Sorry, forgot to ask: what would I be looking at cost wise if I were to contract out the removal of the wallpaper and paint? Just curious if any contractors or others who've gone through this could chime in. Thanks!

Painting that red room would probably cost $300-400 by a pro, depending on where you are.

What do the recent comps say similar homes in the area are selling for? Most agents would put a list price on it that takes the wallpaper/upgrades needed into consideration. Are the similar homes selling for into the 300s/400s? If so, they have priced it with needed repairs in mind.

Get comps pulled on it then base your offer on what it's worth to you.

Thanks to the first three responders! This house was at the bottom of our consideration list as the wife was wary about everything I mentioned. My argument is it is about $65k lower in price than her favorite and well within our budget (her fav is move in ready and very modern). I'll have to take a second look at the house and study the wallpaper based on midcentury's recommendation. My biggest concern is the bathrooms as they tend to have stronger glue to prevent peeling from moisture...might be difficult to remove. The house has been reduced $6k after just 3 weeks on the market, so maybe it has been adjusted already. Houses of the same size have tax appraisals of about $325k or so.

In my experience, the wallpaper removal will be easier, and most likely less expensive, than remodeling a kitchen or bath and replacing tile and carpet depending on square footage. It'll be even less if you do the work yourself. We paid about the same for carpet in a portion of our house as we did to have every wall painted plus wallpaper removed. Our house had wallpaper on more than 50% of the walls when we bought it. I wouldn't consider it an extreme expense at all.

No brainer, get the favorite move in ready, if you can afford it.

Wow, they surely loved that wallpaper. This is a cost calculator I used for various jobs: http://www.homewyse.com/services/cost_to_remove_wallpaper.html . It gives a good idea whether a home repair task is expensive or not. Whoever does painting is usually also removing wallpaper, and it really isn't expensive, just messy. I don't find the kitchen particularly offensive, although I would probably update the appliances. A realtor should be able to help you price the house.

Run. Run straight to the move-in ready house.

I'd still say you need to get SOLD comps. Off the top of my head, on active listings, I'd say go with the move in ready, but you really want sold comps to know if they are both priced correctly. If the modern one is smaller, or not as good of a location (ie has neighbors backing up to it, or on a busier street), then you might find that it isn't such a bargain. Or you might be able to lowball the other and get it a lot cheaper.

Get the sold comps, and get some local contractors to bid the renovations THEN make a decision.

Which one has the better location? I took down wallpaper that was put up in the 50's. That was a job. Next removal was put up late 70's very easy removal in 2 baths and kitchen.

Some wallpaper was made to be easily strippable, but walls needed to be properly sized first. That paper -usually fabric-backed -can sometimes be pulled off by the entire sheet almost without effort. Trying to remove unsized paper can be a royal PITA and may result in drywall damage.

Even if you damage the walls when the paper is removed, you can skim them, prime them and paint them. It's a process. Wall paper can be painted, too. It's not ideal, and you will see the seams, but it can be done.

It's work. But, you may be able to get a really good home for less if you are willing to put in the time, effort and expense.

The two houses are about 3 miles apart, so both are in good locations. This house is located in a small development, ungated with low traffic, but located near one of the two exits. The other house is in a gated community but located right next to an auxiliary/backup exit next to a 4 lane highway.

This house is just under 2800 sq ft 3 bed-2.5 bath and the positives for me are a study/flex room, low maintenance yard, rear entry garage, jack and jill baths upstairs, room for a clawfoot tub in the master bath (eventually), space for a sitting area in the master.

The other house is 3500 sq ft (too far over our 2500 sq ft limit, just 2 of us), 4 bed-3.5 bath. Positives for the asking price are game area upstairs, theatre area (unneeded), jack and jill baths + extra bath upstairs ( with half bath and master down), hand scraped hardwood on bottom level inc'l master, modern stainless steel appliances, arguably more energy efficient, study, built-in wine cooler, gated access, move-in ready, possibly no issues for first 5 years at least. Negatives are relatively small master bath, front facing garage, price.

Whichever one is located next to the 4 lane highway is the one I would NOT buy.

From the pictures you have shown us, I like it - except for the wallpaper, that is. You were right about the gag reflex. But it looks very clean and well cared for.

I would look around for someone in your area to give you an estimate on wallpaper removal, and then take that cost into consideration when you make your offer. No way would I attempt to do it myself. I don't know how, and I would probably do damage to the drywall if I tried. Do painting contractors do wallpaper removal? Or maybe they know someone who does.

The cost may be extreme, and it might not. You won't know until you ask.

The kitchen, bath, and LR sizes are all very generous and get plenty of light, which is definitely a huge plus in my book. Kitchen cabinets and bath vanities also look to be in good condition. I wouldn't let the wall paper deter me from making an offer and ultimately negotiating to buy the house. Wallpaper to me is a cosmetic that can easily be remedied. Talk to your realtor as to what you should offer. You can start low and go up if needed. You never know what the seller will be willing to accept. I agree with Cpartist: stay away from the house by the highway exit!

I wouldn't purchase a home near a highway. That would be a deal breaker for me. Also, as you said that larger home seems to be way more space then needed. You would be paying for space you probably won't even be using. I would go with the wallpaper house. Have your RE ask the seller if you can have a pro come out to do a cost estimate of the wallpaper removal. Then you will have an actual cost of the job and whether it is something you want to pay for or negotiate the selling price with. Painting the rooms is an easy DIY project. The kitchen doesn't look that bad. I would change the hardware to black in color to match the counters. The other projects you can do on down the line as your budget permits (I would be ripping out the carpet in the bathroom first. That is just nasty to me). But which ever home you choose best of luck to you!

It looks well-maintained to me. All the changes are cosmetic. I would change the floors immediately upon moving in-that's what we did in our current place too. The wallpaper can be taken care of. I don't know how expensive it is-why won't you give a call to some pros, and ask them, very generally, how much they take for wallpaper removal. Hard to imagine it will be something indescribably expensive.

I don't have any gag reflex-it's just a busy wallpaper with horrid borders that was picked long ago and not by me:)

The location is pretty much the only thing you can't change..

After that, the good floor plan-extremely important, and very hard and costly to change if it's bad

I wouldn't want to have to maintain a huge house I don't really need, that's also next to the major highway. As move in ready as it could possibly be.

Even though it depends of course-the maps show our current place being kinda close to the highway. What the maps don't show-we're on the hill high up that highway..:) We don't hear it, we don't see it, it doesn't change the feel of the paradise around.. we only have the luxury to get on it pretty fast:)

I think when you see THE house-you'll know. Maybe you have to continue looking.

Except for the wallpaper, paint in that one room, and flooring, the house looks great. I don't think it looks dated either. I agree with getting comps for houses in the area that are move-in ready, deduct the cost of redoing the walls and floors and go from there. Great calculator btw, Lys. I think you'll find that the price has already been adjusted for those things. I too wouldn't want to live near a highway.

65K cheaper than the competition because of the wallpaper? Snap it up!! Forget any house near a highway. That is a serious unfixable problem.

Buy and paint. That's how you get equity right away. It will be beautiful as it is all neutral except the wallpaper.

Shameless plug for my favorite colors right now (and I've done a lot of houses).

Sea Salt Sherwin Williams

Blue Drizzle Sherwin williams

Icy Breeze Sherwin Williams

Silver Lagoon Sherwin Williams.

Beach Glass Benjamin Moore.

Can you tell I'm into the watery, sea colors, after years of gray-beige?.

If the house had no wallpaper and was painted completely in a neutral color, how would you feel about it? How would it rank compared to the other house?

I would wonder what is under the wallpaper. Were the walls painted first? Is it peelable wallpaper? some paper will just pull right off the wall...you might want to check that first. Otherwise, no brainer, I would buy it.

@hoovb, the more I look at the potential of the house, the more I'm wanting to go for it. The wallpaper becomes more invisible every day. Unfortunately, the wife is going the opposite direction now. Our first house needed some TLC and while not traumatic at all, she just wants something move ready with little $$ commitment other than furniture and a fridge. She's basically put off by the wallpaper and flooring. Oh well, we'll keep it on the list and if it sells, that'll be a missed opportunity. Of course the other house by the highway is still one of her favs and I'm fighting her about the price, LOL. In the meantime, here are a couple of additional pics of the subject house....

That's a very nice house - quite attractive. I've removed tons of wallpaper over the years. It's not that hard. Now that I'm in my 70's, I hire someone. It cost me $125 to have the paper removed from my kitchen. This is such an easily fixed problem! Just do it before you move in and paint before, too, and the house WILL be move- in ready. A nearby highway is NOT fixable and your wife will have a lot more money to play with by buying the less expensive house. This is a no-brainer!

Nice house, the bones are there. Agree with Anglophilia(and everybody else))

PS one condo in our community was sold for, like, 60 K less than the others because the owners put an orange carpet.. For the resale..))

Very irritating for the neighbors, since it brought everybody's comps down a bit.

But the owners didn't care-they wanted to move across the state, and to do that ASAP.

And somebody got a really sweet deal. Even if they put hardwood everywhere instead of that unfortunate orange carpet,,))

This is a warning to people who want to sell -- take care of these issues first. We got our very solid and well-maintained house for a very good price because it needed some TLC. We had those red walls in the dining room also, and my daughter refused to let me repaint them. So I worked with them and I'm very pleased by the results. It took us 3 weeks from close to move-in to do the roof, paint most of the interior, remove popcorn ceiling, remove carpet and refinish floors, install hardwood in one room and tile another, remove a built-in bar in the living room, change the lighting, switch the position of the fridge and stove and install a vent hood. And it cost us less than half of 65K. Don't be scared by wallpaper.

We moved into our home 3.5 years ago. It was on and off the market for quite a long time so we got what I think was a good deal. I think it was because of the decor and wallpaper. Lots of wallpaper. We hired a painter/contractor to paint the entire interior, including removing the kitchen wallpaper. They did have to skim coat some of the walls. The price wasn't exhorbitant.

I would not buy a house bigger than you want/need. That will cost more $ in the long run. I also wouldn't buy near the highway exit.

Good luck!

Buy it. Now. It's adorable. That's the easiest sweat equity you'll ever earn. It's a new enough house that I would bet money they primed and sized the walls before it went up. If that's the case then you will be able to get it to practically fall off the wall with a few cheap tools (highly recommend the Paper Tiger).

Get the house you want to live in. Changing paint and wallpaper are minor and temporary issues and you can have it done if you can't or won't do it. Then it's yours. You can't move or resize a home, and you might wind up changing things you didn't think you would.

My current home had wallpaper like that in the kitchen, breakfast room, 2 bedrooms (complete with the borders), 3 full baths and one half bath (one bath was a Jack and Jill so that was almost like another half bath or two), pink carpet in the MBR, dusty rose paint in the DR and a pale rosy/mauve paint everywhere else. The off white carpet in the other rooms was beyond reclaiming and the tile needed replacing. We did most of the tile removal, all of the wallpaper removal and all of the paint other than the stairwell and entry ourselves. I would do all that again or pay someone else to do it before I would buy a house next to a freeway (more so for a exit -- that means stops, starts and some crashes, all of which will be louder than steady traffic).

The house before this one also had wallpaper in all the baths and kitchen/breakfast room -- but no floor to ceiling plus borders bedrooms. We did all those ourselves too, but we thought the paint was fresh and neutral enough to not have to repaint. Until they moved out their furniture and ours went in. It had a similar pale mauve tone paint (not to mention the scuffs, scrapes and the area behind an armoire they didn't paint) so we painted that one too. Moral of that story -- be careful wwhat you think is move-in ready. It can sometimes fool you.

Just saw the paper tiger rec. I tell people to stay away form those. We tried it in the half bath of the last house and it did more damage than good. We wound up repairing the wall, skimming all the wallpaper seams, doing a shellac primer to bind the paper to the drywall and seal out moisture that could loosen it and then going over that. Obviously some folks ha e better luck with them, so you might try it. Just know there is another routre when all esle fails As the guy ho advised us said, if paper is that well adhered to the wall, it isn't likely to peel off when you paint over it. The shellac primer gives extra assurance and the skimming over the seams gives you a smooth finish.

If you are planning to live there a long time go with the location and the floor plan and put in the floors and redo walls/paint the way YOU want to live. The seller is likely going to end up eating the cost of the "upgrades" in their sales price because I'd expect the house to sell below comps. Rarely people are very eager to buy a house and pay top dollar because they love it but that hasn't happened yet with this house. Most people who walk through that house are going to offer below asking (no matter what asking price is). The seller may end up losing more due to a reduced sales price than if they had paid what it would take to de-personalize their decorating before listing.

1965 wall cloth is a B***** to get off. Pasted on to wall with NO paint or primer. It comes off in pieces and leaves strings on the wall. Been there, done that. This wall paper will not be bad at all. Best case: Vinyl coated dry strippable. Even if it is regular wallpaper, you grab a corner and pull, it will leave a paper backing on the wall. Spray with plain water, and it will come right off. Clean wall with vinegar and water, prime, and paint. I haven't ever used anything except a wide putty knife or a plastic scrubbie like you would use on dishes. No steamer, no tool that scratches the paper. It is a lot harder to put paper up than to take off (done both).

Whatever you do, do not buy the house by the highway. If you ever decide to move, it will be sitting if the market isn't as hot as it is today. The three most important things are always location, location and location.

I think the house you want is adorable.

It's just wallpaper. Make it into a silly story to tell, and dedicate a room a month to it. Eventually it gets done (or dedicate $$ each month, and paysomeone else once you've saved up!)

I'm wondering if your wife's reluctance to buy anything other than "move-in ready" doesn't have something to do with your desire to DIY and then never getting it finished. There are such husbands out there! And their wives learn to be very leery of any house that requires work. If you have such a track record, PROMISE her that it will all be done professionally BEFORE you move into the house and give her the money now to do so!

why don't you just bring a paint and paper guy in to give an estimate for removal of paper and paint. I'm guessing it's not as bad as you think.

A vacant house with that kind of decorating would make me think it's a little old lady's house and she either died or moved in with family/assisted living etc. That would mean family is eager to sell. You can look at tax records for owners name, and Google local obituaries for that name, and see if owner died.

I would think you can probably get it cheap, considering wallpaper, most likely family situation, and going into the slow selling season for most locations (except florida).

Just saw the additional exterior photos that OP posted ... where is the back yard? Is there any yard access at all? Any windows facing the back yard?

I know the peeps at GW hate front facing garages, but I would not sacrifice a back yard to get a rear entry garage. No spot to put a few lounge chairs and enjoy nature.

Also, why are the AC units fenced in? I've lived in several states across the US and have never seen them fenced in like this! Is the area prone to AC unit theft? Strange!

I think these are what we call "Patio Homes" with very small yards. They are very popular with retirees who no longer want to do yard work. As for the AC units, yes, in some parts of the country people DO steal these - saw it once on an HGTV show - Flip or Flop. In my neighborhood, we put up trellis or something to simply hide them, even in a totally fenced in backyard.

@anglopholia, actually, we both wish to have something move in ready. If we need to do fixes like this house, I'm all about doing whatever fixes initially and being done with it.

@chipsa, this is a "garden home"...there are only small side yards and barely a porch leading off of the of the side of the house. I'll post a pic. Basically a nice view of the house next door. The yard maintenance is included, so this is a positive for me. I really don't need more than what this house offers. Wife wants a little more.

The fenced in A/C units are common out here. In this neighborhood, the houses that have their units closer to the street actually have ornate cages with padlocks. A/C theft is a real thing out here in ALL neighborhoods.

Well jeez... if you want it move in ready, then make it move in ready. Get an estimate for removal/painting, make your offer based on that information - maybe you offer less, or maybe you decide to eat some or all of the cost. And then time the closing so you can get er done before you move in.

Or keep looking til you find what you're looking for. Seems very simple. Unless there are some other issues.

Whew! That paper is ugly, but it sounds like you're getting the house way below price--probably because it needs some remodeling. I would go for it. My husband and I have renovated houses, and removing paper is relatively easy. Painting the burgundy room would be even easier. If you can't do it yourself, get some estimates.

You know ... there isn't wallpaper ALL OVER that house. It's just the kitchen and one bathroom.

She's going to lose the right-sized, less costly, quieter house because of wallpaper? And bathrooms that aren't trendy?

You say "outdated" ... but are they in NEED of replacement and refurbishment or is this a personal taste thing?

I'd easily ignore the wallpaper when viewing the house. Move in ready isn't a good reason to buy the wrong house. Look past it and decide which is best in the long term. Do NOT buy near a highway.