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

LHW99

pieroabcd said:

Another terrible thing that I've seen several times is an extremely steep staircase right at middle length of the house, with a gap between the two sides.
Not only it's dangerous because of the steepness (they had handrais on both sides, mandatory to use), but that gap doesn't really make any sense and the stairs in the middle make impossible to reorganise the layout.

I hate staircases (anywhere) where you can see through the risers to the floor below. They had one in our local WHSmith when I was a small child, which had wooden treads on an open metal frame (with handrails). I used to be petrified I would fall through the gaps (highly unlikely), and its put me off for life.

laura_lau

I bet it differs a lot depending on where you live! Living near or in London makes most of the things I've seen as big put offs in this thread as the only option in most of the properties in my affordability range!

My big put off's are:

• nearby properties looking run down
• having to go through the kitchen to go to the only bathroom
• dark living areas - I need light especially in Winter
• all windows are only North facing
• short lease / high ground rent charges
• live-in tenant
• windowless bathroom 

Editing to add:

• mouldy/damp smell when entering the property

Sticky_Pete

Patio doors

Conservatory

Cigarette /weed smoke nearby

Traffic air/noise pollution
Thin walls
Low doorways

Spotlights
Titchy staircase steps

South facing garden
Small living room

Too far from public transport

No double glazing

Mid Terrace

SandyN21

Schools near by - you'll find parking during pickup time annoying. 

Sewage plant within a 3 mile radius - if you haven't researched where it is before you moved in...then you'll soon find out one day when you're firing up that barbeque and the wind blows in the direction of your home. 

Cul-de-sacs - maybe ideal at the beginning but as those children living there grow into teenagers and start driving...acquiring their own cars - again parking can be a nightmare...even if you have your own drive. 

dander

Just to add to those people surprised by how long people's lists are - the question is "turn-offs" not "total deal-breakers". One isn't going to rule out a house with plastic grass if everything else about it is lovely but it gives a very bad first impression. 

I also want to add those awful spotlights inserted in holes in the ceiling to my list. That one would seriously put me off buying a house because the amount of cost, mess and workmen involved to get those out and the million swiss cheese holes patched in the ceiling, just to make the house look normal would be horrific.

BungalowBel

No drive/off-road parking
Overlooked back garden
Rooms with no windows
Not being able to get from the front garden to the back without going through the house
Modern housing estate, unless on the very edge
Lack of toilet facilities on each floor

RelievedSheff

BikingBud said:

jennifernil said:

Easier to list our “must haves”, if it does not have it we would not consider the house…….

quiet location
detached
garage and good size driveway
decent sized garden
open outlook
large rooms
easy stairway
at least 2 bathrooms + 1 additional toilet
decent size utility room
spacious dining kitchen
plenty of space in bedrooms for storage
lots of other storage elsewhere, or space to add it

and a few actual “dislikes”……

 Belfast sinks
tiled floors
combi boilers

and as someone else said…..

 fancy new bathrooms and/or a fancy new kitchen not to our taste

We were fortunate enough to be able to design our own house and have it built some 36 years back, we still live in it and would be very reluctant to move.  We have everything just the way we like it, but over the years,  as circumstances altered, we have made a few small changes……..

2 of the bathrooms are now shower rooms as we needed easier access to showers.  We still have one actual bathroom.
the  kitchen, which originally had a study area and space for a sofa, now has additional cupboards instead
the roof terrace above the garage has been built in to make a sun room, and a balcony added there  instead
solar PV panels added 12 years ago

there is one compromise…..

the rear garden is on multiple levels as the plot is on a hill
however we do have good views as a result, so all living rooms are upstairs and most bedrooms are downstairs

Given that in most circumstances buying a house is a compromise and designing houses in the UK is not generally about getting good, energy efficient, well thought and workable space within a home but maximising profit I think this is the only way to get what you might want. 

Quite surprised by some of the extensive lists though, seems to support, perhaps even escalate that principle of "dream home" to the extreme, rather than somewhere to live.

Our last house was very much in the "somewhere to live" bracket. We couldn't be too choosy as our list of "must haves" somewhat limited our choice of location given our limited budget at the time. We bought that house in 2007 just before the housing market dropped and we ended up stuck there for 13 years until house prices had risen enough and we had paid enough off to get enough equity to move out.

We ended up hating that house.

That is why we now have a rather long list of things that we will not even consider in a property. Though we are lucky to live in a part of the country where house prices are still very affordable.

We have been in our current house for a little over five years now. We knew it was "the one" from the second we walked through the front door. To a lot of people's horror........................................................it was a new build 

Oddly we also looked at the house across the road which is the exact same house type but it just did not have the same feel too it as the one we bought. We are still very happy with our home and it would have to be something pretty special to get us to consider moving again.

Jemma01

I do wish that designing your own house was that common here. It ends up costing an arm and a leg and you can't be sure it'll finish on time. It needs someone that can get involved in the process and knows what shoddy looks like 🤔 poor handling of material esp wood can turn into a nightmare.

user1977

SandyN21 said:

Sewage plant within a 3 mile radius 

Eliminating everything within a 3 mile radius of every sewage plant rules out quite a lot of the country!

Andyjflet

Astroturf, bad for the environment and looks awful, it will be the garden equivalent of woodchip in 10 years time.
Messy and or dirty homes, you are trying to sell your house !!!!!!!
Small gates 3 feet from the front door, whats the point.