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AIBU?

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Original poster

Why wouldn't you research an area before you move?

191 replies

GlitterGiraffe13 · 13/04/2021 19:37

This popped up on facebook earlier.. A woman bought a house next to the A446 and is now complaining about the noise from the road..For those who aren't really familiar with the A446 it's a really busy road in Birmingham and is used as an alternative route whenever theres a crash/traffic on both the M42 and M6...

She says;
"Before we moved in we had several viewings that all took place on a Saturday morning which all meant that the road was relatively quiet. We absolutely fell in love with the house,"

There was also another article which says she didn't research the area before she moved?

We're relocating soon and we've spent ages researching the new area, good and bad locations to move to and we're going to go and stay for a few days as soon as we can to get a feel for it? Which I thought was normal behaviour?

Even if that was the only time the estate agent could do (unlikely but how else would they sell the house) why wouldn't you drive past it yourself at different times of day to get a feel for the traffic? She's moved from Kings Heath in Birmingham so it's not exactly far for her to go and scope the place out?

I feel like i've missed something here? Confused

Link:
www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/property/couple-forced-wear-earplugs-bed-20350434

OP posts:
Happycat1212 · 13/04/2021 20:21

I can’t believe she didn’t notice beforehand, come on 🤭

User5747384 · 13/04/2021 20:24

Even so it's shocking it got planning permission.
Not even a crash barrier.

Roselilly36 · 13/04/2021 20:24

The goal post in the picture concerned me, imagine a football going over the fence, could cause a major accident.

SisterAgatha · 13/04/2021 20:25

I thought the same as you tbh. We grew up on a town just off the M25 (it’s the closest town to the actual motorway, on the whole stretch of it. So if there is any crash at all, it affects the whole town). We didn’t move here, it was built around us. There is no denying the amount of hassle that road gives us, anyone moving here would be an absolute fool not to come at several times through different days at the very minimum. I research as thoroughly as you OP but surely the bare minimum is looking at the road your house is on Confused

User5747384 · 13/04/2021 20:26

"The goal post in the picture concerned me, imagine a football going over the fence, could cause a major accident."

That's also a good point.

Barbie222 · 13/04/2021 20:26

We live near a few motorways. You just tune it out. Tbh it's worse with intermittent noise, like a train or minor road that attracts racers

PinkSpottyBalloon · 13/04/2021 20:27

Shes stupid and a chancer. She bought a house a few feet from a dual carriageway ffs!

Aurorie11 · 13/04/2021 20:27

I know the road, you would have thought there was a clue with a dual carriageway immediately the other side of the fence. Didn’t need a lot of research

SisterAgatha · 13/04/2021 20:27

Also why I bought a house off of a river, marshland and lakes. No one can spring a new motorway or a new estate here Grin

JudgeJ · 13/04/2021 20:27

@MadMadMadamMim

Yep. We get that a lot round here. It's very rural and people think it will be lovely to move here.

Then they spend a lot of time complaining that there are no services and you have to drive miles to get anywhere...

Also the church bells, no bus service, the farm vehicles and the smell!
Tweacle · 13/04/2021 20:28

@MrsTophamHat

I did read that and she claims that she viewed it several times but the estate agent always seemed to make the appointments on Saturday mornings. She said in hindsight that they realised that was the quietest time for traffic.

I can understand her being swept up in thinking she had a bargain but it is EXTREMELY close to the road and I can't believe it didn't cross their mind that it might be an issue.

She would have to drive down that road to enter the close where the house is. 😂
ColourfulElmerElephant · 13/04/2021 20:29

Six or seven viewings seems massively excessive to me. Then again, I research properly online and drive round areas first of all so perhaps that’s why.

Lightsabre · 13/04/2021 20:31

@Butterflyfluff

This is insane!

The garden is literally the equivalent of a lay-by on a dual carriageway and they are surprised it’s noisy

The most bizarre part is their willingness to show the world how daft they are!

Absolutely this! They had also visited several times but at the same time of day.
If I was her, I'd sell up and cut my losses - the noise is horrendous from the video.

Umbivalent · 13/04/2021 20:31

Yeah, I don't think that selling up is an option now...

MrsTophamHat · 13/04/2021 20:32

@GreyhoundG1rl

Is she claiming the vendor deliberately held viewings on a Saturday to conceal how busy the road was? What a nut job Confused
She is indirectly, yes. The estate agent too.

There's lots of "i'm not suggesting that they did it on purpose but..." in the article.

Mymycherrypie · 13/04/2021 20:33

She won’t be able to put her washing out either, it will be black. We have estates like that off our local dual carriageway which is becoming a toll road soon.

How could she have failed to notice that.

Lightsabre · 13/04/2021 20:34

I also wonder how it passed planning.

ColourfulElmerElephant · 13/04/2021 20:34

Perhaps the vendors were working from home so Saturday was the only reasonable day for viewings to go ahead as they could go out.

Mymycherrypie · 13/04/2021 20:35

Doesn’t matter what day she went tho. The road was still there Grin

jollygreenpea · 13/04/2021 20:36

How on earth did they get planning permission ? Greedy council. Why just why would you buy one of them, then highlight the problems in the papers? As though anyone will buy it from her, she's trapped there now.

StoneofDestiny · 13/04/2021 20:36

She's an idiot. She bought a house knowing it was only separated from a major road by her garden fence. Now she's brought it to the attention of everybody, she's made her property unsellable.

Butterflyfluff · 13/04/2021 20:37

Surely the first alarm bells would have been an entrance to a cul-de-sac which is a hard left turn off a dual carriageway

Even getting in and out of that road must be perilous

Jumpers268 · 13/04/2021 20:37

Oh I laughed a lot when I read this article! I mean how stupid. It's literally 2 metres next to a dual carriageway 😂. Before we moved, I check crime ratings and parking (I drove around the area at various times of the day/evening for weeks though) hahaha.

Theshoepeople · 13/04/2021 20:38

That one does seem to be particularly daft, but when you're desperate to buy a house it's easy to overlook things or think it won't be THAT bad. I moved to a house near a secondary school and as id previously lived near (primary) schools before I naively thought I was prepared for it. It's obvious when you think about it but secondary school noise is very different to primary (particularly PE lessons, and there's an awful lot more swearing!) I wouldn't write to a newspaper to complain though!

JeanClaudeVanDammit · 13/04/2021 20:41

I’ve never stayed in an area for a few days, but I thought it was pretty standard practice to at least do a bit of research into the street you’re planning to move to. I live near a train line so made a point before making an offer on the house of finding out how frequent they are, what hours they operate, and how much noise they make.