen tromping through etc.

Woodchip - just no

If there was a bath, a lack of shower would be OK for a bit.

Drive is easily fixable later so it wouldn't bother me.

Carpets - depends what state - I like hardwood floors, but could put up with carpets for a bit if they were in good order and not 30 years old and full of dust.

A decent sized garden would be a big thumbs up with young kids too!

ShotsFired · 30/04/2018 16:02

Off your list, the woodchip followed by the kitchen (with a caveat)

Woodchip because it is such a bastard to get rid of, and is often hiding really shitty wall underneath.

Kitchen but probably the decoration rather than the actual units, because you might change them to a newer style that I dislike so then you'd want a premium for something I hated! I'd be happier if you just freshened up paintwork, put down a nice bit of lino and possibly redid tiling.

Not on your list, the ultimate dealbreaker for me would be a smoker's home. That smell just gets into the fabric of the building and will never leave, even if you completely redecorate.

Oly5 · 30/04/2018 16:04

None of these things would put me off if it was priced right

BikeRunSki · 30/04/2018 16:05

I hate woodchip, that would be s deal breaker I think. Is it all over?

Shower may make me waver

Everything else is an opportunity to do my own thing.

ShotsFired · 30/04/2018 16:07

@blinkowl As I'm a bath-only person and refused to even look at houses with no bath, I wondered if shower people felt as strongly

I would not buy a house which had only a bath and no facility to even retrofit a shower, no. I was assuming from your OP there would be some way to add a bracket on the wall above the bath and have a mixer tap there - so a shower for

PinkAvocado · 30/04/2018 16:08

The lack of shower and difficulty in putting a shower in would bother me the most. We simply do not have the time for baths!
After that the wood chip would put me off a bit followed by the driveway possibly (I would be keen on finding out how much it would cost to get redone).

Kitchen wouldn’t bother me as if it needed doing I would account for that in my budget. Would rather I did it myself than someone redo it so it was new but not what I’d have chosen.

Carpets wouldn’t bother me at all.

AornisHades · 30/04/2018 16:11

The lack of a shower would be my biggest concern. It would be annoying to have to put one in quickly at a busy time and I'd worry there was a reason there was no shower.
Woodchip would be the next biggest concern having seen the state of the walls in a previous house.

minipie · 30/04/2018 16:15

I'd spend money on anything that makes the house look unloved and poorly maintained. So anything stained, broken, rotten, leaking, mouldy etc.

Things that are dated but well taken care of wouldn't put me off as I would intend to replace them (assuming price reflects this). Actually I'd prefer all dated to eg a dated house with a new kitchen as then I couldn't justify doing my own.

Having said that, when my DC were under about 4 I think any of your list would have put me off and I'd have opted for something that needed no work at all - just didn't have the time and energy. Pre DC or with older DC no problem.

Popadoodledoo · 30/04/2018 16:16

No window in bathroom. Small bedrooms. No garden. Ignorant neighbours.

Everything else I could probably work with to put my own stamp on.

Tfoot75 · 30/04/2018 16:18

All of it except the carpets would potentially put me off, but I did buy a house needing to be pretty completely refurbished over time, because it was in the right location, lots of potential and most importantly the right price! So I probably wouldn’t do anything except consider the asking price, though wouldn’t installing an electric shower be pretty cheap and have nothing to do with water pressure/distance from hot water?

borlottibeans · 30/04/2018 16:18

I think I'm looking in your price bracket - first time buyer, looking for a bit of a fixer upper and almost definitely going to end up in ex-council.

The woodchip and carpets wouldn't bother me at all if reflected in the price, as it's something I could plan on sorting out myself later when I had more cash available and could do it to my own taste.

The lack of a shower would really put me off though - I have long hair which I need to wash every day or it looks awful, and I couldn't be doing with faffing around in a bath at 6am.

I've never had to install one so am a bit clueless, but would a power shower sort out the water pressure issue?

sausagedogsmakechipolatas · 30/04/2018 16:26

Lack of a shower would have me wondering why ie is there an issue preventing a shower being installed easily

Woodchip, because it can hide walls in a terrible state and is a bastard to strip

Nothing else would bother me, I’d prefer to choose my own kitchen and flooring so as long as the price reflected that those needed to be replaced, they’d be non issues.

OliviaBenson · 30/04/2018 16:31

How old is the bathroom? It doesn't make sense to put a shower in if a new owner would rip it all out and redesign anyway.

Wood chip would be the thing I'd tackle. Just make sure everywhere else is clean and tidy and you don't overprice the house. Let someone else do the work to their taste!

Hillingdon · 30/04/2018 16:34

I brought a house 20 years ago that had avocado bathroom, honestly it wasn't that bad. A scrappy drive would put me off. Our next house had a terrible kitchen but we budgeted to take it out anyway. Not everyone wants to do lots of work and I am surprised your EA said £200K to get to the next level!

I have lived in London and surrounding area for years and £200k would get you a lot of extension, bathroom etc! Our kitchen cost £30k but that was big with Miele applicances etc.

Hillingdon · 30/04/2018 16:38

I also was staggered that some people cannot see beyond what is already there. A room can be a bedroom instead of a study and those tiles you don't like in one of the bathrooms don't have to stay!

When we sold our last house one buyer said it was too big. There is so much info on Rightmove now but I guess there is nothing like looking at a few houses live to see what is around. I have seen too many Location, Location type programmes to know that you tend to get people who think they know better than the market or have a list a mile long of requirements.

Going out and seeing what you can get for your money is the only way to do it - that and not buying anything at all or waiting for the market to 'drop'.

Original poster
blinkowl · 30/04/2018 16:39

Overlooked back garden

The people looking in this price bracket are not worried by overlooked back garden! Grin

This is a standard 3 bed semi on a 30s housing estate, all our gardens are overlooked! Same for the vast majority of houses in this price range across the town.

OP posts:
Thirtyrock39 · 30/04/2018 16:44

Kitchen And lack of shower
The other things wouldn't bother me at all

BubblesBuddy · 30/04/2018 17:02

Frankly, by having so many issues with your house, you are running a major risk of potential buyers looking elsewhere. I don’t expect glamour but, quite honestly, you don’t seem to have cared for your house and it would have to be £50,000 below the price of a decent house to allow for all the work that needs to be done, and that’s before a survey says the roof is sagging and there’s damp! I would avoid, avoid, avoid. I would prefer two bedrooms, a private estate and a nice house if I was a first time buyer working full time!

Hillingdon · 30/04/2018 17:06

Do remember you only need ONE buyer. Some people want to do some work bearing in mind their personal circumstances, some want new builds, some want a complete project, some only have baths and wont be bothered about a shower(although your set up sounds a bit strange especially as there is an issue with putting a shower in).

JUST ONE!

I sold a house many many years ago that had double yellow lines outside and no drive way. It didn't seem to bother us greatly (young and flexible!). We sold easily too. Maybe its knowing what sort of person would be attracted to your property. Young family?

nancy75 · 30/04/2018 17:07

£50k off is a bit steep! You can fit a new kitchen & bathroom for a lot less than £50k.
The drive & the shower would probably bother me the most, the shower because we would need it straight away and the drive because it would probably be the most expensive job.

DairyisClosed · 30/04/2018 17:09

No shower.

Original poster
blinkowl · 30/04/2018 17:09

I don’t expect glamour but, quite honestly, you don’t seem to have cared for your house

Nope. House was a wreck when we moved in. We've put in new:

  • boiler
  • consumer unit
  • small utility room
  • bathroom
  • downstairs toilet
  • garden fences

also

  • removed woodchip upstairs & replastered
  • rewired downstairs
  • pulled up all old manky carpets
  • decorated 0 but it needs redoing now

Roof is sound. No damp.

Ran out of money and time (baby was born before we finished, lost job, lived with it as it is!)

OP posts:
MrsMarigold · 30/04/2018 17:17

Low ceilings, damp or subsidence, bad roof, a lack of light. Everything else can be remedied.

We haven't had a shower in our house for 8 years,