Buyers remorse

[Gogogirlgirl]

Posting for a friend if that's OK.
Her and husband are mid 50s...previously mortgage free but where they were living was getting really rough, house next door rented out and loads of anti social neighbours etc.
Anyway they decided to take a risk and get a mortgage for what they thought was the house of their dreams, forever home etc. However they have only been in new house a couple of weeks and she is starting to regret the move.
It's a lovely estate with only 6, individual detached houses and the house itself is beautiful but there are some issues.

1. There is a front garden and back patio but neither have any privacy at all . Both are very exposed and due to the house designs, their house is the only one with this issue.
2. Every morning from 6am there is a load of noise as people slam their car doors, load work vans etc so every moring without fail, they get woken up at 6am. They both work hard and work later shifts but do not need to be up anywhere near that time and she is exhausted.
3. Getting used to paying quite a big mortgage will be hard for them and I don't think they appreciated how hard until the move.

I'm.not sure my friend is expecting much sympathy but she is starting to feel they made a massive mistake. She just wondered if anyone else had been in a similar position but somehow overcame it and settled down. Cheers

Sorry I missed off the constant dog barking in the estate, all day every day. And the house smells weird, like fag smoke but she can't get rid of it.

Does she prefer it when comparing to the problems she started to have in the last home?

The 6am noise is probably worse right now if they have windows open overnight. If they don’t open windows overnight in the colder months then it probably won’t be as noticeable. Otherwise, earplugs?

The dog would infuriate me and if they won’t be the only ones finding it annoying. They should report to the council.

If there are only 6 homes altogether then I doesn’t sound like any of this is insurmountable. Some neighbourly conversations about the 6am noise and dog might be the first step?

Not much to say about the garden other than can she plan some clever planting to provide some privacy? We have some well-placed trees.

Those problems sound minor to me. I guess it's more about the mortgage colouring things.

Hi thanks for the replies. I've visited the house and it is stunning. The main problem I could see was there were tons of cars parked up to and into the estate from im guessing, neighbouring houses without any parking.
I think they are freaked out by having a large mortgage or any mortgage to be fair, for the 1st time in several years.

On the doors slamming at 6am - I had this problem in a uni house and am a VERY light sleeper. Didn’t sleep for a week and was going loopy. Tried wax earplugs and have never looked back - still sleep with them in 10+ years later. Wish I’d done it all my life tbh, I can sleep through anything now!

With the privacy issue - are there any plants they can plant to screen themselves a bit more?

Is she up for garden design? You can do a lot with planting the right sort of tree in the right place and judicious bits of trellis, screening and pergolas and distracting planting to make it more comfortable and private. That may help a bit with some of the noise.

I would be tempted to park my own car in a particularly annoying slamming area for one less door slam.

The second issue seems very trivial to me - of course there'll be noise on any estate, from families starting their work/school day. Can she wear earplugs or use a white noise app to drown it out?

The privacy issue would bother me but surely her last house wasn't perfect? There are things they can do to create or improve privacy in the back garden.

The mortgage issue is really where the anxiety stems from. I do think she was daft to take on a big mortgage in her 50s in the current economic climate. But presumably they can afford the repayments and will have it all paid off before retirement, so it is a matter of just coming to terms with it maybe.

I'd write a list of things I didn't like about my old house.

Ear plugs, noise defenders, a quiet word to neighbours and conifers. Blinds/curtains. Sleep in a rear bedroom?

As for the smell -not sure. Would presume it would disappear after a few weeks.

I can't imagine a worse time to be in their position, at least within the last 15years or so - I assume they don't have young kids? That to be thankful for at least.

The way I see it, they need to sit down and decide whether both the mortgage and development are workable for them. If not then I would suggest that they sell immediately.

As for the privacy... this is somthing that should have been pretty clear when viewing the property, so I assume they can just 'touch up' the situation with a couple of well placed trees/bushes and perhaps a pagola - which are all pretty low cost

Thanks for the replies. I do want to say that they can afford the mortgage and are planning on paying some larger amounts from the total over the next couple of years. They have grown up children who live abroad. I think once they have paid off some lump sums their mortgage will be less than £130k. Think its a little wobble she us having as its so different from where they lived previously.