Red flags that aren't so obvious in potential property areas?

sparky130a

Tiners wrote: »

I've been interested in 3 houses previously but info from my postie contacts have steered me clear of them

One had next door neighbours who were frequent recipients of ASBO's despite their house looking nice and respectable

One had a lovely open aspect and countryside views across the road, but I found out the land affording the view had been bought by a developer

One backed onto a small industrial estate which looked innocuous enough but it turns out one of the units was operating a very noisy stone cutting operation that was driving local residents barmy!

All this info came FOC and avoided me wasting time and money putting in offers, instructing a solicitor, carrying out searches etc

But that's one individuals opinion. And anecdotal. And far from objective.

You'd get better more objective comment from the local pub...

moneyistooshorttomention

Sounds like you got good info there from yours Tiner.

Now wondering what my postie would have to say about me?:rotfl: - which would probably just boil down to "She gets a lot of goods from Amazon".

Horses for courses and any way one can find out info.

These days I also find a favourite local taxi firm of mine are a pretty good bet for telling me things.

ReadingTim

• Number of fried chicken shops
• Number of charity shops
• Number of boarded up shops
• Closure of significant local employer(s)
• Withdrawal of public services/facilities
• Withdrawal of public transport
• Disproportinately high level of BTL & HMO property

Ultimately, it's how it feels to you, as you have to live there. How does it feel now? Do you like that feel? And does it feel like it's on the up, or the way down? And how do you feel about where it's headed, as well as where it's currently at?

LadyL2013

Tiners wrote: »

Not too sure the type of car is much of an indicator these days given that over 80% of new cars are on some form of HP/PCP/Lease/finance

At one time a nice car = someone doing well for themselves

Now a nice car = someone willing to take on a load of debt in order to be the registered keeper of something they couldn't otherwise afford

I probably see just as many nice new cars in undesirable areas as in more desirable areas these days.

I agree actually. My parents live in a fairly affluent area and the cars are mainly just standard cheap or mid-range cars. The crappiest area near me is full of expensive cars.

Red-Squirrel wrote: »

Look at the nearest shops. Bookies, bargain booze, chicken/kebab shops, corner shops that look like nobody ever buys anything legal there and e-cig shops would put me off.

Confusing picture for me then! A Tesco Express, a bookies, a vets, a solicitors and a posh Tapas place.

There is a sizeable grass verge in front my new property but on the 7 or so times I've driven past no one's ever on it. I'm fairly comforted by what people I know who live in the area have said in that there's rarely any trouble, it's mainly older people or older families and the crime rate looks OK. I'm going to jinx myself now and as soon as I move in the crime rate is going to shoot up and kids will play football at all hours on the grass verge.

Davesnave

Barking dogs.

I used to have this problem, so I know how annoying it is. It doesn't have to be that close to be really tiresome if you enjoy being in the garden regularly.

While 'my' barking dogs have ceased to be a problem, I know the locations of others that are. They're not in chavvy areas, but in otherwise quiet villages, one of them with pricey chocolate-box houses. As I've now heard them for some years on infrequent visits, it's obvious the problem is very hard to resolve.