Looking to Sell or Rent Your Home? Avoid These Mistakes
There’s potentially some bad news for those looking to sell or rent their home. The most off-putting factor for those looking for a new home is one outside of the buyer’s control — noisy neighbours.
A new survey found that 55 percent of buyers, or 28 million Britons, would avoid buying or renting a new home with bad neighbours.
Savvy Buyers
The results also showed that UK home buyers are fairly savvy about what they can fix in a new property and what they can’t. Only 4 percent of viewers are turned off by the sight of an untidy or overgrown garden, as it is entirely fixable. However, 28 percent of us are put off by the sight of a messy garden next door, which we know is beyond our control.
The full list of off-putting features makes for interesting reading, and may be timely for those considering homeowner loans from Ocean Finance to buy their perfect property.
Noise by richardoyork, on Flickr. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
The Top Offensive Features
After noisy neighbours came mouldy rooms, at 49 percent of people. This isn’t surprising, given that damp and mould can indicate more serious problems if left untreated and be a health hazard. Properties in a generally poor state of repair would also put off 43 percent of would-be buyers or renters, which is a good reminder to keep on top of those small ‘must-do’ maintenance jobs.
A lack of central heating would be a deal-breaker for 30 percent of people, and bad smells from cigarette smoke or pets would put off 27 percent of people. Poorly maintained communal areas for shared houses and flats was a no-go for 16 percent of people, and a lack of double glazing would put off 14 percent.
Partially completed building projects or decorating are off-putting to 8 percent, and stone cladding is a style offense to 7 percent and enough to prevent them from buying, along with a brown or green bathroom suite at 4 percent.
Interestingly, 2 percent said that they wouldn’t buy or rent a home that didn’t have decoration to their personal taste, suggesting that a cool one million people really do just want to move in and need to do nothing.
Wokandapix / Pixabay
Age Factors
Another interesting insight is related to age. Younger buyers are almost 50 percent less likely to reject a property because of bad neighbours, and just 35 percent of those aged 18-24 said that this would be a deal-breaker compared to 65 percent of those aged over 65. Perhaps the noisy neighbours were in fact the younger buyers themselves?
Older generations, however, do seem to be more willing to accept a lack of central heating, perhaps because they were able to survive without it when they were young. Just 27 percent of those aged 65 or older would be bothered by a home without central heating, compared to 36 percent of 25-34-year-olds. They are also 50 percent less likely to be worried about a lack of double glazing.
It’s good to see that buyers are aware about the features they can change and those that they can’t.
