I buy UGLY kitchens, bathrooms & home layouts....if I can change them. And one house had pink siding! lol It's tan now.

I've done it several times. Thing is, unless you have a big wad of cash sitting in the bank, you may have to live with the ugly kitchen for a long time (or forever). Your lender won't hand you $40k +/- without sufficient equity in the home to qualify for financing, which is often difficult to do for several years following a purchase. I always ask myself "Can I live with it for five years? Longer?" I've lived with a lot of ugly for a solid house in a great neighborhood. Trade-offs.

I think a lot of people are being spoiled in this country just like the kids. Do you really have to cook in a fancy kitchen? :-)

summersrhythm I have been thinking that. I would expect everything to be perfect in a new built for you house but not in one that another person had already been living in.

Ha, you must be a gardener too. We think alike. :-)

Yes I am. I had over 300 differing peonies at one time before I had to concentrate on my husband. Woodies have taken over and I have no idea how many I have lost. Also I am older and know that nothing have ever be perfect only as good as you can make it.

Oh, 300 peonies !? That sounds beautiful! I have peonies look like roses though (English roses). :-) I have just over 1000 roses under my care (in my garden), I am a rose seeker/keeper. Lol I only have 6 peonies, might try more at the country property.

If the house is in a good location for you and has the rest of the stuff you need ... ugly can be fixed or ignored.

If it has a good layout, and the cabinets are in decent shape, consider just replacing the cabinet fronts and doors. My sister had that done to get rid of some astonishingly ornate grease-catcher cabinets that went with nothing else in the house.

If it had a bad layout, save your pennies until you can rip it all out and move things ... don't waste any money on lipstick for swine other than paint.

I'd rather buy a house with an ugly/not updated kitchen, priced accordingly, then pay for someone else's remodel that I might not like or that was done on the cheap to sell the house. I'd love to do my own kitchen from scratch again! Did it once and love it, have learned more since then and hope to do it again wherever I land next.

Just to be clear... most people that post here in the forum are not your average buyers. At least, not when comparing to my buyers. Most buyers prefer move in ready homes, or as close to it as possible.

But neither are we freaky-strange, ncre - and I would guess that as with most things, much depends on market and "move in ready" means different things to different people in different markets. Around here, it pretty much means serviceable and non offensive - functioning and clean. It doesnt mean brand spankin new or that the colors have to be within the last decade.

Wish we could see OP's ugly kitchen. Sounded OK until the part about chef pictures on the cabinets - but maybe nothing a little paint cant cure?

"Around here, it pretty much means serviceable and non offensive - functioning and clean."

Yep, same story in my area. Which ties in with the whole paying-for-staging back-and-forth on another thread -- that just doesn't fly here, there is absolutely no need to, and I think it kind of violates Midwestern values LOL. If it's priced right and it's serviceable, it will sell (and it will sell even if it's not serviceable, if the price is right). Heck, I lived with a butt-ugly kitchen for 17 years in my last house - never had the money to spruce it up outside of drywall repair after a roof leak and a spiffy paint job - and my house had two offers the first weekend. But the kitchen functioned as a kitchen should - had 17 years of great entertaining even with that eyesore, even with a giant hole in the ceiling covered with plastic (because my people care about the FOOD and the company, not how the kitchen looks!)

After paying all of the fees and costs of purchasing a home, most buyers do not have $30,000 of disposable cash to then invest in a new kitchen.

^^ But not everyone is concerned with fixing an "ugly" kitchen right off the bat {shrug}.

It's the HGTV effect, where everything is supposed to be "perfect".

Delayed gratification seems to be a quaint almost antique notion these days. The “want it all and want it now” crowd is the one responsible for the massive influx of cheepchinesecrapola created to fill that uncontrolled desire at the cheapest of cheap price points. Kitchens have become fashion items instead of infrastructure. And the world is much worse for it.

^^ Yes, THIS. There are people out there, though, that haven't fallen victim. I still firmly believe priced right (to reflect need for updates) = will sell.

I'd buy an ugly kitchen in a heartbeat!

For me I want a nice kitchen, I enjoy cooking,my kitchen is important to me. We are looking for a new home, I don't care what the kitchen looks like today, I just want good space, I'll redo the kitchen if it doesn't fit my needs. I'd rather it have an ugly kitchen and be priced reflecting that then a newly remodeled kitchen I don't like.

In my area I see too many very formal kitchens which doesn't fit our lifestyle, I'd need to have it reworked to remove some of the formal corbels and trim.

I want to see this listing and these cabinets!

I have bought 2 homes with ugly kitchens, knowing that eventually I would remodel them to the way I like them. I don't do the "instant gratification" thing, I usually wait a couple years before doing the remodel. This house I bought almost 2 years ago needs a new kitchen, I'm saving up for the remodel and will do it when I have enough saved.

The thing I have noticed and it is probably just me is that some kitchens and other rooms that seem awkward at first actually have a reason that they were arranged that way. Although it would be nice to have a completely new and "modern" kitchen the way the cabinets, etc. are arranged may not work for your cooking/entertaining habits. I used to hate the old pullout cutting board next to the sink in my old house but I would love to have it in this kitchen. I think the cabinets other than having a couple of coats of paint slapped on them were new when the house was built in 1923. Couple of days ago I saw a similar cutting board although it was stone in one of the HGTV houses as if it was a new idea.

"The thing I have noticed and it is probably just me is that some kitchens and other rooms that seem awkward at first actually have a reason that they were arranged that way."-yes, I've noticed it too..not always, but sometimes there's a reason for things you don't know until you start actually living there

(we had a pullout cutting board in our old place. Built in early nineties. Frankly I never used it. But my guests did, before a big party! There was something very cozy about that)

Whatever happened to the OP??

It really depends on your priorities I suppose. Each of us has to decide what is most important for us in purchasing a house. Yes I do think the HGTV phenomenon has skewed buyer expectations that every single house must have a perfectly updated, large, and luxurious kitchen. We bought our last (and first) house with outdated kitchen and three outdated bathrooms. We were only able to remodel the bathrooms before we sold. The kitchen had minor updates (new appliances, new cabinet pulls) but original not too offensive-looking cabinets and ugly colored countertops that were in good condition. It sold and the buyers were very excited about the house. So yes, I've bought a house with a somewhat ugly kitchen. And if it was in the budget, I might consider buying an otherwise great house with an ugly kitchen that I would remodel. But remodels do take a lot of time and a lot of money.

Boy, you guys blame a lot of American traits on HGTV! Their one show dedicated to kitchens, "Americas Most Desperate Kitchens" only draws in about 1 million viewers.

I believe people just like newer, nicer, current, and trending kitchens as opposed to dirtier, outdated, not as open, not as upgraded, and not as user friendly.

Most posters here are the exception, not the rule. That's not good, bad or ugly... it just is.

ncrealestateguy, you are woefully, and blissfully, unaware of the dozens of HGTV shows that feed the must-have/won't do attitudes of a large number of buyers. The kitchens are one of the major focuses from almost all of the property purchase or selling shows, to the home renovation ones, that run back to back for days on end. And have for well over a decade. If you think we are referring to that single HGTV show, you have no idea what you are talking about when it applies to this aspect of the thread subject.

The entire channel gets about 40 million viewers.

I'll ask my buyers over the next two weeks if they regularly watch HGTV.

Nothing like eyes and boots.

Even for those 40 million viewers, does the TV show totally influence their buying tastes or do those 40 million viewers influence the TV show's content?

I somewhat agree with ncre, yes many people watch HGTV, does it influence buyers to the extent people comment on in this forum? I wonder about that myself.

The reverse could be said watching the flipping shows now buyers want the non updated kitchen, to redo in a weekend.

On this subforum many people are personally stressed buying or selling, yes it is an emotional time for many posters. Sellers complain a buyer doesn't like their house because they've been taught by HGTV they must have a new kitchen. Buyers complain they can't buy a house because flippers are paying cash and beating them to every house they can afford, those same flippers are then overpricing their lipstick on a pig junk because they saw it done on HGTV.

High emotions, high drama. How much is true...

Not HGTV but before it even happened there was This Old House. In the show were many innovations that were not available or had been discontinued for many years. People started asking for those things. Most common example that most will recognize is tankless hot water heaters for the whole home not just under the kitchen sink. If that one show could change what people were asking and demanding why would the many shows on one channel not change what people are wanting?

Explain what people are seeing in these shows that they are asking for and want when shopping for homes. Maybe that is where I am off.

People like and purchase tankless water heaters because they are a good idea, not because Bob Vila and Norm Abram suggested it.

nc until they showed up on the shows in the late 80's how many people knew about the tankless water heaters to ask about them or even look for them? Same way with the granite countertops, etc. TV shows have taken over from where magazines gave people ideas for their homes.

I would ask where do you think people get an idea of what they want in a house?

I remember Vila did a smart house where everything was controlled by buttons or your computer. Later some one did a show on the same house later and the homeowner said half of the stuff never worked from the get go.

4 years ago I had a heck of a time finding anything gold for my guest bathroom that had lovely gold fixtures. I ended up having to put in white pendent lights and having to spray the cabinet hardware gold. Everything in the stores was silver. Now I am starting to see things in gold. It all comes around again.

There have been magazines, home stores, interior designers, home showcases long before HGTV. Plumbers know about and recommend tankless water heaters, just as mini splits and air switches are recommended. I know viewers see many things on HGTV, but new ideas and products are always coming on the market as are marketing plans for them. I think the internet plays more into all this than HGTV, here we are on Houzz discussing this.

Even if the show is influencing people's buying habits, what is so wrong with granite counter tops and tankless water heaters?

My point is, I don't understand what is so wrong with pointing out the latest and greatest, or the not so latest and greatest, and then having the marketplace decide what sticks around and what does not.

ncreg, many here complain that HGTV creates unreal expectations and demands in buyers that didn't exist before HGTV. I don't see it, the first time buyers I know are thrilled just to own their first very own home and they fall far short of HGTV perfection.

Same here.

NC you asked about why people thought HGTV influenced people but then you ask what is wrong with tank less water heaters etc. Where do you think people got the idea to ask for them which is what I asked.

cmarlin you mentioned that plumbers know about tank less hot water heaters and they have been around since Victorian days but would they have recommended them in 1970's before they were shown to the general public on a tv show? Would people except in perhaps the Northeast even known to ask for them?

The next thing will be the replacement of tank less water heaters to the individual below the fixture heater that will provide hot water without the cooling of the water remaining in the pipes that currently happen. Perhaps even with a thing to set the temperature of the water from just warm to piping hot for drinks.

When you mention only water heaters, if they saw them on HGTV, is it bad for someone remodeling or replacing to question the viability of using one in their house? I've heard of them but don't recall seeing them discussed on HGTV. I know some years ago I discussed them with a plumber and he didn't recommend one for my house at that time as he didn't think my plumbing layout was suited for it.

NC - you're the one who stated above that most buyers prefer move-in ready homes, which is what I think many posters are in disagreement with. Perhaps that is the preference of most of *your* buyers, but overall - I don't think so. Like someone above just said - most first-time buyers are thrilled to even have a home, and I would expand that to say in a hot market such as mine, pretty much everyone is thrilled to find a home in a safe neighborhood that meets their needs and at least some of their wants and is within their budget, let alone actually purchase it what with the super-tight housing market and bidding wars. I'm thinking perhaps it is many posters on these forums that have the high expectations and professionals here who promote these expectations, not the average Joe-bloe...I don't know...just a thought.

mxk3 - I believe buyers do prefer move-in ready (their style) for them and at the right price (their price). Problem is - finding this dream house at the right price. Many buyers knowing they are squeezing in, want a livable house in the right neighborhood that can be improved when they have more money.

I'm not a first time buyer and have resources to remodel at closing so I want the fixer for a good price.

Don’t ya just love it when the OP disappears, the bad. The good, interesting and Invigorating discussions (:

Who wouldn't want a shiny sparkly "move-in-ready" house in a great neighborhood? But you stated the problem -- finding it at the right price. If money were no object, we could all find the perfect house for us that didn't need modifications, or just have it built for us. For the average person, that's not reality, we have to settle for what's available within our price range and often have to make compromises. Should we buy the house with the poopy kitchen and outdated bathrooms in the upscale neighborhood that we can afford, buy the house with the gorgeous updated kitchen and shiny sparkly everything else that's too expensive but who cares we'll figure it out when we're one paycheck away from bankruptcy, or buy the decent functional moderately-priced smaller starter home that will do in the meantime as we save for our financial future and we'll someday make it to the chi-chi neighborhood and go all-out with that house? We each have to make our own decisions. I am one who can (and did) live with an ugly kitchen but won't compromise on other things.

cmarlin the tank less hot water heaters in this area are found in many new high quality construction. They are apparently made better now and in more demand since the last two plumbers I have worked with have mentioned how many they are installing. I used the tank less hot water heater as an example of products that for the general public were first seen in a TV show which was well before HGTV. People want and will ask for things seen on TV which returns to the idea of peoples demands being fed by the shows they watch.

MXK3 wrote

"NC - you're the one who stated above that most buyers prefer move-in ready homes, which is what I think many posters are in disagreement with. Perhaps that is the preference of most of *your* buyers, but overall - I don't think so."

Well, many posters here do disagree, and that is why I clarified in a post a few days ago that regular posters here do not represent the norm of the buying and selling population. Regular posters here are more in tune with the buying and selling processes and are not intimidated with factors of buying and selling that most people are.

It is true that most of the buying population does prefer to find a home that is move in ready. And one can not blame HGTV for that.

maifleur - The two spec homes I built specified tankless heaters, maybe the architect watched TV or maybe he wanted my homes to be high quality construction. LOL

They sure are an improvement over the space for the big tank especially when it decides to leak.

Then again the OP was concerned about an ugly kitchen. Wish we could see it we could comment on it for days.

We did. Not ugly anymore. Small kitchen only cost us about $15,000.

I will buy an ugly house south ugly kitchen but will end up transforming it into a stunning apartment and kitchen

I bought an entire ugly house (it was literally the ugliest house I'd ever seen). The kitchen was dark and dingy, was wallpapered to the hilt and had CEDAR SHINGLES on the front of the peninsula(!!), just to mention a few. But the bones were good and the price was in my range, so I went for it. I've spent the last 3+ years now updating and I love it! I immediately ripped out the ugly (including wallpaper and shingles), paid a pro to paint the cabinets white and I had 100% improved kitchen to work with until I could get it completely remodelled. And that's where I am now - can't wait to see my fresh, new functional kitchen all done!

The kitchen was ugly when we bought our house. We put in a new tile floor to replace the linoleum, refinished the plain but very well made cabinets, painted and put in new windows and bought new appliances. I just do not see the need to gut the kitchen which I would have to do to make it more functional. It's nice, it does the job and the money saved is being used to grow our retirement.

If we had the money to gut it!