Buying a property - does it matter what's next-door?

wessexw

I think it could be really depressing with grieving relatives turning up to the funeral directors all the time.

LittleMissAspie

DVardysShadow wrote: »

Looked at a lovely house [unfortunately with a structural issue] next to a graveyard once. Loved the idea that we would never get a football in the garden from the neighbours

Are you in Cambridgeshire? I saw a nice little house for sale a long time ago that backed onto a graveyard, "evidence of structural movement" said the advert. The movement put me off, the graveyard didn't.

withabix

Used to live behind a funeral directors. Never noticed they were there, apart from the sounds of joinery during the day.

In fact, for neighbours they were dead quiet....(sorry!)

I think it's a bit of a myth all this 'coming and going' at night - most people die in hospital or are found to be dead when they don't wake up in the morning, so the need to move bodies at night doesn't happen in those situations, plus nearly all sudden deaths result in post mortems (= hospital morgue 'delivery') or a trip in an ambulance anyway, so I don't think you will get any night-time disturbance.

The traditional 'old time' thing of the family doctor coming round and phoning the funeral director to collect the body doesn't really happen any more.

sonastin

withabix wrote: »

Used to live behind a funeral directors. Never noticed they were there, apart from the sounds of joinery during the day.

In fact, for neighbours they were dead quiet....(sorry!)

I think it's a bit of a myth all this 'coming and going' at night - most people die in hospital or are found to be dead when they don't wake up in the morning, so the need to move bodies at night doesn't happen in those situations, plus nearly all sudden deaths result in post mortems (= hospital morgue 'delivery') or a trip in an ambulance anyway, so I don't think you will get any night-time disturbance.

The traditional 'old time' thing of the family doctor coming round and phoning the funeral director to collect the body doesn't really happen any more.

which all adds up to mean that in terms of night-time comings-and-goings, its no different to a) neighbours who work odd shifts b) neighbours who like to go out and party till the wee small hours c) neighbours who take ill in the night and call out the ambulance.

Its a perception thing. Some people will find it uncomfortable. Some people won't even notice. As a BTL property, you'll cut down your possible market by excluding those that wouldn't want to live next door to a funeral director. But if you bought a terrace you'd exclude those that want to live in a semi, if you bought a flat you'd exclude those that want to live in a house, etc etc. Don't think its really a big factor

VioletBaudelaire

It wouldn't bother me at all, and I'd absolutely love to live next to a graveyard too. My dream property would be a converted church with graves all around, so peaceful...

Eton_Rifle

VioletBaudelaire wrote: »

It wouldn't bother me at all, and I'd absolutely love to live next to a graveyard too. My dream property would be a converted church with graves all around, so peaceful...

We looked at quite a few properties like that but the graveyard was always a problem.

Either there wasn't enough 'free space' to sit out and use amongst the gravestones or the relatives of the dead still technically had visiting rights to the garden despite the age of the graves.

DVardysShadow

LittleMissAspie wrote: »

Are you in Cambridgeshire? I saw a nice little house for sale a long time ago that backed onto a graveyard, "evidence of structural movement" said the advert. The movement put me off, the graveyard didn't.

Well it wasn't that one because there was no mention of structural issues, but I saw it for myself

RobertoMoir

I think Sonastin has hit the nail on the head - as a practical matter it might make no difference to the life of the person living at your house, but some might be freaked out by the idea, some might be worried (rightly or wrongly) about 'deliveries' at odd hours.

Doesn't matter if those people with their various worries are correct or not, the fact is that being a LL is a business and that letting a house next door to a funeral home might potentially limit your 'customer base'. Now if you can obtain the house cheaply enough or there are enough unique selling points about it that might attract good tenants then that might make up for it.

Thermidor

Even if people weren't of a nervous disposition, living next door to a funeral directors would be depressing. My SIL used to work next door to a funeral directors and she said the smell of the embalming fluid emulated all the way inside her office: they used to deliver big plastic barrels of the stuff (the liquid was pink, apparently) and the smell was so strong it cleared her blocked nose on one occasion! It wasn't an unpleasant smell, but it wasn't nice either. It always made her feel depressed though...............seeing barrels of the stuff being taken inside and long-faced men shuffling around in black coats.

The chaps who worked in the funeral parlour always kept themselves to themselves. No niceties or greetings...........they always ignored everyone. Odd!