What would turn you off in a house for sale ?

[pyrxtc]

I don't understand where the master suite is: is it UNDER THE GARAGE? If so, I'd turn and walk out. Sorry, but it's true.

Edit: or is it an addition in the back? I can't tell.

It's an addition on the back of the house. The basement is a dug basement. No rooms down there.

I can't either. If the master is in the basement, that's a total deal breaker.

Honestly OP, the house would either have to be a steal, as in wayyyy under market price, or you would have to do a lot of work.

Total remodels of bathrooms and kitchens are very expensive. It's an older house that has had relatively little maintenance.

Lots of maintenance just not upgrades because we wanted to keep that old feel of the house. Older is an understatement.

First, in order to make up for the half painted exterior, the interior would need to be pristine.

Minimally I think you should paint. That one room is very dark. It's a small room and that dark color closes it in more. The bedroom that is shown should be painted, too, and the wallpaper removed. Pick light, neutral paint colors that make the smaller rooms look larger. Clean out the clutter and the tchotchkes. Put a door on that closet.

no wallpaper in the house, all paint and that room will be painted as soon as I can open the windows. I already have the paint, it's a cream color.

If you have nice hardwoods, pull up those carpets and refinish the floors.

Def not refinishing the floors. I would cost too much. I have wide pine floors, original to the house. Carpets are all removable, nothing glued or tacked down in any way. If you are looking at a house this age, you hope that you have untouched wide pine floors in New England. Most people up here sand them down and leave them alone, no finish.

I don't even know what to tell you about the kitchen and bathrooms. Kitchens sell houses. If you watch any of the HGTV shows it's all about the kitchen.

Wish we could upgrade kitchen but not happening either. But, it has a wonderful easy footprint so someone else could do wonders.

Improve the curb appeal. Finish the painting. Clean up the yard. Add some landscaping.

We are full of 4 ft snow piles right now with another foot coming this weekend. In the spring there are gorgeous flowers and well kept grass and large tree's.

The housing market is terrible. You either need to have something very special to offer, or a very cheap price.

My Realtor thinks it will sell fast. I am on the lower end of the market with just under an acre of fully usable land. We are staying just above what we owe on our mortgage and it is the location that will sell the house first. I am less than 5 minutes to skiing and a 10 mile lake. I live in a big resort town and lots of house go over the $1 million mark. I am under $200k.

Just a few things I noticed in your pictures:

The ceiling in the first room shown has visible buckles in it. I don't know if it is shadows on the picture or if there is water damage. If I was looking at your house through realtor.com or some other one, I would probably continue to look and would only view your house if there were none others that looked better.

unfortunately that is tape from the sheetrock. I don't' think whoever buys the house will even keep the sheetrock up, they will expose the timbers.

Straighten your pictures. Maybe it is the OCD in me, but seeing pictures hanging at skewed angles takes the focus off the room. Better yet, take them all down.

Put a nice vase of flowers on the coffee table to warm things up when you take the "official" pictures. Put a couple of pretty pillows on the couches. It is very brown, so looks a bit bland.

Take some of the personal stuff off the walls, such as the butterflies on the closet door. It is distracting.

Other than that, I can't see any major issues that would turn me off.

butterflies are off the door. and that closet cannot have a door on it but it does have a curtain.

 

[MotifNumberOne]

My Realtor thinks it will sell fast. I am on the lower end of the market with just under an acre of fully usable land. We are staying just above what we owe on our mortgage and it is the location that will sell the house first. I am less than 5 minutes to skiing and a 10 mile lake. I live in a big resort town and lots of house go over the $1 million mark. I am under $200k.

Is this the same 14 room house that you were trying to sell for $260k?

 

[Janepod]

Walking through a bathroom and then a linen room (what is that?) to get to the master bedroom would also turn me off. Can you make that room the playroom or something and set something else up as the master?

 

[tvguy]

Odors I would be concerned about, and structural integrity. Clutter is the person who is moving outs's problem, not mine.
I would have a very hard time buying a 240 year old house. A house that age has the potential to be on the register of historic buildings, and that opens up a whole can of worms as far was what you can and cannot due.
Around here, sturdy, well kept, ready to move 50 year old houses are often torn down just because it would be so expensive to upgrade the electrical, technology wiring, heating and air conditioning to current code and expectations.
People 3 doors down from my mom bought a house built in 1932 and they have 10 feet left of the original house, because back then they weren't even putting them on foundations

 

[kirstenb1]

It looks like the house is about 30 ft from the street. I'd either put up a little fence, or landscape the front yard with plenty of evergreen shrubs/perennials, to give a visual barrier. Maybe even just an arched arbor, then have boxwoods, or hollies lining either side of it.

 

[Bonnie40]

We love a challenge and are still working on the house we bought 13 years ago.....it's an oldie that still had a wood cookstove in the kitchen! Soot covered the ceiling! I'd never seen anything like it, but we went into the purchase knowing we were doing a gut and redo.....lived like pioneers here for almost a year....but it was worth it!

So....I'm not turned off by a dirty house.....just needs to have 'good bones' !

When I start to get the itch to move and start over though, I look around and realize what a big job it would be to move and stop in my tracks!

 

[sunshinehighway]

Odors I would be concerned about, and structural integrity. Clutter is the person who is moving outs's problem, not mine.
I would have a very hard time buying a 240 year old house. A house that age has the potential to be on the register of historic buildings, and that opens up a whole can of worms as far was what you can and cannot due.
Around here, sturdy, well kept, ready to move 50 year old houses are often torn down just because it would be so expensive to upgrade the electrical, technology wiring, heating and air conditioning to current code and expectations.
People 3 doors down from my mom bought a house built in 1932 and they have 10 feet left of the original house, because back then they weren't even putting them on foundations

I guess its a totally different world in the Northeast. Many people look for old houses here.

 

[Bonnie40]

Odors I would be concerned about, and structural integrity. Clutter is the person who is moving outs's problem, not mine.
I would have a very hard time buying a 240 year old house. A house that age has the potential to be on the register of historic buildings, and that opens up a whole can of worms as far was what you can and cannot due.
Around here, sturdy, well kept, ready to move 50 year old houses are often torn down just because it would be so expensive to upgrade the electrical, technology wiring, heating and air conditioning to current code and expectations.
People 3 doors down from my mom bought a house built in 1932 and they have 10 feet left of the original house, because back then they weren't even putting them on foundations

That's what I was thinking too.....if allowed, I'm guessing most people would buy your house for the lot only - demolish the house and rebuild - especially if it's in a desirable location. But if there are rules for historic homes, a new owner would be limited in what they could do. It would definitely be a gut and redo though.....

I would also agree that those pictures should come down.....

 

[Bonnie40]

Is this the same 14 room house that you were trying to sell for $260k?

This house has 14 rooms? ! You'd never know that from looking at it from the outside!

 

[MotifNumberOne]

This house has 14 rooms? ! You'd never know that from looking at it from the outside!

Her words from a thread she made a few months ago.. looked it up to see if I remembered correctly.. yup

It is a 14 room antique cape. 4 bedrooms and 2 office area's with a first floor laundry off the kitchen that triples as a half bath and pantry area with 2 full bathrooms also. We have just under an acre of open grass for playing, a shed, and a garage just big enough to hold your outdoor grown up toys. we are 5 miles from a great ski mountain, 2,734 feet to the top, or dropping your boat in the 10 mile long lake. It's only 3 miles to the town beach for swimming. 30 minutes to Concord and 90 minutes to Boston. Plus the student teacher ratio is 9/1.

We plan on asking in the area of $260,000.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2828274&highlight=14

 

[Bonnie40]

I'm not familiar with the backstory and didn't even bother looking at the old thread, but it's unfortunate that the bottom has dropped out of the price of this house.....to go from expecting $260,000 to less than $200,000 is rough. I'm not sure what the circumstances are, but I don't think I'd be moving if I didn't have to. That's quite a hit on the price.....

 

[ilovemk76]

I'm going to be brutally honest after looking at the pictures - mostly just nitpicky things.

1) Love love LOVE the master suite area!!! That gives you a huge edge over other homes.

The only place I can figure it to be is in the basement. That is a huge turnoff for me, especially in a 240 year old home. The foundation will be stones and very porous. That can and will cause mold to grow.

2) The pictures on the walls have to go. They are cluttered and not even hanging straight, adding to the confusion. As another poster suggested, hang a mirror instead to create the illusion of a larger room. I'd go with a light neutral paint color too - that room is way too dark.

ITA

3) Do you have a plant and some books or something to go on the coffee table? The room just really looks too cold and stark.

ITA again

4) The bedroom is way too cluttered. Stuff just stuffed into closet and in nightstand. Can you get some boxes and put that stuff away (under the bed or at a friend's?)

And again.

Really need to see your kitchen and bathrooms. That's what the majority of people will focus on.

The garage looks terrible and it is only a single detached garage. A turnoff in a snowy area like NH.

Tons of tiny rooms in a small house. Does the 1700 square feet include the master bedroom in the basement?

I am confused by the hardwood floors. The room shown does not have hardwood. I expected really wide plank hardwood, based on the age of the house.

The house has no curb appeal.

The master bedroom and bath are small.

I think your best chance is to complete painting outside and inside and lower the price to where a person would consider it as a fixer upper or a tear down.



ETA: I see the master bedroom suite is on the back of the house. Do you really enter the master bedroom via the bathroom? That is the only door I see and it is where the "main house " is noted. If so, I would just walk out and keep looking.

 

[ilovemk76]

This house has 14 rooms? ! You'd never know that from looking at it from the outside!

Or the inside.

 

[badblackpug]

It's an addition on the back of the house. The basement is a dug basement. No rooms down there.



My Realtor thinks it will sell fast. I am on the lower end of the market with just under an acre of fully usable land. We are staying just above what we owe on our mortgage and it is the location that will sell the house first. I am less than 5 minutes to skiing and a 10 mile lake. I live in a big resort town and lots of house go over the $1 million mark. I am under $200k.



butterflies are off the door. and that closet cannot have a door on it but it does have a curtain.

Unfortunately, there is a difference here. Keeping the time period integrity of the house in as far as style and decorating is one thing, but not upgrading things like kitchens and bathrooms is another. When I look at your pictures I really don't see anything that screams historical to me. If it is a 1700s house, 1950s kitchens and bathrooms don't give it a historical feel, they give it an outdated feel.

I understand that total remodels of kitchens and baths is ridiculously expensive, and not something I would undertake if I was selling the house. At this point I would concentrate on the cosmetic.

Paint. Light and neutral.
Remove any extras or clutter.
Make sure the kitchen counter tops are empty.
Remove a lot of the pictures from the walls. Try not to keep any "personal" pictures. Stick with landscapes or still lifes
Get rid of all the tchotckes.
Take down any wallpaper and paint. Light and neutral.
Refinish the floors. (hardwood is a big selling point)
Paint the exterior, even if it's cold. (I painted a garage in January)
Do a little landscaping, yard maintenance to increase curb appeal.

If you are priced low enough and in a good neighborhood someone who is handy, or can work the cost of a lot of remodeling into their purchase price may be interested. Or someone may want it as an investment property.

The house next to us belonged to an older lady. She died. She had 1 daughter who didn't want the house. It needed a lot of upgrading, but we are in a great neighborhood. A man bought it and did a lot of renovations and now rents it.

 

[Buckalew11]

I dunno...can you tear down a 240 yo historical building? If you can, would the townspeople hate you for tearing down something that old?

Our first house was on the historical register and that limited what we could do and how it was done. It was a cute little brick house with tons of work inside. We did refinish the floors and some other things but it was nothing but work, all the time. Plus, 25 years later, that house would not have supported all our electronics of today--it'd have probably blown up from all the chargers we have!

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I would have to pass on the house. That is too much to do for me at my age, 48 next week.

We are going to be on the hunt for hopefully our "retirement house". So you are not marketing to people my age that is for sure. You have to capture the attention of a young family that wants a fixer upper. Your decor of the family photos has to go.

I would HIGHLY recommend painting the living room with more a "lighter neutral tone" and changing the furniture arrangement at well. You need to make that "whole room" look better somehow. Get rid of the entertainment center.

I would also take some pics in the spring and change those pictures of the outside of the house. You need to not have cars in front and the siding looks in desperate need of repair in that picture.

Is the master in the basement? If so, than that would be a deal breaker. I need the master on the first floor.

Are those your MLS pics or are those just pics you took? I would do some work and then repost different pictures as you progress forward.

 

[twinboysmom]

Hi OP. Lots of pretty harsh comments here. This is my opinion. You are looking for a specific type of buyer, someone who wants an old house with history. You have that. I have friends and family who are into houses like yours. They fully expect a lot of work and when I have looked at these houses, they look similar to yours (with the bathrooms and kitchens usually last renovated in the 50s and 60s). Price it right, listen to your realtor, keep it neat, tidy, and odor free, and hopefully it will sell soon. Good luck!

 

[IheartMickey]

I wouldn't want to be here for showing. This is how most of the rooms look. You can see colors. There are also floor plans, I know that is one thing I would love to know about a house I am buying before even looking. Some of the new houses just flow weird.

http://s10.photobucket.com/albums/a125/pyrxtc/5bedsnewburyNH/

No smokers in the house and not allowed by visitors. Most windows have been replaced and all appliances and furnace and other stuff are less than 10 years old.

I'm really sorry to get off topic but I looked at your other albums and wow you must really like sewing. You have over 50 pictures of the same dress.

 

[Granny square]

I'm really sorry to get off topic but I looked at your other albums and wow you must really like sewing. You have over 50 pictures of the same dress.

That is kind of creeperish. Do you always do that?

 

[IheartMickey]

That is kind of creeperish. Do you always do that?

No, I thought maybe there were more photos of the house.