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Post by Native New Yorker on Jul 28, 2014 0:34:29 GMT
In the house: not enough closet space. I want an eat in kitchen although galley kitchens are beautiful. Pet smell or insect issues.
In the neighborhood: crazy long commute, ridiculous traffic
Super loud neighbors
Nothing fun to do in the area even though I'm boring, lol.
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Post by NanaKate on Jul 28, 2014 0:39:58 GMT
Pet smells
Cigarette smells
Mold
Stained/dirty carpet
Cluttered/ dirty house
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Post by whipea on Jul 28, 2014 0:47:11 GMT
As MergeLeft said, lots of DIY work would be a bad sign. Also, do not have the sellers, their children or relatives present when there is a showing.
I am on my fifth house and seems like I have looked at millions of houses for sale. Boy have their been some adventures in house shopping.
The one that truly stands out was the house with the huge, like almost life size wedding portrait in the foyer - slam in your face as soon as you walk in the front door. The couple was there during the showing and they were arguing and yelling at each other and their about eight year old child was in his room crying and screaming. We walked.
Interesting thing though, a few months later we heard the house was still on the market so we returned and before the viewing we requested they vacate. After seeing it without them or their offspring we ended up buying the house. Of course they were the couple from hell and the closing was a nightmare. We were literately waiting in the front yard with our movers and they had just started moving out. Two days later and a few nights in a hotel at their expense we moved in.
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Post by tamaraann on Jul 28, 2014 0:50:36 GMT
Smells. Cigarettes, cat pee, dogs can leave an overwhelming smell in some houses.
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calgal08
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,519
Jun 27, 2014 15:43:46 GMT
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Post by calgal08 on Jul 28, 2014 0:51:08 GMT
Dirt, clutter, too much furniture, cigarette smells, food smells. I'm big on first impressions. The driveway and entrance has to look clean and well kept.
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Post by cadoodlebug on Jul 28, 2014 0:54:35 GMT
For people with pets. You are used to the smells in your house. Trust me, when someone walks into your home, they will more than likely know you have pets.
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Post by dualmaestra on Jul 28, 2014 1:29:40 GMT
Seeing a pair of child's underwear in the hallway with poop on them  Last time we were house hunting was almost 11 years ago and I still remember this  |
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JerseyJenn
Junior Member
Posts: 70
Jun 26, 2014 2:50:47 GMT
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Post by JerseyJenn on Jul 28, 2014 1:48:42 GMT
Seeing a pair of child's underwear in the hallway with poop on them Wow. Yeah, that'd be a turn off. This is what happens when A&E cancels Sell This House. |
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Anita
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,702 
Location: Kansas City -ish
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Post by Anita on Jul 28, 2014 1:53:16 GMT
Smells. Wallpaper.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 6, 2024 10:29:24 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2014 1:54:28 GMT
Number one thing that made me turn around and walk out the door when we were looking at houses two months ago--smoker smell.
Can't stand smoke.
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Post by jill225 on Jul 28, 2014 2:00:47 GMT
Also agree with everyone else about smells. I also don't like candles or room fresheners. Makes me wonder what you're trying to cover up. Clutter, dirt, dust, dirty laundry etc just go without saying.
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scrapngranny
Pearl Clutcher
Only slightly senile
Posts: 4,826
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Post by scrapngranny on Jul 28, 2014 2:05:54 GMT
Cigarette smoke is number one. Otherwise, looking past the sprucing up to put it on the market. I look at faucets, sinks, stoves and ovens to see if they have been taken care of in past. That pretty much tells me if the house has been well cared for not just shined up.
The yards are also a give away about how well the house has been cared.
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Post by lovetodigi on Jul 28, 2014 2:19:48 GMT
Dirty or stained carpet, foul smells, cigarette smoke, scary looking neighbors, dirty (nasty)tubs/showers/sinks/grout, obvious signs of drainage problems outside, musty smelling basement, bugs (roaches). I have immediately left homes that displayed any of these listed issues. There are to many homes out there that do not have these issues.
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Post by Scrapper100 on Jul 28, 2014 2:24:04 GMT
The biggest turnoffs were smells and just a dirty house. A few of the houses we looked at were rentals and had been pretty well trashed. I would suggest decluttering and repainting to neutral colors. I know it is just paint but sometimes it is hard to get past really bright colors if if you have a ton of wallpaper you may want to remove it and paint.
I wanted to be able to get a good feel of the house and be able to picture our stuff in if and I didn't want to have to spend a lot if time replacing flooring or painting. The house we are moving to in two weeks has two rooms that need to be repainted right away and several more by the end if the year. If you have a lot of stuff or furniture put it in storage. We had to do that for our house as well as do some basic repairs to make it look better.
Good luck. Selling, buying and moving is so stressful.
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Post by bosoxbeth on Jul 28, 2014 3:20:31 GMT
Smoking odors
Mold/must/bad air quality
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Post by originalvanillabean on Jul 28, 2014 4:18:23 GMT
Smells.
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama
I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,402
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Jul 28, 2014 4:42:43 GMT
Dirt, sticky carpets, cigarette smoke, dogs that jump up, weed choked garden, dirty bathroom (we viewed a house once with an unflushed toilet and a very obvious 'floater'), dirty kitchen.
Things that make viewers feel welcome and at home are cheerful planters with a lovely array of colour by the front door, and the smell of baking (a few drops of vanilla essence on a baking tray in a warm oven will give the illusion of home cooking) or the smell of coffee roasting. If you can throw in a roaring fire in an attractive fireplace, even better.
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Post by scrapsuzy on Jul 28, 2014 5:13:21 GMT
Right now I am doing all my house-hunting online, since DH isn't up for looking IRL yet (ours closed this week). So while I will agree with others about smells and clutter and poor maintenance and bad DIY stuff, lemme tell you what has made me not reject houses without even going inside:
--Not enough pictures, or 25 pics (the max on Realtor.com) but there are 5 of the front porch and 2 of the subdivision and none of the kitchen or master bath!
--Bad pictures. I've seen some seriously bad pics.
Well, huh. Not as many as I thought. But they are huge!
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anniebygaslight
Drama Llama
I'd love a cup of tea. #1966
Posts: 7,402
Location: Third Rock from the sun.
Jun 28, 2014 14:08:19 GMT
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Post by anniebygaslight on Jul 28, 2014 6:14:50 GMT
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Post by ptamom on Jul 28, 2014 6:40:33 GMT
Yeah, smell, hands down.
Pet smells, cigarette smells, but also those cover up smells from sprays or scented candles. What are they covering up?
The house across the street from us is for sale, after having been a rental for several years. Most of the renters have been respectful of the neighborhood and property, but 4 renters ago, the people really trashed the place. Let their big dogs use the carpet for a bathroom, smoked inside, left garbage all about.
After they were evicted, I watched the procession of carpet cleaners come. The usuals, Stanley Steemer, Chem Dry, then others with more dire names. The final one was Last Chance Carpet.
The owner should have given up right there and replaced the carpet and padding, but instead he rented the house out again. The family had a lease for a year, left after that. The next family lasted 3 months, and countless carpet cleaner trucks came during that time. They broke their lease after the owner refused to replace the carpet even though the smell kept coming back.
Flash forward a few renters, the market is quite hot in our neighborhood. Owner decided to sell. Hired what appears to be a cut-rate realtor. We ventured over for the first open house, you can see the stains on the carpet, though it smelled OK. There were vans in front of the house all day before, working on the place.
We mentioned some of the history to the realtor, including the fact that unless the owner replaced the flooring, it would probably start smelling rank within a week.
There's no air conditioning, and we've had 100 degree temps this week.
The house next door to it sold in two days. This was its third weekend of being open all weekend. So far, no takers.
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Post by anniefb on Jul 28, 2014 6:43:46 GMT
I agree with others about smells. The other one for me would be things looking tired - like they haven't been well maintained. Just makes me wonder what is going on underneath things that might have been overlooked.
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Post by gar on Jul 28, 2014 7:57:38 GMT
Smells - primarily animals and stale air/mould
Dirt - I don't mind dust but staining, mildew etc - ughhh.
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Post by miominmio on Jul 28, 2014 8:19:50 GMT
Smells, especially scented candles or air fresheners. Tells me they've got something to hide.
Any signs of water damage.
Structural issues.
Basement. There is no way I'm ever going to by a house with a basement, after the basement in our last house flooded twice in two years.
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Post by mcscrapper on Jul 28, 2014 8:41:43 GMT
Former Realtor here....
The biggest turn offs for my clients were pet odors, especially litter boxes and cigarette smells.
Other turn offs were seeing sellers' personal items lying around...CPAP machine, meds everywhere, dirty laundry in just a pile in the closet or bathroom, and crap all over countertops in the kitchen and bath.
Other odd turn-offs:
messy closets and cabinets (yes, people do look)
sellers at home during a showing
clutter including cluttered walls
dirty exteriors
rugs on top of the carpets
book cases placed in front of doorways to "close" in a room. Yeah, saw that a lot for some reason.
meredith
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eastcoastpea
Prolific Pea
Posts: 9,252
Jun 27, 2014 13:05:28 GMT
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Post by eastcoastpea on Jul 28, 2014 14:56:03 GMT
Animal, smoke, water stains or mildew smells. When we were house hunting there was one house that had moss growing in the cellar.
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Post by formerpea on Jul 28, 2014 15:04:12 GMT
I have to agree with smells: cat litter, smoke, mildew or just "dirt". Next would be light, I love bright rooms, so clean the windows, pull back the curtains or turn on ambient lighting.
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Post by mommaho on Jul 28, 2014 15:12:52 GMT
Smells are [HASH]1 for me - We were house hunting for our first house (1982) when we lived in Virginia and our agent called the family from their driveway to see if we could see the house. The lady warned him (but didn't tell us until after we left) that she had just finished grooming her dogs and was cleaning her oven. The dogs were 4 great danes blocked off in the empty living room - so wet dog and other odors was the first thing that hit me than the smell of oven cleaner!  I had to run outside because something about the combination of the two were crazy and I got sick. I felt bad for the owner and was pissed at our realtor. Realtor said to DH - I guess she didn't like it! Oh my! |
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Post by lovemybabes on Jul 28, 2014 15:24:06 GMT
This really goes along with the "smell" category, don't fry stuff for dinner. LOL! We looked at a couple of houses that had either just fried chicken, or fish, or the smell was just lingering from the night before. It just smelled rancid. Like old grease. Blech.  |
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Post by utmr on Jul 28, 2014 15:25:26 GMT
Foundation issues. We look for cracks, doors that don't close properly, and signs of cover-up. Fresh paint only in some rooms, cracks, fresh patchwork, cracked driveways or patios or new concrete, cracked brick or patchwork. One room or wall result painted sends up red flags - makes me wonder what they are hiding.
Leaks and plumbing would be the other thing. Signs of plumbing repair in the attic makes me wonder what us in the walls.
Personally, I don't care about paint or carpet because it's all getting changed anyway. Clutter and junk makes me happy that maybe I can get a better deal because of the buyers turned off by old carpet
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Post by Basket1lady on Jul 28, 2014 15:25:33 GMT
Smells are important, but usually can be fixed.
I want to know the age and condition of the roof and the HVAC system. I want to know if the house needs new windows, if it has a flooding issue, or if there are expensive repairs that need to be done. Old bathrooms or kitchens that haven't been updated in 40 years. Tiny yards, yards that are all hill, or yards that require a ton of maintenance.
Sure you can repair/change things as needed. But paint is cheap and easy to fix. A rotting sill on the foundation would not be cheap OR easy to repair.
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. 
I had to run outside because something about the combination of the two were crazy and I got sick. I felt bad for the owner and was pissed at our realtor. Realtor said to DH - I guess she didn't like it! Oh my!
