Most of us decide whether to buy a house before going inside

Updated
A row of Victorian sandstone flats in residential use in the UK
A row of Victorian sandstone flats in residential use in the UK



If you're planning to spend a small fortune and every spare weekend sprucing up your home to sell it, a new study has revealed that you might be better off saving your time and money for your new place - because most people will fall in love with a property without seeing the inside at all.

The research, for home mover conveyancing services firm My Home Move, found that 56% of people made an offer on a property because they fell in love with it, and when asked what was the most important factor in their love affair with a property, the inside of the house didn't even make the top three. In fact only 15% of people said they bought a property because they fell in love with the interior of the house (and only 3% bought because of the decoration).

The most important factor was the location - mentioned by 58% of people. When asked to name what it was about the location that floated their boat, they were most likely to love the fact it was close to good transport links (40%), followed by plenty of greenery (35%) and then shops or cafes (32%).

Perhaps unsurprisingly, second place went to price, which made 37% of people fall for a property. It's not a particularly romantic notion, but when a property price allows you to reconsider how much time you have to spend at work - or how much disposable cash you will have left to enjoy - it can be a huge influence.

The third biggest factor was the garden - which sparked the interest of 29% of people - which goes to show that if you want to expend energy on your home before you sell it, you might be best off focusing on the garden.
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Should you bother with DIY?

The survey would seem to show that people have made their mind up about the property before they step foot inside, which may make you think twice if you were planning to spruce it up. Certainly if your house is a few minutes from the station and the best school in the area, overlooking a park and boasting a substantial garden, then you can ditch the paint roller and sit back while your property sells itself.

However, before you down tools, there are two things worth bearing in mind.

The first is that even if someone has fallen in love with the area and the garden, there are some things that could still make them walk away. The survey asked people about what put them off properties they had seen, and the appearance of the inside of the property was named by one in three people.

Admittedly it was still trumped by poor location and being overpriced - but the interior clearly matters. A separate study by GoCompare identified the things that were most likely to put buyers off, and top of the list was damp - which would stop 67% of people in their tracks. Treating and then redecorating rooms affected by damp is therefore well worth the investment.

The second biggest turn off was a property in a poor state of repair, which would upset 60% of people. It's therefore worth looking round your property, identifying off-putting things like peeling window sills or wonky doors, and spending a bit of time putting them right.

The other thing to consider is that not every home boasts the kind of location and garden that will make someone fall in love with it. A recent study by Housesimple.com found that three quarters of people would be put off if they discovered that a house was on a flood plain, but one in six homes in the country is currently at risk from flooding - and thousands more properties are planned for flood plains.

If your home isn't going to automatically win people over with its location, it's going to have to work a bit harder. It needs to appear light and airy, well-maintained, free from damp, and with the kind of kitchen and bathroom that aren't going to need a major makeover in the next few years.

So unfortunately, millions of house sellers can continue to look forward to endless weekends of painting and fixing in an effort to impress hard-to-please buyers.



Home Selling 101: Home Staging
Home Selling 101: Home Staging

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