Buying a no. 13 house...am i bonkers to worry?!

[Pagetta]

we have decided to plump for a new build in a lovely dorset town. all ready to put down the reservation fee, great deals agreed etc. But we just saw our house would be number 13.... I didn't think developers used that number? I'm not mega superstitious but it just, well, niggles a little - am i being bonkers?! Do you think they'd change it??!

[Roseberrry]

I have a real fondness for number 13, had no idea they don't do house numbers anymore.

Just do it. Life can be shit and unlucky no matter what number you live at.

[JeffreySadsacIsUnwell]

TBH, the kind of future buyers who might be put off by number 13 would probably also be put off by a green front door (which would rule out most of the F&B-painted houses round me), birds as decoration or accessories and goodness knows what else.

I do know someone who 'borrowed' the opposite neighbour's black cat before viewings and would let the cat out (so that it promptly ran up the long gravel drive and across the road) when she heard the viewers' cars turn into their drive . She swore that it was because of the lucky black cat crossing their path that the eventual purchasers put in an offer - I reckon it was because they were the thirteenth(!) viewers and houses statistically take 10-15 viewings to receive an offer...

[W33XXX]

I stay in number 13 and really quite like it - it becomes a topic of conversation when giving your address!! I was also born on the only black Friday of my year of birth, got the keys to my new house on the 13th, and was married on Friday 13th! For us it is a lucky number!!

[hollinhurst84]

Mine is a new build and a no 13

[magpie17]

But if your house is after number 11 (in a normal, odds-on-one-side street) it's still the 13th house whether you call it that or not! I'm quite superstitious generally and might avoid number 13 if there was another option, I live in a new build and we had three plots to choose from, but if that was the 'right' house I would buy it anyway.

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

We bought a no. 13 over 30 years ago - to be honest I didn't even think about it at the time. It has been a very happy family house and we have no plans to move. I can imagine that when it comes to selling, some people would be put off, but not as many as there used to be.
Does the house 'feel' right? I don't understand why, but some houses do have a much nicer feel (atmosphere) than others. It has nothing to do with decor - my daughter recently bought a place that needed a lot of modernisation, but it had a lovely, warm feel, as if it had been a happy home, and others I saw with her just didn't have that.

[BYOSnowman]

the block i lived in had numbered floors (in the lift) - with no 13

I assume it's still there but this was quite a few years ago

[Whitecoconut]

BYOsnowman, in Hong Kong there is no house/flat/floor number 14.

[specialsubject]

frightening, isn't it?

noticed in a recent hospital visit that on a long corridor of rooms, there was no number 13. The patient I was visiting was in the next room, so it was actually the 13th room along. The procedure went very well.

you've never know it was the 21st century.

[Branleuse]

i lived at number 13. Its a good number

[Branleuse]

seriously?? People still worry about this bullshit?

[Pipbin]

Very silly. It is completely arbitrary.
What do you think will happen, and more over what is going to make it happen?

What town? I know Dorset well.

[UsedToBeAPaxmanFan]

I grew up in a house that was on a 60s estate. Our house was between 11 and 17, and we were 15 as there was no number 13.

My mum, who grew up in the 40s, said her dad wouldn't allow any rooms to be painted green because it was unlucky

I think people are less and less superstitious these days. I can't imagine anyone I know being concerned if a property is no 13. When we bought our current house, we loved the location, the layout, and the size of the garden. The property number (not 13) was irrelevant.

[SurferJet]

I wouldn't buy a no: 13 house, I'd just always feel a bit uneasy about it.

[greenfolder]

Our house was built mid seventies. Should be a 13 but is a 15, wedged between 11 and 17!

[Minty82]

Very surprised to hear that developers avoid number 13 - clearly no one told the people who built our house! We live on a two-year-old estate, and our next door neighbours are number 13. Love your story mumble!

[EvansOvalPiesYumYum]

Most houses have 13 stairs - how could you change that if you're superstitious?

[TranquilityofSolitude]

You could give it a name instead?

[Aethelfleda]

It may bother a small percentage of people.
But many other things can be more bothersome.
I loved our number 13 house.
When we sold, someone refused to buy it.... ....Because the lady next door put food out for the pigeons and she thought that might be annoying.

[SquinkiesRule]

My Mum lived in 13 with her Dh for 29 years, very happy lovely house.
We have lived in two number 13's and loved both houses.

[Pagetta]

definitely house number - just got paperwork through. Plot is 28, house number 13.

I was surprised to see it i didnt think that they did house or flat number 13s - but i'm not sure i'm superstitious enough to let it put me off the house - it was our first choice plot on the development and we are about to reserve it so I guess that makes it lucky!

DH just read this thread with glee that he has been fully supported by the Mumsnet crew ha ha :-p

[NewLife4Me]

Just read your OP properly.
It is more likely to be a plot number as I was told new builds don't have no 13 anymore. I'm sure person who told me said it was because of superstition and them not being able to sell them so easily.

[EvansOvalPiesYumYum]

We lived in a house number 13 for a while - it was about the happiest time of my life!