Viewing neighbouring properties on sale at the same time & wondering if there is an issue somewhere

lincroft1710

Who knows?


There was a TV play many years ago where the husband A was having a clandestine affair with the woman next door and her husband was having a clandestine affair with A's wife. Somehow it all came to light and the final shot was of the two neighbouring houses, both with For Sale boards outside.

gingercordial

We bought our house 8 months ago, at the same time as the house directly opposite changed hands.  Next door has just sold too.  Why were they all going?

Ours - late middle-aged couple whose children had now all left home and so wanted to downsize from London to the countryside
Opposite - elderly chap moving in with his son and family as the house was too much to cope with now
Next door (split into flats) - younger couple upsizing to a house round the corner

No connection between the sales but all people moving from one stage of life to the next.  Perhaps lockdown gave more people a push to do that as they've been stuck at home and realised it might not be suitable for where they want to be.  

But do check it isn't a massive development coming or something!

GaleSF63

lincroft1710 said:

Who knows?


There was a TV play many years ago where the husband A was having a clandestine affair with the woman next door and her husband was having a clandestine affair with A's wife. Somehow it all came to light and the final shot was of the two neighbouring houses, both with For Sale boards outside.

30+ years ago when I sold a house the buyers asked if there was any problem because the house next door was for sale at the same time. I said no, it's because we are getting married and moving to a bigger house. 

AdrianC

It could just be as simple as one place went on the market, and the neighbours thought "Blimey! HOW MUCH?", which got them thinking...

barbiedoll

AdrianC said:

It could just be as simple as one place went on the market, and the neighbours thought "Blimey! HOW MUCH?", which got them thinking...

This happened in my street a few years ago. I live near a Crossrail station and although we knew that our house prices may rise, we were quite shocked at the time, by just how much. Three of our near neighbours decided to cash in and so we had their properties up for sale all at once.

Three years on, Crossrail still isn't open, the bright young City things that bought the house 2 doors down from me are both working from home, probably for the foreseeable future, and we haven't had a house for sale in our road for many months. I think everyone is waiting for the railway to actually open, but I fear the allure has worn off after the events of the last 12 months! 

Jeepers_Creepers

CTWSG, both houses are with the same EA? Cool - that simplifies things.

Will the EA know why they are being sold? Almost certainly 'yes'. By that I mean, absolutely certainly yes - you think they wouldn't have asked if it wasn't already obvious?! So ask them. With a witness. Or with your phone set to record...

They must answer honestly.

If the 'EA' showing you around fudges with a "Oh, I don't know - I'm just showing folk around...", then ask them to find out and let you know.

And also carry out your own due diligence.

Chances are the two sales are unconnected.

andy444

When I bought my place, the place next door was also on the market and it was just a coincidence. My vendor had family elsewhere in the country and was going to move to them and the owner of next door just wanted a bigger place.

There's been a few properties for sale in my immediate area recently and there's no connected reason why. One household moving makes others think about moving in some cases.

climbthatwallseegar

So I drove past the two houses today (en-route to another nearby viewing). One of the houses no longer has a For Sale sign. I called the EA to check my viewings are still booked in, she said both houses are definitely still for sale and the viewings are going ahead but she didn’t explain why one sign had disappeared. I’m sure it will all come out in due course.

@Jeepers_Creepers they’ve been a bit vague so far, eg no real explanation as to why my initial viewing of property 1 was cancelled with minutes to spare but I will try to get straight answers from the EA. Chances are it is unconnected but you never know!

NameUnavailable

I noticed a lot of places coming up for sale in the same road a while back. I happened to drive past the road some  time later and a huge new development was being built that was going to block views/light and cause major parking issues for those already living there!