Thing that puts you off straightaway looking at a house?

[hugoagogo]

For me it's open plan type kitchen and living rooms. Like a bedsit!?

Damp. It never properly goes away in my experience.

me too!

Shared access/driveway
Over looked by neighbouring properties
No garden
Open plan front garden
No off street parking
Nearby houses with open balconies
North facing garden
Garage overshadowing the rest of the house
Downstairs bathroom
Only one bathroom
Windows all different sizes.

• Front door opening straight into the living room.
• Stairs in the living room.
• Open plan kitchen/living area (DH likes cooking curry, I hate curry and the smell of it).
• Living in a private road and having to go through a management company to do anything to the outside of your property/having to pay said management company an extortionate amount of money yearly for them to do the cheapest and most bodgy maintenance ever. This one is from experience.

being overlooked in a big way
next to heavy traffic

You can fix most other stuff

In London. Upvc windows especially picture windows in a Victorian house, pebble dash, weird ersatz porch, cheap replacement front door, concreted front garden. These go for the neighbours too.

Inside: cheap doors, carpet especially downstairs, cheap laminate.

Most of these things in truth I could overlook, I just would know how expensive they are to fix and value the house accordingly.

Stairs in the living room or kitchen are a complete no no for me

On road parking where you have to park 2 wheels on pavement, 2 wheels on road
Garden backing a railway line
Garden backing on to public areas like footpath or park.

Carpet in the bathroom 🤢
Easiest thing to resolve I know but I couldn't bring myself to view it 😆

To be honest, I can overlook most things if everything else is right.

But I really dislike stepping straight into the living room from the street, or having to traipse through the living room to get to other parts of the house.

Things that you cant fix:
shared driveway/access
main road
undesirable area
no drive/ difficult parking situation
orientation - north in itself wouldn't put me off, but would need to work out what is going to cast shade on the garden, other buildings, trees etc
no hallway

Or things that would be expensive to fix :
no garage
hideous kitchens or bathrooms
large areas of plastic grass/ fully paved garden
no kerb appeal

Only things that can't be changed.

Garden that doesn't face south or west.

St George’s flag dangling from the next door roof.

I think looking at the neighbours and the neighbourhood is a better indication of what living in the house would be like, things inside the house can usually be changed or lived with.

Dirty windows, front door not cleaned, window frames not cleaned, unkempt garden, an aga, dirty bathroom, smell of febreeze. All these things I could get over if I really liked the house though. One house we viewed, the owner made us take our shoes off, and put those blue plastic slip on things on. Most of the downstairs was laminated flooring btw. When we got to the back garden we had to put our shoes back on but we weren't allowed back into the house for another look, we had to leave via the side alleyway. Loved the house but wouldn't buy it because the owner was such a pita. House took over a year to sell. Presumably because of the owner.

Stink of cigarettes- it gets into the fabric of the building and is so difficult to get rid off.
kitchen/dinners and open plan.
downstairs bathrooms

Filthy houses. We looked at a seven figure family home early this year, sale had fallen over & vendors apparently desperate to sell. Family appeared fairly successful and boys had gone to Harrow.

I vividly remember my nose blind husband recoiling as we climbed the carpeted stairs that had never been properly cleaned of dog mess. The agent couldn’t stop apologising for how dirty the house was. It wasn’t cluttered, just utterly filthy.

Road noise in the back garden is also a no for me.

No’s that have made me bypass a property:

Front door the opens straight into the living room
Stairs that are in the living room
downstairs toilet that is in kitchen or living room
no outdoor spaces
unkempt street
no bath (love a shower but also love having a bath)
no/little storage

'Bedrooms' you can't fit even a single bed in
Tiny gardens
Only one reception area... dont care if kits a living room/diner, or kitchen/diner... but there needs to be at least two spaces
Bad school catchment
No public transport

Busy road (have 2 cats)
No parking
Small garden with no sun
Fake grass
Paved/gravel garden with no grass

The last two are obviously fixable but not without considerable effort and money being spent.

Open plan is a no. Also, I want at least a loo on each floor (I’ve been looking at the type of 3 beds where the 3rd bedroom is the top floor). Also, I want either a decent size kitchen or a kitchen and utility room.

Very personalised decorating (bright colours / patterns or lots of shiny grey that the house owners obviously have because that’s their personal taste) puts me off but if necessary I could factor in a full redecoration if the house was perfect otherwise.

Anything less than six bedrooms all with en suite simply won't do.

Evidence of cats/dogs as pets in the house
Hob on the island
Busy road
Smell of cigarette smoke

Messy neighbouring gardens/ houses

Loitrring teenagers

Houses that have recently renovated but not to my taste bathrooms, kitchens or fitted wardrobes. I don’t like high gloss or bling and would feel wasteful buying something perfectly good (but gross) at top dollar with the aim of ripping it out