What to do with One Bad Neighbor

What to do with One Bad Neighbor

There are times when the issue isn’t the neighborhood, the local economy, or a neighboring power plant. The problem is there is just one neighbor who is a slob. This neighbor has beer cans lined up along his front porch railing, a motorcycle on the front porch, a car under a piece of plastic in front of the home, and a strand of Christmas lights half hanging off the porch in July.

Unfortunately, you cannot move your home. The first thing you should always try is to talk to your neighbor honestly. “Hey, Paulie. I really like you, but I’m trying to sell my house and people are worried about who lives next to me. Don’t get me wrong, I think you’re a great guy, but I’m getting negative feedback from people looking at my home. Is there any way you’d consider cleaning up the front yard? I’d be happy to help.”

Every once in a while, this approach works. It’s the easiest, the most direct, and the best to get a neighbor to make changes that benefit your sale. If the problem is junk in the backyard, it may be easier to handle by planting trees or large bushes or even spending a little bit extra and putting up a fence between the yards.

For Example:  One of our recent situations involved a neighbor whose home was attached to our clients. The neighbor had a severe roach infestation that was bleeding over into our client’s home. Our client, Sue, was fastidious and her wits end. We approached the neighbor and asked if they would consider allowing us to pay for an extermination in their home in order to curb the bug problem. The neighbor slammed the door in our faces.

We had to move to stage two. We called the local health department, and she was temporarily removed from the home. During the removal, the property was completely sprayed and bags of old garbage were removed.

While this was an extreme move, it was necessary to correct the problem and sell our client’s house.

Another situation involved an owner who simply had car parts lying all over his front lawn in a beautiful area surrounded by very expensive homes. Buyers wouldn’t offer on the property for sale because they were afraid of the neighbor they would get. In reality, the neighbor was a very nice gentleman, but was a slob. Nothing would change that.

Our client and his friends, moving quietly in the middle of the night, boxed up everything on the neighbor’s front lawn and moved it to the back of his home. Please keep in mind this is illegal and is at the very least trespassing. However, it was an effective method of improving the view of the home when buyers first approached.

Each of these situations needs to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. If you have a neighboring property that is bringing down your property value, you may have to consider all the options before moving forward. Determine the impact of the neighbor. Try driving around the block and approaching your home as if you were a buyer looking at the property for the first time. Look at the home through a buyer’s eyes.