OT: Suspected bad neighbour when buying a property

[xaxaxax]

Hello -

I've just had an offer accepted on a house, call it A. It is adjacent to houses B and C, so it looks like: ABC The owner of house B parks a large white van in the road in front of his house each night, and sometimes a small car in front of house A. Houses A and C are both for sale, but I can't see any other houses for sale in the street, which is a fairly smart one.

Am I being paranoid in thinking there might be a problem?

I have the social skills of a turnip, so chatting to the occupants now might not reveal much.

How angry will the estate agent be if I withdraw the offer for this reason?

[mike]

If alarm bells are ringing, maybe it's not the house for you. But you'll need to try and find out more if you want to confirm it.

Ask the sellers if there are any neighbour disputes. It's my understanding that they have to reveal such things on the pre-sale questionnaire... which is one reason not to get into unnecessary hassle with your neighbours.

You can withdraw for any reason. The estate agent will just have to accept that. You're not going to spend a few hundred thousand and give yourself years of misery just to keep an estate agent happy, are you?

I suspect the majority of estate agents wouldn't make the same sacrifice for you.

[Ed]

No contracts are signed so, under English law, you are free to withdraw your offer without prejudice for any reason whatsoever.

[Bruce]

Under Scottish law, wouldn't anyone making an offer have to satisfy him/herself about such potential problems before an offer was made?

[dom]

Knock on Mr B's door and introduce yourself as the neighbour-to-be and ask *him* if he's had any problems with people living nearby (e.g. noise, crime etc - and perhaps on your way out the door - parking?).

That way you get to size him up for yourself, without basing your opinions on what others say.

[John]

Avoid White van man.

[Bruce]

Even better, get the vendor to arrange two meetings, one with each neighbour, at which the vendor will also be present.

[Steve Walker]

Clever...

[ARWadsworth]

You need an allotment not a house.

Adam

[Owain]

It's possible that A and C hate each other and are both moving ...

Or two families who work at the same employer are both facing redundancy ...

Have you asked A why he is selling?

Find a personable woman with social skills, give her a clipboard and send her to do a "survey" asking about satisfaction with council services, are the bins emptied, what's the neighbourhood like generally, I coulnd't imagine leaving such a lovely house as this, why are you moving, etc.

Also park outside about 11 pm on a Friday or Saturday night and see what the noise levels are like, any partying etc.

Owain

[The Natural Philosopher]

;-)

[Frank Erskine]

If, for example, I hated my neighbour and was glad to see that he was selling up and moving away as far as possible, I think I'd lie to a prospective purchaser about any 'issues', for the sake of a quick departure of the NDN :-)

[mogga]

Get your solicitor to ask in writing if there's any problems with parking, or the neighbours.

Go meet the neighbour. Nowt wrong with knocking on and introducing yourself. Ask what the area is like. You will be able to guage from the reaction you get whether living there will be a nightmare.

I didn't buy a house with a shared drive because I saw the neighbours parked right into it (And they didn't have a garage at the back as they'd turned it into garden space) and they also fairly often bought a huge caravan home that'd be parked across the fronts. Not long after I pulled out the neighbour (mr annoying parker) put his house up for sale, sold and now the new people park in exactly the same way (It's because the bit of drive at the front of their house isn't big enough for a car)

[Andy Dingley]

That will give you a future legal basis to sue for non-disclosure of material fact (which AIUI, neighbour disputes are now considered to be, as part of a house sale). That will be an awful situation a trivial bit better.

It's also likely to pre-warn A&C (maybe even B), thus causing them all to clam-up to avoid risking the sale falling through.

A far better approach IMHO, as you might actually learn something.

IMHE, one bad neighbour isn't too much of a problem, so long as everyone hates them equally (and their pyromaniac teenagers are still doing time). It's far worse to be B, where A & C both gang up on you.

[chris French]

IIRC from the last house purchase it's a standard bit of the form anyway the vendor normally fills in

[Dave Starling]

I totally agree. If you get bad vibes then walk away. As others have mentioned its worth going there at random times and seeing if anything unusual is happening, loud music, lights on and people up and about at

3 am - yes really! I got caught out badly - bought a house and on day I moved in, yes a yapping dog in the yard just over the fence. How I missed that before was a fluke and I can tell you I was so gutted on that day! Fortunately they moved out 6 months later but it taught me a lesson - ask about nuisances such as barking dogs etc and take someone with you or record the conversation.

People spend hours/days online reading reviews and comments on small purchases yet will consider giving just an hour before making a long term investment in property.

[Tim W]

Andy Dingley wibbled on Monday 16 November 2009 11:02

Though to be honest, suing anyone for anything[1] is a long tortuous route that may yield little and may cost you lots and doesn't actually solve the real problem.

[1] unless you slip on a wet puddle and chip your nail polish in the foyer of some big corporation because you're too stupid to use your eyes, in which case one of the no-win no-fee vultures who advertise regularly on TV will become your friend...

I agree. If they're dickheads, look again, or enrol in the local Hells Angels Chapter so you can be bigger and hairier and scarier than them, or have mates that are...

Agree - that may reduce them at least to an irritation, whereas lots of people against you is likely to be unbearable, unless you're the sort of thick skinned git that other people hope don't live next to them ;-O

[A.Clews]

Thus spake Owain ( [e-mail]) unto the assembled multitudes:

What's the point? He's hardly going to say "because neighbour B is a c**t", is he?

[F]

I wouldn't want to be looking out on a large white van plus a car even if it belonged to me.

You have noticed it, so it would appear to be 'significant' to you too.

I'd walk away and find something else.

Doesn't matter: it's their job and it happens all the time anyway.

[Tim W]

F wibbled on Monday 16 November 2009 14:09

Pretty much a buyer's market at the moment if you have dosh - be choosy.

I've done that once. A polite and businesslike apology to the estate agent and move on - perfectly normal and legal in England until the deposit's down. Just don't make a habit of it, at least not with the same agent...