Advice selling a house with nightmare neighbours

Babyalmie

I am trying to sell our house as part of a downsize and divorce settlement. It is too big and I cannot afford the mortgage on my own in any case. 

We have two nightmare neighbours who we had to sue in court some years ago. They were convicted of criminal charges but since then have been quiet and have not caused any nuisance. However we have had people drop out of buying the property when they find out, even though I can show they have not caused any issues since then. I genuinely don’t know what to do and have dropped the price by a large amount to attract buyers. I would not lie to any purchaser but I would like them ti consider the change in behaviour. 

Grateful for any thoughts. 

youth_leader

Do you mean the neighbours on either side of you, or just one side?  And what did they do?

theartfullodger

Be honest and provide full description.  Obvs.

Otherwise might be fraud (criminal..).

Yes, have had bad neighbours.

Good luck.

user1977

Any chance of them leaving before you do?

RHemmings

user1977 said:

Any chance of them leaving before you do?

I bought the house from the nightmare neighbours who left. They lied and said that there had been no disputes even though my current neighbours had to sue them (and won). In my case, I was talking to the current neighbours from before I made an offer, so I knew what the situation was. 

For the OP, if I was buying a house with nightmare neighbours I would want to have a talk to the neighbours where there had been a dispute and see what the 'damage' is. If this can't be arranged, then I'd be concerned about ongoing problems and would be likely to drop out. 

Bigphil1474

OP, you have to be honest but you don't have to volunteer information that isn't asked for. Have you had trouble with the neighbours in the past? Yes. Are you having any issues with the neighbours? No. Could well be that the neighbours are lovely bearable people, it's just that you and them didn't get on leading to the problems in the past. Someone new might get on with them really well. Don't oversell the down sides, but do oversell the current peace and tranquillity. Given you have a genuine reason to sell, I don't see the harm in skirting around the issue, so long as you don't outright lie.

Babyalmie

Thank you everyone. I appreciate people taking the time to comment. I will discuss with my estate agent. 

ThisIsWeird

I'd love it to be easier to sue such folk for the loss

https://ldn-properties.co.uk/guides/selling-with-problem-neighbours/

It's hellish, and completely unfair, but the important thing for you is that you have sorted it. So, the EA should be priming any potential buyers about this, but adding that the issue, as it existed, has been successfully resolved - and the neighbours know not to start up again.

It will still put some folk off, yes, and that is understandable. The fact is, tho', that folk move in next to problem neighbours countless times each day, and have had no warning about this. Also, horrible neighbours can move in next to you at any point, and then you have the nightmare start of a looong process of getting them to behave.

In your case, the work has been done! A good EA should be able to emphasise these very true points, but - yes - some folk will still be wary.

When t'in-laws sold their first house, they'd had a run-in with their neighbour when the neighb built a porch with the window right on the boundary, clear glass aiming straight in to t'in-law's kitchen. When dil rightly put up a fence, their car got scratched...

When they sold, the most interested party was being shown around, and i-ls explained what had happened. Smirk from buyer - who went on to buy - "Not a problem...".