Our garden is not the cause for the lack of sale

[maoiBYRD]

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. :(

Some wild flowers and veg plants doesn’t sound particularly messy and wouldn’t bother me. However “scrap bikes” and other ness left lying around would make me think I was buying next to messy neighbours. But we can’t see it, maybe post a photo?

I would not buy anywhere that looked like the neighbours were messy eg old bikes or cars, rubble etc in the garden. My last house on an estate had a house like that and they were awful neighbours, although thankfully down the hill from us. Out all hours swearing, bonfires at random times, loads of pets pooing in the street at least until they got bored of them etc etc. Never again. However an overgrown flowerbed or two would be fine. If you have a lot of stuff like bikes and scooters then it may well be putting people off.

It would influence me and put me off.

Are they getting viewings? If they are then maybe your garden is putting people off but if they aren't then it can't be unless they have put pictures of the view on the listing.
It's more likely to be that people want a bit of outside space after lock down. It seems to be bigger houses that are selling well in my area.

I wouldn't want to buy a house next to door to one that was derelict or in poor condition, so I suppose the same goes for the garden. I suppose I would worry that any neglect would potentially cause damage to my property down the line.

We passed on several lovely houses because the neighbors did not maintain the garden.

It’s not your problem. It’s your garden and if you prefer a function garden to grow things and some unkempt bushes then that is entirely your choice. Some people don’t care for perfectly landscaped lawns and flowerbeds.
Just ignore the neighbours, even if your garden was like something from shameless it won’t be the only thing putting off every single buyer. Like you said, they’ve massively over priced their property and are looking for someone to blame.

It would put me off, but then, I'd never in a million years buy a 4-in-a-block flat.

Yes yabu.

Loads of people are buying currently. The market is buoyant, especially for starter homes.

A bad view is an instant turn off for most buyers, as there is usually nothing you can do about it.

From your description, it sounds like your garden is in a pretty bad state too. Unlikely the neighbors can do anything about it though, unless it is so bad that environmental health would be interested.

I think you're downplaying the state of it, op.
Why have you built up a collection of bikes and scooters that are only fit for the scrapman? What were you planning on doing with them?
It sounds like an unholy mess, I wouldn't consider it.

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

Yes, it absolutely would.

Properties round here are selling very quickly and for high prices.

Yes - because messy garden to look out on with no control over it, and might indicate no upkeep on downstairs flat or worst case scenario problem neighbours.

It’s your garden and if you prefer a function garden to grow things and some unkempt bushes then that is entirely your choice. Some people don’t care for perfectly landscaped lawns and flowerbeds

Lol, she’s clearly not describing a functional garden she even starts off saying it’s a mess and there is a difference between that and perfectly landscaped.🤣🤣🤣

Just ignore the neighbours says the neighbour from Hell, I'll bet.

Yes it would put me off.

It would make me think nuisance neighbours.

But you seem to think that it is not that bad and they are over-reacting.

Want to post a pic and let us see if they are over-reacting?

Tidy up your garden... no one wants to look at it!

I would associate a garden full of scrap metal with the sort of people who'd park junked up cars on the street and spend the day tinkering with them, with the radio going full blast.
Rightly or wrongly...

Yes. It’s not right but stereotypically a messy garden means bad/loud/rude neighbours.

In my experience, people who don't give a shit about the state of their property don't give a shit about being a decent neighbour, either.

I wouldn't buy a house with neighbours where it looked like they didn't at least vaguely look after their house/garden. A few stray weeds/the odd thing that needs to go to the tip (in the back garden) wouldn't put me off, but totally unkempt would make me concerned for whether they'd look after the house/be considerate neighbours.

It would put me off if I was going to share a building with you. I’d think you either didn’t give a shit about maintenance or couldn’t afford to pay the rubbish uplift charge, and both would make me worry about your willingness and ability to pay for any communal repairs.

I worked for an EA. A slightly overgrown lawn & a few weeds is not an issue. Bikes, stuff for the tip like sofa ,washing machine,broken chairs, dog faeces everywhere etc screams problem neighbours. Other turn offs are loud music,reeking of weed, using the front drive as a garage to sell knacjered 2nd hand cars from & motorbikes (for their noise level).

Yes, it can.
Our neighbour won't replace their fence, keep arguing it's ours, it's on our deeds as theirs.
There garden is overgrown and a bloody mess.
Of course it impacts on neighbours especially as you say you need a scrap person.
Look after your garden, nothing wrong with planting veg and flowers, just keep it well weeded and tidy.

YABU. Of course your garden will put people off buying if it’s unsightly and a mess.

I would never buy a property next to one where the owners can’t even look after the garden. How someone keeps their garden says a lot about a person.

You don’t need to be a master gardener but keeping it tidy is just basic.

@Fiftysixthnamechange

YABU, if you don't care about your garden then maybe you dont care about your home either, if you don't care about both then maybe you're the sort of person who doesn't care about others too, some people would assume you don't care about making noise, being a poor neighbour etc etc. It's a leap, but when you're spending thousands of pounds on the only thing of value you'll ever own you don't take any chances. You go with the property where the neighbours look like they give a shit about their home and how they live.

This.