Buying a house - concerned about neighbours

need_an_answer

Sometimes tenanted properties can be very quiet living next door to them for years then you get a change of tenant and things change.


The fact that you are already questioning it on a level that you are asking opinions of many then that leads me to think you want to be swayed either way


Personally I believe you can always change a property you own into your dream property but you will always have zero control over anything in neighbouring properties.

If the gardens are an issue now they will be an issue going forward unless you take on their upkeep!


Its not your dream property,its priced attractively potentially and ticks a lot of your boxes but the flipside is you cant change whats around you.


Look for something else.

Cakeguts

If it is cheaper than similar sized properties with similar sized gardens than in an area where there aren't the flats then you know there is a problem. The price reflects the number of people who want to buy in a particular area. The more popular the area the higher the price.


If this house seems to be "value for money" then that means that something is putting people off buying it and it has to be sold cheaply. Basically no one wants to live next door to the flats and pay a lot of money for the benefit so the house has to be sold cheap.


If the current owners are finding it difficult to sell you would to.

lookstraightahead

It's a bit like this further up our street. Huge houses that have been converted into flats with a smattering staying as one house. There is so much rubbish for the binmen, lots of cars, people coming and going and I've house in particular is very run down with rubbish everywhere. I wouldn't if I were you - nothing wrong with tenants but landlords don't seem to want the major upkeep of big houses with bigger gardens.

AnotherJoe

Is there liable to be a local parking problem due to many more people in these houses?

speedbird123

AnotherJoe wrote: »

Is there liable to be a local parking problem due to many more people in these houses?

no i think parking shouldn't be an issue - the house in question has it's own private parking.

speedbird123

Cakeguts wrote: »

If it is cheaper than similar sized properties with similar sized gardens than in an area where there aren't the flats then you know there is a problem. The price reflects the number of people who want to buy in a particular area. The more popular the area the higher the price.


If this house seems to be "value for money" then that means that something is putting people off buying it and it has to be sold cheaply. Basically no one wants to live next door to the flats and pay a lot of money for the benefit so the house has to be sold cheap.


If the current owners are finding it difficult to sell you would to.

yeah it does seem a bit more reasonably priced than houses on the adjacent street (which doesn't have flat conversions).

burtbot1

Can you see the messy gardens when you're sitting in the house's garden? One potential benefit from the neighbouring gardens not being used is you know there won't be noise. I've seen a few posts on here recently from people with issues with neighbours being really noisy in their gardens.

If they aren't too unsightly to look at (rubbish in them, etc) then I'm not sure it would bother me. But it depends how much it would infringe on your enjoyment when sitting in your own garden.

speedbird123

burtbot1 wrote: »

Can you see the messy gardens when you're sitting in the house's garden? One potential benefit from the neighbouring gardens not being used is you know there won't be noise. I've seen a few posts on here recently from people with issues with neighbours being really noisy in their gardens.

If they aren't too unsightly to look at (rubbish in them, etc) then I'm not sure it would bother me. But it depends how much it would infringe on your enjoyment when sitting in your own garden.

to be fair, the fences are quite high and you cant see the neighbouring gardens from this garden. The only time you see the neighbouring gardens is from all the bedroom windows. It's not a pretty sight!

phoebe1989seb

Twenty years ago we bought a large detached Victorian house that had been converted into four flats many years previously. The neighbouring house on one side was set up as a nursery school whilst on the other side was a 1950s sprawling property that comprised eight scruffy flats with a huge wrap around garden reminiscent of a dumping ground. The flats in 'our' house had been let, mainly to DSS tenants who - along with a landlord that lived in the US and didn't give a toss - had allowed both house and large garden to go to wrack and ruin.

Among the other twenty or so houses in the road a good two thirds had been divided into flats/HMOs and many were very rundown, including their large front and rear gardens.. - in fact the brambles in the garden of the house in question were shoulder height!

We weren't deterred and bought the place, converting it back to a family home over several years.

Within two years of purchasing, the large neighbouring property was bought by a property developer and converted to a home for his own family complete with indoor swimming pool and many of the other nearby properties were also turned back to family homes.

When we sold ten years later the value had increased considerably and the road was seen as being very desirable........

lessonlearned

Phoebe gives an example of how the fortunes of an area can change for the better as well as for worse. Things seem to go in cycles....large houses are seen as unwieldy and get carved up. Then they become cheap, offering huge potential and value for money, a few savvy developers and brave private individuals move in and convert them back into nice family homes and Bobs Your Uncle, the area is on the up again.

It's just knowing where you are likely to be in that cycle that's the tricky one. Get that riight and you can do well, get it wrong and you are lumbered with a house that is both difficult to sell and a neighbourhood that you are not comfortable with.

It helps if you have some local knowledge, what is happening in general.....are developers moving in. A good rule of thumb is to see what kind of local shops are there.......empty boarded up shops are not a good sign, neither are an excess betting shops and charity shops. A couple of smart metro type shops, with in store bakeries, delis etc is a good sign.

Take a good look at the cars that are parked......are they wrecks or reasonable. Another really good sign is skips, scaffolding and signs of refurbishment going on.

My son and I have just sold a house that we bought four years ago and that We have refurbished. We bought it in an area that was "on the cusp" so got it cheap. When we bought it, it was predominantly student land. Now the young urban professionals are moving in and values are rising so we have made a nice profit. We took a risk and it could have gone wrong but we did research very carefully and we have a lot of local knowledge.

It could work well for you or it could go badly. Just make sure you do your homework.