What would attract you to a house

Marmight

I had a photographer yesterday taking pics for the possible sale of my house. It took me 3 days to prepare ?. Cupboards , shed & garage stuffed with well, ‘stuff’. All surfaces especially in the kitchen & bathrooms cleared. I’m exhausted but it does look wonderful. Maybe I won’t sell ?. My No 1 bugbear are photos of messy bathrooms with the loo seat up/lid not down. It’s amazing how many properties are advertised like this

I blame estate agents for that (loo seats, washing on display, unmade beds). For the price they charge, they should sort all of that out before taking photos, even if they just move things out of one room into another while they take the photos and put them back again. It would only take a couple of minutes.

Why would they take a photo of an unmade bed, a bathroom with loo seat up, or a kitchen with a clothes horse full of drying underwear?

nadateturbe Ours have wooden stairs too. There don't seem to be carpets anywhere in the house.

Clean and Bright - and well made beds are a huge plus when viewing a house - its easier if most personal items have been put away, but I also want to see it is a home and not a show piece (I dont ask for much lol)

Turn offs are dirty and too much work to make it fit my families needs.

Yes a place can be scrubbed clean but things that need repair will put folk off as they may have to pay a lot these days for repair/fixing and its a hassle arranging it.etc. But good storage as well is a bonus- and spacious bedrooms, not houses with tiddy little bedrooms yet have a huge landing- thats wasted space.

I'd forgotten about storage Nannan2. I had a very fast Covid viewings as the seller was so nervous, and miss my cupboards. I've got my coats on a weird over the door hanger. I've got to be inventive with furniture that doubles up as storage.

If you look up 'decorating a south facing' room there are descriptions of the light levels for each aspect.

I blame estate agents for that (loo seats, washing on display, unmade beds). For the price they charge, they should sort all of that out before taking photos, even if they just move things out of one room into another while they take the photos and put them back again. It would only take a couple of minutes.

Totally agree Doodledog. I thought I was being fussy removing personal items, but our EA in London came along and hid away bins, toiletries, washing up liquid etc before the photos were taken. She made the rooms look pristine and sold over night for the asking price.

I would be looking for a house with private garden, lockagle gates and as few neighbours as possible (hate neighbours). Like many posters I can see past clutter, poor colour choices and untidyness. High fences make for great neighbour relations.

We've no fences, no gates and lovely neighbours. We don't often see them but know that they are there if we or they need help.

You definitely look for different things at different stages of your life.
I remember when first looking with a crawling baby I was put off my some broken glass and builder's rubble on an inside floor.
At that stage we bought an almost newbuild.

The next house hunting took us to view picture postcard cottages but we bought a 1930's bungalow with all its original features intact.
We sold that to people who promptly ripped out all the original features.

Then we saw the one I still live in. It was empty and neglected with every window broken. We cheekily offered below the asking price to reflect all the work which needed doing.
The offer was accepted but now, after 42 years here and widowed, I will probably have to downsize so thanks for letting us know about all the pitfalls when looking at houses.

to avoid:
Smoking and cat pee Yuck!
Busy main road.
Far from amenities.
Expensive decor but not to my taste.
Little light in the main rooms.

To relish:
Sunny garden,
Toilet on ground floor.
Clean, cared for neighbourhood.

Remember you only need one buyer, Vintagejazz

And when you are selling - that old rule of smell of coffee and baking bread probably still good.

nannan, sun rises in the east so I get the sun on my back and the back patio until around 2 when the shadow comes. The sunshine is all along any area facing south, all day. At around 2 the sun starts to have an influence on the west side and that is when I may have to tilt my shutters. It is past 6 now and the sun is still coming in on the west side.

This only works for me because I have lots of windows on both these sides and a smaller window on the third side. Lounge is front to back and kitchen diner is also front to back. I would not be getting all this light and sun in a room with windows only on one wall

Nannan, to get the sun all day in one room, then that room needs to face south

Callistemon21

We've no fences, no gates and lovely neighbours. We don't often see them but know that they are there if we or they need help.

Would you not like privacy in your back garden?

All the things you can do nothing about, size layout, plot, location.

nadateturbe

Callistemon21

We've no fences, no gates and lovely neighbours. We don't often see them but know that they are there if we or they need help.

Would you not like privacy in your back garden?

I thought biglouis was talking about front gardens and hating neighbours

Yes, back garden is fenced, hedged and private ?

Area it’s in the price gardens if it’s overlooked etc what’s next door mostly aesthetic but all important to me.

The atmosphere, for me.
A feeling of being at ease.
The rest can be dealt with, mostly.

More importantly for me than location, location, location is
Detached, detached, detached.

We have ended up buying a house (exchanged, complete end of month) that we watched as we passed everyday, being renovated from an old, large workshop to a family home. We always thought it looked ‘odd’

We love the village we live in and wanted to buy in, or as near to here as possible. We were gutted when someone outbid us on a lovely, traditional village cottage, but a week or so later, this conversion came up for sale.
Neither of us were interested but someone from the village who had been inside told us we might be pleasantly surprised, so we decided we had nothing to lose and booked a viewing.
As soon as we walked in we were bowled over. Everything is finished to a high standard, very tastefully decorated, light and airy, flows well and we immediately knew it was for us. I can remember looking at DP and saying ‘well, I didn’t expect to like this as much as I do!’
I am so glad we were persuaded to view it. We have plans to give it more kerb appeal, but to be honest, we have now embraced its quirkiness. So never judge a book by its cover!

When selling my house last year I spent days tidying and staging it (anyone remember the House Doctor?! I remembered so much from her makeovers!)
I invested in crisp white bedlinen, depersonalised everywhere, put loo seats down, hid the pet food bowls and had the carpets cleaned professionally.
However, I’m not really sure any of those things are what clinched the sale.

The actual house was looking tired, and my neighbours unkempt garden was growing into mine (despite my pleas for him to tidy it up as I thought it would put prospective buyers off)

The couple that bought it loved the fact it was old, had lots of potential and was in a wonderful location. They really didn’t seem bothered by next doors mess of a garden and really wanted a ‘project’. The first thing they did was rip up the newly cleaned carpets and laid beautiful oak flooring.
So I doubt my white bedlinen and hidden cats bowls really had anything to do with it !!

Good luck selling OP

timetogo2016

For me it is the feel/vibe of the house when i walk through the front door.
A big off- put is no drive at the front.
And a must is to drive past at the weekend and evenings,just to see how busy it may get.

Dds’ houses were both very dated, decor wise - one even more than the other - but both had a lovely warm feel - you could tell they’d been happy family homes.

OTOH dh and I once viewed a house that looked perfect on paper, and from the outside - just the thing I’d always wanted, but it had a horrible cold, unwelcoming feel once inside. I couldn’t wait to get outside again.

What are people put off by personal photos?

I don't have any on display, but wouldn't be put off if I looked at a house with them on every wall - they wouldn't be for sale with the house, and I would bin them if they were left behind.

We once viewed a house where the teenage son had posters of naked women all over the walls in his bedroom. That was personalisation going a step too far, but we knew that they weren't a fixture, and put an offer in.

The estate agent said to leave my mums bungalow exactly as it was.
It showed all the years of love, the care she had taken of it, and the fact that it was a real home.

I do think location is a major factor.

I offered on a bungalow prior to this one, and went back in the evening to do a trial dog walk. Not a nice place to walk my dog in the evening, I didn't feel safe on the main road, I'd have ended up circling the estate. I withdrew my offer the next day.

Location is very important, but the OP is asking about interior presentation.

I think there is a difference between not being put off by things (as I say, I'm not easily put off if I like the area and the dealbreakers are in place) and being actively attracted to a house.

Is the house likely to appeal to a particular demographic? If so, you could take that into account. If it's likely to appeal to people of working age, for instance, you could show that there is a suitable area for them to work from home by putting a laptop on a desk with an office chair. If it's a large family house, you could point out if there is a suitable office or playroom - that sort of thing.

Otherwise, clean and fairly neutral is the way to go, I think. If you are planning to do major refurbishing, then think about having flooring that runs throughout downstairs. It can be difficult to do that other than in one go, as products get discontinued and impossible to match up. If I looked at two identical houses and one had continuous flooring I would choose it over one that didn't; but everything else would have to be equal.

Oh, and if there is a garage, make it clear that there is room for a car . Ours has so much of Mr Dog's crap treasured possessions in it that he parks outside. I'm sure that would put off buyers if we were selling.

I see where you were coming from now Callistemon. Thanks

kerb appeal is very important, a potential viewer needs to be drawn in to see the interior

We where sold on our family home when we entered through the oversized front door to a welcoming large square entrance hall it just felt "this is the one",all the rooms needed tlc but you could see the potential we had 25 happy years raising our family and was sad when we sold it,first impressions are so important when buying.

Remove anything possible that might make rooms look smaller than they really are.

The same with outside space. If off-road parking for two cars is tight, try not to have two cars parked there when people come to view, especially if the cars in question are large.