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Selling Your Home When Your Neighbor’s House is an Eyesore

Just read an interesting article in the Los Angeles Times about the problems associated with trying to sell your home when you live next to a dilapidated home or a vacant foreclosed property.

This was very timely since I encountered this very issue while previewing a beautiful new construction home in Sherman Oaks just last week. The developer built 2 gorgeous, side-by-side, high-end homes with luxury upgrades and beautiful finishes. The homes were identical in layout, but the builder wanted to Stage only one - the less desirable one. Why was it less desirable? Smaller? Fewer rooms? Ummm...no. This one was less desirable because of the next-door neighbor.

Click here to read the full article about what to do when your neighbor's home is an eyesore.

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Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell
Owner & Principal Designer
310-384-1084
www.stagetosell.biz

"We get you to SOLD so you can get on with your life!"

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Stage to Sell is the premier West Los Angeles Home Staging Company.

Owner & Principal Designer Annie Pinsker-Brown is an ASP Home Stager, a member of IAHSP (International Association of Home Staging Professionals), an affiliate member of the Beverly Hills/Greater Los Angeles Association of Realtors and a member of the Culver City and West LA Chambers of Commerce.

Annie has Staged LA homes for Bravo's hit show "Million Dollar Listing" and TLC's "Property Ladder." She has also been featured in recent articles on Home Staging in Los Angeles Magazine, The New York Times , Costco Connection and Frontiers Magazine .

If you would like to see more of our Home Staging work, visit our website . There is an extensive gallery of before & after photos , as well as a list of our Staged properties currently on the market.

Posted by Annie Pinsker-Brown | Stage to Sell, Los Angeles Home Stager on 08/13/2009 06:34 PM

Comments (14)

Home Selling Tips in the Home Selling Channel

builder, foreclosure, home selling, home selling tips, home staging los angeles, preparing home for sale, real estate, realtor

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14 Comments on Selling Your Home When Your Neighbor’s House is an Eyesore

AUG

Annie~ You have some great ideas about how to overcome this issue. It is a touchy and delicate one to say the least.

Annie, Great blog about what to do in this situation. I love how your link went to your full article on your blog. BTW, that blog looks great too ! I did not know whether to comment on that one or this one. In any event, those are great tips. I have seen our clients contact the neighbor nicely and then agree to do some landscaping for them or some cosmetic work next door just to make their property look a lot better. Is very smart !! ~ Chris

Hi Annie,

I had a neighbor across the street from me many years ago who was a nightmare of epic proportion. He was a talented repairman, and the remains of old cars, washing machine, televisions, you name it...were strewn, stacked, and piled. In the summer, huge neon purplemorning glories covered the whole "estate" and the lumps and hills were beautiful. But come September, I had to call the law. Every year for ten years, I complained about snakes and rats. And every year, the state would clear his lot.

Mind you, I never had snakes or rats.

Or, one could order my customized Curb Appeal Strategy Package and send it to the neighbor . I've done that 4 times on behalf of sellers with unmotivated neighbors. You'd be surprised how some people just can't see their castle is crumbling, or have no idea how to make decisions to rectify the problem. When I show them their own home in a virtual image, free of overgrown plants and with a few things done for minimal cost, it can be quite liberating. No one wants to have a decrepit domicile, and sometimes you just need to have a little support and direction.

We even perfected the trick... we created prize-winning certificate with a Curb Appeal Strategy Package as the Grand Prize. The seller hands it to the neighbor, and tells them she won it in a drawing, and she won't need it where she is moving to, and asks them if they want it.

So far, it has worked 3 out of four times to mobilize a dramatic improvement. Once, all they did was plant flowers. But hey, that's pretty good. I might have a niche market on my hands, and you have made me realize it is a real diplomacy thing.

~Michelle

www.CurbAppealForDummies.com

I see this alot in the up and coming areas. You'll have a house that is dilapidated next to a million dollar house. We call them tear downs, and the lot is what is of value. It is an eyesore until someone buys it and rebuilds. Not much you can do about it until then!

Vickie, definitely a delicate subject. Looking forward to seeing what other ideas people have to add.

Chris, thanks! Glad you liked the blog link. I never know if it is annoying or if people appreciate it. Not good SEO to have the same exact post on a bunch of different sites so I just do a shortened version here. Thanks for visiting. Glad your clients have had luck with the friendly approach.

Michelle, I love the idea of presenting it to the neighbor as if you won it and can't use it! That's hilarious...and brilliant!

Cindy, yes it does happen a lot in areas that are "turning over."

Annie, I am not selling my house at present, but a neighboring foreclosed property was quickly becoming a real eyesore. After several calls to the bank and my HOA I finally just marched over there last month and trimmed all the shrubs, raked the yard and pulled weeds. A problem property like that quickly becomes a blight on the entire neighborhood.

AUG

Annie, I love how you link your blogs-great article too! Great info.

Hi Annie, love you blog and your post.

Michelle, you cheeky monkey! What a great idea, everyone likes to win the lottery.

Annie ~ you've given some great examples of how to "work around" this problem. It's amazing that some people don't realize that the appearance of their property has such a negative impact not only on their home but their neighbors too.

I ran into this situation once and the solution was to place the home on the market during the winter months. Since I live in New York State, snow covered up a lot of the debris in this neighboring yard and also kept these less desirable neighbors inside during the showings. At least during the winter, a potential home buyer will not see an overgrown yard with empty beer cans lining the unpaved driveway.

AUG

Kathy, good for you. Sometimes that is what it takes to get the job done!

Cathy, thanks my friend!

Michelle, thanks. Wasn't Michelle's idea great?

Maureen, yes it's true. Or perhaps they just don't really care.

Kate, that's a great idea if you live in a snowy area. Unfortunately in Los Angeles that tactic wouldn't work! :)

The first hing you do is to pray for lightening. The 2nd is to call the code enforcement officials.

I'll bet tha the owner is negotiating with the seller to purchase the property and the owner wants too much

AUG

Hi Annie, this is such timely and wise advice, thanks so much for sharing it here. Much appreciated, I've got it bookmarked!

Virginia, yes I think that might have had something to do with it. :)

Cynthia, glad this was helpful.

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