Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

How do you find out about the neighbours? If at all?

38 replies

ElspethFlashman · 10/05/2017 17:40

We've found a house I love.

Rural village area so one neighbour next door only. Quite close though, despite being in the country.

DH has "a bad feeling" about the neighbours though. Hmm We've never seen them, no information, but they committed the grave sin of having 5/6 cars outside but no sign of life. DH is convinced there's something dodgy going on. Hmm I said he's probably just a mechanic or has a big family with grown up kids or something.

Do you ask the agent what the bloke does for a living? Ask him to ask the vendors?

Do you ever really know anything about the neighbours before you move? Is that reasonable or unreasonable?

OP posts:
pinkblink · 10/05/2017 17:44

It wouldn't have crossed my mind but if it's bothering your husband it doesn't hurt to ask around? I'd take what the estate agent says with a pinch of salt though, imagine they are more interested in a sale than if you like the neighbours

Brogadaccio · 10/05/2017 17:45

I'd ask tbh. And if no satisfactory answer was forthcoming I'd do a few drive bys.

My neighbours seemed perfect. Two elderly sisters but their pooing cat and their fat underwalked dogs and their love of fried chicken at 7am and all of the door slamming at 1am drives me mad. They think they're great neighbours though

BitOutOfPractice · 10/05/2017 17:45

Aren't the vendors legally obliged to disclose problems with the neighbours?

HolditFinger · 10/05/2017 17:48

You could always knock on the door under the guise of asking about the area.
'Hi, I hope you don't mind but I'm interested in buying next door, but don't know much about this area. What are schools like, is it friendly...'

I dare say you'll get a feeling for whether they're a PITA or not.

Letsgotocornwall · 10/05/2017 17:57

I think you should just ask. We moved into a house a few years ago, when we were doing a few drive bys my husband saw the neighbour and asked what the area, etc was like? She was really friendly and asked us in so we could see the layout! We obviously ended up moving in.

QuackDuckQuack · 10/05/2017 18:06

We offered on a house, but when we drove past a few weeks later the front garden still had the mattress that was "about to be picked up by the council" plus beer cans. We withdrew our offer as we had been planning to do some significant improvements to the house and the price + cost of improvements might not be recoverable if we tried to sell due to the dodgy neighbours. We also realised that the couple showing us around the house had told us how great the people were in the affordable housing on one side in case that was a concern to us, but completely omitted any details on the neighbours on the other side.

If I was buying again I would probably knock on neighbours doors and drive past at different times of day/week.

BreakfastAtSquiffanys · 10/05/2017 18:09

Is there a village shop?
Great source of gossip

Original poster
ElspethFlashman · 10/05/2017 18:24

Shop is about a mile away.....not sure if they'd know everyone if you know what I mean.

Theres a big new build across the road, very flash. The Agent was keen as mustard to tell us that bloke was a big fruit importer but when we asked about the next door neighbours he looked blank.

OP posts:
reetgood · 10/05/2017 18:28

I literally knocked on the door and asked about the area, both sides. They couldn't have been nicer, but I got some gossip from one side that made me reconsider. It was an area with some trouble spots which is what I was trying to work out.

BackforGood · 10/05/2017 18:44

Like Holdit, I'd literally knock on the door and ask about the locality - say you thought you might get a less biased opinion from someone who wasn't trying to sell you their house.
I mean, it's still just an impression, but it might help.
I'd also ask the vendors - "oh, what are the neighbours like?" - however diplomatic they are, you'll probably infer something from their tone / expression as much as the words.
I'd also drive past at the weekend / one evening etc. and see if any issues are visible.

LizzieMacQueen · 10/05/2017 19:06

Have you googled the address?

Tiredemma · 10/05/2017 19:09

Have you googled the address?

We did this. Found out the neighbour served a prison sentence for drug offences

Garnethair · 10/05/2017 19:15

How long have the existing owners lived there for?

Lucisky · 10/05/2017 20:00

I went to look at a dear little cottage years ago. Next door garden was full of broken kids toys and rubbish, then a man came out in a vest, effing and blinding. He was really mean looking and covered in tatts. (Yes, I am predjudiced). It put me right off ! Sorry, no real help, but you can judge a lot by the repair and state of the house and garden. You could always have a walk up the road at various times and see what you can see.

Thirtyrock39 · 10/05/2017 20:03

the people we bought our house off didn't tell us that they had been 'neighbours at war' with wall sharing neighbours but luckily we've always got on fine with them so in a way I'm glad we didn't know as it might have put us off and it has never been an issue for us

donajimena · 10/05/2017 20:09

I third the advice to knock on the door and get a feel for them. I did it in my current home and I'm only renting. They are very nice neighbours

Carolinethebrave · 10/05/2017 20:36

Definitely knock on doors. We have awful neighbours but luckily are not in dispute with them.

Frillyhorseyknickers · 10/05/2017 20:42

The law changed a couple of years ago under regulatory reform to allow consumer protection for property under unfair trading regulations. By law, if the agent or seller knows anything about the neighbours which may affect the property you buy, they are obliged to disclose that to any potential purchaser. Challenge the agent on this point, and make it clear.

Frillyhorseyknickers · 10/05/2017 20:43

*make it clear in writing. I.E. email them.

namechangedtoday15 · 10/05/2017 20:52

Walk along the road, say hello to everyone, try to strike up a conversation. Visit 4 or 5 times at different times of the day. As a pp has said, ask the agent / vendor.

We put an offer in just before Christmas. Walked here on Boxing Day to show parents the house. It had snowed really heavily, turned the corner into our cul de sac and there were about 20 people in the road - shovelling snow off the road, off the paths of elderly residents, kids were sledging down the street. Hot chocolate in an urn. Everyone stopped to say hello and was so friendly when we said we were buying the house. My mum was quite overcome afterwards saying she'd never met such a caring friendly bunch!!

7 years on and its still like that - love love love my house precisely because of the neighbours. Its so important to find out before you commit.

IntoTheMystics · 10/05/2017 20:57

We were about to sign contracts, I'd bought paint, picked carpet and started to pack, when I noticed a shopppng trolley and traffic cone in the unattached neighbours garden on one of my regular drive bys. A week later, they were still there and the front garden was completely overgrown.
Spoke to EA and the place was cleaned up pronto, but it put us completely off an estate that is half occupied by tenants and the houses are not looked after. I thought our investment would be irrelevant in some ways because of the neighbours.
We pulled out after a couple of days of thinking about it. Gutted, but it was the right thing to do.

And we did investigate the estate with some of the residents including the residents association. You have to stick by your instincts!

PippaFawcett · 10/05/2017 20:58

Name change, that is lovely.

We did a few drive bys but didn't stop to talk to anyone. However when we moved in both sets of neighbours told us how delighted they were because they had fallen out with our vendor over various issues. Fortunately it sounds like our vendor was at fault so we are living harmoniously side by side with them so far!

Summerbreeze1 · 10/05/2017 21:16

The car thing shouldn't put you off it probably is that they have grown up children. At one point we had four cars plus my son had a van and we are perfectly nice people 😇. We hadn't really thought about the neighbours when we bought this house but liked the house so much that we bought it. We were very happy to find a new home card from one side when we moved in saying they were on holiday but looked forward to meeting us. A couple of days later the neighbours on the other side knocked with a new home card and a bottle of wine - I thought that was really nice so wanted to share Smile
Buying a house is a huge investment so we often look at negative things to make sure we are making the right choice (if that makes sense.)

CrowOnTheBroom · 10/05/2017 21:23

Our neighbour's have grown up kids (and sometimes partners) living with them so they have a lot of cars. Having said that, they're great neighbours so it's worth trying to find out a more about yours.

lovemybabies3 · 10/05/2017 21:28

before we baught our house i went around the road knocking at everyones house, asking who lived next door! luckily we have a semi so only really had to worry about 1 side! we rented for years and always had rubbish neighbours having partys so when we decided to buy i never wanted to move again so wanted to make sure we made the right decision! dont feel cheeky your going to be spending alot of money so you want to no who you will be living next door to