When house hunting, what is your biggest pet peeve about somebody's house? (agent, offer)

[mcj79]

1) leaving pets in the home caged or not... very mean to the pets who don't understand whats going on and it hard to look at a home with a barking dog.
2) unclean floors, bathroom and kitchens
3) wall paper every place
4) un shoveled walkways, driveways, and front doors... and put some salt down please!!

[Braunwyn]

I don't mind the home being dirty. Actually, I prefer it if it's a house I like since I hope it will turn off other buyers. What I don't like is rude or cold sellers. It's already uncomfortable to walk through a strangers home, and if they aren't kind, it affects my attitude about the home and them. OTOH, I'm not making an offer on a home I saw because the owner is so nice and I don't want to low ball her/offend her. Given that she's waiting to move to Florida to her newly purchased condo, she might be happy to get any offer.

[NYMD67]

We have moved quite a few times and spent many days looking at other people's homes that were on the market and had our home to sell...

The number one thing I cannot take is CLUTTER! ugh... please, take your things off of your kitchen counters,put the papers away,etc...

When people leave out their laundry, I cannot believe the number of homes we walked through that people left their dirty laundry on the floors in the bedrooms or clean laundry that was folded,but still out in the baskets.

When the sellers are home! I would drag my kids out in the freezing cold and go drive around if we had nowhere to be during a showing. It is uncomfortable to have the seller home and even worse when they follow you around to give you the details on why a project was left undone or what the water mark on the ceiling is from,etc...

The personal items have to go. As much as people say that they can picture themselves in another person's home regardless of what is there when you look at it, pictures are distracting and need to be taken down.

The house basically needs to look like someone really doesn't live there. It needs to be neat and clean. Period.
We have sold 5 homes and have always taken our pics down,made sure our home was Pristine clean before a showing and have always received positive feedback from both the realtors and their clients.

In today's market, it is even more important that home shows exceptionally well because there are so many choices out there!

[LCMT]

1. Being there
2. OVERPRICED way above comps!!!!!
3. Smells
4. Dirty
5. Clutter
6. PROSTHETIC LEG lounging against the wall
7. AMMO/GUNS stacked high in the basement
8. STUFFED ANIMAL HEADS hanging all over den
9. BROKEN S_X TOYS lying on the floor

Dead serious....Can't believe it...except for #9, friend saw that one!

[Giesela]

Originally Posted by ParkerP

I hate being mis-lead. Like advertising as a 3 bedroom when its really 2 bedrooms and a converted dining room into a bedroom.

I also don't like sloppy DIY work (especially for major things like electrical, plumbing, etc). If you can't get a pro, just don't do it at all and price your home accordingly.

I can't stand granite countertops on top of broken down/beat up cabinets. That's not an update.

Sort of like the "move in ready" comment". I once did a drive by on what turned out to be a wreck of a place in the country. Talk to the realtor and she said "well its very livable" - for who? the Clampets?

DIY'ers scare me to death, along with contractors who don't know what they are doing too of course. I always wonder if I'm going to end up having to rip apart a wall and do mold remediation months after purchase to find a slow leak caused by a nail in pipe something.

Pet peeve - showing up and finding out that the garage has been turned into a family room - often done badly and now I'm out an attached garage.

[leens514]

I agree with the move in ready comment! I have been searching for a home and many of the places claimed move in ready and yeah in reality no where near that.

But the biggest pet peeve i have is updating your home to try to make it sellable but doing it improperly. I know owners might not have a load of money to do so... but in my opinion then just leave it as is then.

I walked into 4 places that jacked up their price since they remodeled and to compensate for the money they put in... but in the end when its not done right i think its worthless for the buyer...

for instance one place put brand new cabinets but installed them incorrectly. another place went through remodeling everything and listed it at 20,000 above comps but for some reason left the entire house unleveled and the roof unrepaired. The last place i looked at ripped out all the old light fixtures and put brand new ones but didnt even bother to rewire them so you can't even turn them on.

[Dark of the Moon]

My turnoffs?

1. Funky smells (of any kind)
2. Sellers on site while I'm looking around
3. Deer head mounted on the wall

[FlightAttendant]

Have any of you seen the website It's Lovely! I'll Take It!? It is a jaw dropping site that shows actual pictures of BAD listing photos and dirty, bizarre homes for sale. Some of them had me on the floor laughing. I guess its true what they say..a picture is worth 1000 words! It's hard to believe that people would actually try to sell homes in these conditions!!

[Hepcat]

Twelve years ago, when we were looking for a home, a house came on the market in a very desirable part of town; on a beautiful street near a private country club. It was listed as a "Royal Barry Wills" cape, for an unbelievable price. We figured, it must need a lot of work, but lets look at it any way. Our realtor tried to warn us, she didn't think we would like it. Oh, boy, was she right.

The owners were two educated professionals with two small children; the mother was a nurse. They were moving up to a big, expensive McMansion new contruction...and they were, to my mind, both mentally ill.

I think they were what is known as "hoarders"...you realy had to see the house to believe it. There was dirt and clothes and clutter and filth everywhere. The stove looked like it had never been used; there was a thick layer of greasey dust on it. We couldn't figure out where they ate....the dining room table was piled high, with peeling paint from the ceiling raining down. There were stacks and stacks of old newspapers and magazines, diapers and tubes of Desitin strewn across the furniture. It was an open house, and the poor realtor just stood there shaking her head. The house had drawn a crowd because of the price and location, and we all just looked at each other in horror....some people were more vocal than others. The house was so stifling, and claustrophobic, I started to feel ill...I told my husband "I have to get out of here NOW!" My husband just laughed.

People who had come to the open house just stood outside afterward, shaking our heads in disbelief and talking to some curious neighbors. I will never understand how these two adults functioned...got up everyday and got to work, mangaed to find clean clothes, etc. while living in such squalor.

[Greenchili]

1. Wallpaper
2. Clutter
3.Pet smells
4.Dirty house
5.Personal photos EVERYWHERE.
6.SMOKERS

Greenchili