Would you buy a house that...

[Luckyelephant1]

Has been renovated and extended throughout inside and is essentially exactly what you're looking for in terms of floor space/a blank canvas to decorate... But you just find the exterior so ugly?

A bit of background, we've been searching for a while for our long term home but we're in a very expensive area in the South East, so even though we have what many would call a decent budget, it doesn't stretch very far here so options are limited, but we really don't want to move out as we love the area and have a lot of ties to it.

We love properties with a lot of character, period homes etc. But also with the opportunity to give it a modern twist inside. A house has come up that is ready to move into inside, done to a high standard etc so we wouldn't need to renovate much at all, just paint and maybe replace the kitchen worktops at some point as I'm not a fan. It's rare at the price it's at to have a house that doesn't need a lot of work to get it to how we like. However, I just can't get over the exterior. I'm no expert on houses of certain eras but it's one of those boring, square houses built in maybe the 60's/70's? Very unremarkable, would be quite hard to make look nice. Ugly casement windows, but it would look ridiculous if you changed the windows to say, sash windows because that's the total opposite style of the house iyswim?

It has 'kerb appeal' in the sense that its very neat on the outside with a well maintained front lawn, path and front door etc. But I just don't like the style of house! Am I being too picky? Would you buy a house if the interior is perfect but the exterior not so much?

www.backtofrontexteriordesign.com/

We had the same decision to make. Although it was lovely inside, large garden and good location, looking at it made my heart sink every time. It didn't feel like us and was so, so bland.

We ended up buying a slightly smaller property (same location, smaller but lovely garden) but with the architectural 'wow' factor (in my opinion, anyway!) that still stops me in my tracks and fills my heart whenever I see it.

Yes I'd buy it. There is a website 'the modern house' which includes several of these 60/70s style houses which form a design category all of their own. Embrace the modernism of it and enjoy the space.

@Daisydoesnt is the second pic not a computer simulation?

Here’s a another one, that is real.

House buying is always a compromise between cost and what you dream of. You just have to decide if this is a compromise you can live with. That's all it boils down to. Personally I think its a good compromise right now as the other option would be an unmodernised period property which will not only cost a fortune to fix up right now (if you can even find anyone to do it), it will cost a fortune to heat.

I would go ahead. You don’t live outside the house.

You can always make the outside look more appealing if everything else is perfect for you.

[quote Clymene]www.backtofrontexteriordesign.com/[/quote]
This is a great website for ideas. Even if you don't go the whole hog, it Is possible to add charm to a 60s box.
Some friends recently bought the ugliest house - it's great inside and the exterior will get beautified eventually

Can you post a picture - not of the actual house - but something similar

There's loads you can do to change the exterior , various cladding , rendering, painting , new windows , doors , extension, new roof , porch , etc etc and although some things may need planning most will not affect your day to day living like an internal refurb will
I would jump at it if everything else was good

Yes I absolutely would. ....but I would be looking for a long stay situation and not a sell on fast in a few years. I am a hobby hunter.....can't move now but expect to withn the next 5 years and have had a good think about my priorities, they are privacy, the kind of interior I want and an acceptable garden. I genuinely don't care about the outside provided its in good functional condition.

As the only compromise is what the outside looks like then I would say yes I would buy it. But really need to see a pic to really know. I'm sure as others have said, you can actually transform the outside to make it appeal

Never really understand folks saying you don’t need to look at it, often with these houses all the neighbours houses are the exact same, so you’re basically looking at it every time you glance out the window

My friend bought a park home, which inside is genuinely stunning. Outside not so much. However there is no way she can say she doesn’t need to look at the outside, as every time she looks out the window she sees her neighbours exact same homes, or any time in the spring or summer when she’s outside in the garden area she can see it.

I did, and I love the fact that people coming round for the first time see the outside, and then come in, and instantly change their attitude to a, ‘oh, it’s very spacious and light!’.
I love things that don’t look much in the outside, but make your heart glow instead.
Each to their own.

Yes because you don't live outside, the house, very rarely do I sit back and actually look at the exterior of my house and think how it makes me feel,.

I would buy it. There's tons you can do to pretty-up the outside, and sometimes you just have to compromise (in fact you almost always have to compromise unless your budget is unlimited!)

Last year we fell in love with lots of white-rendered Georgian townhouses with original sash windows, roses round the door, cottage planting at the front etc. Got outbid on every one and ended up buying a 30s detached, red brick, white uPVC windows, total mess of a front garden. Sterile and dull. I am now working like mad to get it prettified with climbers, pots etc (and a new front door to replace the vile white uPVC monstrosity). But it had the space we wanted inside and the outside will be lovely too...one day

I wish more people who like to 'put a modern twist on things' would buy ugly or non-period houses. I live in an area with lots of Edwardian and Victorian properties, most look lovely outside and are soulless grey or white boxes with high gloss kitchens and spotlights inside. I was sat in traffic a few weeks ago and saw someone throwing original interior doors in a skip. It made me want to stop and get them but I couldn't have got them in the back of my Citroen.

@RewildingAmbridge

I wish more people who like to 'put a modern twist on things' would buy ugly or non-period houses. I live in an area with lots of Edwardian and Victorian properties, most look lovely outside and are soulless grey or white boxes with high gloss kitchens and spotlights inside. I was sat in traffic a few weeks ago and saw someone throwing original interior doors in a skip. It made me want to stop and get them but I couldn't have got them in the back of my Citroen.

Yes I agree. My friends sold their Edwardian villa which they had lovingly restored to a couple who basically ripped out the inside. She had to change her route so she wouldn't have to see skip after skip full of doors and coving and original windows.

Absolutely criminal.

I would go for it . Lots of economical ways to make the outside prettier. Outdoor pots with colourful shrubs, nice lawns, seasonal plants. A nice gate etc

I would absolutely buy it, if that's the only compromise.

We did it, buying a very dull spardashed early 80s house. We eventually had money to render and paint the exterior walls and reglaze the windows, and it has made a plain house into an elegant mid-century swan.

Why can't you just get the outside remodelled?

Of course I would. How completely ridiculous to miss out on an otherwise ideal and affordable house for such shallow reasons.

Mid-century design is wonderful. You need to recalibrate your tastes.

The outside can be changed massively. Beyond recognition.

Go for it!

[quote TatianaBis]@Daisydoesnt is the second pic not a computer simulation?

Here’s a another one, that is real.[/quote]
I've seen that one on insta too. Loads of other examples. It's a great way to see how an ugly house can be transformed.

@RewildingAmbridge

I wish more people who like to 'put a modern twist on things' would buy ugly or non-period houses. I live in an area with lots of Edwardian and Victorian properties, most look lovely outside and are soulless grey or white boxes with high gloss kitchens and spotlights inside. I was sat in traffic a few weeks ago and saw someone throwing original interior doors in a skip. It made me want to stop and get them but I couldn't have got them in the back of my Citroen.

I totally agree. They are the Georgian houses of the future.

If people rip out all the period features and stick a box on the back with bifold doors there’s no character left. And they all the same as well.