Meeting the neighbours before buying a house?

[Pigtailsandall]

OK, I'm very prepared for people to tell me I'm being weird or to not to do this, but would it be very strange to knock on a potential new neighbour's door before buying a house?

We have moved from London to a nearby market town where everyone so far has been very friendly. We have found a house which is ideal - it is a 1930s semi, and earlier this week, our offer for it was accepted!

Now, our old London neighbours were horrible. They played loud music and had parties almost every weekend in their garden; they also did some structural work in their house without a party wall agreement. They were bullies who complained about everything - and I really mean everything - our tree dropping a few leaves on their side, the fact that we left the house too early (at 8am to go to work) but then let their dogs bark in the garden from 6pm. So, understandibly, I am very cautious about having nightmare neighbours again. And with a semi, you share a wall and see into each other's gardens etc. even though the area otherwise is very quiet.

So I thought, would it be very strange to knock on the neighbours door to say hello and introduce ourselves before the contracts are exchanged? Just to suss them out (and they might be curious about us too!)

Edit to say - if you lived in a semi where the other side was on market, how would you feel about this?

Not ridiculous at all in fact, very sensible and I know a couple who did exactly the same. They got friendly with potential neighbours and visited the local pub. They didn't actually buy the house in the end (Japanese knot weed) but they continue to holiday together yearly

Wow I love this story! Thank you

If you knocked and they answered and then presented badly, that would be useful.

But otherwise, what would you be looking for? How do you see that conversation going?

Very sensible

The neibout at out first ever house was described as a lovely woman who kept herself to herself , she was batshit and we had to call the police constantly

Good idea if it's important to you. You could knock on their door explaining you are interested in the property next door and is there anything you should know about it? (Not sure on the validity of the answer but you'll get a feeling of how they are!).

I viewed a house where there was some 'green space' next to it. I was really early so decided to park up and just wait. Then a gang of lads turned up to play and were constantly kicking the ball, it hit a side window and the owner came out of the house fuming at them. You could tell it was a regular occurrence. I still viewed it but didn't even make an offer ....

I would definitely do that if I was buying. I would also spend some time there Friday evening, Saturday evening and weekend day time, particularly during the Summer if it’s up for sale in the Summer, because these are the times when you get parties, or even worse, kids screaming for hours in the garden.

Yes, though I think it will be my child screeching in the garden 😁 at least they are in bed by 8pm.

As to what I'm hoping to achieve, I think just any immediate red flags such as huge, growling dogs, massive horders with old newspapers piled up to the ceiling etc. So far, I have visited at different times of the day; it's a small residential road and it's always been quiet - almost eerily so for someone who has lived in London for 20+ years!

This is such an excellent point. I feel a bit bad loitering around the house though, but I might borrow a dog and walk it up and down on different days!

We've had people knock on our door and introduce themselves as prospective buyers. I don't mind at all - I'm happy to answer questions about the neighbourhood. I think that's the way to go; ask the neighbours if there is much traffic noise or whether parking is difficult perhaps.

Most people are pleasant enough, and I would do it if I were moving and buying.

If I was the neighbour, I would think this was a very weird thing to do, sorry!

Nope
If im dropping £1m i want to know the neighbours arent weirdos.

We knocked said hi and we were thinking about putting an offer in next door. How did they like the area? Anything worth knowing about the house? Blah blah.

Just let us you gage them... we were looking at 2 houses on the same street the husband next door in the one with a bigger garden was just clearly an angry nutter.... so we bought the one 15 doors down and 5 yrs on i can confirm he is an angry nutter.... sooooo happy we werent trapped next door to him during covid....

The house next to us was on the market and one potential buyer knocked on our door.
He started with a valid question, we did a loft extension and he asked if the seller sign a party wall agreement.

Not sure how much he gained from seeing our front door and a bit of the hallway, it was very much a doorstep conversation.

He already knew we had a child (you can see in our garden from their first floor window, like we can into theirs).

I wasn't too bothered about them turning up.

Saying that, it was when I just came home and was cooking dinner, if he would have been there 2 hours earlier he wouldn't have met anyone.

I don't want to spend time with prospective neighbours - it's bad enough when new neighbours knock to introduce themselves instead of waiting to bump into you naturally.

I might be tempted to say something to put you off if I thought you were going to be a nightmare neighbour!

It's happened to us a few times when one of our next door neighbours has sold up .. Seems normal, and polite, and shows they are friendly and engaging.

Why would you do that? Fair enough not wanting to chat with a potential neighbour but going to the trouble of actively putting someone off seems very strange.

Surprised at people thinking this is a good idea I'd think it was quite strange tbh! I'd probably assume you were going to be a nosey neighbour & avoid you if you moved in - sorry!

I thought it was obvious, someone who hasn't even bought the house so may never even be a neighbour knocking on my door seems exactly the type of neighbour I wouldn't want!

I would 100% do this. Not if my next door neighbour was far away but if it was my road for example (a row of terraced houses) then your next door neighbours can make or break your day to day life and it’s an expensive mistake to make if you end up living next to nightmare neighbours.

Of course I would not make it obvious I was sussing them out. I’d be really friendly and ask about parking/ schools/ safety of the area etc. Things I would genuinely want to know anyway rather than blindly accepting what an Estate agent has said. I think it would be madness not to.

People have done the same to me and I respect and understand why they would.

We also stalked ours. Just parked up at usual party times to see how the street is. Was worth it because we saw some proper shitshows before....

We did years ago just to get a vibe and also to ask about the area. They were super friendly and gave us lots of good advice. We moved there and were close and all helped each other.

I did the same when buying my house. I knocked on and asked some banal questions about the road and access to the allotments or something as an excuse to suss them out. Both sets of neighbour (my attached and not attached). The not attached were very friendly and cheerfully nosey, offering to show me the local pub and introducing me to their dogs. The attached were polite and reserved and helpful. They’ve both been exactly the same as neighbours too so it was a valid exercise 😂

This is interesting , as the responses show. I have recently moved, from country to country but with non family neighbours.

we did not do this, until we moved in. When we popped round with a card and some flowers to sat hello. They were worried, they have a band and practice three mornings a week. I was worried,I have four children who play seven days a week.

four weeks in and all is lovely. We enjoy the music, and I don’t do office work then, they enjoy the children (ish) and don’t have all night parties.

everyone is different, what might be difficult for you, might be wonderful for me. So I’m not sure how much a quick chat before would gain.

I don't think it's a bad thing to do but it won't really tell you much about their daily habits and routines that might impact on you.

You could knock on the door of the house next to me and have a lovely 5 min chat. It would give you no insight to the amount of noise they make and how inconsiderate they actually are

I wouldn't particularly mind if they avoided me. I'm not hostile or anything, but in a true big city fashion i never knew my neighbours until they become a problem. I'm not exactly looking for friends, though I'm happy to be friendly; I just don't want horrible neighbours