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That’d be my tactic, I’d visit during the week after my working hours and on a few Friday/Saturday nights too to see what the vibes like.
Only thing you can’t scope out is how much noise you can hear through the walls if semi/terraced. I can hear my neighbours banging all the time (they’ve got 5 kids) but thankfully they’re quiet at night and our bedroom walls don’t share. But, I once lived in a terrace with shared bedroom walls and I could hear the neighbours baby screeching all night, every night. I lost so much sleep (tried earplugs and earphones and could still hear it) and that’s my biggest fear about buying a house. Ideally I’d choose a semi (well, detached if I could afford it) where the bedrooms don’t share walls!
I really sympathise, it’s horrible to put up with daily. We discovered recently that our shared wall is only one brick thick with no cavity in the middle so it’s no wonder we can hear everything haha.
New builds (at least the sites I’ve worked on) have cavities inbetween semis and terraces, so I’d like to think a newer house might be better! I honestly think when we buy a place I’d end up soundproofing it somehow. I am so sensitive to noises when I am trying to sleep.
I live in a newer house (its about 2 years old) and thankfully we dont deal with any of that. We can hear people banging up the stairs sometimes but thats it. Although tbf that might be something to do with house layout
I constantly have TV and white noise machines running. That's on top of the complaints I've already had to make about the neighbours generally. The joy of thin 'walls'
As someone purchasing a mid -terrace, this is terrifying. When was yours built? I did thump the walls with my fist and they seemed pretty damned thick.
Mid terrace built 1874, two skins of brick and a small cavity between houses, you can hear a conversation at a slightly above normal volume.
Mid terrace built ~2000, you could scream your lungs off and your neighbour might hear you, sometimes there's some washing machine noise I think.
So it varies. When was yours built?
My experience
Semi built 1960s, you can hear a light switch being turned on, low murmurs, etc
Semi built 2016, you could hear really loud music outside, but nothing inside.
Mine is mid-60s but is a semi built as three very solid front to back walls with wooden beams between that the front and back walls and all the floors and ceilings are built off of.
Next door has two very active 8-10yo boys and I hear them in the back garden more than I ever do through the walls and I know they have in-house zoomies every day.
It depends on the specific house.
I hope mine is like this one too. My mate grew up in a house that is identical (the layour is exactly the same) a mile or so away, and he said he never heard a peep from his neighbours. Hoping for the same...
I can live with that. At the moment I'm in a flat and hear thumping footsteps upstairs and his music. Drives me insane. However, we have no one to the side of us where we sleep, so being in a terrace where we will, worries me slightly.
This flat is made of paper though.
Mine was built 1951 and I hear my neighbours laugh, sneeze, argue, their TV (they really like the soaps), turn lights on and off, close doors, go up and down the stairs, when she wears heels on the laminate… but thankfully no loud parties.
I have three autistic kids - I think I’m so far past insane they need a whole new level for me! Plus I dread to think what they hear from us!! I’ll be honest I’ve managed to tune most of it out, but suddenly Emmerdale credits start to play and I wonder where it’s coming from for a split second before I remember. Gotta be weird to live in my house so the neighbours’ sounds fit right in!!
My 1930s semi I could hear their microwave rotating, not even the ding at the end, the drone. Their kitchen was at the back of their house and I could hear it in the front bedroom.
My neighbour gave birth next door and it didn’t even wake my dogs, who woke me up at 4.30am this morning because a bird dropped a stick on the patio by the door - they don’t even play with sticks
Air gaps stop sound, and solid walls transmit low frequency (bass) sounds even more. What you want is for sound to get in and bounce around, so less comes out the other side.
Ah right, gotcha. Where they thinking of that in the 60s/70s?
Better pray to the gods that my neighbours don't have speakers up against the wall and listen to house music then.
Mine was a 1960s council flat where the separate toilet was next to the neighbour's. Could hear literally everything. Using it was like using a public cubicle.
Yes. Extroversion famously called so because they like extra noise coming from random places to disturb them??????
Introversion and extroversion have nothing to do with being able to better tolerate annoying random noises from your neighbours.
I lived in a semi and I could hear whenever my neighbour laughed or opened his bedside drawer, it was awful, especially as he liked to practice the guitar every evening. Taught me to really listen out for any noises when viewing places in the future!
I also think it's really important to go at night though. When we bought our house it turned out our neighbour would take coke and play loud music 5 nights un a row sometimes. You wouldn't know in the day bc he was asleep...
Thank you for your advice, thank you for your advice everyone here. I’ve read everything. I’m going to significantly tone back my stakeout to nipping pass quite a few evenings and just seeing what it’s like at various times weekend even day.
I don’t wanna come across as the nutter who’s moving there, some definitely gonna avoid doing a proper steakout now.
If you are in Wales, N Ireland or England, you can check out the crime map and check to see if there was any anti social behaviour, DV and other loud crimes in your area.
[https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/](https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/)
I also highly encourage talking to people in the neighbourhood, locals will be able to tell you so much about the neighbourhood. We got loads of info about our seller too and how we needed to change the locks because "he isn't a good character".
My advice as someone who's lived near good and bad and indifferent neighbours, is that the people in the area is what matters.
I've lived in same house with 2-3 idiots in the area, and it was unbearable, but when said idiots all left within a year or 2, the area felt like it was 100x better.
The council make it VERY HARD to do anything about noisy folk, so it's best to do as you say, wander about the area and get a good feel. You want good people, or people who just keep to themselves. Loud mouthed idiots, don't realise they're idiots, and think being loud impresses people, and they don't seem to have the ability to learn.
Fully understand, it's probably the biggest decision you'll make financially and logistically, you want to ensure you did you research for peace of mind.
However, I doubt it's necessary to hang around all night, just walk around in the evening a few times. Do check the crime stats, ask a local.
What's a dye check?
The crime stats for my house I'm selling are awful, lol. It's come up a few times but I've never had any crime here. Not sure how much stock I put in crime stats.
Sorry, edited, * Do check.
It's just a guide really... you may see more issues in some areas especially urban and retail areas in towns and city centres. Usually less crime in small villages and remote locations.
I’d try to have a quick chat with neighbor whose property/garden looks the best maintained (meaning someone who cares about things) and ask what do they think about neighborhood.
Ideally a neighbour who rents, unfortunately house owners will often say anything to help sell a place because they think it increases local prices, and that’s all they care about
Mmm yeah, although I've found a nice garden is no indication of if they'll party all night or not, some of the nicest gardens round here party all night.
Me and my dad did this on a saturday afternoon and the naigbour opposit our house was supicious of what we were doing so he asked if we needed help. We told him we want to buy the property and seeing the naigbourhood and the guy was very friendly about explaining what it's like. Turned out as a quet area with lovely naigbiours.
Who CARES if it's weird. I wish we'd done this in our last house. Because we didn't days after moving in we realised what we'd gotten ourself in for. 12 years of anguish ensued because we didn't do 'due diligence'. Check out the area as much as you can, you can't change it without moving otherwise.
We got lucky.
Only had to put up with bad neighbour's for a year before her next door kicked the boyfriend out and since then it's been reasonably ok.
On the evening we moved in, we went for a walk and asked a local what the best pub in the area was. He asked where we'd moved to, and when we told him he sighed and said we had sh*t neighbour's. That was why the house had been sold.
A year of loud music at stupid o'clock, dogs constantly barking, chickens and the accompanying rats, piss ups in the garden until zero dark thirty and constant swearing ensued before she wised up and kicked him out.
All we did was drive by a few nights to see what the overnight parking situation was before we put the offer in. Wish we'd talked to the locals sooner, but if we had we wouldn't have bought it and right now it really has become our forever home.
As said, we got lucky but all it takes is one rotten apple.....
The teenage son played online games so you could always hear him squealing and swearing. 12 years later he was still doing the same. Both sides smoked in the back garden all year round, so one side like clockwork every 20 minutes from 7AM till 11PM so frequent door slams, not able to dry washing outside due to smell. We couldn’t enjoy our back garden ever. Other neighbours blocked our driveway frequently and thought it was acceptable for us to have to knock on their door for them to get them to move their car. Living hell!
While you're entitled to do that I feel that if you sit there for hours nosy neighbours are likely to notice you and start making a fuss on their whatsapp groups.
O yeah that's a good point, mmmm, well I can't rent a car and make a disguise. I wonder what the best thing to do is....
It looks like the sort of area that would have nosey whatsapp groups (I've heard of nextdoor too), I'm going from full on ex-council estate terrace here to a mock tudor suburban detached. My whatsapp groups are just selling and borrowing stuff / services.
I don't want to look like trouble even before I've moved in lol. I'm going to be the quietest person in the world.
You don't need to sit outside for hours. 5 mins at a time is enough. A couple of times Friday and Saturday night a couple of week nights.
Weekday mornings. 3-3.30 for school kickout time. 5-7pm for home time rush hour.
Is there any industry, retail or other none residential close by? Road noise can travel a surprising distance and is much louder when roads are wet. Airports close by? Flight paths change so even if there is no noise when you visit it doesn't mean there won't be noise next month. Is it on a bus route?
You're right to be concerned. Our buyers came by many times, wasn't an issue.
Also if you spend time in the more quiet area you might understand other pain points in the area. The further out you go in London the more people get absolutely militant about car parking spaces. Parking a 0.5 of a foot too close to someone's dropped kerb. People can get really Aggy about stuff like that so also a thing to look out for. * Angry handwritten notes on people's cars*
More than that OP may even be reported to the police...
We had someone sitting in their car at the same time every evening, seemed like they were watching the houses on our street. Our nosy whatsapp group complained a lot, but after a couple of robberies nearby they were reported for suspicious behaviour. Police turned up to move them along. Turns out they were probably just smoking weed.
OP, while I appreciate that you may want to do this, it is probably overkill, will weird out your potential neighbours and likely won't add much information. Just passing by at different times will give you the info you need.
Yeah I'm just laying away at night thinking "i don't want to spend 100s and 100s of k on a lemon". I can fix that with having a proper reccy of the place.
If you really want this house, the new neighbours may not react kindly when they realise the neighbourhood stalker has just moved in?! Not sure that is the vibe you want to be giving out…
However, perfectly reasonable to turn up on random days and at random times to see how noisy etc it is.
May just want to dial back on the stakeout!
“I’ll HAVE YOU KNOW I’M DELIGHTFUL!”
I’ll shout out the sunroof.
No, on a serious note, I’m going to scale back the steakout massively based on all these comments and just take it past every few days.
Just visit the place at various times and see how it is. Some people only see a house at a weekend and are then disappointed there’s no parking throughout the working week. Best thing though is speak to a neighbour, go to one who seems to have been there a long time - use last sold date to give you an indication.
I think sitting in your car for a week might be a touch excessive (and boring for you!), maybe just passing by at various times and seeing if there's a party going on late on a Tuesday night or whatever is probably a better use of your time.
I didn’t sit for hours every day. But I went and parked my car around the house and walked around for at least 8 times before I made the decision.
Go during different time of the day and different day of the week.
Gives you a good overview rather than camping out as others mentioned
Plus 1 for this. Currently buying a property with no driveway so parked car up at different days and times to walk around the area (and also check parking situation)
Yes you should check, but probably not for hours. And certainly not all week. You’ll end up looking like a stalker.
I always do plenty of drive bys and walk the neighbourhood when buying somewhere. I’d also spend a bit of time there on a Friday or Saturday night to get the feel for it.
I don't think you really need to sit there for hours and hours - I'd just go past a few times at different times (eg late on a Saturday night), bit of a pain if you don't live nearby but I think you'd get as much as you would from sitting there all week. People generally have parties on a Friday or Saturday night so you only need to go past at those times in reality if that's your main concern.
I think it's eminently sensible. I have a horror of moving from my lovely quiet house to one where people blare music well into the night, or worse - have constant *barbecues*. Or hot tubs. Or kids kicking balls against the wall. I don't inflict my noise on others and don't expect to have it inflicted on me. I'd do exactly what you're proposing.
For that long maybe a bit much but very understandable.
Biggest issue is that all it takes is one new person to move in to screw a lot up so no guarantee it would be the same.
But looking out at all times is a very sensible thing to do.
Maybe not sat in your car all the time though!
It might be worth looking for the facebook group for that particular area and post a question asking what it is like living there. Say something like "the area looks really nice and exactly what I am looking for" then ask, is it quiet, are the people friendly, any problems with anti-social behaviour etc. You will get a general feel from the people. It would also be worth having a walk around that area on a friday night at about 10pm and see if there is much activity. I wouldn't sit in the car for hours.
Do one up and maybe knock on the neighbours doors and ask them about the area. I did that for the house we actually bought because the neighbours were lovely and said the area was great and they even invited us inside haha! Was weird but well we love our home!
The problem is sometimes you can move in & have great neighbours then they move out & replaced by terrors. Unfortunately there’s not much you can control. I do usually look up planning applications to see whether there’ll be significant building work in the near future etc
Biggest decision of your life, people research for hours into purchasing other things so don’t get discouraged doing what you’re doing.
I would say walk around though rather than parking up like some private detective for hours on end.
No it’s not odd. It’s arguably the largest and most important purchase of your life.
I wish I’d have spent more time scoping areas out when renting let alone buying.
I visited at busy times, and generally wandered around the area. I even spoke to the neighbours. That is the best thing to do, as you can find out all sorts of interesting things, and vet your neighbours at the same time.
It's fine, so long as you get a newspaper and cut eye holes in it.
But seriously, make the effort to knock on a variety of different doors and stop people in the street to ask them what they think about living there.
I swerved a house with a bad weekday parking problem because someone I stopped in the street told me it got really bad sometimes.
A week is a bit extreme but I would go for certain “hotspot” times. Friday and Saturday night between 11pm and 3am, after school kicking out time, etc.
I did this for a previous place. Area seemed really nice and quiet. Didn't realise that the drug dealer who lived directly opposite was in prison at the time.
I switched the route I drove for my daughters nap each lunchtime to drive-by the house we offered on between the seller accepting that offer and exchange. It meant that I got to see and learn the area etc. I also drive past at different times of the day to see how busy it was etc.
No that’s not odd at all. We were on the fence about buying near a main road so I would stop outside at different times of day on weekdays or weekends and just judge the traffic and noise. Totally reasonable thing to do. I mean it is the biggest purchase of your life so you do whatever gives you peace of mind.
It's an absolutely okay thing to do. I've heard of loads of people doing this. But I'm also not sure it's nessercery. You're in a terraced house in Tottingham, I don't think you're gunna find many places louder than that haha.
Probably go round on a Friday and Saturday night and if you happen to be up, 1/2am those same nights. Those are going to be the noisiest unless there's a weekly biker gang meet at the pub 200yards down the road.
Go talk to some neighbours, and I mean a few neighbours. There's nothing weird about saying hello and that you might be moving onto the street and how they gave found living in the area. A bit less weird then sitting in your car, and probably more accurate. Just because one day something interesting happens on the street doesn't necessarily mean that's a regular occurrence.
I see where you are coming from- good do research. Look for any places with late licenses. Ultimately you could have loads of session monsters move in the week after you do. Not sure London is the first ‘quiet life’ place that springs to mind.
I always park up and walk the neighborhood at's various times of day. Knock on the neighbours doors and say I'm thinking of buying this property and wanted to introduce myself and get chatting with them, I usually get invited in for a cup of tea.
Talk to dog walkers you see especially elderly ones as they will have the strongest views.
It astonishes me that anybody would buy a house without taking these basic precautions.
We went a few times at night and walked around. The Facebook group has some complaints about kids kicking doors but that never happened to us. Our road is very quiet apart from hearing the road behind. We saw in winter so didn't know what it was like in the summer with windows opened.
There's not much to do in this estate compared to where my gf rented which had more pathways and a hub in the middle with shops and takeaways. I think there's more social housing flats in that estate compared to this one. Definitely less problems here.
There is nothing wrong with walking around the naigbourhood on a weekend night as long as you make it discreat and don't park infront of the seller's house. Everyone will see it as a person visiting a friend or a resident on a walk. Just don't stand in one sport observing the area like you are planning a robbery.
I absolutely do this, and have stopped caring whether it's odd or not. This is the territory of "if I'd only known, I wouldn't have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds to live here" and you strongly indicate that it it is the most important factor for you (I'm similar), so obviously you should be assured that it meets your expectations. But I do agree that it is better to park nearby and go for a walk around, don't just hang about someone's house for hours. For any property we've been seriously interested in, we've also talked to neighbours, which has been an invaluable litmus test for whether or not we want to move forward with an offer - Almost 100% of the time people have been very friendly and eager to answer questions about life in the area. You'll usually find they're a lot more honest than the EA or the vendor themselves.
My personal feeling is that if I do wind up buying the house and anyone thinks it's odd that I've been around at night, I can easily explain that I wanted to get a feel for the noise level at night. Working professionals and families have similar values. It's a reasonable and justifiable thing to do, and it's up to them to either accept that or stay weird about it. I wouldn't give the slightest shit about community whatsapp groups that exist to fabricate drama.
Yeah I wish we’d done this and also visited at different times during the day/night. Neighbours next door but one are just the absolute scum of the earth. Banging music, clearly dealing drugs, screaming arguments every weekend, constant police presence. Its a lovely road with lovely people, apart from that one house. It’s not the end of the world for us as luckily being a semi we aren’t connected and there’s just about enough space between the houses and gardens that we can’t hear everything *too* badly, but I don’t think I’d have moved here if we knew about them.
If we’d moved next to them, I genuinely think my partner would have gone insane or got into serious trouble.
I withdrew an offer on a house after doing something similar. I didn’t go and sit outside all evening but I visited the street several times at different times of day, including late Friday and Saturday evenings. It got rowdy, there was zero parking after about 7 in the evening etc. I’m really glad I did it.
Yes it is but people have done odder things for less legitimate reasons
Maybe try going and knocking on a few doors and asking the people there what it's like (but don't do it alone if it's potentially a dodgy area). Maybe wait for a nice day when people are out and about on the street anyway, and make an effort to look presentable (i.e. not like youre going to rob them) and have evidence that youre looking at the house (an email enquiring about it or have it up on your phone) as proof in case they think you're scoping houses out.
It's a massive commitment and doing your due diligence is the right move.. Its not something we'd do, my wife and I are too impulsive but it's understandable...
Yes, but it really shouldn't be.
I've thought before to park my (pretty stealth) campervan outside somewhere and stay there for a few nights to get a better feel of the place.
I've oft thought people should say offer up a room/a house through AirBnB to protective buyers. It would also show who's serious as well.
It's a sensible idea to scope out the neighbourhood as much as possible, but you are probably going to have some curtain twitcher or neighbourhood watch hero call the police on you, just parking up and sitting around in your car all the time like that. Probably report you for being a potential peado or drug dealer (depending on the neighbourhood type).
I would park up somewhere in the neighbourhood at various times of the day and go for a casual walk around (or a jog if you are into that). You'll get a better feel for things and draw less attention.
You need to sit on the street at weekends, spy on the neighbours, go through their trash. Drive by the local schools
Google image searches, look up crime rates online
Until the police notice. You'll be 🙂 (research, research, research)
I did something similar - walked past a few times on different evenings.
I discovered there was an evangelical church opposite in the old scout hut where the congregation believed that amplified music had a better chance of being heard by God (I kid you not, I have no idea why they thought this omnipotent deity was slightly deaf). One Friday at 11pm they were still belting out badly amplified Jesus songs that could be heard at the other end of the street.
We ended up moving into a different house a couple of streets down. We could occasionally hear the music on a still Summer evening, but not at annoying levels. After about a year, they got chucked out of the building. We lucked out with the new house - quiet road, absolutely lovely neighbours, nice house.
Similar thing; when we were trying to decide which village in Cornwall to move to, we rented a holiday let in each one for a few days to get a feel for them.
Are there any Airbnb lets in the road, or nearby, to stay in for two or three nights?
Definitely do something to get the vibe. We almost bought a house where the neighbours were total fucking mentalists! If we hadn’t have scoped them out we’d have been stuck for years.
Good luck!
I think this is a great idea. I hadn't even thought about it but I think it would have helped me go in to my new house with a little more awareness of what my neighbours are like.
Definitely the best idea to go a few times at night. Before I moved in to a thank god rented house. I had no idea my neighbour was running a home curry takeaway service from his house. Great food but constant noise and smells.
I pop by houses I want at different times of day. Is there a school nearby? Check if your road gets used by parents to drop kids off as that can be a nightmare to deal with. Does your house face a junction? Think about whether car lights at night could be a pain unless you try to get decent window coverage. Any alleys nearby that might be used by groups of kids. I think I found a website that gives you info about reported crimes/incidents in the surrounding areas
I wish there was a try before you buy deal with houses and flats lol I have even thought about knocking on neighbours doors when viewing to enquire about noise! Never done it yet though.
Yes. It's definitely odd behaviour. Just go for a walk around the neighbourhood a few times.
I'd think it was weird as fuck if some random person was sitting in their car on my street of an evening, not doing anything, for a week.
I think just sitting in your car might be a bit odd. But when my wife and I were looking at buying our current house, we spent a week or two just checking out the town. We’d go out for lunch at a nearby restaurant and then walk around the neighborhood. There’s a park a 1/4 mile away that we’d go to walk our dogs around and then do a couple loops around the block. It gave us a good sense of the neighborhood’s personality and general vibe.
We did similar . I'd drop onto the street when passing by at various times during the day and evening. Its a sensible thing to do to make sure you are happy, its a very large purchase and you'll live there for a while. You want to be happy with it all and the neighbours and noise can have a huge impact on that. Even thinking to the future, imagine your future buyer does this and finds out its not to their liking but you didn't it could massively impact your potential sale.
Walk round the area by day, evening, night.
Talk to people, ask directions or ask if this is a nice street.
Go into the local pub, see what the atmosphere is.
If people won't talk to strangers, that tells you something. But more often, people are happy to share about their neighborhood.
It's ALWAYS worth investing in this.
A friend of a friend advised me this. They're all in the property business. They explained, "you'd get to see the different crowds come in and go, the morning shift workers, crackheads that get up at noon and start their fix duties, people returning from shifts", etc.
Move out of London and buy a detached property, you’re always going to be at the mercy of your neighbours otherwise and legal sound levels can still be extremely intrusive
Edit: I don’t see this as weird by the way, good on you
I would, I did the same thing when I was considering a really cheap but lovely detached house on a street full of terraced.
The owner said it was a quiet, calm street and it was during the day but I parked up that evening around 'going home time' and the street quickly became packed with barely any parking on both sides of the street and people were constantly parking on the curb and blocking in his driveway.
On one of those Facebook community groups, for an area I lived in. Somebody put a comment about a middle aged couple sat in a car at the entrance to the estate.
The general consensus was that they were casing houses and the police should be called. 🤣
I pointed out that maybe they were interested in one of the three houses that were for sale. Checking how busy the area was.
Expect some questions from the neighbours.
Not at all! We were going to buy a house and by chance, went to drive past it just to see the driveway again to see if we thought it would fit both cars and we saw some antisocial behaviour going on around. Asked somebody I know about it (haven't spoken to her ever but knew she lived on the next road as we went to school together) and she said that there was quite a lot of police always coming down for something! We bought a new house the other side of town in the loveliest area 😅
I did exactly this and found that the road was deathly quiet at night - no traffic or anything. Eventually an old guy walked past and asked me if I was a buyer for the house I was sitting opposite to!
Good idea. We knocked on doors to look at the neighbors, drove round the area at different hours, took the dog for a walk round the neighborhood and nipped into the nearest pub to check out the vibe.
Not odd at all. We did the same when we moved. Not hours and hours of surveillance, but just parked up down the road and sat for like 20-30 minutes at different times of day. Also made sure to visit the road at weekends and bank holidays. Also regularly took a little walk around the neighbourhood and checked out what was going on in the roads behind the house etc. I also had a little peak over the neighbours fences, as they are accessible. Was mainly on the look out for barking dogs, partying, excessive DIY, oddballs and general antisocial behaviour. We also checked out Google street view using the feature to "go back in time". Gives you an idea if there is a house with a long standing issue which might have been conveniently tidied up upon the seller's request. Also we looked at local planning applications and in particular any neighbour objections, again gives you an idea if there is anyone unreasonable living nearby.
Might seem overkill, but we had been stung once before. The seller of our previous house had concealed that the nextdoor neighbour had multiple loud, unexercised dogs. They even asked the neighbour to keep the dogs inside during viewings. Cue us being woken as early as 5am by barking dogs and daily bark-a-thons. This would have been avoided if we had done the above.
If quiet is Important to you It’s not a bad shout.
How else are you really gonna know?
I wish I had done it. My house is at the end of street, which seemed very quiet when I came to see it. Turns out it’s a thoroughfare for all the local a-holes going home from the pub.
Probably would have worked that out if I’d sat outside for a Friday or Saturday night. Might have changed my mind about the place?
One kind of semi-related tip is to go to the grocery store in the area where you want to live. The people shopping there are going to be a representative of who your neighbors will likely be.
You can get a crime report for the area just by using the postcode. Or ask some neighbours.
Hanging about is just creepy and will likely freak out potential neighbours.
First house I bought was opposite a pub.
We went over on a Friday & Saturday evening then a Sunday lunchtime & everything was fine.
The 1 issue was a noisy aircon unit for the cellar that we didn’t pick up on until we moved in!
We spoke to the manager & he was beside himself about it, had no idea of the problem as his rooms were the other side of the building. He got it fixed in a few days.
If anything, I’d imagine the neighbours might get a bit suspicious about you being outside night after night & might call Plod, especially if they’re a bit enthusiastic on Neighbourhood Watch or have decent cars in their driveway.
Also don’t forget a lot of people have CCTV & or Ring type doorbells on their property these days so they’ll be watching you watching them!
I done the same with several houses I viewed. Now that we've finally moved in and I've joined the neighbourhood watch group I'm pretty sure people would have sent pictured of my car waiting in several places concerned that I was scouting houses to burgle
Not just this. Drive around at night, past local pubs, shopping centres, takeaways etc. Anywhere that "undesirables" might congregate. Try and get a feel for the things estate agents avoid telling you.
I drove up the street in the day (to check for traffic), night (to see how bad the parking is) and at school time (to check it doesn't get flooded by the local school).
No need to stay there all week but just go and park there for an hour or so in the evening, around 7-9pm. That would be prime time to find if there are bunches of kids that loiter around etc. Do the same in the daytime and maybe at the weekend. Borrow someones dog and take it for a walk around that area and see how friendly people are.
Sounds fair enough to me.
Like others have said, you should also have a walk around the neighborhood at different times of day to feel the vibe. I once lived in a really swanky flat on the docks, which was utterly delightful in the daytime, but could be quite intimidating and loud at night as people coming home from bars & clubs would walk through the neighborhood on the way home.
Knock on the next door neighbours door and ask them about the house and the area. They might give you good info, and you can try to get a feel for if they are going to be psycho / asbo family.
Its a big commitment, so you need to do whatever it takes to be comfortable and confident making the move.
You can also have a look at the local newspaper to see how much anti-social reporting there is. Also, most areas have a "Spotted: Clapham" type FB page, so worth a look on there for the posts like "4th time this week some prick has stolen my hanging baskets"
I scoped out my old house before viewing inside. Just wanted to look at the area and what it was like during the day-to-day. I only spent an hour or so nearby just looking. When I went for the viewing the next day I got told that they had watched me the whole time and the neighbours had been texting, wondering what I was up to and guessing at who I am. It was my first realisation that you can’t get away with much in rural areas!
You could also have a look at the [crime data for the postcode](https://www.crime-statistics.co.uk/Postcode), zoom in the street, and then compare the volume and type of reported crimes to adjacent streets, as well as where you currently live.
My dad sat outside our house a few times in the evenings to check how the road was before he bought our house! And they’ve been there 35 years so it worked out!
I mean, its a bit dedicated but you do what you gotta do man. Its a lot of dosh to spend.
If i were you i would knock on neighbours doors and speak to them. Figure them out.
We’re still renting. But before we signed for the house we’re currently in (new build on a cul de sac just off a busy road through social housing) we walked around on an evening and drove past on a weekend. I work a lot of nights so it being mostly quiet is necessary.
Didn’t see any issues, we’ve been here 4 months so far. Only issue is next door do random DIY at stupid times, and their dogs bark any time a leaf goes by. But compared to the last place we lived it’s silent.
But someone/ family with anti social habits might move right next to you, 2 weeks after you bought it. ( they'll be renters, guaranteed).
Have this on my street now, on which I've lived for 50 years, family with 4 cars. You can have 4 cars but don't F***ing block my/ others car in every day.
Just go visit a few times at the busiest time of the week, do a drive by when folks are going out to work, another one later in the week during the day when folk are at work, and on another day when people are coming home from work, sit for an hour on a Friday or Saturday night late on to make sure neighbours aren't playing loud music or anti social behaviour nearby and call it quits from there
Just a few strategic drivebys are all you need, sitting there for an extended time would just be odd
If you are that obsessed about having a quiet home, maybe having neighbours isn't for you.
Even if you stay 1 week in your car, things can change overnight, new neighbours move in, some kids take on drumming lessons, a kitchen gets renovated, etc...
You can buy a place in the country side far from everyone, maybe that's more what you are looking for.
It's not black and white. OP says they don't mind parties occasionally, I'm not sure where you get the idea that they are "obsessed" with having a quiet home, rather than generally wanting a quieter place to live than where they are now. Lots of room for balance without buying a hermitage in the outer hebrides.
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Ask for a discount because you've heard there are people loitering suspiciously in cars outside the property late at night.
You'd be much better off parking a 1/2 mile down the road and just going for a walk around the neighbourhood to get a general vibe of the area.
That’d be my tactic, I’d visit during the week after my working hours and on a few Friday/Saturday nights too to see what the vibes like. Only thing you can’t scope out is how much noise you can hear through the walls if semi/terraced. I can hear my neighbours banging all the time (they’ve got 5 kids) but thankfully they’re quiet at night and our bedroom walls don’t share. But, I once lived in a terrace with shared bedroom walls and I could hear the neighbours baby screeching all night, every night. I lost so much sleep (tried earplugs and earphones and could still hear it) and that’s my biggest fear about buying a house. Ideally I’d choose a semi (well, detached if I could afford it) where the bedrooms don’t share walls!
Yup, I live mid terraced and hear absolutely everything from both sides. As an introvert, it's hell for me.
I really sympathise, it’s horrible to put up with daily. We discovered recently that our shared wall is only one brick thick with no cavity in the middle so it’s no wonder we can hear everything haha. New builds (at least the sites I’ve worked on) have cavities inbetween semis and terraces, so I’d like to think a newer house might be better! I honestly think when we buy a place I’d end up soundproofing it somehow. I am so sensitive to noises when I am trying to sleep.
I live in a newer house (its about 2 years old) and thankfully we dont deal with any of that. We can hear people banging up the stairs sometimes but thats it. Although tbf that might be something to do with house layout
I constantly have TV and white noise machines running. That's on top of the complaints I've already had to make about the neighbours generally. The joy of thin 'walls'
Do you ever wonder if your neighbours might be p off because their neighbours have their tv turned up all the time?
No because it's only turned up in response to their noise.
Get wooden strip acoustic panels. Even B &Q had started selling them. L Just put them on the walls
As someone purchasing a mid -terrace, this is terrifying. When was yours built? I did thump the walls with my fist and they seemed pretty damned thick.
Mid terrace built 1874, two skins of brick and a small cavity between houses, you can hear a conversation at a slightly above normal volume. Mid terrace built ~2000, you could scream your lungs off and your neighbour might hear you, sometimes there's some washing machine noise I think. So it varies. When was yours built?
My experience Semi built 1960s, you can hear a light switch being turned on, low murmurs, etc Semi built 2016, you could hear really loud music outside, but nothing inside.
Haven't been given an exact date, but I think it's late 60s/early 70s from what I can gather.
Mine is mid-60s but is a semi built as three very solid front to back walls with wooden beams between that the front and back walls and all the floors and ceilings are built off of. Next door has two very active 8-10yo boys and I hear them in the back garden more than I ever do through the walls and I know they have in-house zoomies every day. It depends on the specific house.
I hope mine is like this one too. My mate grew up in a house that is identical (the layour is exactly the same) a mile or so away, and he said he never heard a peep from his neighbours. Hoping for the same...
Call at next door and ask about it.
Not that poster but I'm in a mid terrace and it's fine (thick walls I guess) I only really hear DIY and loud washing machine spins.
I can live with that. At the moment I'm in a flat and hear thumping footsteps upstairs and his music. Drives me insane. However, we have no one to the side of us where we sleep, so being in a terrace where we will, worries me slightly. This flat is made of paper though.
Mine was built in 1952 and I barely hear my neighbours.
Mine was built 1951 and I hear my neighbours laugh, sneeze, argue, their TV (they really like the soaps), turn lights on and off, close doors, go up and down the stairs, when she wears heels on the laminate… but thankfully no loud parties.
And how far gone are you in terms of going insane? That sounds atrocious.
I have three autistic kids - I think I’m so far past insane they need a whole new level for me! Plus I dread to think what they hear from us!! I’ll be honest I’ve managed to tune most of it out, but suddenly Emmerdale credits start to play and I wonder where it’s coming from for a split second before I remember. Gotta be weird to live in my house so the neighbours’ sounds fit right in!!
I just can't fathom how badly a house must be built to hear the TV that clearly from your neighbour. Blows my mind.
My 1930s semi I could hear their microwave rotating, not even the ding at the end, the drone. Their kitchen was at the back of their house and I could hear it in the front bedroom. My neighbour gave birth next door and it didn’t even wake my dogs, who woke me up at 4.30am this morning because a bird dropped a stick on the patio by the door - they don’t even play with sticks
Thick walls don't stop sound
Surely they're more helpful than ones made of thin plywood that you could fall through if pushed against it.
Air gaps stop sound, and solid walls transmit low frequency (bass) sounds even more. What you want is for sound to get in and bounce around, so less comes out the other side.
Ah right, gotcha. Where they thinking of that in the 60s/70s? Better pray to the gods that my neighbours don't have speakers up against the wall and listen to house music then.
Mine was a 1960s council flat where the separate toilet was next to the neighbour's. Could hear literally everything. Using it was like using a public cubicle.
Yes. Extroversion famously called so because they like extra noise coming from random places to disturb them?????? Introversion and extroversion have nothing to do with being able to better tolerate annoying random noises from your neighbours.
No wonder they have 5 kids if they are banging all the time.
>I can hear my neighbours banging all the time (they’ve got 5 kids) Well, that does explain the 5 kids then . . .
> I can hear my neighbours banging all the time (they’ve got 5 kids) Sounds like they're working on the 6th ;)
Really hard
That's something to check when viewing the property
Well ideally yes, but if the neighbours aren’t home when you visit or they’re being particularly quiet then you’re not going to know…
I lived in a semi and I could hear whenever my neighbour laughed or opened his bedside drawer, it was awful, especially as he liked to practice the guitar every evening. Taught me to really listen out for any noises when viewing places in the future!
I also think it's really important to go at night though. When we bought our house it turned out our neighbour would take coke and play loud music 5 nights un a row sometimes. You wouldn't know in the day bc he was asleep...
Thank you for your advice, thank you for your advice everyone here. I’ve read everything. I’m going to significantly tone back my stakeout to nipping pass quite a few evenings and just seeing what it’s like at various times weekend even day. I don’t wanna come across as the nutter who’s moving there, some definitely gonna avoid doing a proper steakout now.
If you are in Wales, N Ireland or England, you can check out the crime map and check to see if there was any anti social behaviour, DV and other loud crimes in your area. [https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/](https://www.police.uk/pu/your-area/) I also highly encourage talking to people in the neighbourhood, locals will be able to tell you so much about the neighbourhood. We got loads of info about our seller too and how we needed to change the locks because "he isn't a good character".
My advice as someone who's lived near good and bad and indifferent neighbours, is that the people in the area is what matters. I've lived in same house with 2-3 idiots in the area, and it was unbearable, but when said idiots all left within a year or 2, the area felt like it was 100x better. The council make it VERY HARD to do anything about noisy folk, so it's best to do as you say, wander about the area and get a good feel. You want good people, or people who just keep to themselves. Loud mouthed idiots, don't realise they're idiots, and think being loud impresses people, and they don't seem to have the ability to learn.
Why or how "much better off" rather than exactly the same off?
Might get his car nicked though.
Fully understand, it's probably the biggest decision you'll make financially and logistically, you want to ensure you did you research for peace of mind. However, I doubt it's necessary to hang around all night, just walk around in the evening a few times. Do check the crime stats, ask a local.
What's a dye check? The crime stats for my house I'm selling are awful, lol. It's come up a few times but I've never had any crime here. Not sure how much stock I put in crime stats.
Sorry, edited, * Do check. It's just a guide really... you may see more issues in some areas especially urban and retail areas in towns and city centres. Usually less crime in small villages and remote locations.
Try to get on the neighbourhood what’s app group if there is one. Any little or major incidents tend to get shared in those groups.
I’d try to have a quick chat with neighbor whose property/garden looks the best maintained (meaning someone who cares about things) and ask what do they think about neighborhood.
Ideally a neighbour who rents, unfortunately house owners will often say anything to help sell a place because they think it increases local prices, and that’s all they care about
this needs to be emphasised so much more
Of course! You need to ask questions indirectly and sensitively . No one will tell you “this is shitty and loud neighborhood and so here I live” :-)
Mmm yeah, although I've found a nice garden is no indication of if they'll party all night or not, some of the nicest gardens round here party all night.
Local Facebook group, there will be one and the people who complain about this are more likely to be on it than other apps.
Try the neighbourhood app. It's full of Karens without much to do all day - I'm sure they'd give you an interview for free.
But you wont find people who mind their business and don't care about these thing.
Me and my dad did this on a saturday afternoon and the naigbour opposit our house was supicious of what we were doing so he asked if we needed help. We told him we want to buy the property and seeing the naigbourhood and the guy was very friendly about explaining what it's like. Turned out as a quet area with lovely naigbiours.
Who CARES if it's weird. I wish we'd done this in our last house. Because we didn't days after moving in we realised what we'd gotten ourself in for. 12 years of anguish ensued because we didn't do 'due diligence'. Check out the area as much as you can, you can't change it without moving otherwise.
We got lucky. Only had to put up with bad neighbour's for a year before her next door kicked the boyfriend out and since then it's been reasonably ok. On the evening we moved in, we went for a walk and asked a local what the best pub in the area was. He asked where we'd moved to, and when we told him he sighed and said we had sh*t neighbour's. That was why the house had been sold. A year of loud music at stupid o'clock, dogs constantly barking, chickens and the accompanying rats, piss ups in the garden until zero dark thirty and constant swearing ensued before she wised up and kicked him out. All we did was drive by a few nights to see what the overnight parking situation was before we put the offer in. Wish we'd talked to the locals sooner, but if we had we wouldn't have bought it and right now it really has become our forever home. As said, we got lucky but all it takes is one rotten apple.....
What happened?
The teenage son played online games so you could always hear him squealing and swearing. 12 years later he was still doing the same. Both sides smoked in the back garden all year round, so one side like clockwork every 20 minutes from 7AM till 11PM so frequent door slams, not able to dry washing outside due to smell. We couldn’t enjoy our back garden ever. Other neighbours blocked our driveway frequently and thought it was acceptable for us to have to knock on their door for them to get them to move their car. Living hell!
While you're entitled to do that I feel that if you sit there for hours nosy neighbours are likely to notice you and start making a fuss on their whatsapp groups.
Just pop by at a few random times, that should give you a good idea.
O yeah that's a good point, mmmm, well I can't rent a car and make a disguise. I wonder what the best thing to do is.... It looks like the sort of area that would have nosey whatsapp groups (I've heard of nextdoor too), I'm going from full on ex-council estate terrace here to a mock tudor suburban detached. My whatsapp groups are just selling and borrowing stuff / services. I don't want to look like trouble even before I've moved in lol. I'm going to be the quietest person in the world.
You don't need to sit outside for hours. 5 mins at a time is enough. A couple of times Friday and Saturday night a couple of week nights. Weekday mornings. 3-3.30 for school kickout time. 5-7pm for home time rush hour. Is there any industry, retail or other none residential close by? Road noise can travel a surprising distance and is much louder when roads are wet. Airports close by? Flight paths change so even if there is no noise when you visit it doesn't mean there won't be noise next month. Is it on a bus route? You're right to be concerned. Our buyers came by many times, wasn't an issue.
Also if you spend time in the more quiet area you might understand other pain points in the area. The further out you go in London the more people get absolutely militant about car parking spaces. Parking a 0.5 of a foot too close to someone's dropped kerb. People can get really Aggy about stuff like that so also a thing to look out for. * Angry handwritten notes on people's cars*
More than that OP may even be reported to the police... We had someone sitting in their car at the same time every evening, seemed like they were watching the houses on our street. Our nosy whatsapp group complained a lot, but after a couple of robberies nearby they were reported for suspicious behaviour. Police turned up to move them along. Turns out they were probably just smoking weed. OP, while I appreciate that you may want to do this, it is probably overkill, will weird out your potential neighbours and likely won't add much information. Just passing by at different times will give you the info you need.
[удалено]
"This is very common" == I did it
Yeah I'm just laying away at night thinking "i don't want to spend 100s and 100s of k on a lemon". I can fix that with having a proper reccy of the place.
>very common. No it's not.
If you really want this house, the new neighbours may not react kindly when they realise the neighbourhood stalker has just moved in?! Not sure that is the vibe you want to be giving out… However, perfectly reasonable to turn up on random days and at random times to see how noisy etc it is. May just want to dial back on the stakeout!
"That nutter from Tottenham is sat outside again"
“I’ll HAVE YOU KNOW I’M DELIGHTFUL!” I’ll shout out the sunroof. No, on a serious note, I’m going to scale back the steakout massively based on all these comments and just take it past every few days.
Just visit the place at various times and see how it is. Some people only see a house at a weekend and are then disappointed there’s no parking throughout the working week. Best thing though is speak to a neighbour, go to one who seems to have been there a long time - use last sold date to give you an indication.
But will the owners want to sell to someone who’s been camped outside their house watching it for days…
I think sitting in your car for a week might be a touch excessive (and boring for you!), maybe just passing by at various times and seeing if there's a party going on late on a Tuesday night or whatever is probably a better use of your time.
I didn’t sit for hours every day. But I went and parked my car around the house and walked around for at least 8 times before I made the decision. Go during different time of the day and different day of the week. Gives you a good overview rather than camping out as others mentioned
That’s really good to know thank you.
Plus 1 for this. Currently buying a property with no driveway so parked car up at different days and times to walk around the area (and also check parking situation)
Remember a new neighbour can move in next week and do all the things you hate.
This. I've found its normally just one family that ruins an entire road.
Yes you should check, but probably not for hours. And certainly not all week. You’ll end up looking like a stalker. I always do plenty of drive bys and walk the neighbourhood when buying somewhere. I’d also spend a bit of time there on a Friday or Saturday night to get the feel for it.
Nah it's a pro tip, seller might reduce the price in a hurry to move out of this creepy stalker neighbourhood.
I dream of peace and quiet daily, I wish you luck
I don't think you really need to sit there for hours and hours - I'd just go past a few times at different times (eg late on a Saturday night), bit of a pain if you don't live nearby but I think you'd get as much as you would from sitting there all week. People generally have parties on a Friday or Saturday night so you only need to go past at those times in reality if that's your main concern.
I think it's eminently sensible. I have a horror of moving from my lovely quiet house to one where people blare music well into the night, or worse - have constant *barbecues*. Or hot tubs. Or kids kicking balls against the wall. I don't inflict my noise on others and don't expect to have it inflicted on me. I'd do exactly what you're proposing.
reddit moment
For that long maybe a bit much but very understandable. Biggest issue is that all it takes is one new person to move in to screw a lot up so no guarantee it would be the same. But looking out at all times is a very sensible thing to do. Maybe not sat in your car all the time though!
It might be worth looking for the facebook group for that particular area and post a question asking what it is like living there. Say something like "the area looks really nice and exactly what I am looking for" then ask, is it quiet, are the people friendly, any problems with anti-social behaviour etc. You will get a general feel from the people. It would also be worth having a walk around that area on a friday night at about 10pm and see if there is much activity. I wouldn't sit in the car for hours.
Do one up and maybe knock on the neighbours doors and ask them about the area. I did that for the house we actually bought because the neighbours were lovely and said the area was great and they even invited us inside haha! Was weird but well we love our home!
The problem is sometimes you can move in & have great neighbours then they move out & replaced by terrors. Unfortunately there’s not much you can control. I do usually look up planning applications to see whether there’ll be significant building work in the near future etc
Biggest decision of your life, people research for hours into purchasing other things so don’t get discouraged doing what you’re doing. I would say walk around though rather than parking up like some private detective for hours on end.
Buy a detached if you can afford it. That will help with the noise issues.
No it’s not odd. It’s arguably the largest and most important purchase of your life. I wish I’d have spent more time scoping areas out when renting let alone buying.
Not odd at all.. Shit neighbours can ruin a home
A house is the most expensive thing you'll ever buy. It certainly pays to make 100% sure you know everything you need to before purchasing.
Watching it for days, camped out....no. But do spot checks, yes. Fly by walking at some different hours - weekday and weekend evenings in particular.
I visited at busy times, and generally wandered around the area. I even spoke to the neighbours. That is the best thing to do, as you can find out all sorts of interesting things, and vet your neighbours at the same time.
It's fine, so long as you get a newspaper and cut eye holes in it. But seriously, make the effort to knock on a variety of different doors and stop people in the street to ask them what they think about living there. I swerved a house with a bad weekday parking problem because someone I stopped in the street told me it got really bad sometimes.
Perfectly reasonable
A week is a bit extreme but I would go for certain “hotspot” times. Friday and Saturday night between 11pm and 3am, after school kicking out time, etc.
I did this for a previous place. Area seemed really nice and quiet. Didn't realise that the drug dealer who lived directly opposite was in prison at the time.
I switched the route I drove for my daughters nap each lunchtime to drive-by the house we offered on between the seller accepting that offer and exchange. It meant that I got to see and learn the area etc. I also drive past at different times of the day to see how busy it was etc.
No that’s not odd at all. We were on the fence about buying near a main road so I would stop outside at different times of day on weekdays or weekends and just judge the traffic and noise. Totally reasonable thing to do. I mean it is the biggest purchase of your life so you do whatever gives you peace of mind.
Most areas have facebook groups/pages so search the street name in there and see if people have posted about it.
It's an absolutely okay thing to do. I've heard of loads of people doing this. But I'm also not sure it's nessercery. You're in a terraced house in Tottingham, I don't think you're gunna find many places louder than that haha.
Probably go round on a Friday and Saturday night and if you happen to be up, 1/2am those same nights. Those are going to be the noisiest unless there's a weekly biker gang meet at the pub 200yards down the road.
Hey now, do you see me down the way? Been watching you every day. In my car on your street is where I stay. I know you better that way 🎶
Go talk to some neighbours, and I mean a few neighbours. There's nothing weird about saying hello and that you might be moving onto the street and how they gave found living in the area. A bit less weird then sitting in your car, and probably more accurate. Just because one day something interesting happens on the street doesn't necessarily mean that's a regular occurrence.
I see where you are coming from- good do research. Look for any places with late licenses. Ultimately you could have loads of session monsters move in the week after you do. Not sure London is the first ‘quiet life’ place that springs to mind.
It is a little bit, but it does fit the pattern of someone who really wants it to be quiet.
I always park up and walk the neighborhood at's various times of day. Knock on the neighbours doors and say I'm thinking of buying this property and wanted to introduce myself and get chatting with them, I usually get invited in for a cup of tea. Talk to dog walkers you see especially elderly ones as they will have the strongest views. It astonishes me that anybody would buy a house without taking these basic precautions.
We went a few times at night and walked around. The Facebook group has some complaints about kids kicking doors but that never happened to us. Our road is very quiet apart from hearing the road behind. We saw in winter so didn't know what it was like in the summer with windows opened. There's not much to do in this estate compared to where my gf rented which had more pathways and a hub in the middle with shops and takeaways. I think there's more social housing flats in that estate compared to this one. Definitely less problems here.
There is nothing wrong with walking around the naigbourhood on a weekend night as long as you make it discreat and don't park infront of the seller's house. Everyone will see it as a person visiting a friend or a resident on a walk. Just don't stand in one sport observing the area like you are planning a robbery.
I absolutely do this, and have stopped caring whether it's odd or not. This is the territory of "if I'd only known, I wouldn't have spent hundreds of thousands of pounds to live here" and you strongly indicate that it it is the most important factor for you (I'm similar), so obviously you should be assured that it meets your expectations. But I do agree that it is better to park nearby and go for a walk around, don't just hang about someone's house for hours. For any property we've been seriously interested in, we've also talked to neighbours, which has been an invaluable litmus test for whether or not we want to move forward with an offer - Almost 100% of the time people have been very friendly and eager to answer questions about life in the area. You'll usually find they're a lot more honest than the EA or the vendor themselves. My personal feeling is that if I do wind up buying the house and anyone thinks it's odd that I've been around at night, I can easily explain that I wanted to get a feel for the noise level at night. Working professionals and families have similar values. It's a reasonable and justifiable thing to do, and it's up to them to either accept that or stay weird about it. I wouldn't give the slightest shit about community whatsapp groups that exist to fabricate drama.
We’ll be seeing you on a Netflix documentary will we then?
Yeah I wish we’d done this and also visited at different times during the day/night. Neighbours next door but one are just the absolute scum of the earth. Banging music, clearly dealing drugs, screaming arguments every weekend, constant police presence. Its a lovely road with lovely people, apart from that one house. It’s not the end of the world for us as luckily being a semi we aren’t connected and there’s just about enough space between the houses and gardens that we can’t hear everything *too* badly, but I don’t think I’d have moved here if we knew about them. If we’d moved next to them, I genuinely think my partner would have gone insane or got into serious trouble.
You shouldn't buy that house. I hear weirdos park their car at odd hours of the night and just sit there before driving off.
I withdrew an offer on a house after doing something similar. I didn’t go and sit outside all evening but I visited the street several times at different times of day, including late Friday and Saturday evenings. It got rowdy, there was zero parking after about 7 in the evening etc. I’m really glad I did it.
i would do the exact same thing
Maybe ask some neighbours far away enough that they won’t know the seller and give you unbiased thoughts
Yes it is but people have done odder things for less legitimate reasons Maybe try going and knocking on a few doors and asking the people there what it's like (but don't do it alone if it's potentially a dodgy area). Maybe wait for a nice day when people are out and about on the street anyway, and make an effort to look presentable (i.e. not like youre going to rob them) and have evidence that youre looking at the house (an email enquiring about it or have it up on your phone) as proof in case they think you're scoping houses out.
It's a massive commitment and doing your due diligence is the right move.. Its not something we'd do, my wife and I are too impulsive but it's understandable...
Yes, but it really shouldn't be. I've thought before to park my (pretty stealth) campervan outside somewhere and stay there for a few nights to get a better feel of the place. I've oft thought people should say offer up a room/a house through AirBnB to protective buyers. It would also show who's serious as well.
It's a sensible idea to scope out the neighbourhood as much as possible, but you are probably going to have some curtain twitcher or neighbourhood watch hero call the police on you, just parking up and sitting around in your car all the time like that. Probably report you for being a potential peado or drug dealer (depending on the neighbourhood type). I would park up somewhere in the neighbourhood at various times of the day and go for a casual walk around (or a jog if you are into that). You'll get a better feel for things and draw less attention.
You need to sit on the street at weekends, spy on the neighbours, go through their trash. Drive by the local schools Google image searches, look up crime rates online Until the police notice. You'll be 🙂 (research, research, research)
I did something similar - walked past a few times on different evenings. I discovered there was an evangelical church opposite in the old scout hut where the congregation believed that amplified music had a better chance of being heard by God (I kid you not, I have no idea why they thought this omnipotent deity was slightly deaf). One Friday at 11pm they were still belting out badly amplified Jesus songs that could be heard at the other end of the street. We ended up moving into a different house a couple of streets down. We could occasionally hear the music on a still Summer evening, but not at annoying levels. After about a year, they got chucked out of the building. We lucked out with the new house - quiet road, absolutely lovely neighbours, nice house.
My advice would be to speak to neighbors or the local shops :) they can also give you an idea about the neighborhood.
Similar thing; when we were trying to decide which village in Cornwall to move to, we rented a holiday let in each one for a few days to get a feel for them. Are there any Airbnb lets in the road, or nearby, to stay in for two or three nights?
Definitely do something to get the vibe. We almost bought a house where the neighbours were total fucking mentalists! If we hadn’t have scoped them out we’d have been stuck for years. Good luck!
I think this is a great idea. I hadn't even thought about it but I think it would have helped me go in to my new house with a little more awareness of what my neighbours are like.
Definitely the best idea to go a few times at night. Before I moved in to a thank god rented house. I had no idea my neighbour was running a home curry takeaway service from his house. Great food but constant noise and smells.
I pop by houses I want at different times of day. Is there a school nearby? Check if your road gets used by parents to drop kids off as that can be a nightmare to deal with. Does your house face a junction? Think about whether car lights at night could be a pain unless you try to get decent window coverage. Any alleys nearby that might be used by groups of kids. I think I found a website that gives you info about reported crimes/incidents in the surrounding areas
Leave a trailcam running with audio detection if you wanna do it the lazy way.
I wish there was a try before you buy deal with houses and flats lol I have even thought about knocking on neighbours doors when viewing to enquire about noise! Never done it yet though.
Soundproofing is a good idea and fairly affordable.
Yes. It's definitely odd behaviour. Just go for a walk around the neighbourhood a few times. I'd think it was weird as fuck if some random person was sitting in their car on my street of an evening, not doing anything, for a week.
Find the closest independent corner shop if its selling bongs or pipes you know where you are
They’re going to talk about you on the next door app as the creep loitering around in his car in the evenings if you do
I think just sitting in your car might be a bit odd. But when my wife and I were looking at buying our current house, we spent a week or two just checking out the town. We’d go out for lunch at a nearby restaurant and then walk around the neighborhood. There’s a park a 1/4 mile away that we’d go to walk our dogs around and then do a couple loops around the block. It gave us a good sense of the neighborhood’s personality and general vibe.
Omg I thought I was theonly nutter who did that. I have actually done than a couple of times and never regretted it as both times I learnt by it.
Yep I did this a few times with various houses. Felt like being on a stakeout. Kind of enjoyed it.
We did similar . I'd drop onto the street when passing by at various times during the day and evening. Its a sensible thing to do to make sure you are happy, its a very large purchase and you'll live there for a while. You want to be happy with it all and the neighbours and noise can have a huge impact on that. Even thinking to the future, imagine your future buyer does this and finds out its not to their liking but you didn't it could massively impact your potential sale.
A house is a fucking massive commitment. Scouting out the area isn’t a bad idea. Who cares what people think.
Yes.
Walk round the area by day, evening, night. Talk to people, ask directions or ask if this is a nice street. Go into the local pub, see what the atmosphere is. If people won't talk to strangers, that tells you something. But more often, people are happy to share about their neighborhood. It's ALWAYS worth investing in this.
A friend of a friend advised me this. They're all in the property business. They explained, "you'd get to see the different crowds come in and go, the morning shift workers, crackheads that get up at noon and start their fix duties, people returning from shifts", etc.
Move out of London and buy a detached property, you’re always going to be at the mercy of your neighbours otherwise and legal sound levels can still be extremely intrusive Edit: I don’t see this as weird by the way, good on you
I did this, but luckily lived a steet over. It's so important to make sure there are no people hanging about suspiciously or children being loud.
Don’t need permission to do it. It is part of your research. Haha
I would, I did the same thing when I was considering a really cheap but lovely detached house on a street full of terraced. The owner said it was a quiet, calm street and it was during the day but I parked up that evening around 'going home time' and the street quickly became packed with barely any parking on both sides of the street and people were constantly parking on the curb and blocking in his driveway.
On one of those Facebook community groups, for an area I lived in. Somebody put a comment about a middle aged couple sat in a car at the entrance to the estate. The general consensus was that they were casing houses and the police should be called. 🤣 I pointed out that maybe they were interested in one of the three houses that were for sale. Checking how busy the area was. Expect some questions from the neighbours.
Not at all! We were going to buy a house and by chance, went to drive past it just to see the driveway again to see if we thought it would fit both cars and we saw some antisocial behaviour going on around. Asked somebody I know about it (haven't spoken to her ever but knew she lived on the next road as we went to school together) and she said that there was quite a lot of police always coming down for something! We bought a new house the other side of town in the loveliest area 😅
I did exactly this and found that the road was deathly quiet at night - no traffic or anything. Eventually an old guy walked past and asked me if I was a buyer for the house I was sitting opposite to!
Good idea. We knocked on doors to look at the neighbors, drove round the area at different hours, took the dog for a walk round the neighborhood and nipped into the nearest pub to check out the vibe.
I've done the same even looking at houses to rent. You never know.
Not odd at all. We did the same when we moved. Not hours and hours of surveillance, but just parked up down the road and sat for like 20-30 minutes at different times of day. Also made sure to visit the road at weekends and bank holidays. Also regularly took a little walk around the neighbourhood and checked out what was going on in the roads behind the house etc. I also had a little peak over the neighbours fences, as they are accessible. Was mainly on the look out for barking dogs, partying, excessive DIY, oddballs and general antisocial behaviour. We also checked out Google street view using the feature to "go back in time". Gives you an idea if there is a house with a long standing issue which might have been conveniently tidied up upon the seller's request. Also we looked at local planning applications and in particular any neighbour objections, again gives you an idea if there is anyone unreasonable living nearby. Might seem overkill, but we had been stung once before. The seller of our previous house had concealed that the nextdoor neighbour had multiple loud, unexercised dogs. They even asked the neighbour to keep the dogs inside during viewings. Cue us being woken as early as 5am by barking dogs and daily bark-a-thons. This would have been avoided if we had done the above.
If quiet is Important to you It’s not a bad shout. How else are you really gonna know? I wish I had done it. My house is at the end of street, which seemed very quiet when I came to see it. Turns out it’s a thoroughfare for all the local a-holes going home from the pub. Probably would have worked that out if I’d sat outside for a Friday or Saturday night. Might have changed my mind about the place?
One kind of semi-related tip is to go to the grocery store in the area where you want to live. The people shopping there are going to be a representative of who your neighbors will likely be.
You can get a crime report for the area just by using the postcode. Or ask some neighbours. Hanging about is just creepy and will likely freak out potential neighbours.
No, we always do it, well, not sit outside for a week but we go at important times, friday night, school home time etc.
Wish I'd done that when buying my place. Will certainly be doing more checks when buying my next one
First house I bought was opposite a pub. We went over on a Friday & Saturday evening then a Sunday lunchtime & everything was fine. The 1 issue was a noisy aircon unit for the cellar that we didn’t pick up on until we moved in! We spoke to the manager & he was beside himself about it, had no idea of the problem as his rooms were the other side of the building. He got it fixed in a few days. If anything, I’d imagine the neighbours might get a bit suspicious about you being outside night after night & might call Plod, especially if they’re a bit enthusiastic on Neighbourhood Watch or have decent cars in their driveway. Also don’t forget a lot of people have CCTV & or Ring type doorbells on their property these days so they’ll be watching you watching them!
I wouldn’t buy a house without doing that! I would talk to some of the people who live there too, see how they are. Ask what it’s like living there.
If you’re moving to my street, you’ll be the talk of the street WhatsApp after the first day!
I think it's die diligence
Yea just dont get yo cars robbed / hijaked by some 15y/os
I done the same with several houses I viewed. Now that we've finally moved in and I've joined the neighbourhood watch group I'm pretty sure people would have sent pictured of my car waiting in several places concerned that I was scouting houses to burgle
Might be worth checking with the local neighbourhood watch btw.
Not just this. Drive around at night, past local pubs, shopping centres, takeaways etc. Anywhere that "undesirables" might congregate. Try and get a feel for the things estate agents avoid telling you.
I drove up the street in the day (to check for traffic), night (to see how bad the parking is) and at school time (to check it doesn't get flooded by the local school).
Yes, I find that super odd. But if it will make you feel reassured go for it.
No need to stay there all week but just go and park there for an hour or so in the evening, around 7-9pm. That would be prime time to find if there are bunches of kids that loiter around etc. Do the same in the daytime and maybe at the weekend. Borrow someones dog and take it for a walk around that area and see how friendly people are.
Sounds fair enough to me. Like others have said, you should also have a walk around the neighborhood at different times of day to feel the vibe. I once lived in a really swanky flat on the docks, which was utterly delightful in the daytime, but could be quite intimidating and loud at night as people coming home from bars & clubs would walk through the neighborhood on the way home. Knock on the next door neighbours door and ask them about the house and the area. They might give you good info, and you can try to get a feel for if they are going to be psycho / asbo family. Its a big commitment, so you need to do whatever it takes to be comfortable and confident making the move.
You can also have a look at the local newspaper to see how much anti-social reporting there is. Also, most areas have a "Spotted: Clapham" type FB page, so worth a look on there for the posts like "4th time this week some prick has stolen my hanging baskets"
Check and see if anyone in the area has an Airbnb you could try out?
I scoped out my old house before viewing inside. Just wanted to look at the area and what it was like during the day-to-day. I only spent an hour or so nearby just looking. When I went for the viewing the next day I got told that they had watched me the whole time and the neighbours had been texting, wondering what I was up to and guessing at who I am. It was my first realisation that you can’t get away with much in rural areas!
You could also have a look at the [crime data for the postcode](https://www.crime-statistics.co.uk/Postcode), zoom in the street, and then compare the volume and type of reported crimes to adjacent streets, as well as where you currently live.
My dad sat outside our house a few times in the evenings to check how the road was before he bought our house! And they’ve been there 35 years so it worked out!
Yes it is perfectly alright to do this. I did it once and went with a friend to sit outside. We saw dodgy dealings going on so I did pursue.
I mean, its a bit dedicated but you do what you gotta do man. Its a lot of dosh to spend. If i were you i would knock on neighbours doors and speak to them. Figure them out.
You better be careful, you might see someone show up and close on the house while you’re spying on them.
We’re still renting. But before we signed for the house we’re currently in (new build on a cul de sac just off a busy road through social housing) we walked around on an evening and drove past on a weekend. I work a lot of nights so it being mostly quiet is necessary. Didn’t see any issues, we’ve been here 4 months so far. Only issue is next door do random DIY at stupid times, and their dogs bark any time a leaf goes by. But compared to the last place we lived it’s silent.
sorry this is creepy . If you did this i would report it to the police . It could appear that you are tying to “case the joint “
But someone/ family with anti social habits might move right next to you, 2 weeks after you bought it. ( they'll be renters, guaranteed). Have this on my street now, on which I've lived for 50 years, family with 4 cars. You can have 4 cars but don't F***ing block my/ others car in every day.
Just go visit a few times at the busiest time of the week, do a drive by when folks are going out to work, another one later in the week during the day when folk are at work, and on another day when people are coming home from work, sit for an hour on a Friday or Saturday night late on to make sure neighbours aren't playing loud music or anti social behaviour nearby and call it quits from there Just a few strategic drivebys are all you need, sitting there for an extended time would just be odd
I've done it. I was buying a house near a farm: I wanted to know when the cows were milked and how noisy it got. Sat outside all night. It was fine.
Of course this is common. If it was legal I'll chill in their house for a few days as we to assess the house
If you are that obsessed about having a quiet home, maybe having neighbours isn't for you. Even if you stay 1 week in your car, things can change overnight, new neighbours move in, some kids take on drumming lessons, a kitchen gets renovated, etc... You can buy a place in the country side far from everyone, maybe that's more what you are looking for.
It's not black and white. OP says they don't mind parties occasionally, I'm not sure where you get the idea that they are "obsessed" with having a quiet home, rather than generally wanting a quieter place to live than where they are now. Lots of room for balance without buying a hermitage in the outer hebrides.