Holy shit.... *my* house would be up for sale, proly by the bank, cuz I'd be in jail.....
This is a thread in itself: How would other people deal with this??
Altho I generally have not had good expeiences with any government, you might find a city councilperson with a sympathetic ear -- and mebbe a police chief -- who will pass/enforce more/stronger ordinances regarding low-class crap like outdoor speakers, wind chimes, and the rest.
Yeah, wind chimes -- your windchime is not MY windchime.... go figger....
What's going on here with some of the responses? Why would I sell and move away when MY ONE CRAPPY NEIGHBOR IN AN OTHERWISE GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD IS MOVING OUT?
What's going on here with some of the responses? Why would I sell and move away when MY ONE CRAPPY NEIGHBOR IN AN OTHERWISE GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD IS MOVING OUT? =======
It's a great neighborhood until unforseen things happen, and your good neighbors move out, and others move in. The point of the responses is that YOU HAVE NO CONTROL OVER YOUR NEIGHBORS. Did you ever think that the "CRAPPY NEIGHBOR" is selling to get away from you?
For the speakers (noise ordinance?) and outdoor burning, call the cops. Call them often enough and they will get pissed and do something. If the are pissed and don't know the ordinances, they will make up something or just go yell at the guy.
Cheri, I know you haven't been paying attention, so I'll repeat this for you: My "crappy" neighbor has a criminal record as long as the phone book, and it shows.
I, on the other hand, never make a peep, obey the laws, and keep my place pristine.
Cheri, I know you haven't been paying attention, so I'll repeat this for you: My "crappy" neighbor has a criminal record as long as the phone book, and it shows.
I, on the other hand, never make a peep, obey the laws, and keep my place pristine.
=========== I have been paying attention, especially since I am NOW in a neighborhood that went from pristine, to a disaster as people died off or moved away and others moved in. I have a drummer that cares nothing for what time he plays, I have one right next to me now who never heard of yard work, one that has cars parked on his lawn, and one that now has an ugly brown couch in his front yard that has been rained on for the past several days and usually beer cans in the front yard on Sunday. So...I AM MOVING AWAY after almost 20 years. My house looks very nice, and so does my yard, and one other house, but that's it. I hope your neighborhood stays nice, but you really can't control it. Good luck to you.
It's an interesting notion, of what causes neighborhood decay. Is it part of a bigger problem, is it premeditated/orchestrated by some powers-that-be, or can one asshole start a domino effect?
Could Mike's new neighbors be that asshole? Possibly. Which is why perhaps a talk with the real estate agent, getting the property printouts to hand out might be one hedge. If it's a multiple listing, several agents could have the property.
Loudspeakers/couches/cars/beer cans on a lawn are possibly the biggest harbingers of impending disaster. One concerted and determined low-class asshole really could destroy a neighborhood, via the domino effect.
Probably this is the one good thing about homeowners associations. Pick yer poison, I spose. Or move to Montana.
Have you worked with your city/town/township officiala? A lot of what you describe are against various local laws where I live in Naperville, a chicago suburb that has made nationwide lists of best places to live.
What's going on here with some of the responses? Why would I sell and move away when MY ONE CRAPPY NEIGHBOR IN AN OTHERWISE GREAT NEIGHBORHOOD IS MOVING OUT?
Speaking of posters who ask a question then get all pissy at the responses...I'm beginning to think that maybe the problems went both ways...
Interesting discussion. Round here the market is going the other way; house are being built and are bigger and more expensive. Very low interest rates are also encouraging new building. The financial industry in this country appears to be well regulated.and national government rules have been further tightened up as a result of the credit crunch elsewhere. For example, if one has only five per cent down payment it was/is required that you buy CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corp.) insurance which cost something of the order of 3 to 3.5% of the purchase price, which is then added to the cost of purchase. Also, people's ability to pay a mortgage is being more closely checked and 'long' mortgages, such as 35 years are banned. The overall result appears to be no lack of sales. However when interest rates do go back up, by even a few percent, it will be interesting to see how many HAVE taken on more house than they can afford; but it's not happened so far. I have relative who is taking the opposite approach; he bought a somewhat more modest 17 year old house. Not only had a large down payment is using his money to knock down the principle as fast as possible so that he will own a considerable proportion of the house (which also brings in some income) by the time interest rates go up.
Of course attracting the right kind of neighbors is the ideal solution. Failing that, the new neighbors can be trained.
As they're moving in, visit them with a plate of cookies and welcome them to the neighborhood. Emphasize the positives, low crime, helpful folks, etc.
Then mention that their predecessors were not, um, decent folks. Provide them with the following list of misfortunes that befell the Fester family.
Their dog died. Mysteriously. Both of them.
Their cat climbed a tree and refused to come down. The cat's skeleton was still in the tree as late as last week.
Their children were beaten on the way to school Almost every day.
Their grass turned brown. Then caught fire.
The paint on their car wrinkled up. And fell off.
At least once a month a fire truck came to their house at 3:00 a.m.
They had poor luck choosing tires for their car. The tires were flat most mornings.
All their mail was forwarded to Malaysia.
The Secret Service interviewed their neighbors, several times, regarding threatening letters to the President.
Then there was the "burning cross" event
At least one search warrant was executed by the DEA based on an anonymous "tip."
Almost everyone on the block attributed these misfortunes to "bad karma," "as you reap, so will you sow," and so on. Some say it was merely "statistical clustering." And you further understand that the previous owners moved to a trailer house. Which burned to the ground. The official arson investigation attributed the cause of the conflagration to "Retribution at the hand of God," and closed the file.
Don't forget to close by saying "We're glad to have you as a neighbor." Don't neglect to smile.
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