Interview Your Prospective Neighbors Before Closing on a House

I can see it now --- you purchase your dream home, move in and are "happy as a clam" until the drums start rattling at decibel levels similar to a Motley Crew rock concert.  You run outside to see what the commotion is all about only to find that your neighbor across the street is stripped down to his underwear, on top of a pedestal, prepping (in his garage) for his rock band tour which is starting sometime in the next few months (once his agent sets up a few venues for him).  By the way, his music is terrible!

So, there it is.  You just spent a whole "boat-load" of money on a new home only to be blessed with a constant in-house iPod.

Now you're stuck.  You can be the confrontational new neighbor and address the issue.  You could call the police and complain about "quiet enjoyment".  You could relax and enjoy the rock band.  <-- oops, that's not really a valid option.

In an effort to make yourself feel better, you call your Brother for some "feel good advice" but can't have a conversation with him because the music is too distracting. 

You wonder to yourself why it's always you who has the bad luck -- then it dawns on you -- "if I had only tried to find out a little about the neighbors PRIOR to buying the house, perhaps I would not be in this situation."

The bottom line is this:  When you are considering the purchase of a home, knock on a few doors in the neighborhood.  You may learn a little about your prospective neighbors.  While you don't want to classify anyone by their appearance, you should be able to learn a little about them PRIOR to your purchase.  They may even give you some insight regarding the property which could be used in a future negotiation.