I agree. Why be so invested in other people's lifestyle choices. I find it odd.
De-cluttering, still at it, still no end
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House and home
HOUSES THAT ARE UNTOUCHED FOR DECADES
(244 Posts)As many of us do - I still check out properties for sale - even though I bought my current one a few years back and have no intention of moving.
When I bought mine (ie a 1970s bungalow) I had darn nearly everything ripped out. It really needed work - and all that's left is I kept the windows (as they were upvc), kept the internal doors and most of the skirting boards. Everything else got ripped out from both the house itself and garden.
Mine really needed it - poorly-planned 1980s kitchen, tatty 1970s bathroom, etc. All that - despite the fact there's been two owners in between the first owner and myself and the last owner did buy it this century.
Anyways - at long last it's done now - new kitchen, new bathroom, new floor coverings throughout, garden gutted and turned into my style, new decor throughout (had to be replastered before that could be done), all exterior doors changed, etc.
I still struggle with just why, in particular, the house still had a 1970s bathroom - despite those owners no 2 and no 3 since then and it was one that didn't even work well (high bath, trickling little shower, 1970s wall fire!!).
Since then - I've seen someone I used to know sell her house here and buy a 1960s bungalow here and do absolutely nothing to it (not even changing the 1970s carpets and having it decorated) - despite the fact she would have had quite a bit of leftover money from selling her last house. Me - I was walking through her "new to her" house when she moved in enthusiastically making suggestions for what a new kitchen/new bathroom could be like (yep...the house needed that) and defo taking it for granted she'd change the old 1970s/1980s carpets throughout and decorate at least (it needed it).
I was also very surprised to see that a neighbour bought an adjacent house and she would have had quite a bit of money over from her (noticeably dearer) last house and yet all she's had done was there was a painter in for a couple of days and so I think she's probably just had one or two rooms painted. She didn't even bring her own furniture with her when she moved - and is just using the previous owners furniture.
Looking at houses for sale (specifically bungalows - as that's what I bought - and I'm seeing 1980s or maybe even 1970s kitchen after kitchen/bathroom after bathroom. 1970s/1980s carpets). Cue for me thinking "It's obviously a probate house - and nothing much looks like it's been done since the 1970s/1980s. Have they had that house for 40-50 years personally that they don't seem to have done anything much to it? But it appears they must have bought it more recently than that and that means they're living with stuff from a previous owner a couple of buyers ago by the look of it?
That puzzles me personally - ie to move into a house that's basically not been touched for 40-50 years and do nothing at all (even though some of them will certainly have the money to do so). I would understand if they didn't have the money to do the work - but it often looks as if they did.
Very puzzling to use someone else's old furniture - I'd be wondering what the heck might have happened over the decades to the sofa I wanted to sit on and could be "harbouring" all seats of spills/dog hairs/etc.
Thankfully I have got the renovation work on this house finished before feeling I'd run out of energy to chase the "manana and unreliable" workmen this area seems to specialise in.....and so I can 'put my feet up' and just keep it up from here onwards.
The thing that surprised me most with my own current house is that owners no. 2 and no. 3 had obviously both kept the tatty old Rayburn, hybrid central heating set-up and oil tank in the garden that owner no. 1 wanted. I came in and thought "I wouldnt even know how to work that stuff" and out it came and I've got a normal gas central heating system and the Rayburn got taken out.
Certainly what puzzles me most is even living with a previous owners furniture....but I see it happening...
Cabowich
Perhaps they're like the situation I'm in at the moment and JUST CAN'T FIND ANYBODY to do it!!! Grrrr!
A couple of builder friends of mine are worried because they only have 6 weeks work in front instead of the usual 6 months. The problem is cost of materials and labour is beyond customers expectations, one friend does supply kitchens and doesnt fit the doors until the cash is waiting for him.
Our first home was bought from the original owners, who had bought it in 1929. They had looked after it lovingly, and done absolutely nothing apart from change a butler sink to a stainless steel. (How annoying!) The fireplaces, bannisters, panelled doors, parquet, roll top bath - all were as new. We lived there for ten years, and had a custom made kitchen installed as the room was an awkward shape. We sold the house, and some months later drove past to see kitchen, doors, bath, all in a skip. What a heartsink moment - our buyer was a developer, masquerading as an engaged person thrilled with the house and its original features.
Perhaps it was due to lack of cash…….or actually preferring the house that way.
srn63
Every house we have moved into we have revamped. I really can't understand the mindset that you keep looking until you finally see a house with the kitchen you want, the bathrooms you want, the floorcoverings you want, the decor you want etc. This house will never come along. So we have the attitude that we buy in the area we want with the right amount of garden we want. Every thing else can be altered. We even bought a brand new house once and within a week we had builders in to knock down walls, alter the living room and put a different kitchen in (we sold the original one and the fireplace with a gas inset fire so nothing to landfill). We were in that house for 13 years and often when others on the estate came up for sale they still had the original magnolia paint on the walls. I couldn't stand the thought of using other peoples carpets or furniture, if I couldn't afford to replace I would be happy with floor boards until I could.
If only - re finding exactly the house one wants. Such a thing doesn't exist in my experience - even if money wasn't an issue. Location is the primary factor I feel - as that can't be changed, but the house itself can be. As for a house with perfect location and perfectly done and one's own taste - anyone found a unicorn yet?
I didn't have any choice but to use a fair bit of other peoples stuff in my starter house - ie like most people then. So it was a cut-up carpet my parents had passed onto me - and one can never get the smell of dog out of a carpet in my experience for instance. The starter house had that 1970s carpet in the bathroom, including going up the side of the bath when I got it and so that went too when I could afford it (ie pale blue is not a colour of mine and it was the late 1980s by then). There was a very common style for starter houses in my home city - so at least that was easy and I still do it to that day (ie walls painted one version or another of soft white).
So - yep...the ideal would be having a house built from scratch on a plot I'd just bought in a perfect-for-me location.....but not sure whether I'd do that if I came up on the Lottery now or no at my age....
Many design and build their own homes only to find this or that should have been done differently, it’s like finding a new partner you think youve found the perfect man/woman then have to make compromises.
LovesBach
Our first home was bought from the original owners, who had bought it in 1929. They had looked after it lovingly, and done absolutely nothing apart from change a butler sink to a stainless steel. (How annoying!) The fireplaces, bannisters, panelled doors, parquet, roll top bath - all were as new. We lived there for ten years, and had a custom made kitchen installed as the room was an awkward shape. We sold the house, and some months later drove past to see kitchen, doors, bath, all in a skip. What a heartsink moment - our buyer was a developer, masquerading as an engaged person thrilled with the house and its original features.
I can understand the "heartsink" on that one - not that surprising if a house is a bit quirky/unique in the way you've got it together. Me - I looked back at the photos online of my starter house when it was put up for sale 2 years after my buyer had moved into it and it was all pretty much what I expected. I knew the kitchen was the most expensive flatpack one available at the time I had it put in - but it was 25 years old and did need replacing. The bathroom was the better for what she did to it. Basically the place needed what she did to it and so I thought "Fair enough".
I'd be distinctly upset though if I had a garden on a house (eg current one - as I do) and I'd spent a lot of time/trouble/money on it to make the best of it and turn it as much as possible to being what I really wanted (as I have) and then saw it had been turned back to one of the "concrete and tarmac gardens" I hate (and there are a lot of them in this area - and so that is a risk) for instance.
In the case of my particular garden on this house I had to deal with neighbours from two different houses both trying to nick or, at the least, use for parking different parts of my garden and that would be gutting if the two houses concerned had another go at garden theft and trespass after I'm gone - as one of them has managed to steal a bit of my garden in the event and the penny just dropped recently as to why they'd gone to all that effort to steal the bit they got awarded by the Land Registry (as it makes no logical sense) and I realised it all added up to they'd actually been after about half the width of my front garden in the event!!!!!!! It would have made their already large garden massive and mine a small little restricted "prison" of a garden (I had realised enough about their past life prior to owning that house that I guess I shouldnt have been surprised at his unethical actions).
I'd guess costs keep people from wasting money they could save. Our home will see us out and we're content. For us that's enough.
Don’t buy my house then, built in 1872 we have spent several years restoring it how it was! Found original fireplaces in six upstairs rooms and have managed to put Victorian fireplaces in the downstairs rooms, kitchen and bathrooms modern. I love this house.
I'd hate to think someone was wondering about my cash limitations/choices in such a public way when it would be absolutely none of their business how I decided to have my home. We are all very different and just because 'you' would do something, doesn't mean another would have reason to do the same. "Mind your own" comes to mind.
David49
“Why change it just because the colour and style is ‘outdated”?”
Because buyers are slaves to fashion and want their perfect Kitchen or Bathroom, they must have a range cooker and cupboards all round and an island not leaving room for a kitchen table.
It’s just one up man ship, exactly the same as cars going far beyond what is actually needed to cook a meal or travel
Some are, not all - and just reading this thread tells one that.
Many kitchen refitters seem to be determined to fit an island, with breakfast bar with high stools AND dining table and chairs in their kitchen no matter. The best one we saw was a narrow kitchen with an island, breakfast bar and stools fitted in, with a formal dining area one end of the kitchen and an informal dining area the other.
When we get into our new project, our kitchen will not have an island, although it will have a table and chairs.
Over 18 months of house hunting, I have examined the weird and wonderful things people do to their houses and it is truly joyous. Mind you today I was reading a news item about a message in a bottle found in Sweden and sent from a Scottish fishing boat over 40 years ago. The news item included a picture of the stone fisherman's cottage where the bottle thrower, now deceased lived.
The current owner had painted all the thick pointing between lumps of granite, royal blue to match the door and what wasn't painted blue was painted white. It was horrendous, it was wonderful, it had been painted with such joie de vivre, it makes me smile just to think about it. It looked like a huge peppermint humbug.
Wouldn’t it be entertaining for us all to have a wander round each others houses?😄
Fartooold similar to my big old house 1874 It was rejuvenated in the 50 s a bathroom put in and double doors between front and back room plus mains electricity Not much else done since then
Lovely black iron Victorian bedroom fireplaces in the bedrooms No central heating
It wouldn’t suit many but suits me beautifully
My feelings exactly Yogitree
It depends what we can tolerate. I have to have updated electrics, plumbing etc. and I could not live with someone else’s kitchen, bathroom or flooring. But I am more than happy with 2nd hand furniture, ornaments and pictures. I guess we’re all different. I can understand why people don’t renovate. Even if you can do it yourself everything costs a fortune.
CariadAgain
I'd be distinctly upset though if I had a garden on a house (eg current one - as I do) and I'd spent a lot of time/trouble/money on it to make the best of it and turn it as much as possible to being what I really wanted (as I have) and then saw it had been turned back to one of the "concrete and tarmac gardens" I hate (and there are a lot of them in this area - and so that is a risk) for instance.
It's great that your garden is the way you want it and have worked hard to achieve. But, if you sell up and move on, it becomes somebody else's house and garden for them to do as they wish with.
The people who bought our former home, a two-storey gable-fronted mid-terrace, have removed the gable, added a third storey and covered the mellow red brick facade in dismal grey paint. I think it's hideous! But what do I care? It's their house and the money they paid us for it is being slowly spent on turning this house into what I want - which its previous owners would more than likely dislike!
Choices, we all make choices.
I am mildly interested in what has happened to houses I have lived in, and when I realised that if they have been sold on since 1990 there is a good chance that you can find photos of the insides on estate agents’ (just google the address) I did look - just out of interest really. The house I grew up in has been remodelled- without the shot of the outside I would never have recognised it. Other houses we have had (not many) are different in various ways, but whether I like them or not I really don’t care - I don’t live there and it is up to the owners what they do to them.
Know what you mean Doodledog - re the recognising the house. I've had people do a doubletake that saw my house "before". The view out over is the same (well in one direction - and still recognisable in the other direction). The kitchen is still a wierd shape (eg because it had an alcove deliberately built in for the Rayburn cooker the first owner wanted - which now fits my fridge and freezer into it). I've changed the name as well. So yep...basically that location is all that's the same as it was when I bought the house - because I've changed virtually everything and I've had various people that knew the house "before" looking round confused to start with...
The road itself has changed noticeably and all except one of the immediately surrounding houses have also been/or are being renovated now (whether to a proper standard or a quick job to cash in for a profit). One of the houses had a "renovation" and looked very nice to me - but it was a "quick surface bodge - they'd bought the house to do precisely that and turn it round for a profit. It's now being properly renovated at the moment - only about 2 years after the "bodge for a profit renovation" it had just had (The new owner is waxing voluble complaining about just how much he was conned by the bodge renovation owners before him....umpteen layers of wallpaper on the walls and the new windows not put in properly.....and hence he's replacing them again).
I bought the house in the first place taking a look round at the immediate area and thinking "The area is about to get a lot of the houses renovated and modernised immediately near me over the next few years - and it will go up". That's exactly what's been happening basically (whether a quickie surface job to make a profit from - or a proper renovation). You can tell just who has been watching "Homes under the hammer - as you watch to see whether a nearby house renovation is being done properly or a "bodge for a profit".
The one point that's amusing me is after I'd turned my garden into one that produces as much food as I can manage = the house backing onto my back garden has obviously been studying it and they've now turned their back garden into a food-producing one. In turn their back garden neighbour has been looking over their wall and that's just been turned into a food-producing one. I don't mind at all having someone copycat me in that respect....and wonder with amusement if all the houses going in that direction from me are going to start foodgrowing over time...a trend I'm quite happy to encourage.
Oh Oreo, I'd like lots of warning if GNetters are going to wander around my home: it's enough to clean up/ tidy away for friends and family.
I fear some GNetters may have higher standards than me, and there might have to be a lot of hiding stuff in cupboards...
I just hate the disingenuous viewers who rave about some feature of a house and then having bought it, do away with it as quickly as they can. Our buyer did that with the garden. He raved about it - we couldn’t get him to come back indoors. When I saw it was for sale again, I looked on line at the sales details. Within a year of buying it, they had torn up the patio, the pergola and the water feature he was so ecstatic about, dug out every plant and flower and grassed it all over. When I saw it, it broke my heart but, each unto his own.
Genuine question - why does it bother you? You wanted to sell, and he wanted to buy, after which it became his house, not yours. I don't understand someone wanting to move but also wanting the house to stay the same - it's very like having your cake and eating it, or am I missing something?
I know someone who is always saying how cross she is that the man who bought her late mother's house is not going to live in it, but will develop the land it's on. She sold it - if she was that bothered about keeping her memories she could have lived there (it's a couple of hundred yards from her own house) but she didn't. She now has the money from the sale but still resents the fact that the house is not always going to be there. I don't get it.
I live next door to a church owned house that houses the church leader. This particular church group move their leaders around about every 4 years. Every time there is a change , the bathroom is replaced and all the carpets . Sometimes the kitchen as well . It infuriates me that perfectly fine stuff is thrown out each time.
Greyduster
I just hate the disingenuous viewers who rave about some feature of a house and then having bought it, do away with it as quickly as they can. Our buyer did that with the garden. He raved about it - we couldn’t get him to come back indoors. When I saw it was for sale again, I looked on line at the sales details. Within a year of buying it, they had torn up the patio, the pergola and the water feature he was so ecstatic about, dug out every plant and flower and grassed it all over. When I saw it, it broke my heart but, each unto his own.
That would upset me too - knowing someone had lied to me like that - and so strongly so too. I gather that's a fairly common trick/lie the less moral type of buyer plays - ie they rave about the garden. It seems to be done in order to have the seller think "Ah someone like me - they'll have the same moral standards/tastes as me. So I'll sell them the house - rather than someone else". Some of us like to think we're selling our house on to someone with similar moral standards/tastes as our own - and maybe let them off a little of the price we'd really like for our house.
I get why someone would think that. In my own case (when selling my starter house to buy current one) there was a noticeable number of viewers and I knew I'd have at least two "types" viewing - ie those who would be planning to buy it and then rent it out as part of a landlord/lady portfolio (the area was changing in that direction.....) and those who actually really wanted it.
Though I've never even wanted children - I could see there were two of the best city primary schools an easy walking distance from that house and one of them pretty much literally round the corner (but far away enough parent parking wouldnt be an issue). I got fairly much the type of buyer I had chosen to have if I could manage it - a young woman with a pre-school age child (about two years from start of primary school I'd think - judging by the estate agents description). I knew a potential buyer might come along that would want my house for just long enough to use it as a springboard house to get their child into our good little primary school - and then they'd probably move.
Come the bidding war I had at the end for it - it was a couple that wanted it for their buy-to-let empire and a local woman with that child about 2 years from wanting a good primary school (and estate agent had told me what road her parents was in - and that told me all I needed to know....as I went "middle class then".....and knew what their daughters aspirations were likely to be.
Yep...they lied about your garden - because they were deliberately trying to create "fellow feeling" - ie have you think "This is somebody like myself....".
Peoples morals - or lack thereof - do tend to show when it comes to house sales. I had an incident myself where I told off someone who was, I thought, a friend of mine that it didnt seem to me she was going to sell her house after all to someone she'd agreed that with - and told her strongly that she must tell her buyers that she'd changed her mind...rather than let them drag on and on thinking she was indeed going to sell to them.
Doodledog
Genuine question - why does it bother you? You wanted to sell, and he wanted to buy, after which it became his house, not yours. I don't understand someone wanting to move but also wanting the house to stay the same - it's very like having your cake and eating it, or am I missing something?
I know someone who is always saying how cross she is that the man who bought her late mother's house is not going to live in it, but will develop the land it's on. She sold it - if she was that bothered about keeping her memories she could have lived there (it's a couple of hundred yards from her own house) but she didn't. She now has the money from the sale but still resents the fact that the house is not always going to be there. I don't get it.
The reasoning on that is that she sold it as a "house" and not as a "development site".
She expected someone to actually live in it and not a developer grabbing for it. Because of the developer - the road will be more built-up than it was and any wild life living in the garden would be scared off. I'd have been upset too. Yep...this is the voice of someone living on what a future developer might like to have - and there might just have been one or two crafty "spokes in the wheel" inserted by me in order to keep it as a home. A future "little bomb or two" ready to explode (not literally a bomb....) if anyone tries that on...
Maybe a bit selfish, but I really don’t care what happens to this house if and when I leave it. What I/we have done to it over the years is for my/our benefit.
In its current format, it suits me, but if a purchaser wants to pull it down and turn it into a very expensive carpark - it wouldn’t bother me, as long as I had the money in the bank.
(Half joking, as the planners would have something to say!).
I gave my fancy sports car to DD1, it was a gift, so no longer mine - I told her she could crush it and turn it into a garden sculpture if she wanted. She planned to keep it for a few years, then she became pregnant and the car was totally unsuitable and had to go. Like me, she’d had pleasure from it.
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