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I’m Struggling with Personal Freedom Today
The Libertarian in me is struggling to stay consistent in my desire for personal freedoms, especially where personal property is concerned. Mustangman and I put our house on the market a couple days ago — we’re moving to Dayton, OH in a few weeks. The Portland market can only be described one way: hot! Most houses listed below $400,000 are under contract within a week, and we have been hoping for a fast sale.
This weekend, we packed up the kitties and took a trip up to Yakima to see Ryan M and his family while our realtor did open houses and a ton of showings. Everyone loved our house with one glaring exception. Here’s where we take a step back.
When you stand in the street looking at our house, to the right is a well-kept house and yard. To the left, you might as well be looking at a junkyard/auto repair shop. We never talk to this neighbor, who I not-so-affectionately refer to as “the grease monkey,” but he’s always out in his driveway “fixing” one of the three rusted-out 1960s Chevy trucks parked in his driveway and the street. In the back of the truck parked on the street is a load of roofing shingles waiting to be taken to the dump from where he replaced his roof … almost a year ago. There’s an old exercise bike in the front yard, along with several tires and an axle.
The backyard is so much worse. If you are ever in need of bags of concrete, water heaters, car parts, kitchen sinks, or marijuana, his backyard is the place to go. As you might imagine, the idea of living next to a trash heap is less than appealing to potential buyers. More than one person has said the next door neighbor was a barrier to them putting in an offer, and I am left desperately yearning for something I normally abhor — HOAs.
My general regard for HOAs is low; they many times end up being run by community busybodies seeking to create their little fiefdom by means of CC&Rs. I’ve seen ridiculous outcomes from battles fought in the month HOA meetings, resulting in huge fines being paid and lawsuits over the pruning of trees. But right now I would gladly proclaim, “My kingdom for an HOA!” While we live in a heavily populated area, we are part of an unincorporated town, so we are under the county’s jurisdiction. As such, there is little we can do to make the neighbor pick up his yard, which is affecting our home value.
I have always thought that people should be able to do with their property as they see fit. But what if the things you see fit are in bad taste? What if your lifestyle brings down the property value of those around you? At this point, are not his personal freedoms to live like a slob harming me? Should I have the right to require he conform to community standards of upkeep?
I’m conflicted about this, y’all. But more than that, I just really want to go over there and tell him, “Act like an adult, put your damn toys away, and go get a job!”
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This is a very simple solution. Bribe him. It’s time to talk. Go over and rationality explain that he is costing you money. There is an amount he would be willing to accept in order for him to clean up and there is an amount you are willing to pay to get the heck out of there.
Why not just go talk to the guy? Gently tell him what is happening and you want to give him as good a new neighbor as you can. However, on one house I had, I built an 8′ fence between us.
Plant a row of bushes/hedge placed along the property line to create a “wall” and screen.
If it is just optics, not unruly or hateful behavior, best do what you can to improve the lot.
Even the newness of a hedge might assuage a wary buyer.
On the creative edge, Maybe get an outside camera, to show that all the buyer is facing is optics? (Not sure if you can give a link to the camera feed to the realtor, so people can see.)
Good luck.
Portland is rubbing off on you. I’m glad you are moving…
I had this exact same experience a few years ago when my neighbor began clear-cutting his property for no reason whatsoever. Now my wooded neighborhood has a freakish hole in it – the view from my office was ruined. It gets hard to be a good libertarian when people’s choices have negative effects not only on the value of your property, but your very enjoyment of it.
It’s OK for libertarians to like HOAs. There is no shame in it.
The way I look at it is that his rights end where yours begin. He has the right to do with his property what he wishes, but he doesn’t have the right to lower the property values of his neighbors. I’ve lived in a small gated community with an HOA, and they never infringed on anyone’s rights as far as I know (admittedly, nobody wanted to paint their house pink). Have you reported him to the city? There are probably ordinances he’s violating.
I echo the sentiments above about talking to the guy first, but don’t expect it to go well or to get an immediately favorable reaction. Might take some time to bring the guy around.
Your other option is to research county nuisance and sanitation provisions. If his property is that filled with trash, it may well have rats or other pests, and if that’s the case then you very likely have legal recourse. If a property is allowed to decay or so filled with junk to the point where it is housing or generating hazards to other properties, then the owner could be open to liability issues.
Well, if it was easy …
we were in a similar situation – one person constantly complaining about the neighbor he and I shared.
He called the city – no love.
When he was getting ready to sell and still complaining my husband suggested he go over and help her clean up the place and offer to pay for a new front lawn.
He didn’t do it and I’m sure got less for his property than he otherwise would have.
The place is looking much better now, but if we find ourselves in that situation when we’re ready to sell we’ll take my husband’s suggestion and hope the homeowner is open to help
BTW – did the neighbor’s house looked as trashed when you bought ? Or is it more recent ?
This would be a libertarian solution, if libertarian solutions are what you’re after.
This could also be an effective solution. Bribe him, or offer to pay someone to clean his yard, or offer to clean it yourself. If you make the offer to Bribe him, he may well be shamed into cleaning up, and if you pitched in to help there might be less animosity.
You are correct in principle. In practice, I know I would bristle at my neighbors telling me what kind of tree or flowers I (or, let’s get real, my wife) could plant or what color shingles or siding I can put on my house. But I’ve got a higher tolerance for unsightly neighbors than most people, perhaps. If someone where to jump out the window of our guest bedroom they would literally land in a gravel lot full of cars that can only be moved by a wrecker. I’m just glad the guy who owns them no longer rearranges them every other Sunday morning.
As to Vicryl’s problem, I think comments #1 and #2 sound worth trying.
So from your point of view everybody should live their lives to maximize your profits?
just curious, was this guy there when you purchased the property?
Just curious, how large is the grow operation?
The neighbor in question bought the house in May of 2015, 8 years after Mustang bought the house. The previous owners had a lovely rose garden in the back.
We’re also pretty sure the guy is also growing and selling weed, which is why he’s always around and doesn’t seem to have a job with normal business hours.
I’ve also called the cops on this guy twice in one night for blasting his rap music in the middle of the night. The police came out twice within an hour and a half to tell him to turn it down, and both times he cranked it back up after they left. Hence why I’m not thrilled at the idea of trying to appeal to his reason.
Hire a negotiator. Don’t think ideology . Think Ohio. Think of him in the rear view mirror.
Shoot him, leave him in a pile of his own weed. Cops will think it is a deal go bad.
Freedom doesn’t preclude bad luck. I’m sorry for you both.
You’re leaving so even medium term options are useless. An eight-foot fence, a good if not peak offer in a hot market, and then fully enjoy life away from the pig.
Enjoy Dayton.
What you think. We can make a few bucks?
We don’t know for sure, but we’re pretty sure. One of the first things he did when he moved in was build a shed in the back. One day the door was left open, and the walls appeared to be lined with plastic or mylar. There was a grow shop van parked outside for a long time, and I’ve also seen people coming and going out of the backyard at all hours of the night. We are 500-600 feet from a middle school, so him growing is against the law, but I was told that even if he was busted for it it would only be a citation.
This reminds me of a war my dad got into with a man across the river. The man was a live entertainer at a cafe, and probably tone-deaf. He couldn’t sing. He only mooed. Very loudly. My dad got his revenge by blasting polka back at him.
There may not have been peace and quiet, but bygum, the was polka!
I’ve thought about blasting opera early in the morning when he’s sleeping. Fortunately, we won’t be here much longer.
Haha! I used to have friends who’d put Wagner on if party guests weren’t leaving when the party was over.
I think I’d go with Sibelius and just bore people into going home.
Definitely invest in a 10 foot tall wooden fence.
Well I was going to buy pot from him (for my glaucoma) but after learning about his ungentlemanliness I will take my business elsewhere.
Good businesses do not thrive without manners.
Given the description you provide of your neighbor and the ineffectiveness of the police so far, I’d say a fence is likely your easiest option.
I also want to point out that not everyone pays much attention to the immediate neighbors when they’re looking at a house.
I’ve planted some jasmine along the fence between our houses that’s outside our bedroom window. But they’ve only been planted for a couple weeks.
I didn’t when I bought a house, then after moving in discovered it was a meth house next door. I had the redwood fence built and then planted rose bushes along the fence. Then, I think I mentioned once long ago in a post, that I open carried when I worked in my yard. After that I organized a Neighborhood Watch because they had been terrorizing the neighborhood. We finally got rid of them in about 6 months and had the city come out and put a hold on the house because the landlord was misusing the house. However, it takes time to do this stuff, but I tried to go back on the people who sold me the house for non disclosure, but didn’t have enough money to sue them. They even denied owning a dog that made herself at home when all the neighbors identified her, even told me what her name was. The fence will probably be the fastest and best thing to do.