To avoid buying dream house in “dodgy” neighbourhood

[Cantbebotheredanymore]

I have found my dream house, it’s round the corner from where I currently live, it’s detached with a nice garden, it’s within budget and is perfect for our family of 3.

However… the neighbourhood I live in has a reasonable amount of ASB. Kids on motorbikes, noisy people kicking off etc. It doesn’t really affect me where I am now mainly because we live in a flat, but I do hear things going on outside at night, at the weekends usually.

The house we love is a 5 min walk from where we are and opposite a park.

The main reason I’m worried is the house next to our dream one has heavy barbed wire on the garden fences. Another had cctv cameras on the front gate. I dunno, just seems quite ramped up security and now I’m questioning how safe it will be.

We could never afford this type of house in a more desirable neighbourhood, and I really LOVE the house and garden, so I’m a bit stuck.

My gut is saying avoid this house because of the location and security risk, AIBU?

Stop and think for a moment. Does your dream home (the in your head version) have barbed wire? Need barbed wire? If yes, work away but it doesn't scream dream house to me.

There’s a reason for the saying “location, location, location”- you can’t change it. Something to bear in mind as well is that if there’s going to be a recession and a period of economic and social uncertainty, rough areas will get worse, not better. There will be more crime and antisocial behaviour, because the people at the bottom of the heap will become more desperate and less motivated to stick to the rules, and there will be fewer resources- social services, community support, police, courts- to address the issues.

God no please dont buy this house. Theres a reason the neighbour has barbed wire and cctv and it isnt because anything goods happened.

Yep, avoid like the plague.

Don’t buy it. Location is the the most important thing as you can never change it. Maybe think how you can buy a house in an area you prefer, but compromise elsewhere? You can always extend / renovate in the future.

Nope nope nope don’t do it. You can always change a bathroom or a kitchen but you can’t change the street and you can’t change your neighbours.

There’s a reason it’s cheap. It might be a beautiful house, but will you have a beautiful life living there? It sounds stressful and out of your control there.

Location location location!
You can change lots of things about a house to put your own stamp on it but you can do absolutely nothing about the location it's in. Buyer beware

I would definitely avoid a house where the neighbouring house is covered in barbed wire. That is very clearly not a good sign. It screams anti social behaviour and as a pp pointed out, during a recession and economic downturn, the bad/rough areas only get worse.
If you're desperate to buy it, consider calling into the local police station and ask them what the area/road is like. I would also call into the houses with the barbed wire and cameras and ask their opinion. That might give you a truer picture and show you you're making the right decision to avoid it.

Never have the nicest house on the street…or the most expensive…will drive you mad.

I'd choose location over a house every time. Obviously you need to like the house you buy but a good location is essential. I've lived in dodgy areas and it can make your life a misery.

Nope.

Much MUCH better to have the worst house on the best street.

We did this. Don’t do it.

🏃‍♀️ run 🏃‍♀️ 🏃‍♀️

If it’s round the corner from you, can you go round there at say 11.30? Check or join a neighbourhood WhatsApp? Just basically gather some data? Local crime stats?

Opposite a park sounds lovely in theory but parks can be a magnet for anti social behaviour in not so nice areas.

Buy the worst house in the best neighbourhood. You can improve a house yourself, you alone can't improve a neighbourhood.

Park outside at 11:30 on a Saturday night for an hour. That’ll give you an idea.

We chose to buy the worst house on the best street as it was the only way to get a garden and large plot in the location we really wanted. It will take years and a lot of money to extend and change it into what we truly want, but as others say the one thing you can't change is location. We viewed several amazing houses that were only affordable to us because of the area they were in and each time we decided against offering as we honestly weren't sure if we'd feel safe or comfortable leaving the house either alone or after dark. Personally I'd keep looking OP and consider taking on something that you can change into your dream home over time but in the location you really want.

The East End of London was just rundown, and the 'arty' crowd moved in and all the properties improved as did the neighbourhoods.
You will have no momentum on your side, there will be you, boarding up your windows. Fitting mesh over your doors.
Maybe not.

190% I would prefer a tiny tiny ugly house in a nice area rather than a palace in the area you describe. Always try to get a nice area.

And should add this was our experience of living near a park. Lovely for us and our kids during the day, at night it was where all the teens came to hang out, drink and swear loudly. Not what you wanted to hear on hot summer nights with the window open.

It won't be your dream house if your neighbours are cunts

We drive past it often at various times of day, but tbh have never noticed any ASB. It has a decent amount of footfall because it’s opposite the park entrance but I haven’t really seen anyone hanging around, and nothing suss during the viewing.

The barbed wire really threw me off though, it’s more like a heavy duty razor fence, surely you only install a permanent deterrence like that if things are really bad. But it always seems quiet round that side.

thanks for the comments everyone, my gut instinct was that it’s too good to be true, so your advice is reinforcing that.

This was one of my other concerns. It’s a beautiful park, but I imagine it is a hive of activity at night as it has a lot of tree cover so not very well lit.