My Home Ireland

Posted by myhome on November 14th, 2007 in Auctioneers, Buying, Estate Agents, Selling Your House

Irish house buyers are now employing private investigators and specialist agencies to investigate their future new neighbours . The prospective buyers can have things checked out like -  whether they have criminal records to whether they are fond of throwing late-night parties.

The managing director of a company which offers the vetting service says that auctioneers have a “lot to answer for” by failing to tell housebuyers of anti-social behaviour in particular neighbourhoods.

People are also contacting private investigators to make sure that the sweet old lady living next door is all she seems, and not a drug-dealer likely to be the subject of late night visits from clients.

“You have first-time buyers looking to buy everything from an ex-council house to a three-bed semi-detached and upwards, and property is such a valuable asset now they don’t want to have to sell at a reduced price,” said Donncadh O Cinnsealaigh of Investigate Services in Naas, Co Kildare.

“It can be problematic buying a house in a particular area. Everything is aligned to the value of a property, people aren’t blinded at the chance of getting their first home.

“An elderly couple would want a nice quiet area. In the day time, it might be quiet; but at night, the young people come out. They also want to know what the age profile of an area is, and will there be problems in the future. They would say just check the immediate neighbours.”

A dedicated service for homebuyers will also look at facilities in the area, so people can make an informed choice. “The concept was in the making for a number of years. I noticed a high number of people taking legal action against their neighbours,” David Gibney of whoaremyneighbours.com said.

“People pay a lot of money to buy a house. They pay for an architect to survey a second-hand property, so I thought ‘why not survey the area’?”

“The auctioneers in Ireland have a lot to answer for. They might say there’s a widowed woman living next door, but they don’t mention her three sons who are unemployable and are out half the night.”