What puts you off when viewing a property?

[Sittingonasale]

I find smells really off putting.
I viewed several properties last week and I was put off two straight away walking through the door.
I'm not against having pets indoors and have had my fair share in the past but both these houses stank of cat and dog.
We DID view properties which clearly had pets and they didn't smell at all.

I have very allergic children and one with asthma which probably doesn't help the way I feel but I just can't do smells including tobacco smoke ( I used to smoke!), strong smells of food or cheap, sweet air fresheners. I'm the same if I have a lift with someone in their car. 😤

Another thing I find really irritating on pictures or at viewings is a nearly empty toilet roll hanging off the holder or toilet lids open. 😆

I came on to say smells (any smells) but I agree about spotlights too.
Neighbours with dogs, barbecue, hot tub or bar in their backyard.

Strong smell of dogs or other pets. Lots of clutter, even though I know it would not be there if I bought the property.

I viewed a house once where there was a snake and no-one told me and I have a phobia of snakes. I walked in screamed and ran out. I was shaking outside waiting for EA.

It's just incredible how different the house looks in those photos! (And how much better)

Dried sick on the floor next to the bed. I know it could have been dealt with but it put me right off.

I sold my house last year and had to be there for most of the viewings. I know people are saying it puts them off, but I work from home and there were about 4-5 viewings a week for a couple of months. I can't take that much time off! I stayed in one room working and didn't follow people around.

What puts me off is things like traffic noise, odd looking heating systems, messy next door neighbours, shared gardens, unusual access rights.

pets the smell of dogs no mater how clean your home is none pet people can smell dogs .
schools / busy roads/ neighbours with kids .

@honeyandfizz

*Yet it had the most amazing potential despite being smelly - massive west facing garden, huge rooms, tons of untouched features and best of all it was affordable on a lovely quiet road.

That is exactly the point of house viewing to me. To spot THE POTENTIAL, a diamond in the rough. I am not remotely interested in the sellers taste ,manners, pets, hobbies, furnishings and habits. They will all leave. I'd be bringing my buckets, scrubbing and paint brushes.

@Whenwillglorioussummercome it's interesting as we rented a converted pub which as you say would have been seen as a refurbishment but was clearly (once we moved in) done on the cheap. All the bathrooms felt like a hospital bathroom and the kitchen could best be described as 'functional' we were sold I think on size and location - which were great

The difference in renting somewhere a bit smaller that has clearly been a lovely home (pretty blinds, lovely tiles, some nice F&b paint, beautiful chunky radiators, lovely bathroom - is incredible- your before and after pics are very like our old house and new one !! And you are right trying to get top whack on a refurb that looks like it's been done as cheap and plain as possible really doesn't work on a high end house .

Piles and piles of dogshit on the lawn

That's fine - it's when the owners are actively trying to sell the house to you that it's off-putting.

Poor water pressure puts me off - can't stand showers like a gnat spitting. Also dark rooms. Both cost a fortune to put right, and may not be fixable at all. And agree with PPs about cheap refurbs.

I don't mind cosmetic stuff, including tired bathooms and kitchens, as long as it's priced in.

I just don't understand this.

Not just this post but lots like it.

You just factor in the cost to change and see if it is still worth it.
New kitchen? Maybe not
Grey? That's just paint!!

Anything which is cleaning or decorating is changeble.

I have never wanted to keep anyone else's decor anyway, so it will all need repainting anyway.

I love stuff like this - it's so easy to sort, but it puts off rival buyers and keeps the price down!

As the thread shows, different things put different people off, but from an ex estate agents perspective (and I was a good one, not a shit one ) some off putting things can be even more of a warning sign in that they indicate vendors who don't actually want to sell.

These were usually divorce/forced sale situations where one party didn't actually want to sell and deliberately sabotaged viewings. On one memorable occasion, a DH who didn't want to sell, did a giant turd on the bathroom mat and then went out before the viewing <boak> On occasion, they would stay in the property for the viewing and tell viewers they had shit neighbours, parking problems etc, or admit they didn't want to sell and would be obstructive. Usually we would find information like this before listing and refuse instruction, but the odd one slipped through the net.

The worst was probate sales where some beneficiaries didn't want the house to be sold and these were hard to deal with, especially with a number of parties and solicitors. As PP said, probate sales where the houses were "left just as they were" could feel a bit heartbreaking. Especially ones that hadn't been updated for decades, it always made me sad to think wallpaper etc that someone had loved for forty years would be ripped off (especially the retro stuff I like myself ).

As PP said, the only things a buyer can't change are location and neighbours. Buyers who would be snobby about neighbours being tenants and not owner occupiers were shooting themselves in the foot (feet?) as they are actually easier to evict for anti social behaviour if they turned out to be knobs.

Bidets

Smells that are trying to be covered up by air fresheners / air wick things.

Air wick things in general

I viewed one last week where the occupant had clearly stubbed out cigarettes on the carpet and I'm pretty sure had punched a few holes in the wall.

Who knows what else I'd find later if I moved there?

The neighbours.

A great house in a shit street is just not worth it.

Easy to sort?? I am not picking up someone else's dogshit and I am not forking out money to pay someone else to do it😬

@MissLucyEyelesbarrow even in rented houses my H turns showers and taps on !!!

Vendor's towels hanging around in the bathroom.

One hand towel which looks very fresh may be okay.

But bath towels draped over the heater or over the side of the bath absolutely turn my stomach. I really don't want to see the mildew-y rag some bloke dried his ballbag with that morning.

Then you are missing the point spectacularly.

Say a house on that street is worth 350,000.

Dirty and dog shitty garden. Doesn't sell, no-one interested.
Price is reduced. And reduced again.

You buy it for 320,000.

Then you pay someone £200 to go in and clear the garden and pay same to clear the furniture/carpets out of the house.
Even if you then paid builders and decorators to make good and paint, it is not going to cost you the 30,000 that you have just saved!

And I am not exagerating the costs.
Our house was 217,000 when we bought it.
Original price on the market 250,00

no-one wanted it because it smelt of mould.
Surveyor said it was fixable. We offered and got it for 217,000
Smaller houses in the same street went for 240,000 in the same week.

Extractor fans, trickle vents, insulated wall and new radiator. Replaced carpet and house no longer has a mould problem. Cost? About 3,000.

I am staggered at what small things put people off.
As a seller, do your homework to make your house sell.
As a buyer, make it work for you and get a bargain.

Good, that's exactly the sort of viewpoint that keeps the prices down for me 😀

Even if it cost you £500 to get it cleared, it would still be an absolute bargain if it knocked a couple of thousand off the house price, thus saving you the EA's percentage and potentially stamp duty, as well as the actual reduction on the purchase price. And it saves thousands more if it puts off other potential buyers, who might inflate the price and/or gazump you. Ditto, cosmetic redecoration work needed.

I hear what you are saying. This is certainly true of cigarette smoke.

But generally for dog/cat smell you need to chuck the carpets and sometimes repaint, and the smell goes.

The only time that doesn't work is if it is the smell of wee, not just general dog/cat. Wee can soak into the floorboards.

But again. House has potential, smells of dog.
How much for new carpets? How much for paint? Do I want to paint, or is it too much trouble?
Then factor that into the cost.
I would say it to buyers too. I am offering 5,000 under the asking price, because the carpets will all need replacing as they smell of dog.

We once turned up to view a house which was being sold after a divorce by court order. The agent had warned us they had had access issues so were doing an open day to get viewings over and done with in one go.

We turned up to find the police outside as the unwilling seller had pulled a knife on the agent when he'd turned up to start viewings.

We didn't see that house.