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If you view a house but see a hot tub next door...

177 replies

6poundshower · 28/01/2023 16:36

Are you going to think twice about a purchase. Row of town houses, close together, small gardens. Massive hot tub just the other side in neighbours garden, clearly in regular use. Would it make you think twice about noise.

OP posts:
soboredtonight · 28/01/2023 23:10

You do know hot tubs can be put up and down and stored until they need them again.

magicthree · 29/01/2023 05:12

soboredtonight · 28/01/2023 23:10

You do know hot tubs can be put up and down and stored until they need them again.

Ha, ha - that will be fodder for a new thread when MNers buy a house and then find out later that next door has a hot tub!!!

Obviously I don't know where you live, but we typically don't have the space that others countries do. It's annoying as we are on top of each other, and in a terrace you may as well be in their garden with them.

I live very close to the fenceline at the back of the property and the neighbours' back yard is just over the fence. I can hear them quite clearly, even from inside.

Greenfairydust · 03/02/2023 19:55

Quite amusing: I viewed a 2 bed terrace today and this thread immediately popped into my head...

When I went to view the garden I saw in the garden next door a giant kids trampoline and what looked like a bar (it was covered so I could not see exactly what it was at first) but that turned out to be a hot tub when I questioned the seller about it. They also have a really hideous gazebo to protect the hot tub with two security cameras stuck on it. The seller went about how friendly the neighbours are and how they are always having barbecues and trying to invite them and give them drinks over the fence. All of this sounded like my idea of hell so I could not wait to leave that house...

user1471538283 · 04/02/2023 22:30

I wouldn't buy it after my experience with my ex neighbors and the 10 hours a day shouting, loud music and parties. I also wouldn't buy next door to someone with an outside bar.

ReallyLazySusan · 04/02/2023 22:59

How do you know how frequently it’s used? Genuinely?
I have a hot tub. A proper one, not inflatable. I live in a detached house, the hot tub is down the end of the garden and obscured from view by my detached garage. I can’t hear it when I step outside my back door, so I’m sure as shit my neighbours can’t hear it.
I’ve never had sex in it, I’ve never had a party in it. I rarely use the jets on it, which run for a maximum of 15 minutes anyway. So what is it that actually bothers you, or are you just being goady as fuck?

Knickerthief1 · 04/02/2023 23:16

Haha we have a hot tub and trust me our neighbours use their garden and have far more gatherings and late drinking nights than we ever do! We like the peace and quiet on dark winter evenings! I don't think it bothers them we have one as when I recently offered them our old inflatable hot tub they were over the moon! Lots of daft assumptions being made on here!

Floraanddougal · 05/02/2023 06:31

user1471538283 · 04/02/2023 22:30

I wouldn't buy it after my experience with my ex neighbors and the 10 hours a day shouting, loud music and parties. I also wouldn't buy next door to someone with an outside bar.

I’m guessing you live in attached properties with small garden?

as I think much of this is actually about the type of property you are buying and proximity to neighbours.

i have an outside bar, as well as a eight burner bbq and fire pit. but my garden is a couple of acres. my neighbours gardens are larger . And the houses are detached. There is no way to know if viewing either of my neighbours properties that I have this set up . My garden is private and not over looked. And if we are entertaining you’d not hear us. Not least due to distance but also High hedges giving privacy and muffling noise.

rhe same with my in-laws. They have a hot tub. It was there when they bought the house, it’s never used and being removed shortly. But even if they did use it, you’d not know or see it. As the properties are detached and far enough away from each other, the gardens are private and not over looked.

so I think this is down to the type of properties people responding live in. It’s the same with basket ball hoops, people having fire pits, bbqs, sound systems. etc if you are living in a property with small gardens then these things can be very anti social depending on how you use them . If you’re living in a larger detached property with a larger garden, with enough distance between houses, then they can be totally irrelevant.

Christ if you live in a small attached house, someone hoovering or using their washing machine at inconvenient hours can be a bigger issue than a hot tub.

so it’s not simply about what rhe neighbours have and do. And more about the type of house and proximity to neighbours , and then what the neighbours do, have and how they behave.

in my view, it’s very short sighted to not buy the ideal house as someone has a hot tub, bar or basket ball hoop. It could easily be a quiet family who don’t make much noise, you’d not know. And if the neighbours don’t have one, there is nothing to say they won’t sell and the new folks get one. There is nothing to say not having one they don’t run their washing machine at 5am, or hoover at midnight. Or have fires and bbqs on the regular.

put simply if you live in a attached property with a small garden then the risk of neighbour noise is always present and a hot tub, bar or basket ball hoop being present doesn’t mean it’s in constant use, or that if not present, one won’t appear just after you move in. It doesn’t mean the house won’t be sold and the hot tub and basket ball hoop removed by the new owners, like my in-laws.

User137290646 · 05/02/2023 06:47

If it's a townhouse with small garden, anyone could get anything awful and be very close.

UseOfWeapons · 05/02/2023 06:57

MsFannySqueers · 28/01/2023 16:45

It’s sad for the seller of the house. It’s not their fault that the hot tub is there, but it would be a definite no from me. Also gigantic trampolines, basketball hoops, football nets or outside bar/entertaining type areas in a neighbouring garden would put me off personally. There again I am probably just a miserable sod! Or perhaps I have just read too many MN horror stories!

Absolutely agree with this!⭐️

Sunbird24 · 05/02/2023 07:06

My previous neighbours had the whole bingo card - hot tub, trampoline, tiki bar (with a big tv in it), 24hr flashing lights round every fence, fake grass and on several weekends throughout the summer a bouncy castle up all day (and sometimes all weekend, because you have to get your money’s worth) for one of their many children’s birthdays, which necessitated music loud enough to drown out the generator, and then talking/shouting loud enough to be heard over the music. Pretty much the only time i could sit out in my own garden without wearing noise cancelling headphones to try and dampen the noise a bit was when they went on holiday.

So just a hot tub probably wouldn’t bother me, but I’d definitely be looking out for signs of all the other things! I sold my house in the autumn, and their set-up put off 50% of my viewers, even while not in use.

Floraanddougal · 05/02/2023 07:09

User137290646 · 05/02/2023 06:47

If it's a townhouse with small garden, anyone could get anything awful and be very close.

Exactly . My in-laws have been in their home for 6 years. The hot tub I think has been used three times in that time, just by them, and is only now being removed. It’s simply not their thing. They are early fifties and quite frankly party animals, no kids, they used to put it on when we were going round, my sil would text they’d put it on, in case we wished to use it. We didn’t. Ever.

the fact someone has a hot tub tells you nothing. The fact the neighbours don’t have one , tells you nothing, as they could put one in the day you move in, the fact they have a bar, or basket ball hoop tells you nothing ,for example,the kid who used the hoop could have moved away to uni, it’s all about proximity, usage and behaviour. And what happens today, might not happen tomorrow as they can sell up,and the new owners behave very differently .

FenghuangHoyan · 05/02/2023 07:19

I live next door to one of these "neighbours" with a big hot tub and wish I didn't. Their laughing and drinking when we're trying to sleep is bloody annoying. The fact they're using it less since the increase in fuel bills is the one blessing from the cost of living crisis.

They've since got a dog that they leave outside barking instead.

Badger1970 · 05/02/2023 08:04

I've got very sensitive hearing so it would be a no from me. We rented a holiday cottage once with one and I didn't sleep properly the entire week from the noise from it.

CellophaneFlower · 05/02/2023 08:29

ReallyLazySusan · 04/02/2023 22:59

How do you know how frequently it’s used? Genuinely?
I have a hot tub. A proper one, not inflatable. I live in a detached house, the hot tub is down the end of the garden and obscured from view by my detached garage. I can’t hear it when I step outside my back door, so I’m sure as shit my neighbours can’t hear it.
I’ve never had sex in it, I’ve never had a party in it. I rarely use the jets on it, which run for a maximum of 15 minutes anyway. So what is it that actually bothers you, or are you just being goady as fuck?

OP made it sound like it's really close. Just because you've been considerate with where you've sited yours, doesn't mean others have/can be. And of course she doesn't know how much it's used/how noisy they are, but it's something to take into consideration, seeing as she can see it's there.

We have a huge pool that comes out for 5 months of the year. I've situated it as far from my neighbours as possible. I'm lucky though as 1 side also has young children and the other are an older couple who love hearing the kids play. They actually moan if they don't hear them in the garden for a while! We also back onto a playing field and a school, so I guess it's not the kind of place you'd choose anyway if you don't like hearing a bit of noise!

Mark19735 · 05/02/2023 08:36

Sounds to me like there’s quite a lot of people suffering from something even worse than ‘hot tub neighbour’.

Being too poor for their airs and graces. Can’t have detached house privacy on an attached house budget, I’m afraid - and moaning about others like Hyacinth Bucket did isn’t exactly an appealing look.

CleopatrasBeautifulNose · 05/02/2023 08:40

I would be wondering if that was a good chunk of the reason the house is up for sale. Defo a swerve from me.

CellophaneFlower · 05/02/2023 08:47

Mark19735 · 05/02/2023 08:36

Sounds to me like there’s quite a lot of people suffering from something even worse than ‘hot tub neighbour’.

Being too poor for their airs and graces. Can’t have detached house privacy on an attached house budget, I’m afraid - and moaning about others like Hyacinth Bucket did isn’t exactly an appealing look.

You don't have to be a snob or have a detached house to wish to have respectful neighbours!

It also has nothing to do with money - look at terraced houses in London, nor being detached - have you seen how close a lot of newer build detached houses are? I have far more garden/space from my neighbours in my end of terrace!

Staffielove23 · 05/02/2023 08:50

Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. People can be annoying and make excessive noise in their garden with or without a hot tub.

PritiPatelsMaker · 05/02/2023 08:53

I wouldn't go near it either.

Blessedtobeamum · 05/02/2023 08:54

I wouldn't think twice about it.

You're going to struggle to find somewhere that doesn't have a hot tub or a trampoline.
Even if they don't have either, they're still not exempt from noisy gatherings.

Some people just use hot tubs to chill out on their own at the end of a stressful day.

userxx · 05/02/2023 08:56

Staffielove23 · 05/02/2023 08:50

Wouldn’t bother me in the slightest. People can be annoying and make excessive noise in their garden with or without a hot tub.

This is true. Also not everyone who has a hot tub uses it for a party.

CellophaneFlower · 05/02/2023 09:08

Tbf, we also have a trampoline and for 99% of the year it's unused as covered in pigeon shit 🙈

jaundicedoutlook · 05/02/2023 09:08

It would totally put me off.

As well as the noise of the tub itself, they come with the added risk of:

Loud shrieking
Swinging parties
Beer bellied men
Cheap Prosecco odours
Leathery cleavage glimpsed over the fence
Country music
Caravan parking

Patanat · 05/02/2023 09:32

@Mark19735 try and make your posts a bit less obvious if you want more of a reaction!

While I think your comments are silly, h they do highlight an interesting point. Peace and quiet is good for mental health and shouldn’t be treated as a luxury commodity that only the wealthy can access. Nor should that be necessary. In many societies where people live closely together there are social norms and formal rules that help things to be harmonious.

Patanat · 05/02/2023 09:39

Some people just use hot tubs to chill out on their own at the end of a stressful day.

With exceptions like the log-heated tub mentioned above, all tubs have pumps though. All pumps make some noise and the cheapest tubs are famous for having very noisy pumps.

I’d love a hot tub myself, but I’ve got a postage stamp garden and there is nowhere I could position one where neighbours wouldn’t hear the pump continuously. So even though it would only be used for solitary wallowing in my case, it would still be a nuisance.