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Would you give essential home maintenance advice to a neighor who has been a complete idiot tool??

I live in a small detached home, and live between two neighbors who are useless idiots. Both have seriously lowered the tone of the block, broken major bylaws and brought trouble onto the street. They have no standards, or follow no codes, of behavior And both seem to be completely clueless about how to properly maintain their homes.

Neighbor A has been a real nuisance, and is a complete crook. Also his sons work as contractors, so they should know something about home maintenance. I have absolutely no intention of saying anything to this neighbor. Neighbor B is just really dumb, has obviously never owned a home, or probably lived in an actual house before now. So, while he has been a pain in the neck i do kind of feel sorry for him and his wife and kids, because, if they do not step up and start maintaining their home, they will be faced with tens of thousands of dollars in repair bills, will not be able to pay, and will have to just sell the house as property and move into an apartment, or most likely move in with her long-suffering parents.

On the one hand Neighbor B has been a real pain. He is ghetto -- playing really loud music, tinkering with crap cars every second of his spare time, having all his friends (who live in public housing or basement apartments) over to work on their cars, going out to party instead of staying home and taking care of the house -- which is the main reason he is getting into this mess. On the other, when he and his wife realize that they are being nuisances they do stop what they are doing. It is just that they are not very smart, and their capacity to think is pretty limited, so it is always a case of their doing something wrong, then someone pointing out that they should not be doing this, and their stopping.

Neighbor B has had vermin issues, has only closed his crawlspace vents during the winter two years out of seven, has only weatherproofed his deck once, has done no point work on his foundation (there are major cracks, even holes, everywhere), has never checked under his large deck for issues, and did nothing to permanently repair an issue with the exterior wall of his extension. He also piles snow against his house, even against the section than needs repair. Finally, and most urgently, his roof needed replacing last year. The very cheap shingles put on more than ten years ago, are starting to decay, and even fall off the roof. So, the railings of his deck are starting to fall apart, the deck and front-porch stairs are uneven and rickety, etc., etc. The house, which started off looking much better than mine when we both moved in, just looks a disgrace., here is the question:

Would you go out of your way to give this guy some much-needed advice RE maintenance, like pointing out what should be very obvious ("Your shingles are blowing off in the March wind dude!"), or would you forget about it?

If the latter, why? Would it be because he is a pain, and deserves everything he gets? Because you would be rid of the guy sooner rather than later? Or, just because there is no point?

Update:

All, the answers to this point are great, but I feel I should make some things clear.

First, my neighborhood is very transitional. It is an inner-suburb where property values have been suppressed. They are now rocketing up, so I have no intention of leaving,say, this year, when holding on for five years could get me 50% more of what my house would sell for right now. Also, I bought my house because I knew the area, which is kind of historic, and i wanted to preserve a piece of history. So, let's not talk about my moving, because I am standing my ground. Also, FYI, property flipping and real estate grabs are so rabid right now that one could easily believe that some of this crap is being done on purpose to drive people out of their houses. I know that one family on my block packed up and left because their neighbors were nightmares. And, you know who bought their house to flip it? The nightmare neighbors!

Second, a neighbor not keeping up his property and/or misusing it is my busi

Update 2:

Sorry about that. Second, a neighbor not keeping up his property is my business, because it lowers property values, and can even present dangers.

Update 3:

HappyDog, good answer. However, actually, if the neighbor moves out because his house is crumbling, I will probably get someone building an infill home, which will be great for all sorts of reasons, including my getting a fence on that side, and getting a better class of neighbor, and also getting an adjoining property with better grading AND weeping tiles (these old homes have no drainage technologies, but simply rely on grading to direct run off water down to the street and the storm sewers).

3 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    7 years ago

    Sebastian, I can kind of understand where you are coming from. I had elderly neighbors who couldn't keep up with the house or lawn and it caused vermin to come around and such. They finally moved and we got a new guy in who I thought was going to fix the house up and apparently he is but mostly on the inside. It's been three years now and while he's a nice guy and quiet (thank God!) his gutters are falling off and he doesn't mow his law either. I know that he is aware of all of this and maybe your neighbor is to.

    I think that etiquette would be to not say anything. Why? Well, because we don't know what their lives are really like. Maybe your neighbor doesn't have the money to fix things at the rate you want it fixed. Maybe the inside of the house was mess and they worked on that. I don't know. Maybe they don't care. I mean, my house needs a little work too, but I am a single person and I can only do so much. I think gosh, I'd like to have a new this or that, but I have to save up for it. I do get the work done, though. I am sure the neighbors are talking about me too and I feel bad for it. I do the best I can.

    I guess in our society we are pretty much told these days that whatever anyone does on their property is their business. If your city has ordinances you could call the city but other than that, unfortunately I don't think there is anything you (or I) can do.

    I would love to move. Not because of the neighbors, but because kids use my side yard to cut onto the street. So, I'll be sitting here having coffee and oh, there's a kid coming down my driveway. Now if the neighbor would fence in his backyard where they cut, that wouldn't happen. But...I doubt he's gonna fence it in in my lifetime.

    Good luck and I hope you get good answers.

  • ?
    Lv 6
    7 years ago

    I'd absolutely give him some input, but I'd start very conversationally and gently and see how he reacts. For example, when you're both outdoors tell him you noticed some of his shingles are falling and you just wanted to alert him to it. If he's all worried and wondering what to do, give him your best handyman advice. If not, there isn't much you can do except call the health department if that vermin infestation continues.

    I'd make the effort to try to talk to him simply because his trashy house will affect your property value. Plus, if he moves out I guarantee nobody better will move in to that now-devastated property. Neighbor B is probably just ignorant, so he may appreciate some advice.

    Best of luck.

  • 7 years ago

    Okay you vented your frustration and anger, so what are you planning to do living among idiots. Either you volunteer your service, mind your own business or move out to a better conducive, wells maintained and responsible neighborhood '

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