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I'll add something else to the list of things to look for:
When you're driving through a neighborhood that has single family houses---check to see how many cars are parking in the street. It's especially important to do this at night when most people are home from work. If there is an excessive amount of vehicles parked on the street, here is what you look for next---are there any townhouse communities nearby? If so, are they communities that offer up 2 spots per house and the occasional guest spots? If the answer is "yes", in all likelihood those excess cars are coming from the townhouse community, which tells you that many of those houses are flophouses where the owners made illegal apartments in them or you have 3 families in a 3 bedroom house. Keep this in mind if you are ever looking to buy a townhouse as well.
I speak from experience. Our single family community is surrounded by townhouses. Years ago, you could count on people buying townhouses and living one family per house. In many parts of the country, this is no longer the case. Eventually, our single family community became overrun with excess vehicles, which caused numerous problems such as driveways being blocked, trash dumped on our lawns, car alarms blaring in the middle of the night. After a long, hard struggle, we were able to get permit parking which greatly improved quality of life.
When we are ready to downsize and sell, having that permit parking will be added value to our house.
We did drive bys at all hours of the day/night. Sat there for a long time and listed late at night to see what the neighborhood was like. I know it's psycho but when we were dropping 300K in NC we felt it was necessary. We did it for rental houses as well
What BOSC said above.
Teenager across the street had some old classic hot rod (which was cool for the first week of having to stare at it) who couldn.t park in their own or the parking pad because it was full---of their cars. This was his "toy". So, it sat in front of our bedroom window. And he got up at 4a.m. and roared that thing up every weekday. Woke neighbors up far down the block. And no way to fight it.
There are no guarantees, that's for sure. I had Asian neighbors 2 doors down who were very quiet & good neighbors UNTIL there was a cultural holiday. Their company took over the entire block for long periods. This was especially frustrating when I bought groceries and didn't realize it was one of their holidays. My neighbors and I had to park a block down by the park. Very frustrating.
Another 'neighbor' let her older teen move in & then she moved out & the kid had his friends move in & it soon became a drug/party house. It was awful. I don't know the final outcome as I left the neighborhood.
I just love it when people have this pre conceived notion, that those of us that rent are all lowlifes. It's true yes, that sometimes renters will tear up a house, and not take care of it...but we're not ALL like that.
No, you're not all like that.
On my street, where I have lived for many years, I have had good neighbors who were owners, and good neighbors who were renters. I have had bad neighbors who were owners and bad neighbors who were renters. It is extremely important to me that whoever moves in takes care of their yard, and some renters do a great job of that, most often by hiring someone to do the work. In our case, we (mostly he) maintain our own yard and it always looks neat. It definitely seems that the people who take care of their own yard are owners.
I don't care for neighbors who leave all their trash & recycling bins in the front yard, e.g. in front of their side gate. It looks ugly, not at all pretty to look at. It's really lazy and very rude. We keep all our cans behind our locked fence all week long and then put them out on the street for pickup after dusk the night before they are to be emptied.
What I really don't like are neighbors who have a lot of cars, either because too many 16+ people live in the house or because they have too many people over on a constant basis, or simply because they have more cars than people. We park our one and only car in our garage, even though we really need the space for storage, but nearly no one else around here does, and the street is too full of cars.
The only saving grace is that our subdivision has exceptionally wide streets.
You visit often, driving around during daytime and night time. Walk the neighborhood. Look at crime stats and open records to see if a particular house or street gets a lot of calls. But yes, some people are just annoying and may fly under the radar until you actually live there.
I can almost guarantee you that if you drive around my neighborhood day and/or night, looking into yards and such, someone will call the cops on you. Our neighborhood has a private Facebook page, and I can't tell you how many times people post on it something like "There's a strange car driving slowly up X Street, I called the police!"
So, I don't know if that approach is the best way.
Try to find a place with no street parking allowed. Avoid areas where people leave their cars in the driveway because the garage is full of junk.
I agree with seeing if toys are scattered around the house. Check at different times of day to make sure the neighbor's house isn't where all the teens hang out.
Grass mowed regularly? If in the Fall look to see if they let their leaves blow all over the neighborhood.
I just love it when people have this pre conceived notion, that those of us that rent are all lowlifes. It's true yes, that sometimes renters will tear up a house, and not take care of it...but we're not ALL like that.
I agree! And there are home-buyers who can be worse than what many claim renters are like.
Had a boss who used to be a renter; then once she started paying a mortgage she would make snide remarks about 'low life renters'....I would have said something about her change of heart except that she was my boss and I needed the paycheck.
If there is a neighborhood you like and find a house there, how do you know how your near neighbors will be? It seems to me to be the luck of the draw. What if we buy a property and move in and the neighbors are from hell ? I guess we could build a tall fence. Is there a way to find out or call the Chamber to find out how that neighborhood is ? We are very quiet, private people and never bother our neighbors and I would expect the same...... I am not snobbish just want to be left alone with no hassles. I grew up in the sticks and I have respect for other people but there are those that are hard to live next to . Thank you
I drive or stroll around the neighborhood, and ask the neighbors a few questions. Is it a quiet neighborhood? Crime-free? You can add your own. You can learn something about the neighbors just from talking to them, and seeing how open they are to respond to you.
Prior to purchasing almost two years ago, I had misgivings about making an offer because of the house next door. You could tell it was a rental. It lacked pride of ownership. The residents are very tidy and have newish, well-maintained cars. Initially, we were very friendly with them. However, within months, the guy who lives there began stalking us. He trespassed onto our property, vandalized my new Audi and cussed out my 15 year-old son for shooting baskets by himself in our property.
After two police reports, we had to have our attorney draft a cease and desist letter and threaten him with a restraining order. We also installed a surveillance system and bought a personal protection dog. He has backed off a lot, but occasionally makes animal sounds at us when we're outside and encourages his yappy dog to bark at us (his wife doesn't permit this).
Believe it or not, I'd still buy this house. We bought it under market, because it had significant deferred maintenance issues. Similiar houses on street sell for 40% more than what we paid, and we love the neighborhood.
However, there are a few things I would do differently:
1. Not be so friendly to my neighbors. I'd almost be stand-offish. A new family next door moved in about six months ago. If we make eye contact with them, we waive, otherwise we ignore them.
2. Build a block wall with a hedge separating our properties. Other than city-mandated repairs, this would be the absolute FIRST thing I would do.
3. Install a surveillance system with lots of signs.
4. If I got the slightest notion that we thought they might be a problem, I'd invite some of my son's godfather's Mafioso acquaintances over for lunch, and make sure that they made their presence known to the neighbors. A look says A LOT.
5. Decline all social invitations (see #1). I have friends, I'm not interested in getting chummy with my neighbors. Neighbors and co-workers are best kept at an arm's-length distance. There's simply not enough physical distance between you should things go awry.
While I think all of the suggestions prior posters have given you are valuable, the truth is, unless you know someone who already lives in the neighborhood, you simply don't know what you're going to get. Sure, you could interview the residents, but unless they know your next door neighbor or have had a negative experience with him, their feedback will be pretty useless.
Interestingly enough, California real estate law requires that we disclose our conflict with him when/if we go to sell. Since the problem has been documented with our attorney, the police and two additional city agencies, we could be sued by a subsequent buyer if we fail to mention it. Our real estate agent says for us to keep our explanation vague--no need to get into detail. As long as we mention that there's an issue, we're good.
The upside to going through this crap with our neighbor? We don't have to be phony and pretend to like them when we don't. If we pass him on the street, we look straight through him. Plus, we got a pretty bad-ass German Shepherd, who would take a bullet for us out of the deal, so it's not all bad!
Last edited by Voyageuse; 02-13-2016 at 11:37 PM..
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