How do your neighbours affect your property value?

[Bruce Wayne]

Changing neighbours can add - or remove - as much as £32,395 from the value of your home, new figures show.

Research from propertyfinder.com reveals that while the perfect neighbours can add more than four per cent to your house price, squatters settling next door can lower it by four times this amount.

The ideal neighbours were seen as a childless couple, followed by old age pensioners. Singles and families with small children could also boost house prices - but not by as much.

On the flip side, squatters remove the most value from your property, followed by students. Families with teenagers and flat-sharers also lower house prices - but by a far lesser extent.

So, do your neighbours add or subtract value from your home?

[Fern]

My neighbors:
* older retired couple to one side: perfect
* childless couple behind me: perfect
* family across from me with barking dog, Harley, loud radio and 2 young kids: not happy about the noise
* family on other side with 2 teens, an ATV and dirt bikes: very unhappy about the noise

I feel like i'm living next to a race track. What happened to basic courtesy and consideration?

[tamip]

We have a field behind us, so that is perfect. My neighbors on the right, wonderful couple, kids grown, very good friends- love them! Then, on my left...the worst neighbors. They are from Mexico, which isn't the problem, but they rent out rooms to illegal friends and family. They have an abundance of cars, and do not take care of their property. When they have parties, they are all over our front yard, and we end up with cans thrown in our backyard.

Right now we are in the process of building a fence around our yard to keep them out. We call code enforcement constantly about all the vehicles, so that's improved a bit. (Instead of 7 cars, they are down to 4)

It's just so frustrating!

~Tami

[Snoopy2645]

I have a feeling I am the neighbor everyone hates!! I am really the only one in the nieghborhood with 3 kids both people on either side of us have no small children both have adult kids living with them. Out of the whold neighborhood we really dont have many small children at all & anyone with kids only have 1. And we have our 3 & usually 10 more I guess I run the koolaid house!!! Which I love but I dont think my older neighbors maybe appreiciate sometimes along with 3 kids & all thier friends my yard somedays looks like a park!! Somedays I feel bad about being the neighbor they hate but usually its not so bad everyone in the neighborhood works so usually no one is around during the day so summers I dont have to worry about the kids disturbing the neighbors much.

On the other hand somedays I think the neighbors lower the property value thier are 3 people here 1 on each side of to that have above ground pools & like to have parties like on the 4th of july & stuff & thats gets kinda annonying they invite about 100 people over & sometimes in the summer can be out late in the pool or hottub making lots of noise!! And somedays with pool parties thier is no room on our street for cars it gets that bad when they have thier pool parties.

[PRICEPLUS]

The neighbors are fixing their houses on a regular basis. You need only one poorly kept home next to yours to turn buyers off. I am fortunate.

[PrincessPerky]

we have all sorts of families around, but I think the empty lot next door is bad, and our yard is terrible, poor neighbors (6 houses for sale on my road!)

[jodi]

To the left of us: no one
Behind us: fields
To the right of us: My brother, SIL, and niece in their 6 year old home with gorgeous perrennial gardens.
Beautiful. I love living in the country. There are only 3 other houses on our road.

[Lemony]

We're the worst neighbors on the block, so everyone makes US look good!

[katwoman]

This is a real sore spot for me.

My neighborhood is a long block of 4-5 unit buildings. So we're talking the majority of people are renters (and not registered voters). Each building has a verrry large 3 BD apt that is bigger (more sq feet) than most houses. This attracts families. And not the good ones. The problem is compounded by the fact that almost every building has no yard which means these kids are in the streets and always running through the surrounding buildings.

My property has a wide driveway and a adjoining strip of grass. I've had kids rollarblade, bike, skateboard, and run up and down this driveway. Chase them off all the time. That's all I need...a kid to fall on my property and sue ME!

Due to the high concentration of people, parking is also an issue. One night a gal couldn't find anywhere to park her car so what do you think she did? Parked it in MY driveway! The cops couldn't ticket her since it was private property and I never gave them express permission to patrol my property. Couldn't have her towed cause the tow company I contracted with hadn't delivered their signage. But I gave her a hell of a tonguelashing and threats of a tow.

As for the grass, I've had other dog owners (renters) stroll right on over to allow their dogs to defecate and urinate on MY grass. One gal even parked her car, got out with her dog and let the dog do it's business on my grass. When I yelled at her she said to go right ahead and call the local police and speak to her uncle who'll get a big kick outta this! So I DID!

My building is beautifully maintained despite how other people care to live. I will be a thorn in the side of anyone who thinks they're going to bully me. Plenty of renters have moved out because of me and the pressure I put on them. GOOD!

[robex]

We live in a cul de sac of 6 homes. Next door to us, we have an older couple in their seventies who keep their yard and house spotlessly clean and FREAK if the kids go on their grass, and on the other side we have a young, childless couple in their twenties who keep their yard immaculate but have rather noisy parties in the summer with all their other childless friends. Our neighbours across the street have a driveway full of vehicles and old wood. We have a fairly tidy yard, nice garden, and three loud children with lots of friends who all like to play in the road (it is very safe as the only cars coming in belong to the people who live in the cul de sac). Take your pick as to who the worst neighbour is...all a matter of opinion, I'd say!

[Ima saver]

We have the nicest and biggest house in the subdivision. To the left of us is an elderly couple who keep their house nicely. To the right we have a 75 year old woman and her 25 year old grandson, who stays up all night long and leaves the outside lights on. They do hire someone to cut the grass but that is all. Behind us is all creek. Lucky we are on two acres, so we have no one close to us. There are only 15 houses on the subdivision and my husband built half of them, so they are pretty nice.

[Harrison]

In my opinions, neighbours are the nearest persons that stay next to you. If you neighbours are good, as the house owner and living there, you will have less problems and more time to enjoy your life. But what happen if you neighbours are dirty, always make some noisy sound that disturb your life or always do something that offend you and make you angry? I bet you will say you hate them. So same with your tenants or the next buyers for your house. For me I don’t think I’m going to buy a house that neighbours always keep giving me the troubles. In this case, your property value will deeply go down.

Before this I always heard that, house or property in certain “neighbourhoods” always have a higher price compare to other. Why? One logic thinking that I have is property value depends on neighbourhood and neighbourhood is build from neighbour. So property value is also depending on your neighbour.

[Ima saver]

We also have convenants in place that help out. Plus, when the houses all run $250,000 to $500,000, you ususally have a better class of neighbors.

[contrary1]

Having bought a new place recently, I was surprised to find out a neighborhood survey was part of the purchase procedures. After you sign the purchase agreement, you have 3 days to do a neighborhood visit, going door to door. If you don't like anything you come up with, it is reason enough to be let out of the deal. I did do the survey, with my realtor, but didn't go far enough......... I don't think I would have purchased this piece, had I known there was a paint ball facility bordering our road. The place just backs up to our road, but the noise on Saturdays is great.............and it does disturb what looks like a nice quiet little country road.
If selling or renting this place, I sure won't show it on a Saturday!

[frugalfarmwife]

We live back a lane and share it with two other families, the lane comes right by my house, I mean within 15 feet of the house! (I'll tell you if anything ever happened to the house it would be rebuilt in a VERY different location on our 82 acres!

We are a working farm but really try to keep most of the place neat and tidy but if hubbies working on equiptment just deal with it

Now the neighbors, the ones down the hill are great, cute little house, tidy as can be, great yard, neat and orderly, nice kids, help the property values.

The other neighbors? The property and buildings are FANTASTIC, we're talking brand new house with EVERYTHING, a barn to die for complete with a heated/air conditioned lounge, pond, brand new fencing. Just don't let prospective buyers meet the actual owners, lol, that'd shoot any deal down! Drinking and shooting are favorite past times, along with yelling, hollering, screaming and calling the sheriff to try to control their uncontrollable teens, not a good situation.

Now me? I can be the best neighbor in the world if you LEAVE ME ALONE! Mess with me though and I WILL put in that chicken/veal/hog barn that I threaten and I am upwind of the Citiots in the McMansions across the road I am agriculture zoned and I AM allowed to run equiptment, raise smelly/loud animals, spread manure AND tell you to keep off my property

I'm not AS crazy as they think but hey it's easier to just let them think I am, lol!

KJ

[katwoman]

Now me? I can be the best neighbor in the world if you LEAVE ME ALONE! Mess with me though and I WILL put in that chicken/veal/hog barn that I threaten and I am upwind of the Citiots in the McMansions across the road I am agriculture zoned and I AM allowed to run equiptment, raise smelly/loud animals, spread manure AND tell you to keep off my property

I'm not AS crazy as they think but hey it's easier to just let them think I am, lol!

Ha Ha Ha!

FrugalFarmWife, I think I like you. Looks like you and I have the same ideas.

I've had people stroll on through my driveway like they were entitled to be there. When the dog was out however, you should have seen their petrified faces! One guy asked if the dog would bite (he wouldn't; he's a lover), I said "maybe he will, maybe he won't. If you weren't on private property you wouldn't even have to ask that question!"

[Ima saver]

We live on a creek and we have people walking up and down in our back yard fishing. We have a deck built over the creek and it is funny to watch the strangers walking up and down the creek in front of us.

[frugalfarmwife]

Originally Posted by katwoman

Ha Ha Ha!

FrugalFarmWife, I think I like you. Looks like you and I have the same ideas.

I've had people stroll on through my driveway like they were entitled to be there. When the dog was out however, you should have seen their petrified faces! One guy asked if the dog would bite (he wouldn't; he's a lover), I said "maybe he will, maybe he won't. If you weren't on private property you wouldn't even have to ask that question!"

Ok, honest, I'm NOT a horrible person but have resorted to telling neighbors that stray dogs WILL be shot on site! (haven't shot one yet, they keep them out! ) I raise chickens, occasionally a few sheep, cattle and miniature horses. My foals don't even weigh 20 pounds at birth and I don't care what kind of dog it is if they pack up they WILL kill livestock, I have a friend in TX that just lost two yearling fillies to a border collie, a lab mix and a sheperd mix, they pack, chase and bite and then they kill. Livestock owners have the RIGHT to kill dogs attempting to harm their stock.

LOLOL when we FIRST met the potential new neighbors (we all bought at auction, we bought the main farm, they bought 15 acres to build on) the wife said "did you know the neighbor up front shoots doggies?" I said, yep, she's got the right, I shoot doggies too! Her comeback "you wouldn't shoot my doggies would you?" so I told her "I'd shoot my own ()*&&%^(*& dog if he's chasing my livestock so yep, I guess I WOULD shoot yours" LOLOLOL

Hey, keeps her 8 beagles and her wolf cross off my farm!

And my barn dog knows what stock is mine, my cats, kittens, day old peeps, chickens, foals, calves, etc. But let a stray cat, a possum, rat, racoon or ground hog cross his path and it's history

kj