Okay, I admit to using a catchy title to get you to read this because I have noticed a shift in buyer thinking that concerns me. If you are a buyer, a seller, or someone that works with either, please read on...
Yes, I am an Accredited Buyers Representative, and I work really hard for my buyers, but honestly Buyers of The World, it is time to realize that you are buying a house, not a custom made, one-of a kind piece of art. Sure, you might have high expectations, and I believe we all should. But at what point do our high expectations 
cripple our ability to make a decision?
A friend and colleague of mine came over this morning for coffee. We hadn't caught up in a while and I wanted to hear how her business was going. She had just left the showing of a home that her buyer had rejected because the ceiling was dirty. It was a popcorn-style ceiling (which I have had plenty of buyers reject), but that wasn't the issue. The issue was that it appeared not to have been dusted lately and there was a sort of gray shadow where the dust had built up. Of course, my friend offered the quick, easy, and INEXPENSIVE solution of having it painted and Buyer said no, she was looking for something cleaner. Mind you, this house was priced very competitively.
Back in the hey-day, dirt was a non-issue...along with inspections, conveyances and everything else that we regularly put into purchase contracts. That wasn't so good either. There is nothing wrong with a buyer asking a seller to get their house in order, literally. A clean house is always easier to sell, and certainly easier to buy.
But what happened to buying a well-priced home that requires a little bit of personalization or updating? Didn't buyers used to be better at seeing the possibilities and writing the contract accordingly? You thought the house needed to be painted, so you factored that into the offer price. You thought the carpet was beyond its useful life so you asked for either replacement or credit for new carpeting? I remember when a house not having hardwood was hardly a show stopper. Now days buyers act insulted if a seller offers a home with carpet in the family room. Or worse yet, they reject it outright rather than getting an estimate to see how much it would cost to install wood floors. What happened to the creativity? Didn't we used to compensate for buyer issues with the numbers in the contract--rather than rejecting the house out of hand for minor problems?
Is it all of these television shows that show the public how easy buying can be? Wrap it up in an hour after viewing 3 homes? Those homes don't always seem perfect and it looks like the purchasers often need to compromise. I'm not sure where this expectation of perfection has come from.
If you are considering a purchase, please keep in mind that unless you are building a home from scratch (and believe me, that will require its own list of compromises), you are likely buying a well-loved, well-lived in home. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder. You can make the choice to see a home with all of its possibilities (does it have good bones? does it flow the way that best suits your lifestyle?) or with all of its faults (carpet is dirty, paint needs to be refreshed, you don't like white appliances). Please know that I am not encouraging you to buy something that doesn't meet your needs, but most homes are not turn-key (even if they might appear to be at first glance).
Buyers, if you can remain open to the possibilities you might be surprised at how perfect--for you-- that dated home can be!
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