Proper Behavior Makes Good Neighbors
How does a Top Bristow Real Estate Agent unwind? Last night, it was by watching Homicide Hunter on Discovery ID. About five years ago, I hadn't even heard of Homicide Hunter. I remember being in the kitchen of one of my listings and being introduced to a early middle aged man by the name of John Kenda. "His dad is Joe Kenda." I had a blank look on my face as I shook his hand. My seller was in disbelief, "You don't know who Joe Kenda is?!!" Well I felt like the oddball in the room. Apparently, my seller liked to introduce people to one another by the closest celebrity status. I believe he introduced me as, "Chris Ann worked with G. Gordon Liddy when she worked in radio." My seller was clearly the only one impressed by these connections. People are people. There is truly nothing special about any well known person that makes them better than you or me. And all people are capable of great things, and truly horrible things.
When I finally did start watching Joe Kenda on Homicide Hunter, I loved how he told his stories from the field of being a homicide detective. Last night's episode involved a shooting between disgruntled neighbors. Apparently, kids playing in the street and having their ball hitting someone's car got to be too much. The neighbor who felt aggrieved kept the ball that had her car and landed in her yard. She was having no more of the annoying behavior. Not great behavior in and of itself.
Enter more bad behavior when dad of kid who lost ball to the neighbor loses his mind, screaming at the neighbor who took the ball. Also not great behavior, but the bad behavior didn't stop there. The dad took some dog poop and dumped it on the neighbor's porch. Neighbor took the dog poop back and dumped it in his yard, but upped the ante with a dirty diaper and a bag of trash. Emotions were running wild and control was in short supply. Dad finally had it and demanded entry to the neighbor's home. Did I mention the neighbor was a single woman with a newborn and an elderly mother? Neighbor (whose mother had started it by taking the ball) felt threatened, pulled out a gun and shot the man. He died days later.
At the end of the show Joe Kenda was wrapping it up and said, "There's an old saying that good fences make good neighbors. That's not true. Proper behavior makes good neighbors." Then he went on to advise that you consider your actions for everyone's best interests.
While homicide is the far end of the spectrum for improper neighbor behavior, there are plenty of things that I have seen repeated over and over as pet peeves of neighbors in my particular neighborhood. Dogs pooping on personal property or common area and not being picked up is a biggie. 
Trespassing on private property is another is often done at the hands of kids looking for short cuts to their friends homes or the bus stop. Finally, parking cars on the street in front of someone else's home. Dare to dream we live in a world where dog owner's pick up after their animals or not direct them to poop somewhere other than their own yards. Or where a kid doesn't feel they have free reign to skateboard off your front porch and over your bushes. And that old jalopy that the owner wants out of the way? Apparently, your house is a great place to park that.
The way builders place homes close together in track built neighborhoods, it is easy to see where tensions can run high. Heck, I have worked with buyers that imoved not because they don't love their home. They hated their neighbor's behavior. Apparently, their neighbor has installed a big screen TV on his screened porch, might have been hard of hearing, and blared ESPN on the porch every evening until late night and all day on the weekends. They felt they could not enjoy their back yard any more.
When you live on acreage and have no neighbors, you can pretty much do as you see fit without the detriment of annoying your neighbors. When you live on a fifth or quarter acre lot, if you want to have good relationships with your neighbors, take a moment an reflect on actions that may interfere with the quiet enjoyment of not just yourself, but everyone around you. The golden rule is a great place to start. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Don't want dog poop in your yard? Don't take your dog to poop elsewhere, or simply pick up after your own. It's a simple formula for successful neighborhood relationships.
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