Selling House - Nightmare Neighbour/Drain Issue

AdrianC

markin wrote: »

Rods are £15, 5 min a week would keep it clear.

This.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/bailey-steel-jointed-black-drain-rod-set-12-pieces/78472
The twisty-stabby metal end will sort an inflated willywelly out in about a second.

lisyloo

gomer wrote: »

And that's where i see the biggest obstacle to selling. Nobody in their right mind will want neighbours like that when they find out what has happened the last 20 years.

One of the key factors in buying is researching the sort of neighbourhood it is & finding out what the immediate neighbours are like. Once potential buyers find out what these particular neighbours are like they will run a mile if they have any sense.

There are a few buyers who might go for it although it almost certainly requires a discount.

A lanlord who isn’t living there willing to take the risk at the right price.
People who aren’t bothered about the neighbours e.g. who can put intimidate the neighbour.

The best bet is probably an investment buyer.

Everything will sell at the right price although unfortunately a significant discount may be required.

Romano10

Thanks for all the suggestions.

Yes it is the same neighbours, although the other neighbour mentioned has thankfully since died, because she was obviously a pensioner at the time I wrote that post, which has broken them up somewhat, because they were quite the 'gang' before. That has reduced their activities down to poisoning my pets and blocking my drains, and probably other things, but they have conversations like this now:

Wife - "So what are we going to do to her next?"
Husband - "Well we can't do anything can we, she's got cameras everywhere now."
Dramatic pause whilst they think about it.
Wife - "Next thing we're going to do to her, is get some poison and throw it straight over her fence."

So as you can see, they are quite the charmers.

They are as bad as I say, and I have 'put up with it', not having much choice, because as I say, they have a corrupt police relative who falsified police records and deleted body worn video evidence, and I spent years fighting that. It literally took me years to get the police records changed, and even when I did, they poisoned my pets in retaliation, so obviously it's hard to get anywhere when even when you do, you have nowhere to go to for any real 'justice'.

Also I have been disabled and seriously ill for the past decade, which is one of the reasons they have set upon me, being prejudiced bullies anyway, and taking full advantage of that, so I have obviously had other things to deal with. I have also tried to sell my house a number of times over the years, without success. I tried to sell in 2009, 2017, 2018 and now this year. The time in between I was too ill to even attempt it.

I don't think renting my house out would even be an option, because I know the previous owner did that and they drove out all of his tenants, leading to this house being empty for at least a year, and it nearly being repossessed by the bank. When I had a viewing for my house recently the person that came round brought someone with them, and they actually knew one of the people that had rented my house before I bought it, and knew my neighbours, and he actually asked if they were the same neighbours that had bullied and harassed the people that had rented it before, so he actually remembered these people from 20 years ago.

When I moved into the house we found drainage rods hidden in the undergrowth of the garden. I also got some myself soon after moving in, but the layout of the drains means there's a straight bit and then a kind of 90 degree turn, so it's kind of impossible to clear them with rods, and the part where my neighbour blocks it at his end, I'd say is too far for rods to reach, even if I could somehow get the rods around that angle. When we used to attempt it with rods, we'd just end up blocking it with rods. Even the engineer now just turns up with the jet van. Also, you can't tell when they've blocked it until it reaches my manhole cover, at which point it's too late for rods.

I've been putting my house on the market every year for the past three years and taking it off in the Autumn/Winter. I've just taken it off again. I've also reduced the price by £100K.

I'm aware of the informing potential buyers stuff, although tbh, my neighbours antics are not what they were. When I moved here they were a 'gang' of three sets of neighbours and had all been jointly bullying the owners and tenants of this house, because they basically surround and overlook this house. Now, one neighbour has moved, the other has died, and the remainder has been 'controlled' as it were by my repeatedly reporting them to the police, capturing their antics on video and tape, reporting the corrupt police involved to the IOPC and the ICO for years until the falsified reports were eventually changed, and also counteracting my neighbours false reporting of me to various other authorities with the facts, to the point where they are now totally ignored as the malicious idiots they are. So in reality, I have fought them and exposed them to everyone for years and their antics are now down to being generally malicious and idiotic stuff like the drain, which is really all these idiots have left. Their behaviour now is nothing compared to what it was.

Also, since I exposed them as being the 'terrific' people they are, they've gone to tremendous lengths, as I mentioned to spread Hate and Smear Campaigns about me and gaslight me and pretend that I've simply imagined everything they've ever done to me, and others before me, so doing anything to anyone in future would kind of ruin their fake charm offensive, and they've pretty much painted themselves into a corner where they have to keep up that charm offensive now, or reveal themselves to be exactly what I've said they are.

So ideally I guess I'd like to find a solution to this, because even if I get out of here, these scumbags will likely do this to someone else, and they really shouldn't be able to. I've reported and exposed them enough that their ability to do the rest of their activities and get away with them in the future, is highly unlikely, but this surreptitious blocking of drains is something they could and probably would continue with, because they think it's impossible to prove, wouldn't ruin their fake reputation, or that no one would bother to try.

So I'm not sure about rods as helpfully suggested, with the rigidity, and the angle in the drain I think may cause an issue as I remember, but as has also been helpfully suggested the Nilfisk pressure washer, they also do a tube jetter cleaning attachment for drains and pipes. Not sure if it's powerful enough, but at least it may be able to get down the pipes and reach where it needs to get to. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Nilfisk-Cleaner-Pressure-Washer-Jetting/dp/B00WBJ8AIC

I just really wish there was something permanent I could do, like get the drains separated completely, once and for all, so they just wouldn't ever have the option to do this again, but as I say, the water company seem to have no interest whatsoever in what is happening, and I can't really see how it's something I could do myself. My previous house had a cesspit, and I can't tell you how much I prefer that to this.

Silvertabby

How awful for you. I don't suppose there's any chance you could sell to your local housing authority? - karma could be achieved if they were to put a 'family from hell' in there.

Brock_and_Roll

Surely the OP can simply put the property to auction? There is of course price it will sell for.

RelievedSheff

Brock_and_Roll wrote: »

Surely the OP can simply put the property to auction? There is of course price it will sell for.

Exactly this.

It sounds like the best way forward.

Marvel1

Doozergirl wrote: »

Just sell.

Price it right, book viewings for a time they're unlikely to be home and just move on.

It's not worth it. You can't change some people's behaviour, so just take yourself out of the toxic environment.

To be fair, no matter what you price it at, as soon as you declare the dispute, it won't get to exchange.


Good luck if you go the auction, hope it goes through.

Skiddaw1

I agree with Doozergirl and Sherrif.



OK, you're not going to get top dollar but it'll get you out of the current situation.



Are you tied to the area you currently live in or are you able to cut your cloth depending on how much you make from the sale?

hazyjo

Agree with auction. Was here to say the same thing. Done deal - you could walk away very quickly. They probably wouldn't even know about it. FGS don't allow a board outside if/when it's up for sale.

lisyloo

Marvel1 wrote: »

To be fair, no matter what you price it at, as soon as you declare the dispute, it won't get to exchange.


Good luck if you go the auction, hope it goes through.

I disagree,
If it was for sale for 20p someone would buy it.
It’s just a question of getting the price right for the risk.
I’ve heard auction is 70% of value ballpark (for going down that route not for the issues).