Regret buying this stupid house

[Cantbelieveididit]

Not sure what I’m even looking for other than to vent.
I have bought a house and it was a terrible mistake.
I have financially pushed myself to the limit so haven’t got extra cash to do all the things I didn’t realise needed doing to improve things.
I bought the house 4months ago- had a survey done and nothing was flagged so can’t even blame that and we viewed it twice.
since moving in I’ve realised the neighbours directly behind are horrible and noisy- music blasting, screaming at their kids and arguing at 2am with a constant smell of weed.
Neighbour next door is a grumpy old man who is constantly looking over the fence and will only acknowledge my husband. School catchment is awful.
Another neighbour seems to have issues with the trees at the bottom of the garden, before we completed the previous owners through the solicitors said they were going to fell them due to a neighbour worrying about them, my husband stupidly said no don’t cut them. Now it looks like she’s investigating for subsidence due to foliage around her property (our trees and another neighbours it seems) .. nothing official yet so again previous owners didn’t have to do anything , they did cut them yearly I think, the other neighbour didn’t.
when we bought the house I couldn’t believe our luck- it was so cheap and thought it was the dream house.. new kitchen, massive driveway and garden, 5 bedrooms… now I realise why.
why was I so stupid to think we were getting a bargain.
how soon can we put it up for sale?

Rent it out for a year and move into a rental property yourselves. Sorry OP I couldn't live in a house I hated. Feel for you

What happens if the tenant stops paying the rent? What happens after a year?

It’s irrelevant what the previous owner did or didn’t do with the trees and even more irrelevant what they offered to do when they were leaving. Just ignore her and keep the trees. Take the trees down and she’ll just want something else and so on.

Cracks can absolutely nothing, hairline or just need a bit of plaster. Obviously get checked if they're big. There were some here when surveyor was here and he smiled and said no problem with those.
Carpets can wait and you can do things bit by bit. The loud neighbours are upsetting for sure.

You've got two problems, one a house you don't like and two, beating yourself up about it. How could you have known about the neighbours and the trees and things. It's impossible to know a lot of things till you move in. Also, everywhere I've bought there is always things like carpets to replace or decoration. Why not accept you weren't unreasonable to want the house.

The noisy people behind may not be there so long if they're renting?

As for the house itself you either give it another six months and see if it grows on you or you sell it.

Agree.
Renting it out isn’t good advice.
Not to mention you’ll pay tax on the rental income.

Renting is just an option to be aware of and not for everyone. It certainly got us out of a hole quickly when we were in a similar position. Yes you do pay tax depending on your income, if one of you is a SAHP there may not be any tax but I would rather take a relatively small hit financially than pay with my physical and mental health as I was just desperate to be out of there and selling, particularly if there are issues, can be a much more lengthy process and potentially involve a larger financial loss.

We went with Northwood's guaranteed rental scheme.

A problem with selling now is that this will be off-putting to savvy potential buyers who’re suspicious about your motives for moving and will put in a hell of a lot due diligence if they’re interested, I would try and make the best of it for as long as possible. I wouldn’t bother renting it out, not with the new laws that effectively disadvantage landlords.

Also, don’t think it’s been mentioned but you have to declare disputes with neighbours to potential buyers.

Oh God, I really feel for you and I think it's quite normal to have some post sale regret once the new house excitement goes. We did a similar thing. Stretched to the top house we could possibly afford as a long term home / investment. And I have thought about selling the bloody thing several times! All sorts of issues and headaches. We've now been here 5 years and I honestly think you get issues wherever you live.
Re the noisy neighbours, either suck it up or complain. Ignore the grumpy old man, honestly who cares?
The potential subsidence issue with a neighbour should have been declared. This therefore makes me think it's actually an issue with light rather than subsidence. Either way, they either need to get a proper assessment or stop moaning.
I would list out all the issues and then start an action plan for each one.
Grab a cuppa, write it all down and start ticking stuff off. I have been where you are, the stress is horrible at times. You're not alone and everyone has rubbish like this to deal with. I hope that helps.

I'm in a similar position, i bought 4yrs ago and still suffering buyer's remorse, beating myself up on stupidity. But really, how could i have known? And its NOT terrible house.

With yours, could you just view it as a stepping stone? If you sell now it will put the wind up buyers, and its NOT a good time to be selling anyway, plus wont you incur fees? I can only see lost money.

but actual work is done properly but the whole house just needs redecorating - new skirting boards, carpets - things that add up throughout a whole house.
If/when we sell I don’t see how we could make any sort of profit due to ceiling price - if anything I think we will have to reduce.

Does it need doing to actually sell - you didn't notice it so will next buyer?

If you're selling in next few years - I'd be very focused where you spend decorating money make sure it's something that will actually matter to potential buyers not just something you care about. Can you get away with cleaning the carpets - if they do need repalcement get cheap as possible as you won't get the money out of it. Decorate as neutrally as possible as well - if you are selling.

If you are selling have a plan of work and a timetable to work to.

If you are staying decorate it so it feel like home and see what you can do to make the garden more private and reduce noise if possible. I also wonder if the next door bothering about the trees is actually bothered about light rather than subsidence and is trying to scare you into compliance with their wishes.

We have really nice neigbours where we are now - though ther's been an insane amount of banging as they constantly change things in the house but it's managable and they never compaliend about our kids noise when they were younger.

OP, are there nice people to talk to on the street or a street whatsapp you can join? Other neighbours might have intel on the noisy family i.e. how long they've been there - they might be the type to move often. I moved into my place 6 years ago and all of the neighbours have changed since then.

Everything else is manageable. The cracks sound hairline - a bit of Polyfilla and a coat of paint should sort it out.

Re: the trees, until she has her report try and put it out of your mind. Although, if you have any of these species, I expect you'll have to remove:
Willow
Poplar
Oak
Elm
Ash
Plane
Eucalyptus

Make a list of the little jobs you can do one day at a time to improve things.

I replaced carpets in the whole house and it didn't cost anything like I thought it would. If that's something you can save for and it will make a massive difference, it's worth prioritising.

If you're set on moving, just list it now.

We used to list to each other the town and houses postives in first house and it had a lot going for it but it was a money and time pit just when we could least afford it and I do wish we'd listen to my Mum and got one room done not everywhere mostly done.

The second hosue has been so much better - minus secondary school collapse.

Realistically you need to decide to stick or twist on this one.

Option 1 Twist - break out the paintbrushes yourselves, make it all look as presentable as possible for the minimum of cash and be ready to sell in early summer. You may make a loss, and you will certainly not have the equity to cover two lumps of stamp duty in such a short space of time. It happens - people relocate for jobs/divorce. Don't flag up the shouty weedy neighbours to the police so you don't have to disclose it, and hope the new owners don't spot it either.

Or Option 2 Stick.
Bank on shouty folk moving in due course, if the garden is large enough, invest in noise absorbing planting to block the noise and smell.
Get on with sorting the house out. If there's a natural ceiling, invest accordingly.
Sell when you have enough equity eg: 5% increase in valuation pa. if the area hasn't improved.

Personally as someone who's deliberately bought a fixer upper in the wrong part of town and watched the area improve out of all recognition, it can bring significant financial reward. It's a 5 bedroom house newly extended with a brand new kitchen. I'd make the most of it in your shoes but keep one eye on making sure that the changes you make will appeal to a large number of people.

It's too soon to really judge the neighbours - and you can get bad neighbours anywhere. I'd wait a while. Do a bit to the house - you may feel differently when you make it your own. Talk to the neighbours - you might be surprised about how a friendly approach from you changes the situation. Don't rush out of what you rushed into - take your time to assess what you have. Nowhere is perfect, no neighbourhood is perfect, no school is perfect.

Hello, just t say you are not alone. We bought our dream house, a large four bed detatched down a lovely little lane. It was muhc cheaper than the others of a simualr size, only issue it backed onto an old council estate. We thouhg, ell who cares, let not be snobs, but the people behind us have two large alsations they use as guard dogs and the dogs are keps in a pen right next to our fence 24/7. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, we should have done a second viewing. We have just learned to accept thats the way it it and the barking is bothering us less but its still less that ideal. We will move in 3 - 5 years instea dof it being our forever home which was the intention when we boguht it, and this has made the issues seem to overhelming. I would say to yourself well stay here for a year and it might make th eissue seem mroe tolerbale. If you sell it now it will be suspicous and you might not get muhc interest.

Don't cut trees down- unless you absolutely have to.

Unless you're absolutely loaded, the 'perfect house' doesn't exist, imo. There's always something.

The minimum you need to stay in the house is 6 months. Selling before this raises a lot of questions and complications for buyers with their lenders.

I had awful doubts when we bought our house too. I love it now three years later. I think you should stick it out for 12 months and then reevaluate then. I hope things improve for you.

Bad neighbours can really wear you down & affect your mental health. Ours nearly finished me off. I’d move-it sounds awful & you can’t change the neighbours.

I was thinking that - especially if they want to sell sooner rather than later

Whenever they sell it would be a problem because you have to declare disputes and complaints.

This is a bit of a cautionary tale for anyone thinking of buying to take multiple viewings of the house and area, at different times of day and at weekends as well as weekdays.

I feel your pain. We endured 9 years of misery at the hands of noisy neighbours in our old house because we couldn't afford to move. It started with just loud talking and laughing through the party wall (into our living room), then the son got an Xbox and was shouting at his online friends until the early hours in his room, which was next to our bedroom. They would also leave their dogs outside barking when they went out, sometimes until late at night.

Then the parents started going on holidays without their kids - cue: loud teenage parties every night. My complaints to them and the parents fell on deaf ears.

When my wife was pregnant, they started this massive construction project to build rear and side extensions - the family moved out and employed dodgy builders who worked 7 days a week. The noise was sometimes unbearable and we never got any warning of when they were going to start drilling/banging, so we were constantly on edge. One weekend, they left an industrial heater on in the house to dry plaster, and it made a loud hum, which reverberated all through our house. They also stacked tiles up on the roof so they blocked the signal to our Sky Dish, so we were without TV for several weeks.

I complained to the council, who at least stopped the builders working in the evenings and at weekends, but we got visits from the neighbours, threatening us because their building project was running behind schedule and they were having to pay extra rent on the house they were staying in. They had planned the whole venture on the basis that the builders would work every day to get the job done quicker to save their pockets. They hadn't given the impact on us a single thought.

When the family moved back in, they were minus the dad. Apparently, the stress WE had caused THEM had split them up.

Things did get a little better - the teenagers grew up and moved out - but we hated our house by that time, and we desperately wanted to move.

We were never more relieved than when we were finally in a position to move, especially as the son had moved back in and the late-night shouting had started again.

Oh my Gosh how absolutely awful. This is why I will never ever live in a semi detached house.