What are your turn-offs when it comes to buying a house?

Bonniepurple

For us, I discounted anything which had:
Steps to the front door (I’m disabled)
Only one toilet
No downstairs toilet 
Limited parking
Teeny bedrooms (one of the reasons we moved was to give DD2 a decent sized room that had space for a desk and a bed)
Anything which was off the beaten track and would prevent my teens from walking to school.
Town houses (although DD2 happily suggested that she could have the “master” bedroom as I didn’t want loads of stairs)
Mid Terraces, or ‘link detached’ which are in effect terraces.  
New builds 

I’m not mad keen on the fake grass in the back garden, but it wasn’t a deal breaker.  Our old house had a bus stop outside and the only issue we had were old ladies who used to glare at our obvious lack of gardening skills.  I was very tempted to shout out to them and ask them to help us out (but didn’t)!

Stubod

..we are currently looking to move, and I am amazed at how many properties are now "open plan"???...what's that all about??....

.....and you can't have too many sheds....

JacJac1

I'm a FTB currently looking and its HARD.  Feel like I'm being overly fussy but my dealbreakers are:

Open plan kitchen/living room

Front door opening striaght into living room

Only bathroom downstairs

No window in bathroom

Tiny bathroom with no space for bathtub

Leasehold

More than 1 mile to public transport

No garden

Busy road

Near a school

Marvel1

- Open plan kitchen and living room
- Lease plan
- Street full of cars maybe be to park id no driveway
- Same street as a school
- Needing a car just to pop for shop for say milk

Probably others, but these came to my head straight away.

shinytop

Integral garage that has been 'converted' but still has its garage door.  In fact, any house with a converted garage. 

Jemma01

Mnoee said:

One thing I hate that no one has mentioned - houses that have been done up to sell. Fresh white paint on the walls, the same grey carpet throughout, plus a cheap new kitchen that's totally impractical as no-one has thought about cooking in it, just asthetics. 

I know some people must like this as I keep seeing houses in my area be done up like this and selling, but it's not for me. I much prefer peeling the stickers off the kids bright pink bedroom walls myself, and it'd actually pain me to rip out a brand new kitchen and do it again. 

Agreed. I don't even view these houses at all. I'm not paying premium because someone decided to refurbish a house on my expense!! I'd rather a house I choose what to refurbish and how much I'm willing to pay. Saw a house that last year was sold for 310k, returned to the market with asking price 525k 😆, it didn't sell, they took it out of the market and rented it. 

But hey, some people have children and can't afford builders in and out and can't afford to keep two houses overlapping periods.

YoungBlueEyes

annabanana82 said:

I'm looking at moving soon, our only real must haves (on paper) is a garage, a downstairs toilet, and a level access to the house for less mobile family members. 
However, I do find myself discounting a house for cat flaps and too too much grey. There's probably loads if others that have no real bearing on the house

Cat flaps would probably mean buying a new door, but too much grey? You know you can buy other paint colours....

Olinda99

does anyone have any views on buying next to a railway line i.e a railway in a cutting at the bottom of the garden for example

pieroabcd

Olinda99 said:

does anyone have any views on buying next to a railway line i.e a railway in a cutting at the bottom of the garden for example

My house is at 300m in air line from the tube and I can still hear it a bit.
I can only imagine how noisy it has to be living right there.

Jemma01

Olinda99 said:

does anyone have any views on buying next to a railway line i.e a railway in a cutting at the bottom of the garden for example

Not exactly cutting the bottom of the garden, but very close.
I'm buying a house right next to the rail station (not just a railway line) in a business city, it is behind the garden there is a tiny strip of land (marked in green, full of very long trees like a barrier), and then there is an alleyway (marked yellow) leading to the platform. The platform and the railway are marked in red.


Why do I want it (and many others since it had 4 offers in a week)
* Easy commute to London, I want that and so do many people being 20mins from London.
* 15-minute walk from town/gym, I can cycle as well
* near two main roads for amenities for quick milk and a pack of salad when I want it.
* I lived in a high-traffic area with single-glazed windows (with falling-apart frames, bees fly through!), and couldn't care less about noise. Your ears become accustomed to it.

If noise is a problem for you, get your camping gear and sit there for a few hours and see what it feels like.