How do you resolve a sticky neighbor situation? We check back with a previous caller to find out!
Since this week’s show is all about neighbors, we thought we’d revisit a call we got back in February from Ben. Ben was trying to sell his home, but his neighbors yards were…unsightly. One neighbor had a junky truck in the driveway, the other had an old jeep in the yard and hadn’t mowed their grass in a while. Ben called us for help in trying to resolve the situation.
Click through to find out what happened with Ben and his neighbors!
Our advice to Ben was “talk to your neighbors”. We felt it would be better for Ben to talk with them first and try to reason with them, before getting the authorities involved.
Ben says this worked with one of his neighbors — the one with the truck. He says he mentioned it as nicely as possible, saying that he didn’t have anything against them, but it was making it tough to sell his house. As a result, the next day the truck was gone, and the yard looked much better. Ben says his neighbors actually seemed a little embarrassed, and were more than happy to help him out.
Ben didn’t have as much luck with his other neighbors. While he did try talking to them, he says they pretty much ignored him for two weeks. Finally, Ben decided to call the city. His neighbors ended up being fined, and shortly thereafter, got rid of the Jeep and cleaned up the yard.
Ben says he doesn’t think that it’s a coincidence that a week after his neighbors ditched the Jeep, he sold his house.
And what does Ben think he learned most from this experience?
First, that it’s important to talk to your neighbors, and maintain a good relationship if you can. But failing that, it’s also worth burning a bridge or two if you need to in order to sell your house.
