To ask my neighbours to sell me their garage?

[ElleDubloo]

I want to buy my neighbours’ garage. It’s next to my house. They don’t use it but they probably store some stuff in it. Would it be rude to just knock on their door and ask?

My grandma didn’t drive and was very happy to rent her parking. It wouldn’t create the double garage OP wants but could be worth asking?

Why would you consider moving house if you can't buy the garage? What do you intend to use it for?

Thanks everyone for your input. We will of course get it done properly, and have no intention of conning our neighbours as some posters have been mean enough to suggest! I acknowledge that the cost is likely to be high and to reflect the devaluation of their property - as long as we pay them a fair price that takes this into account, I see nothing immoral about it.

I’ll try to update this thread when we have an outcome, but it won’t be for some time as we’re still undecided as to whether we want to move house or stay and improve.

Thanks again for all the helpful insights and well wishes!

A lot of people are talking about how it will affect the value in the future but I'm not sure it's that much of an issue. Assuming they are very elderly, it's more than likely their forever home. The house will suffer a bit for not having an external garage for storage (I don't know many people who can fit a modern car in theirs) but there's still more parking than average out front so it won't be impossibly to sell. In any event, it probably won't be sold until either probate or if the final occupant goes into care (and then the proceeds get eaten up by care fees quite quickly). Selling the garage is an easy way to release some equity now while still allowing them to enjoy their home.

I think it's a good idea op, they can only say no. Come back and update us

I would say no, and not welcome such a question.

I'd also avoid the person from then on.

But I suppose a great deal depends on the way the question is asked.

Not sure the OP has given much thought to the legal aspects either.

@maddiemookins16mum

My mum sold her garage to neighbours 15 years ago. After she died and I had to sell the house, it went for 12K less than the one across the road with a garage.

Firstly, I’m sorry you lost your mum .

Did she get the market rate (or close to it) for the garage at the time? You stating that you got £12k less for the house when you sold it X years later without the garage doesn’t really add any information at all. Of course the house was worth less after your mum sold part of the plot years before. The question is did she get a fair price for it at the time she sold it? If (for example) it was only worth £3k when she sold it and that’s what she got, then in subsequent years the market improved, house prices rose and when you sold the property it was worth £12k, then that’s fair enough and she wasn’t ripped off. That’s just the way the market works.

Also, there’s no way of knowing that yours went for £12k less than the one across the road because of the garage, were they in comparable condition? Aside from the updating side of things, people often want a bargain with probate sales because they can be lengthy and complicated processes.

@Daphnise

I would say no, and not welcome such a question.

I'd also avoid the person from then on.

But I suppose a great deal depends on the way the question is asked.

Not sure the OP has given much thought to the legal aspects either.

You'd actively avoid your neighbours if they asked to buy your garage? Why?

@unclubbable

My neighbour asked this. I didn't want to enter into a conversation about it so I just ignored his letter, but it annoyed me and I've never looked at him the same way since.

How strange. Could you not have just said no and moved on?

Some people take umbrage at the strangest things. They asked, you said no, life moved on. Unless they carried out a campaign of harassment to bully you into selling your land, then what exactly is the issue?

The more I am on MN the more I realise how strange some people are about property. They get offended by other people having different ideas about their own homes.

My DB is like this. He saw that our former family home was on the market and described the perfectly reasonable changes the current owners had made as a 'desecration'. In his mind the house had been perfect when our parents owned it and should have remained untouched.

Some people are strange and there seem to be a fair few in my own family.

Mn just has some v strange ideas. Everything needs a “polite letter” and a big scripted dialogue
I wouldn’t sell the garage, it’s an asset for the house
However I’d not be offended at being asked

Good luck OP. In my opinion, it's a perfectly valid question.

Last year I asked my 'rear' neighbour if they would ever consider selling the bottom 50ft of their 400ft garden to us.

They thought about it and came back with a No, as they were putting their house up for sale imminently and didn't want to complicate things.

They did put it up for sale and also let the new buyers know of our request though, and we are now in early stages of valuing the land for a potential buy with them.

You don't ask, you don't get, in my book.

Toptotoeunicolour exactly. My property isn't for sale unless I put a board up or stick it on eBay.

My neighbor asked me this a few years ago. My house has a double garage at the end of the drive, with access to my kitchen. Also at the end of the drive, there's a flight of steps to my third garage, further up the hill. That garage is a semi&detached garage and my neighbor owns the one next to it. He wanted to buy mine to make a double garage. His house is shitloads bigger than mine, but poorly planned and without any drive at all.

I refused, not wanting to devalue my own property. I hardly see him anyway, so there's no awkwardness. He came round to ask, rather than drop a note.

Why not ask to rent it? It will really affect their house price if they sell it.

You’re not being unreasonable but I think it’s very unlikely you would get planning for that.

Two words

Independent valuation

It’s not about whether your figure matches their figure
They probably have NO idea.

You need to get it independently valued. By a few different agents

You’re not being rude to ask.

Rude would be to assume the answer would be yes.

It's true you won't know unless you ask, but I think you may find that even if your neighbours don't use their garage, they'll be well aware that it increases the value of their own house should they ever want to sell, and they may therefore think you're a CF.

You've got nothing to lose by asking. We did this with a neighbour whose garage adjoined our property but was separate to theirs. They agreed but then decided they wanted to move full stop so we bought the whole property, had the garage added to our deeds and then sold the property without the garage. Worked out great.

Before you ask, have a price in mind. I don’t think it’s cheeky if you phrase it respectfully, but it will devalue their own home, so they may want quite a lot for it.

My parents sold some of their garden which was a similar sort of situation because a neighbour asked them. It was actually lovely for them as they got a large sum and were able to use it as spending money in retirement (then bought a cheap holiday home) without the hassle of moving.

I’d imagine the chances are fair given your diagram that they might be interested.
I don’t see how it could be rude to ask, only to not accept no as an answer.

I think even if they don’t use there garage. They would be mad to sell as if they wanted to sell there house a garage would be a great selling point.

I think however you put it they might be offended. People are often quite pssessive about their homes etc