How many times have you heard someone on a home renovation show comment about a house having good bones? Or maybe your Realtor has prepped you to see a fixer upper in poor condition by assuring you it has good bones. Or you might have heard this phrase as a caveat prefacing an invitation to see your friend’s new fixer. 

“Good bones” is a colloquial real estate phrase that gets thrown around quite a bit – usually in reference to a home that might need new flooring, fresh paint, kitchen and bath remodels, or other obvious updates – but what does it actually mean? 

Let’s start with the structure.

When someone says that a house has good bones, structurally, this often means that the home is well built with a solid foundation, sound roof, good framing, and major systems that appear to be in good shape. 

This doesn’t mean that a house with good bones will never need new plumbing or electrical, but it generally means that the home appears to be structurally sound. 

When shopping for a home, this often translates into needing lots of updates but hopefully not having any major systems in dire need of repair or replacement. 

Then there is the floor plan. 

Having good bones does not only refer to what is behind the walls; it often also refers to how the house lives. 

Are there spacious rooms, a well-positioned kitchen, and good flow between indoor and outdoor living spaces? If the home needs paint, flooring, popcorn ceiling removal, and updated windows, but you don’t have to move the kitchen, knock down half of the walls, or relocate plumbing to make it work, it probably has good bones. 

Proportion and balance also matter. 

Good bones can refer to a home that just makes sense. The rooms don’t have to be huge for a home to feel workable. Proportion and balance are central to how it feels to live in a home. 

Think: rooms that feel welcoming and make sense, comfortable ceiling heights, hallways that aren’t weird and awkward, well-placed windows, and finding the room you expect to find when you open a door. 

Natural light is also part of it. 

A house with good natural light has a major advantage.

Paint, flooring, fixtures, and furniture can all be changed fairly easily. The orientation of the home, placement of its windows, surrounding structures, mature trees, and the path of the sun are much harder to alter.

In the Ojai Valley, where indoor-outdoor living and the surrounding landscape are such an important part of many homes, light can have an enormous impact on how a property feels.

A dated room filled with beautiful afternoon light may have far more potential than a newly remodeled room that always feels dark.

Original character – and even quirks – can be part of the good bones. 

Older homes often have details that are not easy to replicate or would not feel authentic if you tried to reproduce them. Things like original woodwork, built-ins, unique windows, original fireplaces, vintage tile, plaster walls, and interesting architectural details give a house its unique charm and personality. 

Not every bit of original character is going to be appealing or functional today, but don’t be too quick to dismiss quirks or add replacing original details to the remodel list without at least considering what they are adding to the home. 

For example, if you are preparing to sell a home that might be referred to as having good bones, keep in mind that buyers looking in Ojai are often drawn to homes that feel connected to their setting and history. 

Good bones do not mean the house doesn’t need work. 

Quite the opposite: “Good bones” is not a phrase that is used to describe turnkey homes. 

It can sometimes mean you could move into the home and live in it while you update it, but it rarely would be used to describe a home that doesn’t need at least some work. 

In most cases, it means that most folks would think the home needs a decent amount of work but that the underlying qualities of the home make that work worth doing. 

Minimally, a home that is described as having good bones probably needs walls painted, floors refinished, kitchen and bath updates, and upgrades like replacing old light fixtures or single-pane windows.

If you are trying to determine if a home has good bones, separate the things you just don’t like from the things that would be difficult or expensive to change. 

If you hate the kitchen counters but the layout works, you can’t stand the paint color but the rooms are well proportioned, the carpet is threadbare but the natural light is on point, and every room has a popcorn ceiling but the foundation is in good shape, then you are very likely looking at a home that has good bones. 

If you can see past the shag carpeting, questionable décor choices, and overgrown landscaping, you might just find some good bones with a lot of potential under there. 

When buyers walk into a home, it is easy to get distracted by the things right in front of them.

The paint color is wrong. The flooring feels dated. The kitchen cabinets are not their style. The bathroom tile looks like it has been there since 1987.

And sometimes those things matter.

But sometimes they matter far less than the things buyers cannot change at all.

You can replace a countertop. You cannot move a view of the Topa Topa Bluffs into the backyard.

That distinction is worth remembering when you are looking at homes in the Ojai Valley.

Every house has two categories of features: the ones that can be changed with enough time, money, and effort, and the ones that are simply part of the property.

Paint is changeable. Light fixtures are changeable. Flooring, appliances, landscaping, cabinetry, and even entire kitchens can be changed.

But the location is the location.

The orientation of the house on the lot is unlikely to change. Neither are the mountain views, the mature oak tree outside the kitchen window, the distance from neighboring homes, the afternoon light, the size of the lot, or the feeling of the street when you pull up.

Those are the things worth paying especially close attention to.

One reason buyers sometimes overlook a good house is that cosmetic problems demand attention.

An unusual wall color can make an entire room feel wrong. Heavy furniture can make a perfectly reasonable space seem small. Dated window treatments can block beautiful natural light. A kitchen that has not been updated in decades can make it difficult to imagine anything else.

That first impression is powerful, but when you are touring a home, try mentally removing some of those layers.

What would the room feel like with lighter paint?

What would happen if the oversized furniture disappeared?

Are the cabinets truly unusable, or are they simply not your favorite color?

Could new lighting dramatically change the space?

Sometimes a house that feels dated is really a house with excellent bones that is just wearing an outdated wardrobe.

Natural light is a feature that can be improved at least a bit, but it is difficult to manufacture.

You can change curtains, trim vegetation, add mirrors, repaint the walls a lighter shade, or even install larger windows, but the direction a house faces, the placement of its windows, nearby buildings, mature trees, and the way sunlight moves through the home are largely built into the property.

When you walk through a house, notice where the light comes from and which rooms feel bright and welcoming. Notice if you find yourself naturally drawn toward a particular window or view. Also notice if the house just feels dark or heavy in a way that easy fixes are not going to improve.

In the Ojai Valley, some of the most valuable qualities of a property may have very little to do with the house.

It may be the enormous oak tree that has been growing there for generations, the quiet street, the mountain views from the patio, the ability to walk to the farmers market, the privacy of the lot, or the way the backyard already feels like a welcoming retreat. 

You can remodel the kitchen and repaint the bedrooms, but you cannot move the house closer to town, create a view that does not exist, or quickly create mature, retreat-worthy landscaping that took 20 years to get where it is.

There is an important difference between cosmetic issues and significant property problems.

A dated bathroom is one thing; a major foundation issue is another.

An unattractive light fixture is easy to replace; a floor plan that simply does not work for you may be much harder to solve.

Buyers should absolutely consider the condition of major systems, necessary repairs, renovation costs, insurance considerations, and whether the house realistically fits their needs and budget.

Not every flaw is easily or affordably fixable, but it is worth weighing each one and deciding what you could live with, what you could change, and what may ultimately be a dealbreaker.

When you find yourself rejecting a house, it can help to ask: Am I reacting to the property, or am I reacting to the way it looks today?

The answer to this question will help determine whether the house really is not the right one for you, or whether it might have the location, natural light, setting, and feel you have been looking for once you can see past the paint color, old carpet, or somebody else's decorating choices.

If you are thinking about buying or selling a home in Ojai, Meiners Oaks, Mira Monte, Oak View, or elsewhere in the Ojai Valley, Nora Davis & The Davis Group would be happy to help you look at the whole picture and find the right home for you.