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A viewers perspective on your home...
henpecked1
Posts: 404 Forumite
I thought I would share this with you as you may be selling your home and need some thoughts on why your home may not be shifting. Yesterday was an eye opener.
Property 1 - we turned up first. the EA a non confident 18 year old parked half a mile away from the property and walked to the house only after he saw us. The EA said nothing as we walked around the house, pathetic, and hardly earned a fee.
The house had the owner and his daughter plus her BF and their baby sat around the house. As we carried our baby around, the owner starting rolling up a cigarette. The house was dirty and they had a dog in the garden who jumped up at the door and would have probably ripped my childs leg off given the option. We never ventured into the garden. The house stank of josssticks (sp?) which is either a cheap way of cleaning the air of disguising cannabis use. Anyway the house was filthy and felt unloved.
Property 2 - Unusual. It was what it was, a nice house. The kitchen and living room were nice enough but the owner could have banned their children from writing messages all over the hallway on the wall in blackfelt tip and they could have replaced the rotten, patchy carpet. The house felt unloved.
Property 3 - owned by a Mrs and Mrs who lovingly decked out their home in cheap laminate. However, again the house did not feel like home, and they had a second living room in an upstairs bedroom.
Property 4 - This was the one for us. Looked so clean and smelled so fresh. Despite the pea green toilet and bath suite and brown kichen units, I bought into the love the owners had for the property and that oversaw any blemishes
Property 5 - white leather sofas, cheap laminate flooring and decluttering to the point I wondered whether it was a property that had been reposessed. The bathroom was unclean and the ceiling had mould spores. On the "would i let my ball bags drape in the bath" it was a no for me. Again, just felt unloved.
Property 6 - The owners were out and their parents were there. So I had the EA and her father walking into every single room "selling me" the overpriced property. Clearly they thought the shoe box they bought froma developer was worth 16k more than the house down the road.
Now the house was clean enough and i forgave the cheap laminate flooring. However, I was slighly perplexed by the sheer number of airfreshners. Every plug hole had one rammed in on full blast, they had motion sensor ones on the handrail at the top and bottom of the stairs and they had two in the loo. All I came away thinking was overpriced and either the house is harbouring secrets from when Fred West built it or the owner was OCD on odours. Overloved.
Property 7 - the house may not as well have windows it was so dark, but couldnt be helped. The family still live there but have clearly given up on selling it, despite it going on the market at the end of June.
The garden was a jungle and the children had left toys everywhere so we nearly tripped up. They left disposable barbeques etc blocking the path round the side of the house... unloved.
so the message from me as a viewer..... clean your bathroom and love your house... your love for the house will stand out and will sell your home.
Property 1 - we turned up first. the EA a non confident 18 year old parked half a mile away from the property and walked to the house only after he saw us. The EA said nothing as we walked around the house, pathetic, and hardly earned a fee.
The house had the owner and his daughter plus her BF and their baby sat around the house. As we carried our baby around, the owner starting rolling up a cigarette. The house was dirty and they had a dog in the garden who jumped up at the door and would have probably ripped my childs leg off given the option. We never ventured into the garden. The house stank of josssticks (sp?) which is either a cheap way of cleaning the air of disguising cannabis use. Anyway the house was filthy and felt unloved.
Property 2 - Unusual. It was what it was, a nice house. The kitchen and living room were nice enough but the owner could have banned their children from writing messages all over the hallway on the wall in blackfelt tip and they could have replaced the rotten, patchy carpet. The house felt unloved.
Property 3 - owned by a Mrs and Mrs who lovingly decked out their home in cheap laminate. However, again the house did not feel like home, and they had a second living room in an upstairs bedroom.
Property 4 - This was the one for us. Looked so clean and smelled so fresh. Despite the pea green toilet and bath suite and brown kichen units, I bought into the love the owners had for the property and that oversaw any blemishes
Property 5 - white leather sofas, cheap laminate flooring and decluttering to the point I wondered whether it was a property that had been reposessed. The bathroom was unclean and the ceiling had mould spores. On the "would i let my ball bags drape in the bath" it was a no for me. Again, just felt unloved.
Property 6 - The owners were out and their parents were there. So I had the EA and her father walking into every single room "selling me" the overpriced property. Clearly they thought the shoe box they bought froma developer was worth 16k more than the house down the road.
Now the house was clean enough and i forgave the cheap laminate flooring. However, I was slighly perplexed by the sheer number of airfreshners. Every plug hole had one rammed in on full blast, they had motion sensor ones on the handrail at the top and bottom of the stairs and they had two in the loo. All I came away thinking was overpriced and either the house is harbouring secrets from when Fred West built it or the owner was OCD on odours. Overloved.
Property 7 - the house may not as well have windows it was so dark, but couldnt be helped. The family still live there but have clearly given up on selling it, despite it going on the market at the end of June.
The garden was a jungle and the children had left toys everywhere so we nearly tripped up. They left disposable barbeques etc blocking the path round the side of the house... unloved.
so the message from me as a viewer..... clean your bathroom and love your house... your love for the house will stand out and will sell your home.
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Comments
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Don't you like laminate?Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0
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I wouldn't buy a house because a confident EA gave great patter while showing us round.henpecked1 wrote: »the EA a non confident 18 year old parked half a mile away from the property and walked to the house only after he saw us. The EA said nothing as we walked around the house, pathetic, and hardly earned a fee.Been away for a while.0 -
The house I went for also happened to be the cleanest of all I viewed, and had an air of being a proper family home. This despite both the kids being at uni so not actually living there! It wasn't immaculate, if it had been show home clean I may have been worried TBH, but it was definately cared for.
The thing is, surely its hard to care for something you want rid of? Plus I'm under no illusion that this doesn't work both ways - the house felt nicer because I liked it more than the rest.0 -
I think you have to be very careful when looking at houses. Do not be easily distracted by the non important things rather than the question ...can the property be a loved for home for you ?. You can easily overlook things such as size, structure etc and focus on things that can be easily fixed by a a coat of paint, new carpets and some other easy DIY work. Things such as laminate flooring, air fresheners, looked and smelled clean and toys lying around should have no bearing on your decision.0
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Is this a normal buyer thought?henpecked1 wrote: »"would i let my ball bags drape in the bath" it was a no for me.0 -
While that is true, I think henpecked1 has not actually been looking at things which might need fixing, so much as looking at the owners' attitude. This could count for quite a lot in terms of what to expect if you bought the house, when you come to deal with the things you didn't see in the viewing.wildbreed100 wrote: »I think you have to be very careful when looking at houses. Do not be easily distracted by the non important things rather than the question ...can the property be a loved for home for you ?. You can easily overlook things such as size, structure etc and focus on things that can be easily fixed by a a coat of paint, new carpets and some other easy DIY work. Things such as laminate flooring, air fresheners, looked and smelled clean and toys lying around should have no bearing on your decision.Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0 -
I presume there were other things about the properties you rejected that you didn't like? Or do your base all your decisions on the owner's lifestyle??!
That said, I can see what you say about a house not seeming loved because they may not have kept up the maintenance and so on. Very difficult for a lot of people to love the place they live in - I hate our current flat and want shot of it quite frankly.
And the cheap laminate? I'm sorry we can't all afford to buy the expensive stuff - I guess you're looking at the cheaper end of the market or people would have the better hard-wood flooring...0 -
There is a major difference between cheap and unloved, I should know as my current place is both! Cheap but looked after is fine, if they neglect the house though you start questioning the state of the fixtures and fittings. If you can't be bothered to mow your lawn will you keep the boiler maintained?0
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The truth is most people have not got a clue about taste when it comes to presenting a house for sale and most houses in this country are little dark boxes with grotty dividing outside walls and clutter crammed into every corner, I despair at what some people think will sell, and don't get me started on fag smells........Blackpool_Saver is female, and does not live in Blackpool0
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henpecked1 wrote: ». The house was dirty and they had a dog in the garden who jumped up at the door and would have probably ripped my childs leg off given the option. .
What would you have preferred they did with the dog? Should it have been in the house? I would have thought that the garden was the most appropriate place for the dog so your viewing wasn't interrupted.If you always do what you have always done, you will always get what you always got!0
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