The unkempt, cluttered front lawns and overgrown gardens of nearby properties can reduce the price of a home for sale by as much as five to ten percent. Even if you’ve invested countless hours into keeping your grass perfectly manicured and your gardens weed-free, your next door neighbour might not share the same meticulous habits. Whether you’ve got a hoarder next door or an elderly person unable to keep up with home maintenance, here’s how to approach a messy neighbour – especially if and when you’re preparing your house for the market.
START A CONVERSATION Before you resort to more drastic measures, your first step should be to approach your neighbour in a casual, friendly manner. In some cases, like an overgrown lawn, the homeowner might not be as aware of how their yard appears to others. Try expressing concern that prospective buyers won’t realize that the neighbours are pleasant and friendly when they’re distracted by a cluttered yard. If there are renters next door, you’ll want to seek out the landlord who should be more proactive in cleaning up the property.
OFFER HELP If you have the time and means, offer assistance in tidying up an elderly or mobility-impaired neighbour’s exterior property. This is an excellent way to not only get the yard up to your standards of presentation and on your schedule (say, before an open house) but also to feel good about giving back to the community. If you’re less than enthused about spending a free day weeding and mowing, which is understandable, recommend a community home maintenance program that offers services for free or at a reduced cost.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS If you’re met with reluctance when speaking with homeowners or feel uncomfortable approaching them to start a conversation, you may consider filing a complaint to your municipality. Read up on the property maintenance bylaws of your town or city so that you can be specific in what violations your neighbour is committing. For example, in the City of Toronto, an abandoned appliance like an oven or washing machine left on a front lawn poses a threat to young children that might get trapped inside, so you can report the issue to 311 for investigation. But a fridge in a fenced-in backyard isn’t breaking any bylaws. If a resident doesn’t comply after being given notice from the city, the necessary work to bring the property to standard may be completed by city staff and charged to the homeowner’s property taxes.
CREATE A VISUAL BARRIER While this tactic may be less useful for messy front yards, unkempt and cluttered backyards can be partially concealed by creating a visual barrier. Consider installing a tall privacy fence or planting shrubbery to block sight lines to the neighbour’s yard. If you already have a fence, you can heighten it to more effectively block the view into neighbouring properties with decorative wooden lattices. If you have the time to let them grow, plant creeping ivy or vines which will naturally fill in the gaps in the lattice. Be sure to keep height regulations in mind when you’re installing fences and lattices.
MAKE YOUR OWN PROPERTY SHINE If all else fails, pull the focus of potential homebuyers back to your own property. Put extra effort and funds into creating the most impressive curb appeal, drawing the attention of visitors to your home so that they might not feel as impacted by the mess next door. The same goes for backyards and patio decks as well.