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Original poster

New House regret

45 replies

Poiuyl · 25/02/2023 06:47

Bought 'dream' home, had a few doubts along the way but what I was looking for was very niche and really needed to move out of the previous house. Got the keys Monday.

So, the vendors lied. A lot. There's a shared access point at the very bottom of the 'garden' (1 acre away) that the vendor said was rarely used.

It's in use 4/5 times a day. Users of it can see into our garden, albeit from a distance, which makes it feel exposed and not private.

Also a public footpath runs along the bottom border - again this was 'never used' but I've seen several walkers and they'll cut across our garden to the road.

The house is a lot darker than I anticipated. I asked about light and vendor said once the sun moves around then the house is very very light and it's just the time of day we were viewing, another lie of course.

There are very large trees blocking light, vendor said neighbours were lovely and planning to remove them - We had a brief meet with them yesterday and they are definitely not lovely and although I wasn't going to bring the trees up so soon (wanted to forge a good relationship first) the first thing they said was 'don't think we're cutting anything down like the last idiots wanted'.

They didn't clean the house whatsoever, it's filthy, I know this is fixable but it's really affected how I feel about it. They left junk filling the sheds.

Yet they took everything out the house and walls, everything - coat hooks, fitted wardrobes leaving patches of carpet missing, nails out the wall leaving dozens of holes and they've damaged the plaster in several places.

Also now they've moved furniture I can see what was hidden - like paper blue tacked to walls to cover holes, damaged flooring, broken tiles etc etc.

Good points: stunning, really stunning, location and views. House is huge, and has potential to be beautiful with TLC, lots of paint and new flooring. Total 1.5 acres of land so lots of space.

Will the bad points become less so?

OP posts:

feelingrubbish2023 · 25/02/2023 07:55

I would definitely recommend signage regarding the footpath. I do a lot of walking and we often come up against footpaths through private land with no proper signage. It's even harder when they're not well walked and therefore footpaths not so obvious. We never want to intrude, just make it explicitly clear with signs and boundaries (hedging etc) and you'll be fine.

Tekkentime · 25/02/2023 08:05

The neighbours thing would bother me the most. Think i'd have pressed to have the trees trimmed/removed before moving, or asked the neighbours directly.
We had a house once where the neighbours HAD promised several times to put up a fence at the bottom of our garden but never did, so DH put one up just before selling.

Pipsquiggle · 25/02/2023 09:57

On the leaving junk in the sheds, do check with the solicitors.

We bought a probate property. It had a shit load of stuff left in the sheds.

The executors paid for the 8 skips it took to clear it.

We did make it a stipulation of the sale and took loads of photographs.

Allthismidnighttalking · 25/02/2023 10:05

I'm sure it will be lovely soon just very overwhelming to begin with x

user1471538283 · 25/02/2023 10:17

My last house was a bit like yours but it was clean. He left 3 skips full of rubbish and refused to do anything with it. Nails on every wall, all over the wall, the toilet wasn't fixed to the floor, the boiler didn't work and he lied about the neighbors.

I didn't stay but I think if I'd had quiet neighbors I would have because the house had good bones and it was quite elegant in a good street.

Once you've scrubbed the house and fixed some bits I'm sure you'll love it.

I'm moving again and I'm under no illusion that alot needs doing. My plan is to make the bedrooms lovely so I've got space to get away from the rest!

Gistbury · 25/02/2023 10:24

It is stressful and overwhelming buying and moving into a new home. The work will gradually get done, you will make it your own and I'm sure fall in love with it. Personally I think it sounds completely idyllic. Congratulations on such a beautiful home- views, land, character!

GooseberryCinnamonYogurt · 25/02/2023 10:28

starpatch · 25/02/2023 07:10

I agree when I first moved there were some things that bothered me that seemed so big at the time- now I struggle to remember them and they are really not an issue.

Sack your solicitor. All this should have been pointed out before you signed!

category12 · 25/02/2023 10:35

GooseberryCinnamonYogurt · 25/02/2023 10:28

Sack your solicitor. All this should have been pointed out before you signed!

Show quote history

I think OP knew about the right of way and the footpath - she just believed the vendor that neither were much used.

So not the solicitor's fault.

loopyloutoo · 25/02/2023 10:53

Never trust a vendor. I have learnt some difficult lessons with our most recent move!
They took everything but the paint on the walls, leaving a gas leak, a dripping kitchen tap and an illegally-fitted stove. Despite the rating of the house being very good being a new build, it's cold and doesn't retain heat.
We won't be staying here long as it's not big enough for us anyway but I hope you are able to see past the issues as it seems to have a lot of potential!

Colgatetoothpaste · 25/02/2023 12:42

Do you know where the vendor has moved to? If so, I'd be tempted to pack the junk up and leave it on their doorstep.

Movinghouseatlast · 25/02/2023 14:07

Our solicitor told us it's not worth pursuing anything as the costs we would incur wouldn't make it worth it. Even a known neighbour dispute which they didn't declare! Makes you wonder what the point of it all is really.

Our vendors had run the oil so low that our boiler had completely furred up and exploded a few days after we moved in. Cheers for that. They also hadn't cleaned anything and left 5 skips worth of rubbish. You are not alone!

Namechangedforthisonetoday · 25/02/2023 14:12

Awww OP this feeling sucks, but you can get through this and the house sounds beautiful! Make a plan, write it down and tick it off as you go. You’ll feel so much better. Can you afford a cleaner to deep clean and someone to take away the junk in the shed if they don’t collect by a specific date? Get some laurels planted to create hedging as a path for walkers and some signage as a PP said. Once you start putting your stamp on it, things will feel much better x

Greentree1 · 25/02/2023 14:37

We got new neighbours recently, chatting over the fence they mentioned a leak in the roof, I broke it to them that that roof had been leaking for years and the previous occupants were constantly getting it 'repaired'. They knew nothing about it of course. It's been tinkered with so much and there is so much rot in the woodwork that they are going to replace the whole roof, which wasn't on their todo list. The whole house needs a lot of work, much of which was not apparent when they were viewing, and they paid top dollar for it. Your problems seem comparatively minor! If it's any comfort.

Honeyroar · 25/02/2023 14:46

If it’s just along the bottom of the garden, along your footpath with a dog proof fence (like sheep netting with wire on top) and then plant a row of nice trees or bushes along the inside of the fence. So you should have nobody wandering in or looking. Do the same along the shared access if you can.

This is our footpath fenced off so walkers stay in the right place..

Honeyroar · 25/02/2023 14:47

Sorry that should say fence off your footpath, not along your footpaths!

LadyOfTheCanyon · 25/02/2023 14:57

Yeah we need to make a quick sale on our place due to next door developers and no we won't be disclosing some of the more tricky elements of the house that won't get picked up by the survey. We got shafted on a few things when we moved in and just expect it to be the way of the world when buying a property.

That said, I would always leave a property scrupulously clean and with any agreed fixtures in place.

JewelLane · 25/02/2023 15:04

I would pay someone to do a deep clean so at least it smells and feels fresh!

samsam123 · 25/02/2023 15:08

clean it, decorate it, fence in the footpath so people cant stray, a hedge the house side and it will be fab

rootsandwings89 · 25/02/2023 15:12

I could have written this post a year ago myself when we moved into our first home. The bottom of the garden floods, windows had cloudy bits in them (cleverly covered up when we viewed) the flooring needed doing, they left lots of free standing furniture so we had to take their stuff out before we could unpack anything - and I was 6 months pregnant!

I felt like I'd made a massive mistake and was very upset for a few weeks. I just wanted to run back to my rented house! But fast forward a few months and once we put our own stamp on it, it really did feel like home. It will take time though, just focus on what you CAN do and it will start changing before you know it.

Good luck!

RidingMyBike · 25/02/2023 15:15

The solicitors should be able to come to some agreement over stuff that was left behind - we got the keys to our new house to find loads of stuff! The solicitors negotiated and the vendor eventually agreed to pay for house clearance. Thankfully we weren't planning to move in immediately. Bit of a pain as we had to organise it but at least we weren't paying for it.

Sadly finding houses left filthy isn't unusual. It's not like rental where this is checked for. That's one reason we don't move in immediately.

I think the footpath isn't a problem once you've put up a fence and/or signage. As a walker I much prefer paths where it's clear where to go as I'd hate to walk across someone's garden. I suppose the not used much is open to interpretation - a few times a day doesn't sound like a busy path to me but could to someone else!

It is normal to feel like this though - it's a lot of money to buy a house and it can feel like an anti-climax after going through the conveyancing process!

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