After buy disappointments

GalwayBmw · 12-06-2021 12:27am #1

Buying doesn't alway come with excitment. After a long wait you finally got the keys and moved in just to find out that... Does anyone mind sharing their experiences In this thread?

CollyFlower · 12-06-2021 12:57am

GalwayBmw wrote: »

Buying doesn't alway come with excitment. After a long wait you finally got the keys and moved in just to find out that... Does anyone mind sharing their experiences In this thread?

I'd say that there are lots of people that have regrets after buying, I'm thinking neighbors form hell! Can't think of anything worse.

punisher5112 · 12-06-2021 1:01am

New hot water cylinder needed, boiler on its last legs, oil tank way past its life, floors and doors made of cardboard.... Hear everything through them, if upstairs trying to sleep you can hear everything downstairs likely were actually there.....
PISsed off with that one it's that bad, can hear next door going up and down the stairs, front door, the child crying, shower, music etc etc.... Not their fault they aren't actually that loud but the build quality... My god is it beyond poor.

Garden front and back like a swamp in winter, never dries out, sink in the grass....

Yellow_Fern · 12-06-2021 8:37am

punisher5112 wrote: »

New hot water cylinder needed, boiler on its last legs, oil tank way past its life, floors and doors made of cardboard.... Hear everything through them, if upstairs trying to sleep you can hear everything downstairs likely were actually there.....
PISsed off with that one it's that bad, can hear next door going up and down the stairs, front door, the child crying, shower, music etc etc.... Not their fault they aren't actually that loud but the build quality... My god is it beyond poor.

Garden front and back like a swamp in winter, never dries out, sink in the grass....

Is that a new house? I think discovering this after moving is common.

godtabh · 12-06-2021 8:38am

punisher5112 wrote: »

New hot water cylinder needed, boiler on its last legs, oil tank way past its life, floors and doors made of cardboard.... Hear everything through them, if upstairs trying to sleep you can hear everything downstairs likely were actually there.....
PISsed off with that one it's that bad, can hear next door going up and down the stairs, front door, the child crying, shower, music etc etc.... Not their fault they aren't actually that loud but the build quality... My god is it beyond poor.

Garden front and back like a swamp in winter, never dries out, sink in the grass....

That’s whey you due a pre inspection survey and make an offer to cover that. None of the above should have been a surprise.

3DataModem · 12-06-2021 9:15am

GalwayBmw wrote: »

Buying doesn't alway come with excitment. After a long wait you finally got the keys and moved in just to find out that... Does anyone mind sharing their experiences In this thread?

Attic and shed packed with rubbish.

punisher5112 · 12-06-2021 11:37am

Yellow_Fern wrote: »

Is that a new house? I think discovering this after moving is common.

Built in 98

punisher5112 · 12-06-2021 11:38am

godtabh wrote: »

That’s whey you due a pre inspection survey and make an offer to cover that. None of the above should have been a surprise.

We did get surveyed, the guy never even noticed the cylinder was leaking, I should have seen myself but it was a lot to take on in the quick look around.

Marcusm · 12-06-2021 11:46am

punisher5112 wrote: »

We did get surveyed, the guy never even noticed the cylinder was leaking, I should have seen myself but it was a lot to take on in the quick look around.

And that is why the surveyor should have insurance to deal with the claim for negligence which you will file!

punisher5112 · 12-06-2021 12:05pm

Marcusm wrote: »

And that is why the surveyor should have insurance to deal with the claim for negligence which you will file!

Too late now, we here few years now. Going to put rockwool between up and downstairs for sound

Yellow_Fern · 12-06-2021 12:17pm

punisher5112 wrote: »

Too late now, we here few years now. Going to put rockwool between up and downstairs for sound

While you are at it, make sure you check that there is cracked cement or gaps around the joists and add mass loaded vinyl to the floor. PM if you need pics

Mad_maxx · 12-06-2021 12:29pm

some people take quite a while to grow fond of anything regardless of how objectively great it is , i dont think its unusual to not love something early on

if you felt the same a year down the line , i would be thinking its just not for you

Wesser · 12-06-2021 2:26pm

Mad_maxx wrote: »

some people take quite a while to grow fond of anything regardless of how objectively great it is , i dont think its unusual to not love something early on

if you felt the same a year down the line , i would be thinking its just not for you

Lol its like picking a husband for yourself!!

Jmc25 · 13-06-2021 10:52am

Bought an apartment having viewed it twice had surveyor etc. Moved in and sounded like the child upstairs was about to come through the ceiling. Not only had no joy in approaching the neighbour with a quiet word, things got worse and I think there was a certain pleasure taken in being as loud as possible at all times, dumping litter/water on our balcony, other anti social behaviour in general.

The apartment structure was made of paper which was the ultimate problem, but add in a neighbour who you wouldn't like to live beside in the best built house in the world AND a pandemic then you've got a real cocktail for disaster.

I didn't do my homework on the purchase and I paid for it, fifty times over. Luckily was able to sell and get the hell out but still a couple of years from hell.

Cash_Q · 14-06-2021 4:05am

Bought first house in 2018 after renting for 15+yrs , lovely settled estate near my family home, just within budget, ok decor and plenty of scope to put our own stamp on it.. kept pinching ourselves wondering what's the catch.. not one, not two, but three sets of neighbours from hell in our terrace. An otherwise lovely, calm, settled cul de sac, but these 3 were notorious among everyone once we got talking to the other neighbours. We sold and moved after 2.5 years, I'm sure you'll see why..

1 - elderly woman who essentially stalked our movements, appearing in the front and back gardens at the same time as us. Leaning out an upstairs window if she couldn't get downstairs quickly enough. Repeating conversations back to me that she eavesdropped on. Commenting on everything from our clothes, bins, visitors, state of the garden, choice of supermarkets, other neighbours drinking habits, previous occupiers sex life (!), her own underwear, bird**** on the window.. insisted on gifting us things for our baby, constantly reminding us that she did so. Considered herself a good neighbour. Polished her clean windows while we were having photos taken of the house to sell, she was IN the photos of the front of the house on Daft ffs. Lived there most of her life and acted as if she owned our house as well as her own.

2 - family of drug addicts. Fights morning, noon and night, parties raging, pregnant teen drinking, local youths invited to smash up their furniture outside their house and take it for bonfire wood, son released from prison died of an overdose in the house. Smoking out the back at all hours of the night, chatting and playing music. Sound insulation was so poor we could hear their kettle boil at night so imagine how amplified all that other stuff was. Renting long term from the council so little chance of them being moved on. We were attached directly to their right, you'd think the house attached to their left would complain? Nah, that brings me onto...

3 - small time drug dealer, supporting the needs of 2 above! Bench in the front garden for drinking in the sun with occupants of 2 above, music blaring from the car on the drive. Smart comments about everything and anything as we tried to come and go quickly and quietly. Inherited the house from his mother so not going anywhere and acted like he owned the whole terrace. Relationship broke down and he started drinking with the local homeless addicts and bringing them around the place. Front porch kicked in by teens over drugs/money, of course he said it was mistaken identity.

We miraculously sold that house at a small profit enabling us to move just 1km up the road. Best thing we ever did, don't know ourselves with the peace and quiet. Lovely neighbours all around us. That first house we had driven up and down the street at all times of the day and night, nothing could have warned us about these people. Sale occurred between Nov-March.. if we had seen the garden drinking in the summer that would have set alarm bells but nothing in the world could have prepared us for how bad it was.

We are extremely lucky to have gotten away!

mick121 · 14-06-2021 9:18am

3DataModem wrote: »

Attic and shed packed with rubbish.

That is your solicitors fault, should have been written into the contract that she'd,attic etc has to be cleared.

Sweet.Science · 14-06-2021 9:52am

Cash_Q wrote: »

Bought first house in 2018 after renting for 15+yrs , lovely settled estate near my family home, just within budget, ok decor and plenty of scope to put our own stamp on it.. kept pinching ourselves wondering what's the catch.. not one, not two, but three sets of neighbours from hell in our terrace. An otherwise lovely, calm, settled cul de sac, but these 3 were notorious among everyone once we got talking to the other neighbours. We sold and moved after 2.5 years, I'm sure you'll see why..

1 - elderly woman who essentially stalked our movements, appearing in the front and back gardens at the same time as us. Leaning out an upstairs window if she couldn't get downstairs quickly enough. Repeating conversations back to me that she eavesdropped on. Commenting on everything from our clothes, bins, visitors, state of the garden, choice of supermarkets, other neighbours drinking habits, previous occupiers sex life (!), her own underwear, bird**** on the window.. insisted on gifting us things for our baby, constantly reminding us that she did so. Considered herself a good neighbour. Polished her clean windows while we were having photos taken of the house to sell, she was IN the photos of the front of the house on Daft ffs. Lived there most of her life and acted as if she owned our house as well as her own.

2 - family of drug addicts. Fights morning, noon and night, parties raging, pregnant teen drinking, local youths invited to smash up their furniture outside their house and take it for bonfire wood, son released from prison died of an overdose in the house. Smoking out the back at all hours of the night, chatting and playing music. Sound insulation was so poor we could hear their kettle boil at night so imagine how amplified all that other stuff was. Renting long term from the council so little chance of them being moved on. We were attached directly to their right, you'd think the house attached to their left would complain? Nah, that brings me onto...

3 - small time drug dealer, supporting the needs of 2 above! Bench in the front garden for drinking in the sun with occupants of 2 above, music blaring from the car on the drive. Smart comments about everything and anything as we tried to come and go quickly and quietly. Inherited the house from his mother so not going anywhere and acted like he owned the whole terrace. Relationship broke down and he started drinking with the local homeless addicts and bringing them around the place. Front porch kicked in by teens over drugs/money, of course he said it was mistaken identity.

We miraculously sold that house at a small profit enabling us to move just 1km up the road. Best thing we ever did, don't know ourselves with the peace and quiet. Lovely neighbours all around us. That first house we had driven up and down the street at all times of the day and night, nothing could have warned us about these people. Sale occurred between Nov-March.. if we had seen the garden drinking in the summer that would have set alarm bells but nothing in the world could have prepared us for how bad it was.

We are extremely lucky to have gotten away!

God just shows neighbours really are the most important thing . What general area was this in ?

Bargain_Hound · 14-06-2021 10:26am

Cash_Q wrote: »

Bought first house in 2018 after renting for 15+yrs , ...<snip>

That does sound like absolute hell.

Our story - We bought a new build in 2018 and ended up in a terrace attached to several social houses. Similarly to your story, the estate in general was fine, we made a lot of friends in it however we got the unlucky pick of the lot regarding where the council bought and the tenants they moved in. Things weren't "too bad" (Mainly smoking / drinking all day in the gardens, jumping walls, parents didn't work) but they were definitely getting worse and with a lot of young children left to their own most of the time, we decided to get out before it was too late.

Didn't hang around long and miraculously sold up for a small profit (profit didn't even cover 1% of the hearthache) and moved elsewhere. We now have a smaller house with the greatest bunch of neighbours, with peace and quiet and I'll never ever look back.

ebayissues · 14-06-2021 10:39am

godtabh wrote: »

That’s whey you due a pre inspection survey and make an offer to cover that. None of the above should have been a surprise.

There's no way a pre-inspection survey will cover all of this. Like with you hearing the neighbour's, if the survey was done when the neighbour's are at work and the children at school, tthis wouldn't show up. .. Even does a pre inspection survey cover this?

ebayissues · 14-06-2021 10:47am

There's defo for after purchase regrets and thoughts, my own house has funny noises which seems to be coming from the wall - more from my neighbors side. I can hear my neighbor laughing whilst watching TV but not their TV.
I switched the bed in the main room and I can hear almost everything, when running up the stairs, shutting doors etc.
They have a boiler opposite wall of second room, it turns on and off randomly and I can hear this from all floors upstairs.
Floors, creaks, no underlay.
It's a midterrace house,
From both sides, i can hear neighbour's opening press, sometimes one of them at 5.3/6am in the morning.
It's the noises that bother me the most, especially cylinder banging,
Not sure what its tbh. It's as if someone is using hitting the radiators or something.
Strange - also when washing machine is on,
I can hear the rumbling. Not sure how a pre-inspection would cover anything of this.

Apart from this, neighbors are sound. No issues at all.

The J Stands for Jay · 14-06-2021 10:54am

mick121 wrote: »

That is your solicitors fault, should have been written into the contract that she'd,attic etc has to be cleared.

Isn't that standard in contracts? Doesn't stop people leaving crap, and their arsehole solicitors from accusing us of trying to get a free skip for renovations.

MSVforever · 14-06-2021 11:31am

Bargain_Hound wrote: »

That does sound like absolute hell.

Our story - We bought a new build in 2018 and ended up in a terrace attached to several social houses. Similarly to your story, the estate in general was fine, we made a lot of friends in it however we got the unlucky pick of the lot regarding where the council bought and the tenants they moved in. Things weren't "too bad" (Mainly smoking / drinking all day in the gardens, jumping walls, parents didn't work) but they were definitely getting worse and with a lot of young children left to their own most of the time, we decided to get out before it was too late.

Didn't hang around long and miraculously sold up for a small profit (profit didn't even cover 1% of the hearthache) and moved elsewhere. We now have a smaller house with the greatest bunch of neighbours, with peace and quiet and I'll never ever look back.

That's exactly the reason why many folks oppose social housing in a private estate where you are paying top dollar for your mortgage busting your backside going to work every day while the "less well off" pay peanuts to the council and have too much time on their hands to make other people's life a misery.
Imo the council should have plenty of background checks to ensure that only decent tenants move into new estates (there are plenty of hardworking decent folks living in council estates who should be transfered first instead of the troublemakers).

Furze99 · 14-06-2021 12:08pm

Turned on the tap and white sludgy stuff came out.

grassylawn · 14-06-2021 1:48pm

Plaster crumbling with mould from condensation concealed behind fitted wardrobe in bedroom.
External garage roof leaking.
Waste pipe at wrong angle so blocked frequently.
Surface water ingress into septic system resulting in regular failure.
Septic system was not working.
Multiple gas leaks outside resulting in decommissioning of system upon reporting.
Leaking radiator pipes.
Failed seal on bathroom window sill resulting in water ingress and mould under pvc cladding.
External wall insulation stops at bottom of roof, meaning the top foot of wall is uninsulated.
Fireplace was in breach of regulations and classed as a fire hazard.
The pipe from one of the gutter drains terminates in a hard clay slope on the other side of the concrete apron. It should lead to a soakpit at least five metres away.

All fixed except for the last one. That is complicated by a large area of patio draining into it as well, and the fact that the only viable place to put a new soak pit is a good distance away and past multiple obstacles. That is of course why it wasn't done properly in the first place. The gutter on that side goes into a big water butt to mitigate the impact until it is sorted out.

Toots · 14-06-2021 1:54pm

McGaggs wrote: »

Isn't that standard in contracts? Doesn't stop people leaving crap, and their arsehole solicitors from accusing us of trying to get a free skip for renovations.

Yeah this apparently happens a lot. My sister bought a couple of years ago and insisted on doing a final walk through of the house the day before she was due to close and she discovered that all the crap furniture and stuff that was supposed to be removed was still there. Obviously the vendor just assumed it would close and the stuff wouldn't be his problem anymore, but my sister got straight on to the estate agent and they/the vendor tried to fob her off saying they'd send a van round to collect all the stuff the next week.

She told them she wouldn't be releasing the funds until the crap had been cleared out, and miraculously they were suddenly able to get the van round that night and clear it all out.

Ace2007 · 14-06-2021 2:26pm

MSVforever wrote: »

That's exactly the reason why many folks oppose social housing in a private estate where you are paying top dollar for your mortgage busting your backside going to work every day while the "less well off" pay peanuts to the council and have too much time on their hands to make other people's life a misery.
Imo the council should have plenty of background checks to ensure that only decent tenants move into new estates (there are plenty of hardworking decent folks living in council estates who should be transfered first instead of the troublemakers).

While i agree to an extent, where do the "the less well off" live? Perhaps if other controls where better, or we weren't a nation that give 200+ quid for doing nothing then things would change. Also in the posters post - only one of the 3 issues was because of the council.

D3V!L · 14-06-2021 2:46pm

Toots wrote: »

Yeah this apparently happens a lot. My sister bought a couple of years ago and insisted on doing a final walk through of the house the day before she was due to close and she discovered that all the crap furniture and stuff that was supposed to be removed was still there. Obviously the vendor just assumed it would close and the stuff wouldn't be his problem anymore, but my sister got straight on to the estate agent and they/the vendor tried to fob her off saying they'd send a van round to collect all the stuff the next week.

She told them she wouldn't be releasing the funds until the crap had been cleared out, and miraculously they were suddenly able to get the van round that night and clear it all out.

We did that on the sale of our house. Turns out the attic was full of rubbish. The house was immaculate apart from that.

They cleared out the attic alright. Destroyed the stairs carpet and made sure they scraped the wall all the way down as well. :mad:

joxer1988 · 14-06-2021 5:58pm

All - Is there an FOI request you can put in to find out how many council tenants are in a given post-code or something like this?

houseyhouse · 14-06-2021 6:08pm

joxer1988 wrote: »

All - Is there an FOI request you can put in to find out how many council tenants are in a given post-code or something like this?

Use the small area population statistics tool from the CSO. https://www.cso.ie/en/census/census2016reports/census2016smallareapopulationstatistics/

Follow the link for SAPMAP. Zoom into your local area. Turn on the layer called 'statistical small areas'. Click on your area and follow the link to demographics. The info on whether homes are owner-occupied, rented from private ll, rented from council etc. is under the section 'Housing'. It's a great tool when you're moving. Can find out education levels, number of kids in different age groups, etc.

Caranica · 14-06-2021 6:49pm

houseyhouse wrote: »

Use the small area population statistics tool from the CSO. https://www.cso.ie/en/census/census2016reports/census2016smallareapopulationstatistics/

Follow the link for SAPMAP. Zoom into your local area. Turn on the layer called 'statistical small areas'. Click on your area and follow the link to demographics. The info on whether homes are owner-occupied, rented from private ll, rented from council etc. is under the section 'Housing'. It's a great tool when you're moving. Can find out education levels, number of kids in different age groups, etc.

Only valid as of the last census and well out of date in urban areas. Use it for work.

Cash_Q · 14-06-2021 7:02pm

Sweet.Science wrote:

God just shows neighbours really are the most important thing . What general area was this in ?

Tallaght, I grew up here and like most places it has good and bad and in between. This place is very settled, mostly owner occupiers with families. We got extremely unlucky, but it could happen anywhere.

Bargain_Hound wrote:

Didn't hang around long and miraculously sold up for a small profit (profit didn't even cover 1% of the hearthache) and moved elsewhere. We now have a smaller house with the greatest bunch of neighbours, with peace and quiet and I'll never ever look back.

As Sweet Science says, good neighbours are the most important thing of all!

o1s1n · 14-06-2021 7:22pm

Caranica wrote: »

Only valid as of the last census and well out of date in urban areas. Use it for work.

2016 was the last census wasn't it? That's not too long ago.

I'm sure it's not an exact science after 5 years but I'd say it would still give a good snapshot of an area.

Tork · 14-06-2021 7:27pm

I can't think of anything in particular after I bought my first house, though I would have preferred it if the previous owners hadn't broken the shower door before they left. Mostly, I remember feeling very deflated after getting the keys and walking into the house for the first time. A few of my friends told me they experienced the same thing after they bought their houses.

ZX7R · 14-06-2021 7:36pm

Built to close to my wife's parents

AngryLips · 14-06-2021 7:39pm

Don't have any regrets. There was a pub with outdoor area at the end of the street, didn't realise the noise would travel so much but it was lockdown so easily overlooked - also I don't think the noise would be a regular problem because it's just a neighbourhood local. Plus didn't expect that the kitchen needed a full re-wiring - that ended up costing a bomb. Don't regret any of it of course. These are more unforeseen problems.

Jmc25 · 14-06-2021 8:06pm

mick121 wrote: »

That is your solicitors fault, should have been written into the contract that she'd,attic etc has to be cleared.

Yes. Solicitor should insist on a closing inspection. You've ultimately signed the contract at that stage but good opportunity to scare the vendor into doing what they probably should do in any event

am_zarathustra · 14-06-2021 8:14pm

houseyhouse wrote: »

Use the small area population statistics tool from the CSO. https://www.cso.ie/en/census/census2016reports/census2016smallareapopulationstatistics/

Follow the link for SAPMAP. Zoom into your local area. Turn on the layer called 'statistical small areas'. Click on your area and follow the link to demographics. The info on whether homes are owner-occupied, rented from private ll, rented from council etc. is under the section 'Housing'. It's a great tool when you're moving. Can find out education levels, number of kids in different age groups, etc.

I'd never seen this, signing contracts this week so it was a fascinating read......generally good thankfully but cheers for putting this up.

Caranica · 14-06-2021 8:42pm

o1s1n wrote: »

2016 was the last census wasn't it? That's not too long ago.

I'm sure it's not an exact science after 5 years but I'd say it would still give a good snapshot of an area.

Yes, I use it for work and some areas are wildly out of date. But that's greater Dublin. More reliable for the rest of the country

Fred Cryton · 14-06-2021 9:25pm

Cash_Q wrote: »

Bought first house in 2018 after renting for 15+yrs , lovely settled estate near my family home, just within budget, ok decor and plenty of scope to put our own stamp on it.. kept pinching ourselves wondering what's the catch.. not one, not two, but three sets of neighbours from hell in our terrace. An otherwise lovely, calm, settled cul de sac, but these 3 were notorious among everyone once we got talking to the other neighbours. We sold and moved after 2.5 years, I'm sure you'll see why..

1 - elderly woman who essentially stalked our movements, appearing in the front and back gardens at the same time as us. Leaning out an upstairs window if she couldn't get downstairs quickly enough. Repeating conversations back to me that she eavesdropped on. Commenting on everything from our clothes, bins, visitors, state of the garden, choice of supermarkets, other neighbours drinking habits, previous occupiers sex life (!), her own underwear, bird**** on the window.. insisted on gifting us things for our baby, constantly reminding us that she did so. Considered herself a good neighbour. Polished her clean windows while we were having photos taken of the house to sell, she was IN the photos of the front of the house on Daft ffs. Lived there most of her life and acted as if she owned our house as well as her own.

2 - family of drug addicts. Fights morning, noon and night, parties raging, pregnant teen drinking, local youths invited to smash up their furniture outside their house and take it for bonfire wood, son released from prison died of an overdose in the house. Smoking out the back at all hours of the night, chatting and playing music. Sound insulation was so poor we could hear their kettle boil at night so imagine how amplified all that other stuff was. Renting long term from the council so little chance of them being moved on. We were attached directly to their right, you'd think the house attached to their left would complain? Nah, that brings me onto...

3 - small time drug dealer, supporting the needs of 2 above! Bench in the front garden for drinking in the sun with occupants of 2 above, music blaring from the car on the drive. Smart comments about everything and anything as we tried to come and go quickly and quietly. Inherited the house from his mother so not going anywhere and acted like he owned the whole terrace. Relationship broke down and he started drinking with the local homeless addicts and bringing them around the place. Front porch kicked in by teens over drugs/money, of course he said it was mistaken identity.

We miraculously sold that house at a small profit enabling us to move just 1km up the road. Best thing we ever did, don't know ourselves with the peace and quiet. Lovely neighbours all around us. That first house we had driven up and down the street at all times of the day and night, nothing could have warned us about these people. Sale occurred between Nov-March.. if we had seen the garden drinking in the summer that would have set alarm bells but nothing in the world could have prepared us for how bad it was.

We are extremely lucky to have gotten away!

Probably the way around this is to spend time scoping a new potential home out. 20 hours over 5 nights should do it. Park your car and watch. Take walks around the estate. It's worth it.

Would advise to simply call to the door of your potential neighbour. Make up some reason like you're looking for directions. You'll get an instant feeling of who they are, certainly you'd be able to tell if they fall into category 2 or 3 on your list!

Jmc25 · 14-06-2021 9:40pm

Fred Cryton wrote: »

Probably the way around this is to spend time scoping a new potential home out. 20 hours over 5 nights should do it. Park your car and watch. Take walks around the estate. It's worth it.

Would advise to simply call to the door of your potential neighbour. Make up some reason like you're looking for directions. You'll get an instant feeling of who they are, certainly you'd be able to tell if they fall into category 2 or 3 on your list!

Honestly to anyone buying, do this. 9 times out of 10 you'll be fine without our but don't take that chance.

Particularly about knocking on the door for a chat about literally anything. You'll get a vibe within 30 seconds that will save you 20 years of bother.

Diemos · 14-06-2021 10:29pm

Cash_Q wrote: »

Bought first house in 2018 after renting for 15+yrs , lovely settled estate near my family home, just within budget, ok decor and plenty of scope to put our own stamp on it.. kept pinching ourselves wondering what's the catch.. not one, not two, but three sets of neighbours from hell in our terrace. An otherwise lovely, calm, settled cul de sac, but these 3 were notorious among everyone once we got talking to the other neighbours. We sold and moved after 2.5 years, I'm sure you'll see why..

1 - elderly woman who essentially stalked our movements, appearing in the front and back gardens at the same time as us. Leaning out an upstairs window if she couldn't get downstairs quickly enough. Repeating conversations back to me that she eavesdropped on. Commenting on everything from our clothes, bins, visitors, state of the garden, choice of supermarkets, other neighbours drinking habits, previous occupiers sex life (!), her own underwear, bird**** on the window.. insisted on gifting us things for our baby, constantly reminding us that she did so. Considered herself a good neighbour. Polished her clean windows while we were having photos taken of the house to sell, she was IN the photos of the front of the house on Daft ffs. Lived there most of her life and acted as if she owned our house as well as her own.

2 - family of drug addicts. Fights morning, noon and night, parties raging, pregnant teen drinking, local youths invited to smash up their furniture outside their house and take it for bonfire wood, son released from prison died of an overdose in the house. Smoking out the back at all hours of the night, chatting and playing music. Sound insulation was so poor we could hear their kettle boil at night so imagine how amplified all that other stuff was. Renting long term from the council so little chance of them being moved on. We were attached directly to their right, you'd think the house attached to their left would complain? Nah, that brings me onto...

3 - small time drug dealer, supporting the needs of 2 above! Bench in the front garden for drinking in the sun with occupants of 2 above, music blaring from the car on the drive. Smart comments about everything and anything as we tried to come and go quickly and quietly. Inherited the house from his mother so not going anywhere and acted like he owned the whole terrace. Relationship broke down and he started drinking with the local homeless addicts and bringing them around the place. Front porch kicked in by teens over drugs/money, of course he said it was mistaken identity.

We miraculously sold that house at a small profit enabling us to move just 1km up the road. Best thing we ever did, don't know ourselves with the peace and quiet. Lovely neighbours all around us. That first house we had driven up and down the street at all times of the day and night, nothing could have warned us about these people. Sale occurred between Nov-March.. if we had seen the garden drinking in the summer that would have set alarm bells but nothing in the world could have prepared us for how bad it was.

We are extremely lucky to have gotten away!

Do you feel bad for the buyer?
Did you disclose what they were buying into?

FromADistance · 14-06-2021 10:33pm

Diemos wrote: »

Do you feel bad for the buyer?
Did you disclose what they were buying into?

Caveat emptor.

You can argue the morals all you like but it's not his / her problem.

Cash_Q · 15-06-2021 6:44am

Diemos wrote:

Do you feel bad for the buyer? Did you disclose what they were buying into?

Yes and no.. nobody warned us what was in store when we bought the place. It had been rented out for about 10yrs previously. We had to get out of there and sell, we had to put ourselves first. Disclosing anything about these neighbours would have totally jeopardised the sale, I dont think anyone would have disclosed this.

We previously rented flats/apartments for so long and waited until we bought before starting our family so that we wouldn't have to uproot kids.. in the end we moved out 2weeks after our second child was born and stayed with family for 10weeks til our new home was granted probate.

We met an old (nice) neighbour who said the buyer is a bit more 'feisty' than me.. as if I wasn't feisty enough to handle them?! She had never heard what we heard through the walls! Maybe she meant the new people are not unlike the nasty neighbours, I don't know. The EA actually knew what was going on and the buyer is a friend of a friend of his.. I think it's going to be one of those houses that is sold again and again. They could have checked the PPR and seen that we only bought in 2018 and it was for sale in 2020..that would have raised concerns for me as a buyer.

Fred Cryton wrote:

Probably the way around this is to spend time scoping a new potential home out. 20 hours over 5 nights should do it. Park your car and watch. Take walks around the estate. It's worth it.

Yes that definitely would have been telling. I thought it was enough to take a quick drive up and down the road at different times and on different days, but I really should have parked up. I thought I knew the place well as its a cul de sac of about 30 houses 10 minutes from where I grew up, but you really would never suspect from the outside what was going on in these houses.

Gumbo · 15-06-2021 8:15am

Marcusm wrote: »

And that is why the surveyor should have insurance to deal with the claim for negligence which you will file!

You’ll get nowhere with a claim like that.
The prepurchase survey is visual only. The leak could have occurred 3 minutes after the survey took place or 3 mins after the person bought the property.

babi-hrse · 15-06-2021 8:29am

I seen one last week a lad bought a new build one off house moved into it and 3 weeks later has someone rodding his sewer line with a camera to find out why it was all backed up.
The drain was never connected up it was long enough to go to the end of his driveway and then stopped abruptly. He can't use his toilet now

15-06-2021 8:32am

o1s1n wrote: »

2016 was the last census wasn't it? That's not too long ago.

I'm sure it's not an exact science after 5 years but I'd say it would still give a good snapshot of an area.

This area didn't exist in 2016...

ongarboy · 15-06-2021 8:59am

Tork wrote: »

Mostly, I remember feeling very deflated after getting the keys and walking into the house for the first time. A few of my friends told me they experienced the same thing after they bought their houses.

I think that this feeling of deflation or anti climax when you first move into a new home is more common than we realise even if you've bought a state of the art home with no apparent issues. Especially if you are moving somewhere new or unfamiliar, there's an unsettled feeling that can take time to dissipate. The only exception I think would be if you were escaping a previous home from hell.

Thankfully I had no structural, sound quality or neighbour issues when I bought mine. However I also did have that initial deflated feel that first week but it did quickly go away. One gripe is that the previous owners left the wheelie bins full and had about 3 industrial size refuse sacks next to them with more rubbish. It took about 3 weeks of bin collections to clear their crap before I could start disposing my own. I was disappointed that they did that considering the amount of money I had handed over to them for the purchase!

gladerunner · 15-06-2021 10:07am

When we moved into our cottage we didnt realise it came with its own Granny.
An elderly neighbour across the road was so friendly with the people that left, that she basically haunted us.
She called every day, walked uninvited into the house, stayed hours at a time.
She called when we had family visiting, she called when ever we had work done to supervise, she called late at night when her daughter was away.
It was relentless. We had to buy blinds and gates to try and deter her somewhat.
Just to add, she is a lovely woman and we are still pals, but it required a large amount of diplomacy at the time.
Covid cured alot of it

Like the person with the full attic, we also got 3 full sheds of mostly crap.
Had to hire multiple skips.

KevRossi · 15-06-2021 10:23am

Fred Cryton wrote: »

Probably the way around this is to spend time scoping a new potential home out. 20 hours over 5 nights should do it. Park your car and watch. Take walks around the estate. It's worth it.

I'm looking to buy this year. I tend to take a walk/cycle around some areas on a Saturday and Sunday afternoon or evening on a good sunny day. You can get a good idea if there's a 'party house' on the street. I've knocked a couple of streets off the list because of a few things I've seen over the past couple of weeks. Of course, there's people having one-off bar-b-q's, but you can also spot the houses where it's ongoing. It usually means they're on the lash all winter indoors as well.

Also early on a Saturday or Sunday morning. Have a look at rubbish on the street and the kind it is. There's a spot at the bottom of an estate that I had an eye on that is always full of cans first thing in the morning, but they're gone around 10 a.m. I can only assume it's a wild drinking spot and that there's a neighbour cleaning it up in the morning as they're sick of it.

And of course, just google the street and put 'court' or 'garda' or any number of other words in after it to see what pops up.

Toots · 15-06-2021 12:40pm

D3V!L wrote: »

We did that on the sale of our house. Turns out the attic was full of rubbish. The house was immaculate apart from that.

They cleared out the attic alright. Destroyed the stairs carpet and made sure they scraped the wall all the way down as well. :mad:

What assholes! Was there anything you could do about it?

D3V!L · 15-06-2021 12:41pm

Toots wrote: »

What assholes! Was there anything you could do about it?

Only found out when we got the keys

After buy disappointments

Comments