Shared courtyard with path to garden- would this put you off?

[Teaandtoastie]

Trying to sell my house and at a loss as to how to improve this/ make it more attractive to buyers. I live in a row of 4 cottages. At the back there is a shared courtyard, though in reality everyone just uses the bit directly behind their house for bins/washing etc. There is then a shared pathway, off which there are 4 individual fenced off gardens. My house has the furthest garden but I kind of like this as it means no one walks past my garden. In reality it takes about 30 seconds to walk to the garden, it’s not exactly far!

When I moved in it never occurred to me that this might be a problem. The neighbours are lovely and very quiet, we barely see each other. They all look after their gardens/ grow vegetables etc.

I had a buyer but they have just pulled out and I now need to sell quickly or will lose my next house. I’ve dropped the price to the extent that all you could really get for that price round here is a flat. Lots of viewings but still, time and time again the feedback is people love the house but the garden puts them off.

I’m at a loss what to do. Don’t want to waste money, not sure whether sprucing up the house would work even though the general feedback is people like the house (recently redecorated to sell, but certain bits could probably benefit from an extra coat of paint), or to spend more money on the garden, making it prettier ( at the moment it’s just a lawn) or whether that would have any effect at all?! Or do viewings myself to try and reassure people how the set up really does work and the neighbours are lovely? I’ve suggested to the agent that they have the land registry plans on hand for viewings to show people exactly which sections are owned and which are shared but they think this would over complicate things and confuse people.
Also wondering whether to ask agent to fully explain garden set up before viewings- fed up of prepping house for viewings only to have feedback like “they have a toddler and want an enclosed garden at the back”. The details just say “large garden set away from the house accessed via pathway”.

Would this set up put you off?

If I was paying for a garden I'd want it private and immediately off the back of my house for the kids and pets to enjoy. I think anyone looking for a house with a garden would likely feel the same.

Personally it would put me off purely because my parents are going through a long drawn out battle with neighbour over the shared driveway! It’s cost thousands and been an absolute ball ache!

Had it not been for this I don’t think it would have bothered me if it was the right house.

Good luck I’m sure it’s just the time of year.

Yes it would. There are a lot of houses around here that have right of access through the gardens and they are notoriously difficult to sell.

if I was paying for a garden I’d want it private totally understand this, but all other properties in this price range are either flats or have tiny courtyard gardens.

If it would put you off, what might change your mind? Price? Or if you really loved the house?

I'm afraid it would, and did, put us off buying. Though our main issues with it, the sellers could have avoided to be fair. The path and steps leading from the courtyard looked a bit scruffy, which made us think that it was everyone and therefore no one's job to maintain them. And when we went to look in the grassy, "private" area, it was full of kids from neighbouring houses playing football - as the largest patch of grass, it was clearly their park
As I said though, those issues could have been made much better by the seller during our viewing though, and it didn't put us off going to see it on the first place.
Good luck!

Price wouldn’t be an issue to me. We have recently found a brilliant house for £50k under budget. The reason we won’t buy it is because to get to our drive we need to drive down an access road past 4 other houses. At any point this could be blocked due to visitors etc and it would drive me bonkers!

My house/garden has a similar set-up, and I would be happy to buy another house like it. Is it a fairly unusual set-up for your area? It is very common in my town.

Don’t be disheartened by the amount of people saying they wouldn’t buy it. At the end of the day we all have different budgets and priorities within those budgets- there will be a buyer out there somewhere. But you should absolutely ask the agents to be clear on the details!! I can’t see how them knowing the specifics would be confusing to potential buyers. If I were viewing anywhere with shared access I would want to know m, and it infuriates me when you ask agents and they don’t know. That’s what you’re paying them for!! I think the best thing to do would be to renegotiate with your agent if you don’t feel that they are giving you a good service and to do the viewings yourself. Good luck.

ThomasHardy that’s interesting, I don’t think it is that common around here. I was quite surprised when I first saw it, but as all the other properties I’d seen in my price range were either flats or not in great areas I thought the fact there was any garden was a bonus.

Yes, it would put me off. With lovely neighbours it wouldn't be a problem. With PITA neighbours it could be a nightmare.

You may not like to hear this but the only way I'd be tempted is if the garden was an added bonus ie the same price as one with no garden.

Also, perhaps get all the sales reps from the agents round so that you know that they are all familiar with the property, that they view it in a positive light and that they’re not making comments which might be less than positive when doing viewings. They’re supposed to be selling it after all. The amount of times I’ve been on viewings and the agent says it’s the first time they’ve seen the property themselves... eye roll

Ha! Cross posted. You bought it under similar circs as I was describing.

piginpastry I agree, I’m speaking to them tomorrow and I think I’ll print out a copy of the land registry docs and ask them to show it to potential buyers.

Can you section off your garden? So it's like crossing a communal road to get to a private area? Fenced in, locked?

Quite a few cottages in villages round here have this sort of arrangement and I guess anyone local looking seriously will have seen a few...people from outside the area seem to be the ones who object (according to my friend who was selling one such). It wouldn’t put me off if everything else was to my liking, and the garden area could be made reasonably private.

There is a fence but it’s about waist high. No gate, but if you wanted to you could put s high fence and lockable gate to make it more private. The only people who have access to the courtyard are the 4 houses, there is an alleyway and locked door to the road which we all have a key to.

It wouldn't put me off but I don't have kids to keep an eye on. In fact I'd quite like the quirkyness of it.

When you say you have the end garden, I assume you don't have the end house too? If you do could you 'buy' your share of the courtyard from the neighbours?

It would put me off, and we ruled out a lot of properties we viewed because of it. But bought with a shared driveway in the end because we fell in love with it.

Estate agents seem rely on being vague about access and ownership etc and just say it's all fine/normal or just pretend it's not shared and hope the buyer won't find out until they've started the process and are less likely to back out. So i don't think you can rely on them to pass on good information.

One property we viewed left a binder containing deeds, land registry entry, various other legal documents open on the dining room table. That made me much more confident about offering on the property as I knew what I was buying. I'd do the same in your position.

If it's in reasonably good condition I wouldn't redecorate or do up the garden. At a cheap price I'd wonder what you were hiding, but I'm cynical.

Sorry I would not consider a house that didn't have a fenced garden directly from the back door whatever the price - due to dog! You need to hold on for the right buyer tbh, the person who will like it is out there - happened to us, buyer pulled out, had viewings no offers, started to panic then a couple viewed them returned 10 mins later offering the full amount because they so wanted it (and a lot more than the buyer that pulled out). I did change agent though to a countryside specialist

Can you post a link?

being the end one, is there any way you can make it more of a 'secret garden' - trellis and climbers to make it secluded, and make it a feature, and described as such in an EA brochure makes it seem so much more romantic?

Bumbleberries the houses are in a row and the the courtyard spans across all 4 houses at the back if that makes sense, then leading straight back from the far left of the courtyard is a path and the gardens come off the path to the right, if that makes any sense? So directly out of my back window is the courtyard, then behind that my neighbour’s garden, then the next neighbour’s garden, etc. Mine is at the end. I assume it was done this way as otherwise we would each have very long very thin gardens.

I think it sounds nice and sociable . My kids are a bit older and would be fine though. If I had a dog or toddlers it might be difficult - but if the alternative was no outside space I’d jump.

How about setting the bit across the path up as a kitchen garden?

I wouldn’t hesitate to print out the land registry plan at A3 and pin it up prominently

Perhaps it's the way it's marketed? Be brave - post the link!

Sorry, don’t want to link as it would totally out me! Plus there are no pictures of the shared area anyway, just the garden. I think estate agent kept it a bit vague on purpose but I’m wondering if that was a mistake and people are then surprised when they see it.