Prospective home buyers would do well to look past an ugly-duckling facade — they may find a potential swan at a bargain price, writes Harvey Grennan.

Having a Gen-X child looking for a house is frustrating for a real-estate tragic like me. For her, everything must be just so: gorgeous street presentation, chic kitchen and bathroom, trendy colours. Never mind that the timber floor sits just millimetres off sodden ground and is full of dry rot, or that the roofline bends and twists like Chubby Checker. “It's just so cute, Dad,” my daughter says. “It screams 'Buy me!'” Fortunately, some other mug does.

Out of the question, apparently, is the sturdily built 1960s red-brick number up the road with faux-marble kitchen, and purple bathroom. Perish the thought that you can render the brickwork, change the aluminium windows facing the street and add a verandah, perhaps. Then rip out the kitchen and bathroom, and repaint and re-carpet. Yet such a renovation might well stand up to the years better than a Victorian 'gem' with rising damp.

My current home sat on the market for years before I bought it. Each room was a different colour — green walls with pink cornices, pink walls with purple. Buyers would take one look and walk out. But the house was beautifully constructed, with high ceilings, wide corridors and expensive fittings. We ended up solving all the home's problems for not a lot of money.

Looking at houses in Sydney's inner west, I'm struck by how many have had a superficial makeover. In the real world, old plaster tends to fail, unseen timbers rot and the latest paint shades do nothing to solve the problem of asbestos fibres in old fibro linings.

Sydney building inspector and architect Richard Meth, says he sees these 'style makeovers' all the time. “Makeover often means 'cover up' and the cheapest ways to do this are usually paint, landscaping, fencing and furnishings. Small clues such as slightly uneven floor levels can reveal hidden subsidence. What's below and above you and what you can't see are much more important,” he says.

Red-brick horrors built in the '60s and '70s tend to be solid and lend themselves to economical renovation. Better to buy a house with a horrid kitchen than one which had a cheap update 10 years ago; both will need ripping out but you'll pay extra for the more modern one.

Unattractive features are often easily fixed but structural problems can be expensive, and sometimes impossible, to rectify. When it comes to identifying the difference, a good building inspection is worth its weight in gold.

Hidden potential

Look for a good layout, or one that can be easily rectified with a cost-effective addition. On internet listings, the floor plan and photos will tell you much more than the agent's poetic blurb.

Are the ugly features of the house easy to overcome? Bagging horrible bricks is not costly. Replacing every window is expensive but not if you do only the front windows. It's almost always worth replacing an old kitchen, but could you save the bathroom with just new fittings?

Check whether gutters and fascias are in good condition. Is the roof straight? Inside, is the plaster drummy (peeling off the wall) or bubbling? Look under the house for moisture and other problems.

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