Bathroom Granite

Kitchen granite (i think New granite )

Cabinets.. that honey oak color

There’s honey oak every where

Thank you for educating me and pointing these things out.

I agree with everything cilantro says.

The garage lighting would probably not be difficult nor especially expensive to change.

There doesn't seem to be anything right with the planting so I'd plan on changing it all. There is no reason to barricade the porch or smother the rest of the house front.

As could be expected, the walk to the front porch is undersized and could be better configured. I'd plan on changing that if you want the house to look its full worth. In the process, I'd plan on improving the grade. It looks like it slope down from the drive and then back up to the house. Would be better to consistently move in one direction.

If you dislike what seems to be a large portion of the interior materials and finishes, I'd pass on this house because it would be expensive to redo while adding little to no value to its future selling price.

Except for the Honey Oak and granite, everything you mentioned is just cosmetic and DIY, if someone there is handy at all. The bushes can be removed with a length of heavy chain and a vehicle with a sturdy bumper after a good rainy spell. Then get professional help for the do-over. Only the window above the garage door and the one above the front door are really suitable for shutters, so eliminating them all would be the best option. Paint is always an easy and inexpensive fix, especially if you can DIY. The ditch in the roof line is a major drawback, but you decide. If the floor plan and layout work for you and the price is right....

The backyard

Just curious--why must the tree go? There are lots of pear trees in my neighborhood. They are lovely in spring and healthy year round. Why would you want to remove it?

I live near a neighborhood full of pears during a storm last year there were broken pears everywhere.

Bradford pears are very popular in my area and known for breaking in spring storms. The tops sometimes completely snap off, but they really are pretty when in bloom.

Ooo I’ll take that pretty pear tree. :)

it May seem that I hate the home, I do not. I listed the issues above In hopes to find some ways to work with those items. It’s been on the market over 200 days.. so it’s potentially a great deal, if they will come down

If that house has been on the market for over 6 months, it is overpriced so go in with a low price offer. If you can live with the decor as is, it might be a good buy but why choose a house you really don't like?

It’s a price point situation. where I live a home over 3000 sqft normally costs well over $320,000 this home is priced close to 259k in a great small quiet neighborhood built in 2013 with some features I do love And low county taxes!!!! It’s close to a school we love it’s on a cul de sac and We are in desperate need of a 5 bedroom home for a sick parent. it has a great screened in porch a separate guest suite with a full bath and walk in closet. I only hate cosmetic issues, besides what I have just learned about the roof. It would need to be fixed up, and I agree it is very overpriced.

Ps!! Hey Yaardvaark!! I’m so happy to see you still around! We just sold our first home that you gave ideas to help us with landscaping. You helped me discover my love for outdoor gardening!! I can’t thank you enough!! If I buy this house I hope to get your insight again as far as how to bring the home to its potential.

Is the roofline an issue that can be fixed. We live in an area with generally mild weather. Very little snow, general rainy springs and fall.

Its overpriced at 259k ? 3000 sq ft...…… Where do you live? There may be some hope for us yet.

Yes it is. Lol I live in North Carolina

I looks as if your ornamental pear is to one of the old ones with multiple trunks (they were the ones that came down, one trunk at a time, during storms...ask me how I know!). Keep it - it is lovely. It will be one of the first things to bloom in the spring, and it's leaves will turn a deep red, late in the fall and be among the last to lose them.

Hand onto those shrubs until you find out what they actually are next spring. They will be easy to replace if you don't care for them.

I would paint the garage/second story area, the same color as the rest of the house. It won't stand out nearly as much. And yes, if it's been on the market that long, it is over-priced. Unfortunately, the owners may not yet be ready to reckon with this and will refuse a lower offer. I have friend who is now nearing THREE YEARS of not selling a house and he still refuses to come to grips with the fact that it is over-priced by about $100,000.

What other homes are you considering? I would worry that you will never feel like this house is "you". Most of your dislikes would be expensive to change, and you will end up living in a house that you don't like. Every day.

Hi Margaret, we are also considering a new build at this time. I have a tough time shaking this home bc it meets all our space needs now and for the for see able future. Has great bones, great neighborhood but this is not the time for us to purchase our forever home, so I went into this house search knowing I would not be buying a home I 100% love. I could grow to love the floors but those kitchen cabinets and that granite makes me say who did this and why?!

I think the faded shutters and garage light are also really irking me.. I also think the exterior color scheme being changed would help me grow to tolerate the home. I love diy and have a little budget wiggle room to do some things but the home is overpriced and the realtor is not very friendly and does not seem interested in dropping the price of the home at all.

Thank you Anglo! Very good points to consider if we put our offer in. If we do put an offer in, the home is priced at 256,900 we plan to go low. In lower 240s range.

You haven't lost anything with a low price offer that gets turned down and you just might get a yes. If it meets your needs in terms of location and size, it will be much cheaper than building and quite a bit quicker to move in. You could change out the granite if you really hate it so much, but you might decide that it isn't so bad by the time you put your own items in there.

Honestly I have lived in two houses that could be called symphony of oak. Multiple colors of oak - dark, golden, medium. I understand it is a turnoff and it is a lot of projects to paint it all out. At least in this house the trim in this house is white, so it seems just the banister and cabinets need to change colors. Is the kitchen layout ok? If so refacing and new counters would be easy and those counters could even look ok with different cabinets. I agree with above advice - do a lowball offer and if they don’t accept then you could always build, but I’m guessing building something similar would be much more expensive than cosmetic updates. I personally looked past the oak effect in my current home because it’s on a suburban lake so it seemed like a trade off. I could live on a lake in a neighborhood with mature trees where I would have to paint trim and replace flooring and upgrade a kitchen as opposed to a new build that would face other new builds that look the same without mature trees and still be limited by builder selections for fixtures and flooring. I guess you need to figure out what your trade offs are.

Nice house.

Rugs, including large area rugs or even room sized rugs, and your furniture/furnishings could cover much of the flooring you don't favor and/or draw attention away from it.

If that dark granite is on your bathroom floor, add a gel mat in a color you like to cover most of it until you can have it changed. Bonus: warmer floor for your bare feet in winter.

If the dark granite is in the kitchen as flooring, a large gel mat (or two) in a color you like could cover much of the floor there, too.

If you invest in a gel mat, pick one with a sloped edge so you don't have a stumble problem.

If the dark granite is in the kitchen as countertop, change the countertops as soon as practical. A short term solution might be to paint them -- there are ways to paint countertops (but it certainly would not be my first choice solution). Depending upon how much you hate the countertops, it could make the kitchen tolerable until your budget would enable you to change it.

Remove all the shutters -- they're unnecessary in any color anyway.

Have the entire exterior repainted in any color you want it to be -- anytime after moving in.

As soon as you move in, contact a local landscaper and tell them they can have the pear tree if they'll dig it up and refill the hole w/dirt, with several inches of topsoil on top. If you cannot give it away, cut it. If it tries to sprout new shoots from the roots, then, for at least the first growing season, you could put a green painted can upside atop the trunk/stump (and/or a lawn ornament) to keep it from sprouting and growing rather than add chemicals to your yard.

An electrician would simply extend the wiring from the circuit used for the centered overhead light to where you want your lights beside the door. In lieu of repairing the siding, you could cover the electrical box left behind, adding exterior wall art over the patch:

https://visiondemujerperonista.com/outdoor-metal-decor/outdoor-mermaid-wall-decor-elegant-in-the-sun-indoor-outdoor-metal-wall-art/

or add an arbor or shed roof over the garage doors that would cover the patched spot:

http://trialandstyle.com/editor/

or remove the box, enlarge the hole and create a window to let some natural light into the garage.

With regard to the potential water problem mentioned because of the valley created by the gables. You could check w/a local pro and see if it would be practical -- and how much it would cost -- to change the roof lines of the gable roofs:

... You might be able to make the left wall of the smaller gable taller and create a new roof line w/only one slope on the right side; or

... You might be able to increase height of the front wall and have the roof line slope only toward the back of the house, joining the slope of the existing roof at the ridge; or

... You might be able to create one gable out of the three, extending that gable all the way to the front of the garage, thus creating a larger front porch as well as forestalling any water issues. Your new forward facing gable would have two longer steeper sides but with a "cap" in the middle with less slope on each side -- standard 4/12 slope -- end up with something similar to a Gambrell roof over the garage and porch. You might even be able to end up with a balcony over your front porch extension or extend those upstairs rooms instead.

Get a sketch of any new roof line you're considering so you can see what any change will look like and how it will affect the style of your home before you commit to the changes.

Know the approximate cost of any changes you will be making in the first year and adjust your offer accordingly.

Give us an update when you decide.

Not liking the shutters and garage light are no reason not to buy a home. That’s a simple cosmetic job, and a cheap one at that. Have you had it inspected? Did they find any real,problems? That’s where you should start

And oak can be stained a darker color. If it white oak, you can go with no stain. I know the feeling about orange colored oak - yuck! but it can be worked with.

That was our next step, if we put in an offer and it is accepted, during our due dillegence period we planned to have an inspector throughly inspect the home. I have attached the floor plan, all opt upgrades are in thus home except the desk. We have 3 children but planned to have our girls share a room and keep that guest room available for sick parents. There are few light fixtures but wiring is available in all rooms for it. There is a lot of recessed lighting in lieu.

The kitchen floors are hardwood

The bathroom is tile

If you need a 5 bed home why buy a 4 bed home ?

The home is 5 Bedrooms 3.5 baths.

Bradford pears (Callery pears) are evil. Pretty in spring, but notoriously weak and short lived (20 years, tops). Philadelphia won't allow them to be planted any more along the streets--too many collapse during storms. The one next door to me lost over 1/3 of its crown a few years ago and damaged the cars parked across the street. Then it lost another big chunk a couple of years later. Now it looks like some kind of Frankentree.

Lololol@tatts

Buy the house for a good price and remodel the interior before you move in. I would worry about the exterior once you're in. Good luck!

I'm also in NC and I know the housing market is pretty lively here right now. There's nothing terrible about that house from what I can see in the pictures, so I'm going to guess there's a stubborn seller who's asking way too much or there's something coming up on inspections. I'm not a pro, but my feeling about the trim, the oak, and the granite is that it would all mellow down a little bit when you get some furnishing in there. Maybe go a little darker on the wall color, too, if it's as white as it looks in the pics. I say give them your low offer and inspect the heck out of it during due diligence. The school district, neighborhood, and ability to host your parents make it a good choice, IMO.

hartcm08 OK...just the listing said 4 that's why I was confused

A counter-depth refrigerator could make a big difference in that kitchen.

Don't worry about that pear tree! It's the old ones that were the bad ones! No multiple trunks, no problem! They're a lovely tree.

Update. The rejected our offer. We are not sad or discouraged. Unfortunately we are now looking at a builder generic home. I would love feed and thoughts on how to bring personality to the home.

Sorry it didn't work out, but won't more homes be coming on the market every day. Can you keep looking? A builder home with upgrades will end up costing so much more than an existing home with finishes you like. Also maybe if you go that route, you could buy the model home that is usually highly upgraded at a better price?

Counter, you may be closer than you think.

We tried, somehow we became caught up in a bidding war with another buyer. Our budget is important and they Have won. It’s okay it was not the home for us. It is really okay. I hope the next owner enjoys that home, it was lovely.

Keep looking and stay open-minded! we just bought a home that has what I consider some very unattractive cosmetic issues (as well as some things I like). And we can't necessarily change them immediately because we are spending the rest of our budget to remediate ceilings and refinish/install wood flooring.

After looking for 2 years, I concluded that no house (in our budget/in this market) would have all the finishes I loved. If you can try to overlook the cosmetics and focus on functionality and layout maybe it will help. It's hard to live in a house you think is ugly, but it's worse to be where things aren't functional and don't make sense.