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What turns off buyers the most


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2012 Apr 14, 8:43am   23,228 views  47 comments

by elliemae   ➕follow (3)   💰tip   ignore  

According to an article on Yahoo:

Dirt
Odors
Old Fixtures
Wallpaper
Popcorn acoustic ceilings
Too many personal items
Snoopy sellers
Misrepresenting your home
Poor curb appeal
Clutter

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/10-ways-turn-off-homebuyer-070118154.html

Nowhere on that list did it mention headless barbie dolls hanging by nooses from the ceiling in a bedroom that was painted black... when I was selling my house 12 years go, one of the prospective buyers described this to me when I apologized for the unicorns on my daughter's wallpaper border.

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2   rufita11   2012 Apr 14, 10:41am  

In one Santa Cruz house, there were skulls and crossbones scrawled on the walls, with the message: "Get Out"! and a huge rusty machete with what looked like old blood on it.

Another house had a hidden "kitchen" under the main house with a tiny ladder in. And it reeked like cat pee (meth operation?).

In one Pleasanton house, we found a huge rock on a kitchen counter that had been hurled through the window..glass was everywhere.

3   rufita11   2012 Apr 14, 10:46am  

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says

The not-so-distant sound of automatic weapons fire.

Not automatic weapons, but in Piedmont, you can hear gun shots coming from down the hill in Oakland almost every night.

4   Patrick   2012 Apr 14, 10:53am  

Stories of buyer's remorse and regret are huge turn offs for buyers.

Maybe I should feature a daily story of regret.

5   FortWayne   2012 Apr 14, 12:11pm  


Stories of buyer's remorse and regret are huge turn offs for buyers.

Maybe I should feature a daily story of regret.

That's a great idea!

I'd send these to my daughter to read.

6   freak80   2012 Apr 14, 12:17pm  

APOCALYPSEFUCK is Tony Manero says

The not-so-distant sound of automatic weapons fire.

AF, I thought that would turn you ON to buying the house!

7   bubblesitter   2012 Apr 14, 1:21pm  


Maybe I should feature a daily story of regret.

Fantastic idea.

8   Patrick   2012 Apr 14, 1:29pm  

How best to collect stories of buyer's remorse?

A "Buyer's Remorse" forum?

9   bubblesitter   2012 Apr 14, 2:06pm  


A "Buyer's Remorse" forum?

Ditto.

10   bubblesitter   2012 Apr 14, 2:07pm  

I'd love to hear from post 2009 buyers on that forum.

11   Michinaga   2012 Apr 14, 6:20pm  

I say we get Tony Manero to narrate the buyer's remorse stories!

12   taxee   2012 Apr 14, 10:57pm  

Call it the 'Bank Buggery Blog'

13   TMAC54   2012 Apr 15, 7:02am  

Ingress & Egress can limit demand.

Bullet Holes piss me off too.

14   Patrick   2012 Apr 15, 7:36am  

TMAC54 says

Ingress & Egress can limit demand.

Bit of an earthquake hazard with that place.

15   TMAC54   2012 Apr 15, 1:43pm  


Bit of an earthquake hazard with that place.

That's right, I wasn't even thinkin of qualifying reports to order. Should you request a termite report or just a piranha report ?

16   maire   2012 Apr 15, 6:15pm  

trashy next door neighbors

17   cc0   2012 Apr 15, 11:18pm  

elliemae says

headless barbie dolls hanging by nooses

How does that work?

18   freak80   2012 Apr 15, 11:33pm  

Chain-link fences and Rottweilers, complete with the "Beware of Dog" sign.

19   zzyzzx   2012 Apr 15, 11:53pm  

From what I can tell from watching house hunter type of shows, the number one turn off for women seems to be lack of granite countertops.

20   freak80   2012 Apr 16, 1:34am  

Realtors suck and blow.

21   FortWayne   2012 Apr 16, 4:22am  


How best to collect stories of buyer's remorse?

A "Buyer's Remorse" forum?

You'll probably want to allow anonymity on that forum...

22   StoutFiles   2012 Apr 16, 4:54am  

zzyzzx says

From what I can tell from watching house hunter type of shows, the number one turn off for women seems to be lack of granite countertops.

Don't forget lack of stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors!

23   Patrick   2012 Apr 16, 5:13am  

FortWayne says

You'll probably want to allow anonymity on that forum...

Everyone is already anonymous, except for me and a couple of people who choose to use their real names. Should there be some kind of hyper-anonymity? Then again, anyone can re-register with a new throwaway email address. that would make them pretty hyper-anonymous, so maybe I don't need to do anything.

I decided against showing that multiple users are on the same IP address, so that people can preserve that extra anonymity if they want to.

24   CL   2012 Apr 16, 7:37am  

StoutFiles says

zzyzzx says

From what I can tell from watching house hunter type of shows, the number one turn off for women seems to be lack of granite countertops.

Don't forget lack of stainless steel appliances and hardwood floors!

I've seen them complain about paint. PAINT!!

25   Claire   2012 Apr 16, 9:41am  

10 other couples at the open house with realtors pointing out all the possibilities of an over-priced fixer-upper and one of the husbands raving about all the things they could do to improve the house to his wife who did not seem too happy.

I always tell my kids not to comment until we're in the car - don't like giving my game away - obviously some people have more money than sense.

26   ArtimusMaxtor   2012 Apr 16, 9:43pm  

Old houses have a lot of dead skin in them. Gets in everything. Hardwood cracks, ducts, everywhere. It can make you sick to. Its dead flesh. Sometimes its better to burn them down. Start over. You can actually smell dead skin if its bad enough. Like people shed skin dude its a fact. Very serious, even tearing the walls out doesn't help if its bad enough.

27   ArtimusMaxtor   2012 Apr 16, 9:50pm  

Seriously if that was built out of all stone you just hose it down. You can't do that with wood and chalk. Forever rehabing. Lowes loves you of course so does every hardware store on earth. I'll try it again. Tornado - goodbye. Stone lasts 500-1000 years mostly people never move from those. Handed down. They get a fortune on resale.

28   BayArea   2012 Apr 17, 12:28am  

One thing that sticks out in my mind...

Go up to a house I was interested in, neighbor had a pitbull jumping against the fence that divided his yard and this one.

No thanks.

29   RentingForHalfTheCost   2012 Apr 17, 1:00am  

zzyzzx says

From what I can tell from watching house hunter type of shows, the number one turn off for women seems to be lack of granite countertops.

If the homeowner isn't insulted by your offer...you didn't bid low enough!!!

5K to add if you can do it yourself. Easy work.

30   freak80   2012 Apr 17, 1:08am  

BayArea says

Go up to a house I was interested in, neighbor had a pitbull jumping against the fence that divided his yard and this one.

Were there hub caps on the fence? And a "beware of dog" sign too?

31   Mick Russom   2012 Apr 17, 5:27am  

Asbestos, mold, no garage, not enough room, no closet space, priced too high, realtor scum.

32   AnotherLaura   2012 Apr 17, 7:21am  

Badly done additions

Creepy bathrooms

Dark kitchens

Particle board cabinets

Pergo

Latex paint on top of oil-based paint on the woodwork

33   ArtimusMaxtor   2012 Apr 17, 7:28am  

So much for disclosure.

34   freak80   2012 Apr 17, 7:29am  

Those trees where all of the branches have been removed and only the trunk remains.

35   curious2   2012 Apr 17, 7:31am  

[...]

36   elliemae   2012 Apr 17, 7:55am  

cc0 says

elliemae says

headless barbie dolls hanging by nooses

How does that work?

You've obviously never torn the head off a Barbie. There's a notch that holds the head (or noose) on.

37   rufita11   2012 Apr 17, 10:08am  

RentingForHalfTheCost says

zzyzzx says

From what I can tell from watching house hunter type of shows, the number one turn off for women seems to be lack of granite countertops.

If the homeowner isn't insulted by your offer...you didn't bid low enough!!!

5K to add if you can do it yourself. Easy work.

Actually, it can be less than half that if you go direct to the supplier and not Home Depot. In the BA we have several.

38   Patrick   2012 Apr 17, 10:46am  

BayArea says

Go up to a house I was interested in, neighbor had a pitbull jumping against the fence that divided his yard and this one.

No thanks.

If that guy was a renter, he's a genius. His rent will remain low.

If he was an owner, he's a moron and you're definitely better off not living there.

Actually, either way, you're better off not living there.

39   PockyClipsNow   2012 Apr 18, 7:44am  

patrick heres an idea to help solicit a large # of 'daily buyers remorse stories' (AWSOME IDEA!)
You could place a 'donate to original poster via paypal' link up for them in exchange for them detailing thier sob story and answering our questions. (The board will not be kind to these people for actually_buying_a_house!)

40   Patrick   2012 Apr 18, 8:03am  

Thanks Pocky! It would give away their email address though, since to accept a payment, you have to let people know who they are paying. Think they would write their remorse story anyway?

Or maybe I could take a percentage, forward it on, and keep their email anonymous? But then there would be two Paypal commissions instead of one. Great deal for Paypal.

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