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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask my neighbours to sell me their garage?

214 replies

ElleDubloo · 27/03/2021 09:46

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?

OP posts:
Lynz78 · 28/03/2021 21:08

My mum sold hers to nextdoor neighbours it was on the side of their garden. She wasn't using it previous owners left it full of rubbish they paid her and also for the solicitors and for it to be emptied.

Sueq49 · 28/03/2021 21:20

Theres nothing rude in asking. I think your comment is rude.

Roadtohades · 28/03/2021 21:32

We asked our neighbour if we could buy a strip of his land adjoining ours, to extend our garden. He said no, and we accepted that and remained on perfectly friendly terms. Then a year later he came back and said they'd changed their minds and were prepared to sell after all. We now have a much more satisfactory shape and size of garden, but the two downsides were; 1) the price - they wanted way over valuation, which we reluctantly agreed to pay, and 2) the amount of time the conveyancing took - exactly a year, with a four figure sum in solicitors' fees, all for a quarter acre strip of land with no buildings and nothing but a wilderness of brambles and badly broken down walls. However, we are happy with the end result and don't regret it.

mussymummy · 28/03/2021 21:44

Ask them, and as others have said would you be prepared to rent? I used to live in a block of flats with limited parking assigned to some flats and it was quite common for the spaces to be rented out although not quite the same as your situation

Knowingitsallover · 28/03/2021 22:41

No harm in asking my nans neighbour asked to buy my nans side garden, she said no ( don't know why as was overgrown) when she sold house neighbour bought if new owner insteaf

Barney60 · 28/03/2021 22:56

A friend of mine has just purchased his neighbours garage as there is no street parking, typical mid terraced house in midlands with a narrow access to a few garages it cost £25,000. He just said if you ever want to sell your garage please offer me first refusal. Due to lockdown neighbour found himself short of money and approached him, my friend also had to pay legal fees to transfer deeds to him.

Mamanyt · 28/03/2021 23:32

Frankly, while you are not being unreasonable to ask, they would not be unreasonable to say "no." So long as you are prepared for that, and don't let it get in the way of keeping decent relationships with your neighbors, talk with them.

QuornSausagesAreTheDevilsPenis · 28/03/2021 23:53

Wouldn't hurt to ask. Many years ago my dfolks had a very polite handwritten letter through the door from someone who wanted to move to the area and had an eye on their house. DDad called the number although they were happy and not really up for moving. Eye watering figure was mentioned as 'presenting no problem'. It was then that dMum uttered the words that still get mentioned at family gatherings "Well I don't want to sell the house to anyone who wants to buy it" Grin, she knew what she meant!!

Anyways op, don't ask don't get and all that!

FaceyRomford · 28/03/2021 23:56

When we moved in, my NDN called and offered to buy the bottom 20 feet of my garden. Nothing to stop you asking. (I said "No" BTW).

Famousinlove · 29/03/2021 01:58

It will devalue their property but if they have no intention of moving house ever again that might not matter to them and they might appreciate a boost in their income now

Bluntness100 · 29/03/2021 07:30

@Famousinlove

It will devalue their property but if they have no intention of moving house ever again that might not matter to them and they might appreciate a boost in their income now
This can’t be serious. Just because they are elderly and might not move again doesn’t mean they won’t care about the value of their property and will happily devalue it and not want recompensed. I know plenty of elderly people, unless they have dementia etc not one of them would be like “sure mate, I will be dead soon anyway, knock fifty grand off the value of my house, Don’t be giving me any money for it, you enjoy”.😱
MyOtherProfile · 29/03/2021 07:37

No harm in asking. So long as you tell us what happened Grin
However I'm really intrigued. Why would having a double garage mean you didn't have to move house? I'm not sure why a double garage adds enough to make you stay.

Salarymallory · 29/03/2021 07:38

@Bluntness100

Read the post
The poster isn’t saying to take it off them
She is saying that they may prefer boost in income NOW rather than keeping the money on their property.

Indeed, the government accepted that this may be the case years ago when it allowed for lump sums to be taken from pensions.

unicornpoopoop · 29/03/2021 07:56

We are looking to try and do this. Difference is that the garage actually backs into our garden whereas it's not actually attached in anyway to the owners house (now flat and shop) and is actually around the corner from their doorway.

No idea what garages are worth though and we want to save some money before asking the question

DebHagland · 29/03/2021 09:15

Having a garage on your property, is a plus in terms of value and ease of selling the property, so they may not be keen on selling it, even if they don't use it, I would suggest asking if they will rent it to you.
I used to rent a garage from an elderly lady in the next street for my classic car.

SquirtleSquad · 29/03/2021 09:18

Definitely nothing wrong with asking very politely with no pressure.

Famousinlove · 29/03/2021 09:42

@Bluntness100 Your post can’t be serious. I did not say they should give her the garage because they are old.
I said they might not care about the value of the property and appreciate a boost in their income now, which means if OP paid them say £30k that would be a lot more useful to someone than a house worth £50k more when they are dead.

skirk64 · 29/03/2021 09:43

Unless they actively need the money now, I can't see them agreeing. You would need to offer way over the true value of the property for it to be worth their while even considering it, because if house prices continue to rise (which is more likely than not) even selling the garage for £30000 now might knock several times that value off their property in a few years time.

You might have more luck renting or asking to buy a 10 year lease on it, but of course you wouldn't be able to knock it down and build a house double garage.

Sheila786 · 29/03/2021 10:36

indeed....

Eowyn78 · 29/03/2021 16:46

I guess it depends how well you know your neighbour. But here is a sentence starter to use:

"Hi (insert name here), how do you feel about the idea of either renting or selling your garage to us please? We are looking for extra space atm because of x, y and z..."

In this case, speaking in the passive voice may be the preferred method to see how people feel about a situation before jumping into the nitty gritty details.

Hope that helps?
Eowyn

GnomeDePlume · 29/03/2021 17:45

The layout the OP has described is fairly common in my area especially for houses built around the 1920s. Car ownership was very low. Initially houses were built without car space then garages were added at a later date. It is quite possible that both houses were initially sold without garage space at all and then offered to owners as the house building carried on.

In our area there is a street which was initially built without garage space but as time moved on driveway and garage space was added to later builds. It is fascinating to walk up the road to see the progression (I'm a bit of a domestic architecture nerd).

Bluntness100 · 29/03/2021 17:58

[quote Famousinlove]@Bluntness100 Your post can’t be serious. I did not say they should give her the garage because they are old.
I said they might not care about the value of the property and appreciate a boost in their income now, which means if OP paid them say £30k that would be a lot more useful to someone than a house worth £50k more when they are dead.[/quote]
I’m sorry but I’m still not with you.

Why should they go without the fifty grand? It will go to those who inherit their estate. The op should expect to pay the fifty plus the cost of the land and the garage. Not expect to get them to take nearly fifty percent of its value because they wouldn’t get it anyway as they’d be dead.

GnomeDePlume · 29/03/2021 18:16

Who knows what the valuation is? Also that isnt the same as 'worth'.

The neighbours may decide if approached that the garage has no real 'worth' to them other than its valuation.

The OP can ask, if the neighbours are interested then OP can get some valuations done. The neighbours maybe happy with these valuations or decide that the garage & parking has more 'worth' to them than that.

'Worth' can be more than simply money. They may like the idea of having the potential to park there or to replace the garage or whatever.

Nothing the OP has written implies that they are trying to pull a fast one, rip off the current owners etc.

Unless OP asks the question then nobody will know. If the neighbours say they are interested then OP can start the ball rolling. If they cant come to an agreement then the ball stops rolling.

So long as everybody approaches this sensibly without expectation that a purchase must be agreed then I see no harm in asking.

Kazzyhoward · 29/03/2021 19:32

How much a garage is worth on it's own is VERY different to how much the house valuation will reduce with/without a garage. It's the latter that matters to the current owners. Also even if it doesn't alter the house valuation much, it may mean the house sells faster when it comes time to sell. Whatever price agreed will also have to be increased by the sellers' legal and professional costs so they end up with the full "worth" in their pockets.

I agree with some other posters. A better option, more likely acceptable to the owners, would be to offer to rent it off them, then it's still their's to sell and when it's time to sell the house it makes it a more attractive proposition as potential buyers could either use it themselves or continue renting it out.

Jetsthebestgladiator · 29/03/2021 20:48

@Famousinlove I’m with you. If they have no need for the garage and will not move from the property they might like to sell the garage and use it for holidays or whatever to enjoy their time on Earth rather than leaving it as inheritance when they are gone. You haven’t said they’d get any less. I’m assuming the £30m now vs £50m in the future is adjusted for inflation and not because they’re being ripped off. I’d be embarrassed if my parents thought they couldn’t spend their own money so that they could pass it on. I want them to enjoy it!