Buy to let investors who are trying to attract new tenants may want to take heed of a recent annual survey which lists home seekers’ most hated eye-sores.

With Christmas just around the corner it’s interesting to note that festive lights have slipped down the rankings of home seekers’ most hated eye-sores, according to the latest research by propertyfinder.com.

This year, over-enthusiastic Christmas lights took 5th position, down from 2nd position in 2007 and 3rd in November 2006.

Home buyers have previously given Christmas bling a very frosty reception. But the survey of over 1,000 home hunters in November 2008 revealed that far fewer people now say that over-the-top lights would put them off buying or renting a home.

This year, 43 percent of home buyers and renters said that they would be put off a house which was over enthusiastically decked with Christmas decorations, and 24 percent said they would be put off if there were a home nearby decorated in the same way. Last year these figures were 76 percent and 36 percent respectively.

Nicholas Leeming, director of propertyfinder.com, said: “These figures reflect a change in the mix of home seekers. First we are seeing more renters who indicate location and price are more important to them. And second, among the buyers people are concentrating on looking for bargains.

“A large proportion of serious property hunters in the current market are landlords seeking cheaper properties while they are good value and while stamp duty is suspended. If they are renting out the property they are likely to be less concerned about the tone of the area than a buyer looking to live there. This goes a long way towards explaining why Christmas lights – previously seen as vulgar by many buyers – have gone up in favour.

“But we also believe there is a sense that in this economic climate, people are more grateful for a bit of light relief. I predict that not only will people be more tolerant, and even happy about over-enthusiastic Christmas lights, but more people will be throwing themselves into the Christmas spirit and decorating their own home a bit more than usual in 2008
“January is always a busy time to go home hunting, so make sure you remove signs of Christmas by New Year.”