thunder04

iTrader: (1)

<begin rant>

One of my next door neighbors and I are on fairly friendly terms. Whenever we're out front at the same time we usually say hi and talk a bit. Granted, this isn't very often...maybe once a week.

In any case, I just got home from Home Depot and was unloading some wrought iron fencing so I can finish the dog run and she happened to pull into her garage at the same time. Since we hadn't seen each other in a while, I was pretty sure she was going to come out and say hi.

She does, and segways directly into

"So, when are you going to do your front yard?"

I was like..."uh, pretty soon but I can't give you a date or anything. I need to move some dirt out of the back yard first, which is planned to be very soon."

And she says "Well, we were really hoping you'd do your front yard." (like I'm not planning to) " It's looking really bad...and you know, for home values and whatnot."

She then tries to make small talk by asking me how work is going and about what I bought...but I wasn't giving her any detailed answers because I was slowly boiling.

It caught me by surprise. Her tone was very impatient and it offended me a bit. I know my yard isn't pretty (it's mostly dirt & dead weeds), but I don't let it grow out of control (until I can lay sod, I spray round-up and rake regularly) and I have been slowly making progress into making it look nice. If she's truly worried about home values, I don't think there's much I can do to my front yard will truly affect home values enough for it to make a big difference. If I was selling my home, sure...but her's, not so much.

It makes me mad because the way I interpreted the way she was talking was like I haven't made any improvements. Granted, out of all of my attached neighbors, she's the only one who can't see my back yard thus can't see what I've done there.

I've lived here a little over a year (moved in July '09) and have been doing what I can. I don't have a huge budget, so I can't pay people to just "do it" like she can (she's been hiring handymen to fix stuff at her house lately), so I just have to tackle it one thing at a time.

It's not like I don't plan on landscaping...I don't like how it looks either!

I could go on and on, but I'll stop.

<end rant>

Costco

That's quite selfish of her, and while I can't speak from the perspective of a homeowner some people are just clueless when it comes to certain things. Not saying you are, but in general people can never know if someone is going through financial issues or some other problem that has more importance in their life than something as trivial (in the bigger picture) as how a front yard looks.

I can understand her thinking, but man she was just a bitch about it. Don't worry about what she thinks

svtmike

Doesn't sound to me like she was a bitch about it. I think it's good that she was able to bring it up civilly and directly, and then she didn't harp on it.

It's not like thunder04 disagrees, but what he may not have known is how his priorities don't match up with his neighbor's thoughts. She is right, the appearance of his home does affect the values of the properties around him. Part of home ownership is upkeep for curb appeal not just of your own home but of the neighborhood.

Aman

I thought it she was pretty insensitive about it, especially since you said you'd be doing the front yard anyways. No reason to harp on about how it's decreasing their home values because it looks bad now. She could've said the same thing in a much more cordial manner.

Did she mean "we" as in her and her family or "we" as in her and some neighbors?

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I'm not sure if she meant "we" as in her and her husband, or if it was "we" as in her and other neighbors.

I was working on the front yard for the longest time. I stopped to get my back yard into decent shape...she probably thinks I gave up on the front yard. That's not the case at all.

I don't feel good about how it looks. I really do want a nice looking front yard and it is in the very near future.

I know it's my responsibility to maintain good curb appeal not only for my own satisfaction but for the neighborhood. I'm trying! It's just progressing a lot slower than I (and my neighbor, apparently) thought it would.

NSXNEXT

iTrader: (2)

Need to see some pics first, but I don't blame her. I'd be pissed if my neighbor wasn't keeping their home/yard nice. I wouldn't want people pulling up to my house and seeing a shithole next door.

Ever consider she's thinking of selling?

Shalooby

.... need pics of neighbor....

chill_dog

I can understand her concerns, but she should've kept her mouth shut about them. Plus, given what you've shared on here, it's obvious you're working on the place. If you haven't stopped completely (ie. you're still doing things), then chances are you're going to get around to it. That would be the logical assumption. Plus, it's not the time to do a yard, so anyone with a brain wouldn't even bring up the subject.

Therefore, fuck her. Continue to be civil as you always have, and if she asks any questions she has no business asking, respond with "It's on the list, but it's not a top priority; however, if you're paying, I'll be glad to take care of it immediately."

And this is from the perspective of having been in your shoes. I had neighbors asking me things from when I was going to cut the grass to when I was going to paint. I even had total strangers ask me if I was replacing some bushes I was tearing out! Everybody's timetable isn't the same. Do what you can when you can, and fuck the people who can't mind their business.

CocheseUGA

Then she should have said so, so she could have avoided coming off as a bitch.

People who are nice don't ask you when you are going to do something to your own property. Not in that way.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I snapped a picture of my front yard so y'all can see:



I know, it's not exactly easy on the eyes.

I don't let it go...I do my best to keep it clean. I've been slowly cleaning up the appliance and car parts.

I don't like it, but it is what it is until I can get it done...which will be soon.

svtmike

What does her house look like?

And I disagree, she shouldn't keep her mouth shut. How her neighborhood looks is her business, and people should be able to have these kinds of conversations without one of them getting all sandy about it.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I'd feel weird taking a picture of her house, but I can tell you it looks very good. Her husband mows and edges the lawn at least once a week (sometimes more). She doesn't work, so she's always planting new flowers, changing things around, and messing with everything very often.

When my front yard is done, you bet I'll mow and edge weekly and do my best on up-keep. I want it to look nice too!

I don't mind talking about it, it was how she came across that struck me. It wasn't so much what she said, it was how she said it. I'm not a complete idiot. I know that MY house would be worth more if my front yard was finished. I'd have to be stupid to not want that. I do want it...it just takes time.

svtmike

That's enough info -- no pic necessary.

I wouldn't dwell on it. It's a hard message to hear (and for me at least it would have been an uncomfortable conversation to initiate) but deep down you agree with her and understand where she was coming from.

Just looking at it all it looks like you really need is sod to make a huge difference.

Costco

Sometimes people have more important shit to worry about than how their front lawn looks... like actually paying the bills so they actually have a front lawn. Again, I don't own a home myself, and that doesn't sound like your case. I don't know if I would have gotten offended as much as you did, and I do feel like people should bring things up instead of holding them back and talking behind your back. I do like the direct approach, but from the story I read it seems like she was sort of too direct about it.

Will Y.

Invite her & her hubby over to look at your back yard.

Then show/discuss your plans for the front yard and ask them for suggestions.

Problem solved, and you might get some help out of it.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^ I should probably do that. Not just to show them what I've been doing, but also to get to know them a little better.

After my initial rant, I'm much better. In the moment, I was rather upset, but I think part of that was me feeling bad for not having done the front yard yet. I had hoped to have it done sooner than this, and having her kind-of point out that it's not done made me really think about it.

If I wanted to, I could completely blow my savings and pay someone to finish my front yard and back yard, but a) I don't want to leave myself without a rainy day fund, and b) I can make my money go much farther by doing it myself. Besides, I enjoy working on the house.

The plan is to finish the dog run, then to rent a skidsteer to finish leveling the back yard. The excess dirt will go in the front yard...you can kind-of see the "valley" in the larger area of my front yard. Then, once that's done, I'll add/move a couple of sprinkler heads in the front (there used to be a planter area in front of the porch) and either seed or sod.

But, now that I think about it, wouldn't it be best to wait until spring to sod/seed? I did a quick Google search and it seems that you can sod in the winter, but since grass will be dormant the roots won't start to establish themselves until the spring.

svtmike

My yard was sodded in early November and the grass took just fine, and that's in a much colder climate than yours.

mcflyguy24

Maybe just sod so that she sees you did something...but I'd just wait until spring rolls around. Screw her.

Gen7Milan

iTrader: (1)

The neighbor right across the street from me had his grass killed, dug up, and sod laid this summer. Never bothered me a bit. Forget this biotch!

friesm2000

iTrader: (4)

not awesome but also not horrible though, not like it has any abandoned cars out front, but i would say though at least what grass is there is mowed , but yeah as others have said curb appeal is everything, and the first thing other potential buyers might notice of there possible future neighbors


only thing i might say is plant a couple of bushes out there, but other then that i would wait till next year to do anything major for especially for planting (and yes budget's do hold you back tremendously )



hey maybe ask her if she is willing to front you some money then for the front yard

MurkyRiversTL

So when do these handy men come around her house to fix things?

If its when her husband is gone, I would say join the crowd and she wont complain about your lawn anymore

CocheseUGA

Does it look horrible? No. Bad? Eh.

Since she's got so much time to do shit, let her know if she wanted to volunteer on your yard, you're open for discussion.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I was talking to my mom and she came up with a good point...my neighbor probably got her hopes up on my front yard.

When I first moved in, I went gung-ho on the front yard. It looked a million times worse (bought a foreclosure). Overgrown dying bushes in front of the porch, and overgrown dying rose bushes between the garage and the walkway. I ripped everything out, placed the rock between the garage and the walkway, started cutting the sad excuse for a tree down, and replaced the fence between the neighbor on the left and I. After that, I stopped working on the front yard because I wanted to devote some energy into the back yard. I wanted a decent place to grill and to hang out when company is over. This is when my dad and I did the patio and patio cover. So, work on the front yard has ceased for the last few months.


Well, in that case, I will be laying sod very soon.


NOT! She's old enough to be my mom (their youngest kid is my age) and I'm not really into the whole cougar thing....

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

Well...if she or any of my neighbors told me that they're considering selling, that would be a whole different story. My neighbor has never given me any hint that they want to sell. FWIW, there are no for sale signs on my street.

The next time I see her I'll tell her my plan, and hopefully she'll be happy. Of course, she's going to think that our conversation is what got me working on the front yard again, but that's not the case. It's been the same plan the whole time. Finish dog run --> level back yard --> finish front yard.

Hmm... I should probably set up the sprinkler system in the back before laying sod in the front so both the back and front can be sodded at the same time.

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

get your front lawn sodded and she will shut up... but yes i would def lay the sprinkler system all down first...

doopstr

I wouldn't be too hard on her. If I saw yard like that I would assume "work in progress" and I think she was just wondering when it would be done. Her mentioning home values was a bit much though.

It's not like it is overgrown with weeds. Even though it doesn't look like much it looks like it is being maintained.

MurkyRiversTL

Better too old than too young. Cant get in trouble for too old..... morally maybe, but not by law

KaMLuNg

iTrader: (5)

tbh she should be grateful that you made that much progress... esp with it being a foreclosure home... imagine if you didn't buy the house and it was left as a foreclosure... im sure that would have helped her home value...

sometimes it just pisses me off that ppl don't appreciate what you have done, but they are quick to criticize what you haven't done... but i guess that is life...

CanopyFlyer

Thunder04... First things first, stop being defensive. You have a plan, you're in the middle of executing that plan, so don't let your neighbor make you feel otherwise. Actually, I don't think that was her intent. She may just be a socially awkward person, and thought she was making small talk. The evidence I point to is her immediately launching into another topic.

As far as the pics of your house: Jeebus... When the hell are you going to clean up that cess pit! I'd be worred about my resale values too!

Will Y.

BTW, my neighbors one house over did the same thing. It took them four years to put in the front lawn after the initial tear-out, and they had to spray and use a rototiller several times during those 4 years to kill the weeds that kept trying to grow. I bet you can't hold out that long!

These same neighbors took out a front and a side window to replace them with smaller windows about five years ago-- but still haven't done the patching, re-stuccoing and painting around the installed windows.
Fortunately, the front lawn and shrubbery look great now and distract one's view from the unfinished window surrounds, so my property value hasn't decreased AFAIK.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

I really hope I have grass sooner then that!

black label

Honestly, unless you are part of a HOA, tell her to help out with the mortgage or go screw herself with the broomstick she flew in on. You are secretly trying to decrease home values for the whole neighborhood so you can buy up all the properties at pennies on the dollar and open up the largest strip club in all of CA.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^ How'd you figure me out?!

No HOA...so I don't have to worry about meeting anything other than city requirements. I don't think I'm violating any codes, so I think I'm good.

However, that excuse for a tree in my front yard is technically a "city" tree and I'm not supposed to cut it down or do any major pruning to it...but the neighbor I vented about here removed their "city" tree years ago without any repercussions. Though, I plan to replace the tree, so the city should thank me for that.

fsttyms1

Me personally after that would tell the neighbor that i will get to the yard next fall when budget allows. I would do the work as time and budget allows, not because some neighbor thinks it doesnt look good. Its apparent that you are making improvements to the home and yard. And to those saying that it reduces home values, that house wouldn't reduce anyone's home values. It need grass. Not major improvements, it isnt a shit hole next door. He is working on improving every thing. (see his other improvement thread)

TBone2004

Wait. It is none of her business when and what you are going to do on your property. Tell her to move where there is a Home Owners Association.

There is nothing bad about your front yard that warrants anything other than "Hey neighbor - how's it going...all settled in?..So any plans for the property?" THAT's IT.

If there were dead trees and an un-mowed jungle then that is bad. It looks clean and very neat - she sounds like a snob. Don't rush your schedule/budget to accommodate anyone.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^That is now the plan. I'm going to keep the front maintained and get to it when I get to it.

I believe her youngest child moved out Saturday. I was outside hacking at that excuse for a tree, and she and her dad were loading up a bed in the back of his truck. So, it's possible they're thinking of selling...the house may feel too big now that there aren't any more children living at home. She was probably not at her emotional best when we talked...so yeah.

Mr. Maker

iTrader: (4)

you should of punched that bitch in the face..

Majofo

What a crazy bitch. Can you imagine the shit her husband has to put up with? I bet there's not a freaking shirt in his closet that she didn't pick. Who worries about property values in CA? You should remind her the price at which you bought your home and then ask how much she paid for hers. Then inform her that her unsightly bush is scaring the kids away and that she might want to trim it.. for property values sake.

thunder04

iTrader: (1)

^

Thanks to the wonderful world of Zillow.com, I know exactly how much she paid for her house. She and her husband are the original owner (the subdivision was built in 1993) and, unless they took out some large 2nd mortgage or HELOC or something, their home still has a decent amount of value.

But, then again, I'm bringing the values down.

Aman

I was expecting a giant pit with raccoon dumplings, upside down bushes strewn all over the place. That's just dirt, with some patches of lawn that are even mowed!

There's nothing wrong with talking about home renovation projects and such. But that isn't really anything to complain about. Reducing home values over that? Really? I can't imagine a prospective buyer would cut say $10,000 off their offer just because someone else on the street hasn't gotten around to working on his not-so-terrible-anyways front lawn.