tricky situation- advice please

lizzymouse

Hello
My husband and I bought a house 7 months ago and realised fairly quickly that we had made a mistake- we have really awful neighbours who should and swear constantly and as the walls of the house are like paper, we hear nearly everything they say. We tried soundproofing one of the walls but it hasnt worked and we still hear them.
The kitchen looks ok but it is very badly designed with not enough workspace, an integrated fridge freezer that doesnt work, an integrated washing machine that is on its last legs and various problems that to put right really mean having a brand new kitchen so we are looking at having to spend a few thousand there. The kitchen is functional in its current state but long term, we would need to put it right.
There are other problems with the house- not enough storage space, small lounge and a few other minor things.
Hindsight is wonderful but here we are in this house with a £126,000 repayment mortgage and 10% equity in the house (bought for £140,000)

we are seriously thinking of cutting our losses, selling it and finding something else. we are worried that if house prices are going to fall over the next few years, we could end up trapped in a house we dont like, paying more and more for if mortgages continue to rise and not been able to solve the main problems- the neighbours.
we would rather loose a few thousand now on it than be in a worse position in a few years. we worked out it would cost virtually the same to sell it and buy somewhere else as to put a new kitchen in if we can sell our house for a couple of thousand less than we bought it for which realistically is what we would get in the current climate.
We dont really want to rent again as we would have to pay a huge penalty for giving up our mortgage and we would loose all equity in the house. also, we are in our late 30s so we need to be paying a mortgage now to have bought a house by the time we retire.
What advice would you give us?

nutmegman

Have you made any formal complaints about the neighbours?

Why not put yours on the market for £135K and see what happens, it costs nowt to stick it on with an EA.

sasp

Good advice from nutmegman, were these people there when you moved in or are they new neighbours too. Did the previous owners alert you of any problems as I'm sure they have to by law although I'm no expert.

Hope you get things sorted as there is nothing worse than awful neighbours, good luck x

TighterThanTwoCoatsOfPain

sasp wrote: »

Did the previous owners alert you of any problems as I'm sure they have to by law although I'm no expert.

Personally i wouldnt have thought so.... who says the old occupiers had any issues? Its down to each individual... they would only have had to disclose if they made formal compliants to the council, which if they were smart, they would never do if looking to move house...

neas

bad time to change mind... property is falling so you prob loose even more . Sorry for ya.. but its your sanity so i understand.

3under3

I'd sell, why stay and be miserable....? you might struggle to get the price you paid last year but hopefully the next house will be cheaper too....

LandyAndy

What did the neighbours say when you asked them to be a bit quieter? You have spoken to them haven't you?

mrs_deadline

If you can't speak to them, one thought is to invest in surround sound so you can listen to something more in tune with your own personal preferences (and incidentally remind next-door how thin the walls are).

Have you had any estate agents round?

Andy_Hamilton

If your thinking of moving, don't put a complaint against your neighbours. There is a box which you have to tick saying "have you had trouble with neighbours", tick it and expect to live there forever or drop the price dramatically.

Kez100

As for buying a house when you are sorted from this one start a savings plan. That will act as your 'mortgage repayment' element while you have no mortgage. When you do buy, you will be that much closer. You don't need to have a 25 year term. If you have enough saved you can go for a 20 - we did on our second mortgage.

poppysarah

Sell and rent until you find somewhere.

As someone has said as soon as you start a complaint against the neighbours you've got to declare it. When viewers ask "what are the neighbours like", say things like "he works as a whatever and she does blah blah" - thus avoiding actually saying "they're wonderful" and lying.

But beware. People will see you've bought recently from house price sites and wonder why you're moving. Job in another location is an ideal one to say or for family reasons.