A real estate agent told me that a customer decides to buy/not buy a house as soon as they put their hand on the front door knob. If he decides to buy, he'll look at the rest of the house looking for a reason not to.
I.e. putting in an expensive door knob is a good plan!
Also make sure the door operates smoothly and is well-aligned.
There's a reason the three most important things in real estate are "Location, location, location"
None of those are "door knob, door knob, door knob!"
Certainly wasn't the case for any of the houses I've bought. All were compromises in various ways; none were houses we loved on first sight.
Have you ever driven by a prospective purchase and never bothered to get out of the car?
> All were compromises in various ways
That's true of just about everything.
No, if we took the time to go to the place, we at least looked at it. I don't remember ever driving up to any property and just turning around.
Did we rule looking at something based on photos/descriptions? Yes, certainly.
Photos tend to focus on the house, not the setting. A big deal for me is the relationship of the house to the sun, the neighborhood, the view, privacy, traffic, noise, etc.
> A real estate agent told me
Whatever you wanted to hear to make them the most amount of money in the(ir) least amount of time.
They are the sellers agent.
You should not trust them a millimetre further than that.
(I bought my current house based on a spreadsheet analysis. Doorknobs are easy to replace, foundations, walls, electric, a lot harder.)
You seem to be assuming that the real estate agent was in the process of selling them a house.