Financial Fitness

Steer Clear: 7 Living Room Design Looks That Buyers Hate

Home decor is all about reflecting your own personal style. It’s an opportunity to use your home as a blank canvas and paint a masterpiece that is decidedly you. 

And that style is never more apparent than in your living room—the spot where your guests gather and your personality is most on display.

We’ll never tell you to betray your decor desires in this room (or the rest of your home). But if you’ve gone nuts painting your living room in wild colors or spent thousands laying down Moroccan tile, bear in mind how potential buyers might perceive your choices.

Buyers need to picture themselves living and loving that space: throwing parties, entertaining guests, enjoying a lazy Saturday with a book. If your favorite living room design looks are dated or divisive, buyers might give your home a pass. 

So ditch these seven polarizing decor choices while you still can—before they sink your chance of a sale.

1. TV looming over the fireplace

No matter which side you fall on in the great TV-over-the-fireplace debate, none of that matters when it comes time to sell. Find somewhere else for your flat-screen TV—at least temporarily.

“Today’s buyers are interested in beautiful, serene rooms with seating revolved around a focal point of beauty,” says Chicago interior designer and stager Kara O’Connor. A personality-free black box is neither serene nor beautiful.

Heads up: If you’ve already mounted your television on a wall or over the fireplace, you may have to remove the evidence after you take it down. No buyer wants to see unpatched holes in your walls.

2. Dead things

Obviously you’re not leaving dead mice lying around your living room (we hope!). Perhaps you should get rid of the enormous steer head hanging over your fireplace, too.

“We totally get it. Cowhides and taxidermy are super kitschy and trendy,” says Justin M. Riordan, a Portland designer with Spade and Archer Design Agency. “The combination of creepy and beautiful is all the rage. Unfortunately, for many, the creepy is far more powerful than the beautiful.”

Real or not, you don’t have to say goodbye to your animal skulls. Just tuck them away until the home is sold. Far away.

3. Blond wood

Don’t stain your hardwood just because you’re listing your home, but if you’re thinking about doing it anyway, O’Connor has some advice: Go dark.

“Dark, wide-plank floors are ‘in,’ and blond wood is ‘out,'” she says. “If the floors are dated, I encourage refinishing. The impact is huge.”

Alongside new baseboards and neutral paint, deep chocolate floors will give your home the modern edge that could attract on-the-fence buyers.

4. Saturated walls

Yes, your deep teal walls look rad alongside your dark wood credenza and velvet chaise. But all potential buyers see are dollar signs.

“More likely than not, your home’s next owner has some very distinct taste in furniture, which they recently spent quite a bit of money on,” Riordan says. “They are not going to buy new furniture to match your saturated wall colors.”

Many buyers do repaint before moving in, but painting over saturated tones requires more coats, more time, and, naturally, more money. And some buyers don’t want to deal with any of that.

To get the highest selling price—and the most interested buyers—paint the entire place in simple neutrals.

5. Outdated furniture

Buyers bring their own furniture. But picturing their gorgeous modern furniture in your space can be daunting if everything you own is outdated and overwhelming.

“If the furniture distracts the buyer from the square footage, a focal point, or hardwood floors, then it should be carefully edited out,” says Jill Hosking-Cartland, an interior designer in Windham, NH.

Not only might they struggle to see themselves in your place, they might also worry about the quality of your home.

“Old furniture can leave a buyer with the impression that there is a lack of attention to routine maintenance and updating,” Hosking-Cartland says.

Work with your Realtor® to stage your property using updated, on-trend furniture.

6. Narrow baseboards

New baseboards and crown molding can take a room from blah to bangin’ with an afternoon’s worth of work. But make sure the sizes and designs you choose look modern.

“Crisp, white baseboards that are a minimum of 5 inches high are preferable to the dated, 2- or 3-inch baseboards from the ’90s and early 2000s,” O’Connor says.

Teeny-tiny baseboards might not be a deal breaker, but they can make a room feel kind of off. Beware of going too big—though it is possible to overwhelm a room with your molding. Find the right size trim for your space before you embark on that weekend project.

7. Faux finishes

You might hate ordinary paint, but funking up your living space with a faux finish can be a sticking point. Even if your DIY job looks amazing, buyers see only another thing they need to change. Paint over your fake Venetian plaster, reclaimed wood, or “textured” walls before the first showing.

“Asking a buyer to adopt your specific design style is risky,” Hosking-Cartland says. “Most buyers see these polarizing design elements as work they will have to do and spend money on to make the home a reflection of their own personal style.”

Closing Chaos

Final walkthrough a buyer's best friend

Imagine this. You move into your new home for the first time after closing and, although you transferred the utilities into your name, the lights don't turn on. There isn't a single light bulb left in the house, the yard is overgrown, and the leaky faucets the sellers were to have fixed still leak. Most homebuyers aren't faced with such an unpleasant surprise. 

You can gain some degree of control over the situation by completing a walkthrough inspection of the property within five days of closing. Your purchase contract should include a clause that grants the buyers permission to do a final walkthrough inspection sometime close to the closing date. A final walkthrough provides the buyers an opportunity to verify that the property is in substantially the same condition it was when the sellers accepted their offer. The walkthrough is not a contingency of the contract that gives the buyers the right of approval or disapproval. 

Your purchase contract should require the sellers to maintain the property in its present condition until closing. So, if a window breaks before closing, the sellers would be responsible for fixing it, depending on the verbiage in the contract. During the walkthrough, the buyers can also confirm the completion of any work the seller agreed to do before closing. 

Ask the sellers to provide you copies of invoices for work done before closing. Keep these documents in your house file for future reference. If sellers made repairs themselves, they should provide an itemization of work completed that describes what they did. HOUSE HUNTING TIP: It's a good idea to have your REALTOR® accompany you on the final walkthrough and take notes as necessary. If the property isn't in the same condition it was when you agreed to buy it, put this in writing and have your REALTOR® contact the sellers' agent to inform them of the items remaining to be done before closing. 

Your purchase contract should include a provision for the sellers to deliver the property to the buyers free of personal property and debris, unless otherwise agreed to in writing. For example, the sellers might have agreed to leave the washer, dryer, and refrigerator with the house, and the buyers accepted the offer. These items are usually considered personal property, unless they're built in. If the sellers moved these items out or the movers did by mistake, they would need to be returned by closing unless you make other arrangements with the sellers.

 It can be very helpful if the sellers agree to do a walkthrough with the buyers to show them things about the home that the buyers would have difficulty figuring out on their own, like the location of obscure light switches or how to operate retractable skylights. If something is disclosed about the property that should have been disclosed earlier, put it in writing. If it's something significant, talk to your real estate agent or attorney about how best to resolve the issue. 

Keep in mind that most real estate agents are not licensed to practice law. Also, seller disclosure laws vary by state. Doing a final walkthrough to verify the condition of your new home can be complicated if it's tenant-occupied. If you are buying a tenant-occupied property to live in, your contract should provide for the property to be vacant several days before closing. THE CLOSING: That way you can walk through the property free of tenants' belongings before you close the deal.

Positively Perfect

Don't skimp on title insurance

Most people are trying to cut costs these days. Some even wonder if it's necessary to pay for title insurance when they buy or sell a home. 

Skimping here could end up costing plenty if you discover a title defect after you own the property. Title insurance is paid for once at closing and covers the property for as long as you own it. 

It protects the purchaser from financial loss deriving from defects in the title to the property. The premium cost varies depending on the title insurance company, and is usually based on the purchase price. Who pays the title insurance premium often depends on local custom and can vary from one county to the next. For instance, if you were to sell a home in Los Angeles County, where the seller usually pays for title insurance, and buy in Alameda County, where the buyers usually pay, you'll pay for title insurance twice during one move. Buyers typically pay the premium to cover their lender's interest in the property. 

The payment of title insurance is not set by law and can be negotiated between the buyer and seller, although local custom usually prevails. Whatever is agreed to in the purchase agreement will dictate who pays the premium. A buyer who was an attorney thought title insurance was expensive and a waste of money. Given his legal expertise, he decided he'd search the title record himself to avoid paying the title premium. In the end, his agent talked him out of the do-it-yourself approach based on the risks involved. Title insurance companies search the title to a property to make sure that there aren't any defects in the chain of title. 

They also look for liens and easements recorded against the property, as well as establish who has marketable title to the property. In one case, the title company discovered when searching the chain of title that when the property sold to the current owner, an heir to the estate had not signed the deed transferring title. This meant that person still had rights to the property. Fortunately, the title company located the heir, who was reputable. She relinquished any interest she had in the property. If the heir hadn't been cooperative, the current owner could have made a claim against the title insurance company that issued title insurance to him when he bought the property. 

Title companies usually issue a preliminary title report, which is an offer to provide title insurance on the property. It is not the insurance policy, but it shows the results of the title search. You and your real estate agent or real estate attorney should examine the preliminary report carefully to make sure the person who has marketable title to the property is the person who signed the purchase agreement. Also check for liens secured against the property. Easements grant the right to use the property to someone other than the owner. Common easements are for utilities, sewer, and drainage. Ask the title company to provide written copies of any easement and CC&Rs (covenants, conditions and restrictions), and to locate the easements in color on a copy of the parcel map. 

You can't build over an easement. Both CC&Rs, typically found in condominiums and planned-use developments, and easements restrict your use of the property. Make sure you understand how these will affect your ownership interests before you complete a purchase. If you find defects in the title, make it a condition of the purchase that the seller cures the defects before closing. Make sure that your purchase agreement includes a clause that gives you that right. THE CLOSING: Ask your title officer, REALTOR® or attorney for answers to any title-related questions. 

Bamboo It Up!