Has the presentation of a house ever influenced your decision to buy?

[OneDayIWillLearn]

Like do you reflect on the way a house you bought was presented and think: ‘yes that detail really made me know I wanted it when we viewed’

Or conversely, can you think of something about how a house was presented that you thought you’d like from the particulars that just totally turned you off/ gave you the ick to the extent you didn’t offer?

I’m talking about presentation rather than things fundamental to the house or location itself.

I’m embarrassed to say that when I was young and buying our first house I was heavily influenced by the Laura Ashley wallpaper throughout and the pine bookshelves😂. Decades later bought house partly because it had a tiny bluebell wood in the garden. I’m afraid aesthetics always heavily influence how I feel in a space and we’ve never made big money out of property moves. But have always loved our homes.

If I ever have to move again I would be most influenced by the location, light, aspect, space, materials and layout, but smells, clutter and dirt would definitely put me off.

I think putting furniture in position to show how the house can be used is helpful but all the dressy stuff is not. So a table in the dining room to show how you could use the space but don’t set the table etc.

Also negative dressing can be helpful - take things away that highlight problems. My washing
machine is in the kitchen so when we sell I’ll hide the basket I use in the car, my towel rail is a bit too narrow so I’ll put out a small hand towel or no towel rather than have a big towel bunched up like normal, we don’t have a separate room for boots so they just live in the hall- I’ll put them in the car etc.

Not really what you mean but I viewed a house once that was so utterly stuffed full of things that it wasn't possible to actually see what it was like. I felt sorry for the family as they'd maybe had more kids and become overwhelmed but you couldn't see the walls or the floors at all.

I pay attention to how the outside look. The inside I a more concerned about space and layout.

We bought our first flat partly because it was so dated - it was clear that it had been lived in and loved by the couple that were moving, and while the carpets were nearly 20 years old the fact that everything was still livable meant we had faith that they'd looked after everything. Also the fact that we didn't mind living with some pretty impressive brown and pink carpets meant we could afford it!

I hated when a house had clearly been flipped and no one lived in it, because I was never convinced that the quality would be up to much. Also, they just never seemed that well thought out - I annoyed an estate agent once by pretending to make pasta in the kitchen dining space "oh, let me just go round the dining table full of guests with a boiling pan of water because there's no straight line between the hob and the sink".

Our current house was not our style, but it did have a vibe. It felt that people had lived here and liked living here. It was on at the same time as one that was almost identical but had a driveway, and we made the slightly odd decision to go for the one without a driveway just because of the feeling we got we got walking in. It wasn't particularly well kept, so can't really explain it!

I like to think I'm not influenced, but I don't know how much subconscious influence goes on - how could I, because ... it's subconscious, innit? 😄

The thing that does put me off is when the owners have spent a lot of money doing up a house and have priced it with that taken into account. I don't want to pay for fancy kitchens and bathrooms that aren't to my taste, and it would feel like such a waste to rip them out and start again. I'm looking for a house at the moment, and I've rejected many for that reason. I'm after a doer-upper.

Yes, I have definitely been swayed on how it is presented.

I also note a horrible ugly kitchen will be expensive to remove and replace. Same with bathroom. Over all decor in good condition and similar taste means less expense re decorating everything immediately.

Flooring! I always check out the flooring as that can be a pain to replace.

We dressed our house to sell it and it sold quickly.

@ChocolateLemsip no this is the kind of thing I mean. I’m guessing you didn’t buy that house!

I think there are broadly two sorts of buyers - those who want a project and those who don't, but don't mind a spot repainting to their own taste. And possibly a third type who want what the Americans call 'turn key' - walk in, unpack, the end. But they tend to buy new builds or developer houses.
Having been the first type, we are now the second. We are busy and frankly CBA with extensions and new kitchens and bathrooms. It's expensive and disruptive. We'll happily do a spot of repainting and new flooring - if I hate your wallpaper, I can envisage the room without it, but I want something where the layout is already good, we don't have to fuck around with a new kitchen etc.
So your house, OP, might be just what we're looking for.

Have bought houses that need doing up so far, but I would pay more and be more likely to buy a house that is well decorated and has a vibe I like. Also the next one will probably be our retirement home and we are less keen on work now.

That said it is really about what your competition is like. When I last sold there were about 5 identical houses up for sale at the same time on the same road as us. Ours sold first because it was on the end, our immediate neighbours were second probably because it was the nicest inside. Then it was the lowest priced as it hadn't been lived in for years.

No as OH and I can both visualise what we would do with a space.
Dressing a house, decorating or replacing a kitchen/bathroom etc would be a complete waste of time, effort & money.
Likewise the garden, a good tidy is more than enough.

I think a lot depends on the price point of a house as well.

If you're buying a house that's around 150k, redoing the kitchens and bathrooms will cost you like 20% of the purchase price so you might care more. Whereas where we are in London, I think decor is really not a big deal because you could redo the kitchen and bathrooms and it would still be only about 2-5% of the purchase price. I think in London people only really take note of structural issues

Normally I am pretty seeing past the clutter, dirt and run down-ness. We have had numerous projects houses over the years all of which have been pull everything apart and start again type jobs. My DH really enjoys it and we end up with a nice home at the end.

But, what I don't like is the in between type houses. Ie not that dated but filthy, or odd decor not to my taste. I don't want to have to pay over the odds for something that essentially I am still starting from scratch for.

The one house that completely stuck out in my mind was a young couple. Very bog standard estate house, with floor to ceiling portrait wall mural of the wife's head. Apparently it was a birthday present from her clearly besotted DH. Everything else was fine (house was too small for our needs), but it was such a creepy portrait it is still etched on my brain 18 years later.

This is reassuring, thank you!

The last property I bought was top of my budget. It had high quality kitchen and bathrooms that were very much to my taste though not new. It was also newly neutrally decorated with engineered wood flooring and they were leaving plantation shutters and beautiful blinds. The finish definitely swayed me but mainly because I knew I wouldn’t need to spend money to change it to my taste.
I’ve bought projects in the past but really didn’t want one this time as getting any work done is so expensive and with long wait times where we’ve moved.
It was spotlessly clean and well cared for too which added to the overall impression.

@OneDayIWillLearn no way did I! For me being able to see the fabric of the house is really important. Otherwise how do you know if there are huge damp patches, holes in the floor, electrics hanging out the walls etc. And a surveyor couldn't do anything with a house like that either.

I can easily see past decorative changes and love to make a home my own anyway.
Smells on the other hand I cannot get past

Sort of...

I was a little concerned about the smell of dog and cigarettes in one house. I wasn't sure I could make the house pleasant and safe before my baby arrived. However, it was the proudly displayed letter banning him from a local club for violence that really made up my mind!

Another house had all been recently redecorated with a new bathroom and new kitchen. It was so grey (back when this was fashionable). I could happily reimagine paint colours and so on, but knew we couldn't justify retiling the bathroom and kitchen and putting in new worktops, and that the price of the house was higher because it was in such good condition.

I wasn't ever really put off by clutter or paint or wallpaper. Changing them is such a small thing compared to the price of a house.

My first house (2010) hadn't been redecorated since the 70s, and I was delighted with the challenge!

Absolutely yes. We viewed a flat that was owned by a 35-40 year old male. The place was covered in posters and the bathroom wall was covered top to bottom with stickers. Walked right out.

No! Not at all! Both houses we’ve bought were wrecks inside. But the outside bones were good.

I will say OP, that probably the majority of buyers fall into the second category. There was a house I was looking at online that sold really quickly, despite the market being as sluggish here as anywhere. The majority of the housing stock where I am, is Victorian terraces or semis, and in the main, you can only extend them by doing a side return and going into the loft. This house had done both, probably in the last decade, both were well designed and laid out and the house had obviously been well maintained. Was the decoration precisely my taste? No, but it would have been simple to change. I was clearly far from the only person to think so, as it sold almost immediately.

Never. It's all about space and layout and the potential to change, though I would not buy a house that smelled of cigarette smoke.

This.

I've looked round a LOT of house over the last 3 years, with 2 of my dc becoming FTB.

They are young. Broke, but full of energy and enthusiasm - as I was at their age. They were looking within their budget, and with youth on their side.
We are looking to move, and I no longer have that energy and excitement about what I can do with a house to make it MY home. We also have different things that are important to us. Yes, I know (as with any house) there will be decorating to do, but I don't want to embark upon some big project anymore, I want to move in and unpack.
Like many pps though, that does narrow down the properties to view, as I could not bring myself to rip out a new kitchen for example so wouldn't buy a property that has a fancy new kitchen I really don't like. I'd far rather pay less for a house with an older kitchen that I might have to replace 10 years down the line. Of course the dream would be to find one 'all done' in my taste, but that is probably not that likely.

I walked into a house and my heart melted because it felt like a family home. There were pictures from over the years, trinkets, worn sofas. Upstairs in the airing cupboard they'd written and stuck in a list of their bedding inventory, their bedrooms just felt so homely. It belonged to an elderly couple with three grown daughters and it felt so special to get a glimpse. So many houses now are sterile and void of genuine character and personality that it was good for the soul to literally 'get home' in that viewing.

Look at any thread where someone asks for advice on how to sell their house and provides a link, and you’ll see loads of comments (some quite nasty) on the presentation.

I think on mumsnet it’s “other people” who are influenced by presentation while the people posting can see past all that…