Last weekend I was out house-hunting with my buyers in Laurel, MD. One of the quaint Cape Cods we toured had a lot going for it. It had a front porch, a gorgeous screened-in back porch and fenced-in yard, and the price was right. But it also came with a few flaws, fixable mostly with some elbow grease and home improvement funds, but for one.
That one "thing" was its view from the front porch.
Across the street from this quaint Cape Cod sits the type of house that you'd would cross the street for just to not accidentally brush against the fence and trigger a "welcome salute". It was gloomy, with a bad vibe and a strong flag game. Not just any flags but the ones that loudly announce to the world that not all are welcome here.
My buyers passed on the quaint Cape Cod, of course, and we all felt sorry for its seller (and the listing agent). I can't imagine anybody wanting to come home to this every day, or proudly inviting family and friends over to celebrate house warming.
It got me thinking. How would I approach this situation as a listing agent, what would I advise my sellers? One can always try to counter such hate with love, or hope that this neighbor will up and move... but both are long term strategies.
I don't have an answer, honestly. I am not one to shy away from a challenge, but this is definitely one I could do without. I just know that I wouldn't be the one knocking on the neighbor's door. What would you do?
P.S. This home is obviously not located in a community governed by an HOA. One of the benefits of HOAs is that you would have a course of action. It may not be resolved overnight either, but you could ask the HOA board to enforce the architectural guidelines and rules & regulations.
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