Real Estate News | December 4, 2007
Homes Features that are Big Buyer Turnoffs
Old homes can be quaint, but there’s a difference between old and outdated. Unless home owners periodically invest in upgrades, their homes will fall so far below the standards of current buyers that they become obsolete and hard to sell.
What’s obsolete? Here’s a list of relics, many of them courtesy of Nick Kuhn, an associate with McEnearney Associates in Washington DC.
- A house with only one bathroom. Even a house with one full bath and a toilet/sink powder room is going to turn buyers off.
- A house without air conditioning.
- Electrical systems protected by a fuse box instead of a circuit breaker.
- Spiral staircases. They’re relatively rare, and for good reason — they are unsafe.
- Basements with only an outside entrance. Homeowners expect convenient access to that valuable space.
- Ceilings that look like they’ve been stuccoed, dropped ceilings with fluorescent lights, and dark beams cutting across the ceiling.
- The split-level floor plan. Want to go from kitchen to family room? Go down half a flight of stairs. From living room to bedroom? Up half a flight. Most folks would rather not.
Source: The Washington Post, Elizabeth Razzi (12/02/07)
Halley
December 6, 2007 at 1:24 am
I actually like dark beams cutting across a ceiling; I would pay more for a house that had them.
niaknowles
December 6, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Halley I totally agree- I’m not sure it they are speaking of coffered beams- and this also depends, I wouldn’t want dark beams if my ceilings are low.
Dark beams work best in rooms with high ceilings, however the painted white ones would work in a lower room….
I’ve seen both in homes available in the West End and Westview- however the ceiling are high
walidm
December 10, 2007 at 6:53 pm
Some of the features listed here would be a turnoff for many buyers; however, for those who like to invest in undervalued properties, this may be just the sort of marketing that attracts them to your listing in droves.
walidm
http://www.walidmRealtor.com