How much does the street bother you?

Postik

Emily_Joy said:

I wouldn't judge the place just by a single google foto. I am not sure you have much control over the neighbours either - they can always move for whatever reason and the new ones might turn out to be somewhat problematic.

Agree with this.  What if the green space was a lovely, well kept area.  Then a couple of years after you moved in, new people came along and parked all those cars on it? Good neighbours are obviously a nice thing to have, but you can't really control them nor guarantee they will be around forever.

Slinky

Postik said:

Emily_Joy said:

I wouldn't judge the place just by a single google foto. I am not sure you have much control over the neighbours either - they can always move for whatever reason and the new ones might turn out to be somewhat problematic.

Agree with this.  What if the green space was a lovely, well kept area.  Then a couple of years after you moved in, new people came along and parked all those cars on it? Good neighbours are obviously a nice thing to have, but you can't really control them nor guarantee they will be around forever.

That's as maybe, but would you buy something where you felt there were potential or obvious red flags?

You could have a motorway foisted onto you by a national infrastructure project (as was planned alongside where I'd lived on and off for most of my life) but why would you buy alongside a motorway if it was already there and you didn't want to live next to one?

Noneforit999

Slinky said:

Postik said:

Emily_Joy said:

I wouldn't judge the place just by a single google foto. I am not sure you have much control over the neighbours either - they can always move for whatever reason and the new ones might turn out to be somewhat problematic.

Agree with this.  What if the green space was a lovely, well kept area.  Then a couple of years after you moved in, new people came along and parked all those cars on it? Good neighbours are obviously a nice thing to have, but you can't really control them nor guarantee they will be around forever.

That's as maybe, but would you buy something where you felt there were potential or obvious red flags?

You could have a motorway foisted onto you by a national infrastructure project (as was planned alongside where I'd lived on and off for most of my life) but why would you buy alongside a motorway if it was already there and you didn't want to live next to one?

Depends on what you consider a red flag, others might call it a compromise which you will have to make on any property. 

Our neighbors have gone from an elderly couple to a young family with a toddler and a dog, I wonder if they would choose the same house knowing they are likely to live out the rest of their days with us next door. We are certainly not intentionally loud but I would imagine its a lot more noise than they had before.

Same for parking, the elderly couple had one car they parked in the garage. We have two cars, neither of which go into the small garage. 

Only takes one house to change hands and the quiet and peaceful road, suddenly becomes less so. 

SensibleSarah

My house exterior is probably one of the worst on my street, but I'm no bother as a neighbour I just don't have the time, energy, motivation or money to do much about it. I'll get around to it eventually, even if just to put the house on the market one day. 

About 2/3 of my road (just under 200 houses in total) are housing association and the rest privately owned - doesn't seem to make any difference to how well they are maintained externally. When I moved here in 2010, there were very few young families etc - mainly older people. Mixure of 2 and 3-bed terraced houses. Fast forward 12+ years, 90% of those old people are no longer on this mortal coil, their houses since sold or rented out to younger generations and the street has a very different feel and noise level. And a LOT more cars/vans etc.

When I was looking to buy for the first time, my budget restricted me to areas that many others probably wouldn't have touched with a bargepole, but compared to some of the areas I'd rented in, it wasn't bad at all. The windows hadn't needed to be boarded up, despite the house being empty for a couple of years, so that was good enough for me! I did a few walk-bys at different times and days, and had a good stroll through the park at the back of the garden to see if there were teens hanging around, graffiti, signs of vandelism etc. Definitely listen to your gut.