Monday Madness – Don’t get Mad, get Even

Is this a Good Thing?

Wouldn’t you love to get back at that annoying neighbor who blocks your driveway and lets her dog poop in your yard and parties all night with the loud stereo? Or the other one who just won’t keep up his yard and has that old refrigerator sitting there for 6 months now? How ’bout the house down the street with all the drug users in and out, or the other one full of noisy college students? Well now you can tell the world–but you might want to think twice.

Madness is sometimes the result of too many conflicting desires, fears or pressures. In the movie Neighbors, we find John Belushi’s character seriously disturbed over the nutty behavior of neighbor Dan Aykroyd’s character and the threat to his security. The problem is solved when both parties become happily insane and conflict ends. This may not work for you and I, however and we may suffer madness of a different sort.

The controversial new web site RottenNeighbor is a boon to buyers and renters alike. This site offers anyone the opportunity to blow off steam about their rotten neighbors and at the same time it can provide a wealth of information for those who might want to move into the neighborhood.

The up side for complainers is that such pressure might get the offenders to change their behavior or move away. Good neighbors can rally and rant and maybe get support from law enforcement or code enforcement officers. The most common complaint about RottenNeighbor is that anyone can go there and complain about anything and there’s not much you can do about it. That’s pretty obvious, but a more subtle and serious problem has been neglected.

When you want to sell or rent your property, what does this portend? Potential buyers can learn more than the basics of your house & property & sales history & estimated value … they will know about your neighborhood’s ‘dirty laundry’. All those complaints that you might well have supported and maybe even reported, now serve to reduce your property value.

A different Belushi, Jim, got into a real real property dispute with his celebrity neighbor, Julie Newmar, over a fence, [ABC news 'Toxic Neighbors'] -the source of a long and bitter feud that brought a measure of madness to both. Can you believe that sweet Julie, aged 74, egged Jim’s house?

How does this new web trend affect you? How can you counter it when your primary interest is selling your home for top dollar? What similar web sites will spring up? You need to know more than your buyer knows.

First, you have to know what’s out there. Go to the site- check the reports for your neighborhood. Know what you have to deal with. If a neighbor is accused of disruptions; learn more, determine if the accusations are outdated and update the information at Rotten Neighbors if appropriate. Be prepared to discuss the matter with potential buyers or their agents. But don’t stop there…

You should also be aware of the Argis crime maps, the sexual offenders lists, the sites that document hazards from earthquakes, landslides, fires, the sites that tell about school quality and promptness of police/fire protection and even the sites that define your micro-climate–all of these affect what your property is worth and we’ve discussed them in this blog. You should be aware of everything that influences your property value and have a response prepared for any questions that may be asked.

Next door to a ‘rotten neighbor’ filed ~60 days ago.

On a tiny East County street with several rentals available and several homes for sale, one person ruins it for all: “cowboy is a white male who lives at [address]. he has been a nusiance every since i bought the apartment building next to where he is renting. he continually does not pay rent to his owner and is the kingpin of the street for all homeless and many people who constantly go to his home for drugs or selling random items in garage sales he has. …”

The ‘Burbs – Tom Hanks, Bruce Dern, Carrie Fisher, Rick Ducommun, Corey Feldman

A mysterious family moves into an old fixer-upper in the neighborhood. Strange comings, goings, and sounds are heard in the night. The Burbs is a slightly extreme view of neighbors gone mad, but it’s clear that people are protective of their homes and families. If you watch the movie again, try to estimate the value of Tom Hank’s house at various stages of the film. At what point do property values hit bottom?

I had thought to list some for-sale homes in the vicinity of troubled neighborhoods as an example of real situations where home values could be affected. It isn’t right to stigmatize any listing more than it already may be. In your search of listings, however, it is worthwhile to check RottenNeighbor.com whether you are buying or selling.

[data from generally reliable sources, please comment on any errors!]