Buying great house but neighbour's house a mess - do we walk away?

Jeffrey_Shaw

Eton_Rifle wrote: »

I'd walk away.

I wouldn't. Instead, I'd:
a. meet her;
b. realise that she's elderly and perhaps needs help;
c. smooth-talk her;
d. offer to do the clean-up that she probably knows is needed; and
e. buy this 'great house' [post #1] that OP actually wants.

Eton_Rifle

Jeffrey_Shaw wrote: »

I wouldn't. Instead, I'd:
a. meet her;
b. realise that she's elderly and perhaps needs help;
c. smooth-talk her;
d. offer to do the clean-up that she probably knows is needed; and
e. buy this 'great house' [post #1] that OP actually wants.

In this buyers market, I wouldn't consider it worth the risk.
Resale would be a major headache.

Yes, you could perhaps arrange for the house to be cleaned up and pay for the broken windows but how are you going to cure the mental illness that underlies this behaviour and will start the cycle all over again?

What makes you think neighbours haven't already tried all this? To assume no-one else nearby has thought of (b) is very patronising.

evoke

Walk away.

I cannot stress the importance of living in a nice neighbourhood. Every time you come home you'll have to see your neighbours house.

But here's the future possibility. When she kicks the bucket her offspring may decide to rent the house out students or other not-so-nice tenants. This is exactly what happened to my parents: their neighbours' house turned into a drugs and party den when the old biddy who used to live there popped her clogs.

puddy

its very difficult to know whats best. when i hear of things like this i cant help thinking of mr trebus on life of grime. its a serious illness but it does impact on others

the chances are her family could come and help or she will pass away and her family will sell the property but then you dont know who to. but you can say that for any house.

MoBou

We wanted this house as it had room to grow and we intended to live there for a long time, but the neighbouring house could become a problem we can't ignore and force us to move sooner so resale could be an issue.

I didn't want to admit it to myself but we probably should walk away.

puddy

its a long shot but are you able to see on google earth whether the garden was a mess when those pictures taken?

i dont know how old google earth is, but if its a couple of years ago and the garden was ok, it may suggest taht she just needs help

if the pictures are say 10 years old and the garden was a mess then, then its more long standing

MoBou

I've had a look on Street View but there's so many trees in her back garden you can't really see anything.

puddy

but google earth is from above

Eton_Rifle

I would also be considering the resale value of the neighbour's house because should the house become unoccupied, its market value will have a knock-on effect on yours.

tanith

evoke wrote: »

Walk away.

I cannot stress the importance of living in a nice neighbourhood. Every time you come home you'll have to see your neighbours house.

But here's the future possibility. When she kicks the bucket her offspring may decide to rent the house out students or other not-so-nice tenants. This is exactly what happened to my parents: their neighbours' house turned into a drugs and party den when the old biddy who used to live there popped her clogs.

That statement could be true for any house in any street so its hardly relevent.