Can you see through the decor on a house viewing?

[Diversion]

When you go to view a property, it has a new bathroom, a fairly new and modern kitchen and has been well maintained. Presuming it has pretty much everything you were looking for and is priced within your range could you see through the decor if it was not to your taste and realise that it just needed new paint or wallpaper? Or would it put you off?

This, I am am happy with old or dated or original but not new and not to my taste

The house we live in now was owned by a woman who loved pink and had a peach bathroom suite with gold taps, I hated it. She also had a kitchen with wooden cabinets with lots of fine detail and tiled counter tops that required lots of work to keep clean. But the house was on a road that rarely has houses come up, it’s an expensive road and this was one of the smaller houses, as much as I would have liked my neighbours house with an indoor pool it wasn’t happening. So we moved in knowing it all needed replacing for taste reasons. She left the receipts for everything. We kept the kitchen for 10 years in the end but all the pink carpets and the gold taps went asap. The kitchen wasn’t completely horrible just very much a faff to clean. It was solid oak and had cost a huge amount.

The issue with housing is the road it’s in and facilities but we ruled out most houses because of something we didn’t like that we could have no influence over. Discounted houses because of electric pylons being too close, schools too close with all the parking issues, flooding issues, the main one was being too overlooked, we have mature trees in our garden, as do most of the neighbours.

So I can definitley see through the decor.

Think it depends on the buyer and what they're looking for. If they're looking for perfect with nothing to do, possibly not. If they're more sensible, they'll see past a bit of decoration.

We are selling to a FTB and honestly the crap they've asked is ridiculous.

When I last bought a house decades ago it was rare for anything to be well presented let alone clutter free. One flat was so covered in cat hair you couldn't see what colour the carpet was. If you can't "see beyond" this stuff you shouldn't be spending hundreds of thousands.

The kitchens😭 One would cry sometimes, honestly. I am a cook, I need practical kitchen, not weird shape, no continous counter space and no tiny under counter fridge or fridge elsewhere. Like don't pelple cook or something?
I also don't want to do auctions. My perogative I guess.

I can, but if it's clearly a brand new kitchen/bathroom that happens to not be my taste I would be loathed to get rid of it as it would feel like a waste, so I'd probably pass on it.

I think it also depends on the individual buying your house- for example when I recently bought mine we knew we didn't want to be doing loads of work as it was a relocation which was upheaval enough, so we held out for one that was (mostly) to our tastes. That doesn't mean I can't see past decor choices, just that my circumstances meant I wasn't up for a reno job.

Yes, but they do that because of the type of buyer they’re looking to attract — lower-middle class-aspirational of varying levels of incomedepending on house type. I’ve sold quite a few houses in different countries over the years, but the last one I sold in the UK, I knew exactly what type of buyer would be viewing it, because I’d lived in the village for seven years, and understood the people who lived there, and the people who wanted to live there, and that dictated that I decided to sell it empty, and that all I did was remove all of the bookshelves we’d built in. These people were not going to be readers,and they would replace the kitchen and bathrooms asap, so no need to do anything with those.

Gosh you think very highly of yourself and your opinions on others. I bet the so called “lower middle class aspirational types” in your village who apparently don’t read books according to you are very grateful that you removed your bookshelves, no doubt it clinched the sale as they would look at them and wonder what on earth they were for.

I can. We have bought 3 properties that needed new everything.

But not everyone is fit or has the time, so I can understand wanting something you are happy enough to move straight in.

We found there was little price difference when it came to just decor. It started to make a difference when it came to the roof, pointing, boiler etc. And kitchen/ bathroom sometimes impacted on price but it was more state of repair and age.

I'd be more surprised to find a house decorated exactly as I would want it with nothing for me to change.

My comment was more referring to 30 year old kitchen’s & bathrooms that the poster before me was talking about rather than divisive wallpaper& decor.

Sorry I quoted the wrong poster!

Yes layouts. No thanks to the 24ft long kitchen with the hob one end and the sink at the opposite end 🤣 also everyone’s insistence of shoe horning in an island even though it just doesn’t fit the space.

Absolutely I can see past it. If a house it otherwise perfect, I think it’s crazy if anyone is put off by a few coats of paint.

No. IMHO.

I once sold a house had been badly extended in the late 70s, and the 'builders' - 4 lads who bought an old house - had extended not very well (but structurally soundly built as I knew the brickie) and then run out of money. So no kitchen in situ, just a bit of plumbing and wiring. Upstairs there was a corridor the roof sloped down to meet a low wall - they'd badly plastered it and the line where roof meets ceiling was wavy ~~~~, and as you looked along the corridor as you came up the stairwell frankly it was all you could see. Years later with a 'shaker style' kitchen before 'shaker style' was a thing, I sold it.
I had potential buyers round who all muttered about this wall and the uneven roof line. So I went to a car boot and with a 20p a picture max budget bought about 25-30 nice but small frames and pictures, framed loads of old cards and interesting things, then dotted these pictures about on said wall at uneven heights. Nobody that viewed AFTER the pictures went up commented or asked about the wall/wavy roofline/ceiling. I had some ask about the photo of friend's very cute ginger and white cat though (first picture). 'Is that your cat?' What's the cat called?'' - no cats here. Sold it to about the 3rd viewers after that.

And 20k premium for the pleasure of getting your steps in while cooking😂
Where are all the reasonably priced houses with 20 year old kitchens and bathrooms with wonky bits which just about still work, but where you can do work room by room gone. I miss them.
Honestly, 50% of updated kitchens would be anger management courses or anger ripout with bear hands for me so no point buying that. The amount of propsrties which have fridge in utility is mental.

I can. But I have moved house A LOT. Like over 30 times.
DH however cannot see past the decor. It made house hunting very challenging.
If you are selling and in doubt, just paint everything white.

If the walls are grey but i prefer warm beige, I can look past it. The cute country cottage I visited that was painted black on every wall, ceiling and surface, couldn't look past that.

I would be concerned about smells and damp, but not decor.

Oh, this! We knew we'd want to get the horrid wallpaper down and cover those swirl ceilings, fix the peeling paint on the radiators, throw in some new carpets, get the kitchen and bathroom replaced in time... had no idea how insanely expensive and/or soul-destroying those jobs would be... nor how many maintenance jobs and fixes would command our attention, just to get back to baseline, before we could even think of sorting the decor...

Ten years in and there are still more rooms left undone than done because roof, doors, plumbing... 😫

Yes I can see past that sort of thing. It doesn't bother me massively anyway so I'd just change it gradually if I really hated it.
I can also see past furniture/clutter etc. Lots of people have way more furniture than I'd personally put in a room so its good to imagine what I would actually use and how much more space that might give in a room.

Ugh such a patronising post “ these people were not going to be readers” I hate that assumption, even if it turned out to be correct on this occasion.

Oh yes, quite easily.
DH on the other hand... we once pulled up outside a property and he refused to get out of the car!!

‘had no idea how insanely expensive and/or soul-destroying those jobs would be... nor how many maintenance jobs and fixes would command our attention, just to get back to baseline, before we could even think of sorting the decor...’

So true! I’ve just moved into a property that whilst it has great potential, its been an absolute nightmare just trying to get it in to a reasonable state to even contemplate decorating.

Everything I touch needs work as either falls to pieces or disintegrates - 20+ years of bad gloss jobs and several owners means that all doorframes, skirting need sanding, not to mention the scraping off paint of all the switches/light fittings and tiles 😁 admittedly I am doing this all on a tight budget and did know what I was letting myself in for, but as these things go, it’s a lot more work and taking a lot longer than I envisaged.

My stair bannister had 13 layers of paint on when I bought 😂 The what I suspect were lead layers were tough buggers. Good luck

My parents always taught me you never just take off the wallpaper....

Yes! And the very best houses (for price) are the ones with dated decor that have been maintained immaculately by someone living there a long time.

I've never lived in a post-Edwardian house. I don't care about wall colours but I do care that the sash windows have been painted properly and gutters maintained.

I've sold my house on decor though but I tone it down my personal taste and style it up for viewings.

The problem now post covid is that building and refurb costs have gone up to such an extent it makes properties unaffordable, pre covid although still expensive to properly refurbish a house that was last touched circa 1980 it was doable, the house prices just don’t reflect the refurbishment costs, yes we could all ‘make do’ with nearly 50 year old bathrooms and kitchens but you can’t ignore that many of these properties once you start scratching the surface need complete new heating systems, electrics etc. and at some point that 50 year old bathroom is going to fail, the windows will need refurbishing, the roof will need attention the list goes on an on and that’s before you tackle any nice parts such as decoration as no doubt stripping that 50 year old wallpaper and matching border will take the plaster off, the artex will need testing for asbestos before removal, you will discover damp patches under the ancient carpet. A house that hasn’t been touched for 50 years is a complete reno job but the owners think it’s absolutely fine hence the same price as a house that has none of these issues.