When SSQ and I were in the market for our first home, we knew we wanted a 3 bedroom. We had Paul and David, and we knew we'd have more, so even though the Realtor kept urging us to buy a 2 BR so we could 'buy up' later, we resisted. I knew what we could afford cause I'd been in the mortgage bidness when we were in FL, so I'd check out the newspaper 'for sale by owner' houses as well. We saw one advertised, and called the folks. We told them we'd drive by, and if it looked like something we liked, we'd call them back. We drove by and SSQ said "We gotta buy that house"! We called them and went right by. We found out from the neighbors later that it had been on the market with Realtors for almost 3 yrs! It was the decorating that turned people off, I'm sure. The LR had hot pink/cherry red shag carpet and cherry red satin draperies. The furniture was green brocade with plastic coverings and there was a plastic mat that went across the floor so that your shoes never touched the carpet. The kitchen cabinets were DARK stained birch, the walls were puce green, avocado appliances, and the floor was black vinyl with a green and gold design. Nasty, it was.
My very first thought on entering the house, and seeing the 6' cased opening into the LR from the hall foyer was "That opening will look GREAT draped with greenery at Christmas!" And it did!
We lived in that house for 6 - 1/2 yrs. and re-did every single room; painting, wallpaper, ripping up that crappy carpet and finding gorgeous hardwood floors underneath it. The Fall of 1987 we contracted to have a gorgeious big deck put on the back and new cabinets in the kitchen. The deck was almost finished, and the cabinets and new appliances were ordered when SSQ came home and said he had a job opportunity here in MA. Oh well. It got to enjoy my new deck about 2 weeks before the winter got too cold, and my new kitchen was installed 3 weeks before Clare was born, and we left for MA 2 weeks after that!