To buy a house without

[housesforcourses]

We have been on the hunt for a bigger house for a few years. A lovely home has come on the market in a street close by to us.

The only issue is that several of the neighbours’ houses are quite unkempt and not in great shape. Think rubbish in the yard, not well maintained etc. However, I am reliably informed by a friend who knows these homeowners through the school community that they are lovely people. So as neighbours they would be no problem, it’s really more that the approach to the house is not at all aesthetically pleasing.

For further context, we are by no means the most house proud people in our street, and there are times when our place needs a bit of work, but these houses are a level again of neglect, rather than just “I couldn’t be bothered to do the gardening for a few months” sort of situation.

AIBU to seriously consider buying this house, even though the street is not outwardly the best?

I personally wouldn't. One house like that is one thing, but for there to be a few of them? I'm sorry but it would be a no from me, doesn't sound like a good area.

Fair enough.

The difficulty is that this street is a bit mixed, with some really nice houses, and some that are completely the opposite!

Would these neighbours share a boundary with you? Or a wall if semi detached or terraced?

If not, it wouldn't bother me if they were untidy (unless extreme and so causing rodent issues).

Depends how much you like rats......Also worth considering how difficult it might be to sell it on again.

mmmm it would give me pause for sure.

It would depend if the untidy houses were next to or joined if semi detached to the one you're interested in. And also if the untidy ones are ones facing you so you have to look at them would also impact my decision.

If its a house actually joined - that could potentially cause maintenance issues for you or if the adjoining garden is absolutely over grown you'd have weeds spreading and potentially large trees or shrubs shading out your garden for example?

Might be an idea to visit the street at different times of the day and have a general nosey about - try and get a feel for what the neighbours are actually like. People can be perfectly civil and nice at the school gate - but still be actual nightmare neighbours.

Excellent point about boundaries.

How difficult is it going to be if you need to rebuild a shared wall or fence etc if you are dealing with people who don't take care of their property.

Not worth the headache IMO.

A boundary, not a wall

I wouldn't because its one of those things you can't change. Stuff like, dated kitchen, you can work with, location issues are completely out of your control and you've no idea how problematic it might be until you get there.

No I wouldn't. What kind of rubbish are we talking about? Old fridges, cars, bikes, sofas?

Well I think you're taking a chance if you want to re-sell the property. Run down gardens strewn with rubbish are going to scare potential buyers to death. Also, I would say that in my experience of living on a sprawling council estate for 30 years, the sort of people who live like that are very rarely "lovely". You can all shoot me down in flames if you like, but I'm speaking "my truth" as they say these days.

A run-down car in front of one house and the other seemed to have bits of rubbish that had blown into the bushes over time that the owners clearly haven’t bothered to remove.

I don't think I'd buy it - I just know that I'd find it too irritating having to see it every time I came home.
I'm not the most house proud either, but I draw the line at junk out the front /permanently unkempt gardens.
But it depends on whether you can live it and whether you're concerned about re-selling it in the future.