Ugly house, great location.

[Absa]

Currently living in a house that we bought to do up / sell / move up the chain.

Have been looking for the last 6 months but not in a rush as we have no pressure to move.

We have locations we prefer and today went to see a house in the perfect location ... but it's so ugly 😫 Not my cup of tea at all, the next house was meant to be my desired character property, and not needing any DIY as I'm sick of it! But they're just not coming up in our are / budget.

The house today has no curb appeal but backs on to fields / lakes. Inside is very dated but nothing we couldn't eventually sort. I just CBA to do more DIY, but don't know if I'd regret letting this location go.

I know what they say - location can't be changed, the house can, but a 1970s house isn't what I had in mind. I can't add period features to a non-period property.

DH says it's my choice... urgggh!

My house is ugly but the location and space inside is great.
Once you're inside it won't matter!

We have a fairly ugly house. On an estate. But we have three huge rooms and a decent fourth. A massive garden, parking for two cars and in the town we live this is really beneficial. We still glance at what else comes on the market but nothing as good as what we’ve actually purchase. Plus we can extend and it’s a detached.

Can we see a picture?

My house was butt ugly when I bought it. We planted the front garden, leaded the windows, got a posh front door and grew climbing roses up the walls - it looks lovely now. If your preferred area is not in your budget the only way is to buy a fixer upper.

Always pick the ugly house in best location and the make it your own. You can change the house but not the area..

70s houses are now considered period! Depends on build quality at time etc but can be a lot to recommend them - decent sized rooms, good layout, large windows, decent garden... Could be a blank canvas or could be a new period to get in to. You can go mid-century quite nicely in some 70s for example. Scandi influences can also suit well. Do a bit of Pinterest research and have a rethink... Good location is a lot to give up...

Could you not change the curb appeal with a porch, ivy, window boxes, nice garden etc?

The outside of most houses can be improved with things like a garden tidy, better planting, adding a porch and new front door etc.
If you post a picture maybe someone can suggest some easy fixes. Unless it's covered from top to bottom with hideous cladding, I'm sure there's some scope to improve the look.

70s houses lend themselves to covering up the ugly bits with timber cladding a la George Clark.

www.backtofrontexteriordesign.com/before-after

Look at what magic this company can achieve! If the interior layout already works - then external makeover is less disruptive than you think. This company tend to do traditional makeovers - but as others have said going MCM/“70’s/modern also works well. But do get a proper architect / designer to specific otherwise it looks like a builders house souped up with B&Q shite.

I know that curb appeal can be improved but you want period then modern won't cut it and vice versa.

Do you ever find modern houses designed well attractive? If so, there's hope that you could work with the 70's house. If you definitely want period charm, then I'd look for something else to come up.

DH says it's my choice... urgggh!

What a cop out

I'm sitting here in my period house wishing I still lived in my butt ugly 60s house. If it has a great location and good interior space I wouldn't let the exterior put you off. Also, I totally get the not wanting to do DIY, we felt the same after a full renovation and extension, but we've had to do loads to this house, even though it wasn't immediately obvious/we thought we could do stuff later down the line.

I nearly didn't look at my current home because a 1990s sort of town house was about bottom of my list of wants. But it ticked every other box and has been a brilliant home for us. Sorry, you know you have to at least have a look at it...

Thanks all, these are all my thoughts and we will defiantly be able to improve the look of the front with some nice planting and the interior is nothing that can't be fixed... just need to get my head around more DIY now!

Maybe not what you want to hear, but we took a few years off DIY after we sold our first fixer upper and we were so glad we did. It had swallowed so many weekends, it was nice to just enjoy living for a bit.

We bought a rather plain (okay fairly ugly) 1970s house nearly 25 years ago. We updated the interior piecemeal as we could afford to replace peach bathroom suites and hideous tiles, and have only just done the kitchen. The real transformation was removing the pebbled spardash rendering with plain smooth render, and restoring and repainting the original window frames. The ugly duckling is almost a swan. But it always had great light, lovely views and big rooms, which were the features that decided us on the house.

We moved into an ugly house last year. The rooms are big and bright, the views are gorgeous. We've done up a couple of the rooms and have grown strangely fond of our avocado bathroom!

I actually love 70s houses - they are really boxy and the rooms tend to be pretty decent sizes with a sensible layout.

60s and 70s houses often have the least curb appeal but it doesn't take much to improve them. And they normally have excellent space and light inside.
Always buy a bad house in a good location instead of a good house in a bad area.

Don't post a link in case it alerts others to your potential bargain but maybe a screenshot of the outside?

The lakes out back could be an issue (flood risk).

Have you priced up the likely work required - is it just cosmetic or including anything like wiring, heating?

How much more might your desired kind of property cost?

we've got a 60s house - the windows are big and it's so light. I'm learning to go with the style in terms of furniture etc (after victorian flats) and embrace scandinavian mid-century design. The outside could be vastly improved with a new door and windows and painting a weird bit of coloured render but that can wait till the double glazing fails (it's 12 years old already).

Oh! We went through the same dilemma last year... I was desperate to move to a quirky period house in the country and we have ended up in a house built in 1995 which isn't particularly pretty (although maybe not ugly)... and I am totally in love with it! It's the lightest house I've ever been in - east/west facing with most rooms having dual or even triple aspect - we have a stream and views to the glens and I wake up every morning and feel happy when I open the curtains! I still look at houses for sale because I'm a bit of an addict - and I often see places that are prettier - but I have never seen anything with a location a patch on this. It's definitely our forever house!!! We're going to do a lot of work to the house - but there is definitely a fairly low ceiling price in the area. If your area has a higher ceiling I'm sure there are loads of ways to make it beautiful......

I went reluctantly to view a property recommended by my estate agent because of the location, it's wide drive, very large garage...not for it's looks.

Within 5 minutes I wanted to buy it. Great proportions, lovely light coming through, good flow/layout, loved every room, gardens with an excellent S/W aspect, privacy, felt welcoming, cottage feel etc. etc.

Still not in love with the look from outside but the gardens are lovely and absolutely love the place. Been here 8+ years now.