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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Our garden is not the cause for the lack of sale

416 replies

maoiBYRD · 31/08/2020 17:33

Neighbours have just blamed me because our garden is a mess. That’s why they can’t get their sale for the flat upstairs.

They are selling for 10 grand over the asking price. You can get a three bed in the next road for 5 grand less, they are going with an online estate agent and you have to do viewings yourself. We are in the middle of a pandemic and no one is buying at the moment.

I’m currently clearing the flower bed of the “jungle” of wild flowers, potatoes and garlic that I created with my little girl, and trying to find a scrap man to take away the bikes and scooters and wondering how how I “shape” a bush that we really want to keep because my mother planted it.

Would a neighbours garden really influence your purchase of a property?

Im digging up the unsightly veg bushes. I will clear the garden. We don’t have any rotting cars or rat nests. It was just a bit overgrown with wild flowers and veg. :(

OP posts:
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Dillydallyingthrough · 01/09/2020 16:38

OP are you scared of your neighbour's? You have your garden the way you want it and do not hide your DC when they have viewings, if they ask you to tell them no it's your garden/property and you are allowed to use it as you wish.

ToastyCrumpet · 01/09/2020 16:51

@Bluntness100 The fact that you haven’t heard of rewilding doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Educate yourself before going out of your way to be so offensive to other people. I hope that’s blunt enough for you. www.rewildingbritain.org.uk/

Figmentofmyimagination · 01/09/2020 16:55

A few tomatoes, some bikes and an out of control plant is hardly Tom and Barbara. They sound crazy and bitter.

MadMadaMim · 01/09/2020 17:46

Why are you getting rid of stuff and getting frantic about clearing the garden for a neighbour? One who'll be gone soon.

I'd politely tell her that the garden is what it is and if she wishes to her a gardener in to sort it out to her requirements and at her expense, she's welcome to do so

claireyjs · 01/09/2020 17:48

Yes... if the propety's own garden was a mess i wouldn't care as i could sort it out but if the neighbours was it would definitely put me off

MadMadaMim · 01/09/2020 17:49

Our garden really was a jungle and the wildlife loved it. We had Muntjac living in it.

We only cleared it for lockdown as we wanted outdoor space. Muntjac only seen twice since then :(

Nellisterr · 01/09/2020 17:49

We're looking to sell up and buy in a new area, I would lying if I said I didn't have a glance at the neighbours and make an judgement when looking at a property! But that wouldn't be a deciding factor, more likely the price! Also, houses are selling like hot cakes at the moment, estate agents are extremely busy!

RevolutionRadio · 01/09/2020 18:01

I'd be put off by it.

For any scrap metal put a post on one of the Facebook selling groups and a scrap man will come.

For bikes in working order the council might collect them if they have a bike scheme like ours do. If not give them away on Facebook for free.

Get a storage shed and put them away so at least they're out of site. Doesn't need to be a full size shed.

Sheilasfeels · 01/09/2020 18:07

Oh my God plants grow, that's what gardens are supposed to be for. Not manicured and astro turf. I despair of the people saying a messy (read, full of life) NEXTDOOR garden would be a deal breaker for them 😂

mdh2020 · 01/09/2020 18:12

Friends are selling their house in a quiet cul de sac but since the lockdown the house opposite has had a tow truck and six cars parked outside it and one couple cited this as the reason why they didn’t keep the appointment to view

Branleuse · 01/09/2020 18:20

It wouldnt bother me one bit, and its also not your problem. Are they going to pay for a gardener for you?

Jack80 · 01/09/2020 18:37

I would look at the garden and ask about the neighbours

RevolutionRadio · 01/09/2020 18:49

😂Oh my God plants grow, that's what gardens are supposed to be for. Not manicured and astro turf. I despair of the people saying a messy (read, full of life) NEXTDOOR garden would be a deal breaker for them 😂

There's a difference between plant's growing and being maintained and an unruly garden with items being put in there instead of being thrown out or taken to the tip.

FelicisNox · 01/09/2020 19:05

Yes and it would totally put me off.

Every awful neighbour I've ever had, had an awful garden.

OhCaptain · 01/09/2020 19:07

@Sheilasfeels

Oh my God plants grow, that's what gardens are supposed to be for. Not manicured and astro turf. I despair of the people saying a messy (read, full of life) NEXTDOOR garden would be a deal breaker for them 😂
Do you understand that there’s a difference between shit hole full of scrap metal, and AstroTurf?
cyclingmad · 01/09/2020 19:14

If your gonna let your feomt garden grass overgrow don't do it summer as i realised this yr when neighbour to my right let it grow and then crickets and grasshoppers arrived, he decided to finally cut it and i didnt know until I opened my front door and whole bunch of crickets and grasshoppers were escaping and flew into my house.

I was so fricking pissed off as there was one I couldn't find for a while but could hear it.

And these are neighbours that maintain their back garden just neglect the front Hmm actually your right i might chnage my tune now. Both my neighbours are lazy if they can't even cut their front grass! Esp the retired one who sits watching TV all day and definitely has no disabilities that I'm aware of.

dancingmonkey · 01/09/2020 19:17

My garden is a bit of a mess atm. Toys everywhere, but I work over 100 hours a week, 7 days a week, and the garden is not a priority. So please do not assume people with messy gardens are just lazy!!

SurroundedByIdiotsEverywhere · 01/09/2020 19:27

Yes it would however it sounds like they have overpriced the flat!

sunglassesonthetable · 01/09/2020 19:39

Some posters seem to think it's ' sterile' and tidy vs messy and wildlife.

Well it's not. You can have a beautiful cared for garden bursting with wildlife. A cared for garden looks fine even if it's not "manicured lawns"which seems to be being chucked about on here as a kind of negative.

And you can have a tip. It's the old bikes that are bothering me in OPs garden. Shit that needs to be gotten rid off is what's dragging it down.

SallyB392 · 01/09/2020 19:59

It is your home, your garden, your children, and you must absolutely NOT behave in a different way so that your neighbours can sell. For starters, they are breaking the law if they are telling or even withholding the fact that you have children.

As for the garden, ours is a pickle too, more because we can't manage it than any other reason, if our neighbours had a problem with it, I would hope that rather than be accusatory that the neighbour would offer to help.

Perhaps you could ask them if they could dispose of the bikes etc., or why not try advertising them on freecycle as a job lot for repairs or parts.

ArabellaScott · 01/09/2020 21:31

' "manicured lawns"which seems to be being chucked about on here as a kind of negative.'

It's not that I have so much against manicured lawns per se, but they are not good for biodiversity & wildlife. The wilder (and yes, messier) the better. If we're talking wildlife habitat.

www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/lawns-for-wildlife/

scissy · 01/09/2020 22:26

[quote ArabellaScott]' "manicured lawns"which seems to be being chucked about on here as a kind of negative.'

It's not that I have so much against manicured lawns per se, but they are not good for biodiversity & wildlife. The wilder (and yes, messier) the better. If we're talking wildlife habitat.

www.rspb.org.uk/birds-and-wildlife/advice/gardening-for-wildlife/lawns-for-wildlife/[/quote]
Well indeed. The only thing that might slightly concern me is the "pile" of bikes/ scooters. Our back lawn is mostly clover which is loved by (at least) 3 species of bee that we can identify. Whilst it's flowering, I don't mow the lawn so they can get as much nectar as possible. If that bothers the neighbours well tough, it's only 4-5 weeks and then I trim it all down again!

Commonwasher · 01/09/2020 22:39

Can’t believe these comments! Your garden sounds like a normal family garden with some stuff which needs to go to the tip post-lockdown when the kids are back at school. Hardly an eyesore. You mow and plant flowers and veg, it’s just not manicured, and why should it be?

I lived next door to neighbours who’s garden was pimped to the nines, but who shagged noisily every Saturday morning to ABBA’s greatest hits, and emptied their cat litter tray onto the pavement...

I‘d prefer wild flowers and scooters any day.

You have gone over and above to accommodate your neighbours wishes, but you don’t have to ‘hide’ your children to aid their sale. it’s curtesy to ensure the children are not running riot in the street during viewings, or at all, but really their flat sale is not your problem. You’ve already demonstrated that you are a good neighbour.

Wearethechampionsmyfriend · 01/09/2020 22:54

I voted for YABU as I definitely wouldn't buy a flat if the garden I looked out at was a mess, however i would offer to help you clear the garden if it made a difference to my sale. If you have no car or have to rely on and pay the council to take stuff away then I also feel the people selling the flat ABU too by not helping.

aivilodraw · 02/09/2020 00:14

The only way you’re going to get peoples honest opinion is to share a pic...it would 100% put me off based on what you described x

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