Awful woman slagging off my family home

Tbf when you buy a house it often seems like you find something wrong every other week. We bought in 2024 and since have had the boiler break, the roof need fixing three times, the bath leak through to the kitchen, the windowsills fall off, the doors break (both of them), the ovens break, a leak in the ceiling, a hole appear upstairs to downstairs.

Bloody everything seems to have been on their last legs when she sold and was not apparent. It’s likely she didn’t realise everything was very close to being completely fucked but it is annoying when you’ve paid a lot and it happens.

I'd have just replied, well yes, that's why you took her £5k less offer. No-one does up a house they are planning on selling, it's best to take the lower offer and the buyer can do it to their taste. But just shut it down. Ignore her. If anything is said by another parent, then just reply, "isn't putting up with a bathroom etc, standard, when you plan to sell?"

I would tell a friend if someone was bad mouthing them with something personal, accusing a friend of raising children in an unfit home.

And that someone would tell you as much.

If someone started complaining to me about the previous owner of their house I’d think they were weird, not the previous owner.

You're absolutely right OP, to say your house wasn't fit for children to live in is an outrageous thing to say just bc it needed some decorating.

Most houses need some re-painting and carpeting when you move in, and needing a new bathroom or kitchen is pretty standard, that doesn't mean they're unfit for habitation. It's not like it was infested with bugs and rot.

If she wanted a turnkey property she should have bought one. My parents house sold, the new buyers put in about 60,000, that’s what happens when you buy a second hand home unless it is a turnkey home that you pay a lot more for. The new buyers sold it after a year as a turnkey home and made a decent profit.
The price reflected the work required.

Instead of getting annoyed and uncomfortable I’d laugh it off and say well more fool her for buying it if it’s that bad.

Eff her.

If she'd wanted to move into a house where everything was in pristine condition - as in new bathroom, kitchen, etc - it was up to her to look for and to pay for such a house.

I had to sell a house a few years ago and was concerned that most buyers round here seem to be looking for a house in 'move in' condition.

The surveyor who did the home report (Scotland) told me "But it is in 'move in' condition'. The house is sound. The buyers can do it up a bit at a time once they're in here."

i pass the old place from time to time and I can see where the new owners are gradually sorting things out - a new door at first, then new windows. It's nice to see the old place being loved.

If the house had been renovated, then the buyers would have had to pay a good deal more, as shown by the prices paid for identical houses on the estate. (The estate was built about 60 years ago.)

I'll add that where a house has been completely renovated, then that's normally reflected in the price. Your buyer is just looking for an excuse to moan.

Surveyors I have had have absolutely looked behind furniture and asked to move furniture!

Sorry but I find it rather incredulous that the structural damage was all coincidentally hidden behind what- a sofa? or was it a hoarder house?

I'm afraid I wouldnt ever buy a house where you couldn't see the state of it behind all the furniture.

If she's had loads of work done then she probably didn't even live in it properly until the work was finished. Is the house you moved to bigger/in a nicer area and she's feeling butt-hurt about that?

Don’t mind her. I wouldn’t speak to her. If she has buyers remorse tough. She looked at the house, you can tell when a house is in need of repairs. Did she use a surveyor?

They don’t move heavy furniture

What was this horrendous problem that a bit of furniture hid?

I must admit that if I heard someone constantly slagging off the previous owner of the house they had just bought, I would think they were the unreasonable one.

Read my previous reply. This was a Level 3 Building Survey, the most comprehensive, and expensive, that was on offer. Far from a bog standard mortgage survey!

The final answer, and believe me when we realised what was hiding we tried to go back to the company, even a level 3 survey do not move furniture or belongings. That was confirmed as being standard practice, it is a visible inspection and it is totally the norm that they do not move furniture.

And of a bit of furniture can apparently hide a very serious problem then… well, that in itself is strange!.

The Op even suspected they are stirring

It all sounds like a very immature and unpleasant community tbh

Yep- same here.

They absolutely move furniture and if they didnt, then you need to take it up with them because it sounds like they didnt do their job properly.

I think there's at least an element of this going on. You've moved onto better things and she has your hand-me-downs. She trying to put you down to make herself appear superior (in her mind). She has a fragile ego, and she's actually coming across as a petty snob.

I can't stand those "my standards are so much higher" women, they're small-minded and incredibly dull.

Frankly, I'd be much more concerned about the people who are telling you these things. If they weren't passing on the gossip, you wouldn't know a thing about it and, in this situation, ignorance is bliss.

Why are they telling you? There is no legitimate reason other than to stir things up. I wouldn't want that sort of thing from a friend. Shut it down.

This

The surveyor that came to my property for a buyer certainly moved the furniture… a lot!

People always complain about their houses though. It’s no reflection on you. She’s the one who saw it in that state and wanted to buy it.

We have a lovely house, but it’s become a running joke how much it wrong with it! Every time we have a tradesperson in to do a job, we discover something new that the previous owners did totally wrong. 😂 Chimney not lined properly so is a fire hazard. All the electrics for upstairs run UNDER the bloody bath. 🙈 The chimney hadn’t been built properly (nothing we could have seen from the outside) and partially collapsed. All sorts of weird things leak or are wired in a funny way or there is a pipe in a totally nonsensical place.

I do whinge about it, but it’s not a personal attack on the previous owners. They are lovely. It’s just a wonky old house. I’m allowed to whinge about it though. I think you need to not take this so personally.

A proper in-depth structural survey will move furniture and look behind it.

A basic bog standard mortgage survey wont and is virtually useless.

If you didn't get a thorough survey done thats still your fault I'm afraid

If the position of furniture prevented such acutely serious problems being identified by you or the surveyor then that is odd