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Archive for October, 2007
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Don’t Buy Next to a Nuisance Neighbor
October 9th, 2007 
Maricel Ferrer-Custodio I was checking for some informative real estate videos in YouTube when I saw this interview with Barbara Corcoran. It was in line with my recent article “Inspect the property several times, before you sign a contract“.
We share the same views about being in the lookout for bad neighborhoods, especially bad neighbors. No matter how nice or expensive your house is, being next to a nuisance neighbor can bring down the value of your home.
Here are some of the important things to remember discussed in the video.
Don’t buy next to any of the following for the obvious reason of noise from cars and big gatherings. It’s not recommendable to buy next to an empty lot because you don’t know what will happen to it later on. Meanwhile, most people are scared to live next to a halfway house.
- country club
- empty lot
- bus stop
- halfway house
- garbage route
- intersection with stop signs
Know how to spot them early:
- Cruise the area at night and during rush hour. This will give you a good indication if it is a desirable neighborhood or not. Some neighborhoods appear to be quiet during daytime but can transform to a party venue during nighttime.
- Look for racket-makers such as skateboard ramps, basketball hoops and trampolines. These are bad signs because they indicate noise.
- Talk with local store owners, police and town clerks. They know what’s happening in your future neighborhood.
- Check online for local sex offenders.
If you did not do any of the above and you already bought a house next to a bad neighbor, here’s what you can do:
- Talk with your neighbor, schedule a time to meet at the sidewalk
- Don’t accuse. Suggest ways to solve the problem.
- Consult your condo or block association.
- Call the police to keep a record of complaints in case you need to take it to the local court.
I hope you find the video and Barbara’s practical tips useful. I wish I knew about these before I experienced living next to a nuisance neighbor. However, I’m glad I was just renting back then. Otherwise, it will be very costly for me to deal with my neighbor.
If you’re a homeowner and things don’t improve, you’re left with only three choices:
- Confront your neighbor each time and suffer stress
- Accept that’s how things are and suffer in your own house
- Sell the house and suffer from the loss in value, including the hefty costs that comes with buying and selling a house.
Your house is your castle. It should be a place where you can be happy and secure. Thus, make sure you do your research before buying your dream house. It can save you thousands financially and relieve you from any stress, induced by living next to a nuisance neighbor.
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Tags: Inspect the Property Several Times, Before You Sign the Contract
October 8th, 2007 Maricel Ferrer-Custodio 
Inspecting a property and it’s surrounding environment during the day and at night, might sound a bit too much. However, after reading this article in NYTimes; Day and Night, you’ll discover how some neighborhoods can change from daytime to nighttime.
I personally experienced the need to inspect the property several times before signing the contract. Here’s a recap of my experience:
“My husband and I were newlyweds back then. In our excitement to find our own apartment, we rushed into signing a rental agreement. We fell in love with this amazing condominium unit.I t was a brand new building. The living area was huge and it has killer views. Right after the property showing, we told the agent that we are interested in renting the unit.
A few weeks before our scheduled move, we inspected the property again to check how we will arrange our furnishings. During our visit, we just discovered that our neighbor is into loud music. It was so loud that the wall vibrates. The bedrooms are in the far end of the unit but we can still hear it from there. The agent showing the property quickly argued that the room was empty; there was nothing to absorb the sound, thus we can hear the music playing loudly. We were not convinced. He said it was too late to back out because we already paid a substantial deposit and signed the rental agreement.
We eventually moved on the agreed date. Things got worse. Our dream apartment became a nightmare. Loud music can be heard night and day. I complained to the agent. She advised me to call the police after the legal time to play loud music. It worked for the night, but it went on for several days and weeks. I had to personally advise our neighbor, just in case she’s not aware that their music goes through our wall. I was still very considerate.
However, I think our neighbor was close to being deaf from always playing loud music. I cannot endure several months more of living in such a noisy place, especially since I’m home most of the time. I was ready to move but not without recovering my moving expenses. So, I looked into my rights as a tenant. I wrote a final letter to our neighbor. It was a very civil one. A copy was sent to our agent and property manager. If things don’t improve, I was planning to charge the agent for our moving costs and break the lease. I’m not sure if that was possible, but my husband and I wanted to exert our right to the peaceful enjoyment of our unit. If they cannot give it to us, then we are ready to move. However, things changed. Not long after our final notice, our noisy neighbor moved out.”
For all the hassles and stress we experienced; we wished we inspected the property, its surrounding environment and the type of people that lives in the area several times before signing the contract. To ease our frustrations, we kept telling ourselves to be thankful that we were just renting. We had the choice to move into a more desirable place without draining our finances. Otherwise, we would feel so trapped owning such a nice and expensive place with the wrong neighbors. (We later realized that some of my friends in the area had similar experiences too.)
I had to go through a traumatic experience before I learned my lesson. I just realized the difference of being an agent for a property, buying one as an investment and actually living on it. Thus, next time you rent and especially when you’re buying a property make sure you inspect it several times.
- Check the actual property for things you might have missed out the first time you visited.
- Do a research about the type of people living in the area.
- Compare the area during daytime and nighttime.
- Do random visits in the area during a weekday and on a weekend.
It is quite a task, especially if you’re emotionally convinced that this is the property for you. However, it is better to avoid the mess than fix it. You waste more time fixing it. It could also put a big dent on your finances with all the moving costs. Meanwhile, if you purchased a problem property; you can get stuck living in it, face rental vacancy or attract the same type of problem tenants.
All these can be avoided, with a little bit of research and inspecting the property several times before signing the contract. Trust me..your efforts will pay off in the end.
Photo: freefoto.com
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