Joined Nov 2005
L10: Grand Master
Forum Thread
New neighbors - don't appear to be very bright - how to help?
May 28, 2020 at
11:07 AM
in
Question
I live on a shared driveway with 2 other houses. I am the most senior of the owners (been here 10 years) - the house immediately next to mine (the middle house on the driveway, I live at the end) just sold at the end of Feb. The prior owners were great, guy knew how to take care of his house and were self-sufficient. When we moved in 10 years ago, I took his lead on things like - where the property line is/who mows the lawn to which point, how snow is handled, etc.
The new people I have met once, stopped by at the very beginning to say hello. Mid-40's, no kids, 2 cats. I got the impression they weren't very social people, which is OK, but this whole covid shit has really kicked that into high gear.
Anyway, they came from an apt high rise. Everything I've seen from them all points to the idea that they don't know what they are doing. Problem is, it's rolling over into my property, like how they didn't bother to mow the lawn for 2 weeks until it got a foot high and now there are clumps everywhere (they hired someone to do it). top top it off, our property lines are not obvious and they are leaving an entire area unmowed - you'd think that they'd get the drift that they should mow it if I'm not mowing it, but apparently they don't.
They made a small garden in their yard which we are still debating if it's a garden or a pet cemetery as it's just a circle of sticks with some dirt in the middle and some kind of plants.
I've previously dropped a note in their mailbox just offering our contact info (cell #'s) and names of everyone - even if you're antisocial it's still good to know who your neighbors are and how to contact them.
I am wondering how else I could offer some suggestions without seeming overbearing. Another example - when they first moved in they had a generator delivered (it was obvious as it was delivered on a flatbed. Also since I have been working from home, the computer sits right in front of a window with direct view of their house, so I notice any cars that come up the driveway). It just so happened that a few weeks later our power was out overnight due to a storm. I had my generator running, and I could see the guy struggling from 250 ft away, or at least I'll say he was fiddling with the generator with a can of gas nearby and not once did I hear it running. He didn't want to message me then apparently, and I didn't want to just roll up and offer help (overbearing again).
Did I mention they also have a pool? That's going to go well I know it right now...
The new people I have met once, stopped by at the very beginning to say hello. Mid-40's, no kids, 2 cats. I got the impression they weren't very social people, which is OK, but this whole covid shit has really kicked that into high gear.
Anyway, they came from an apt high rise. Everything I've seen from them all points to the idea that they don't know what they are doing. Problem is, it's rolling over into my property, like how they didn't bother to mow the lawn for 2 weeks until it got a foot high and now there are clumps everywhere (they hired someone to do it). top top it off, our property lines are not obvious and they are leaving an entire area unmowed - you'd think that they'd get the drift that they should mow it if I'm not mowing it, but apparently they don't.
They made a small garden in their yard which we are still debating if it's a garden or a pet cemetery as it's just a circle of sticks with some dirt in the middle and some kind of plants.
I've previously dropped a note in their mailbox just offering our contact info (cell #'s) and names of everyone - even if you're antisocial it's still good to know who your neighbors are and how to contact them.
I am wondering how else I could offer some suggestions without seeming overbearing. Another example - when they first moved in they had a generator delivered (it was obvious as it was delivered on a flatbed. Also since I have been working from home, the computer sits right in front of a window with direct view of their house, so I notice any cars that come up the driveway). It just so happened that a few weeks later our power was out overnight due to a storm. I had my generator running, and I could see the guy struggling from 250 ft away, or at least I'll say he was fiddling with the generator with a can of gas nearby and not once did I hear it running. He didn't want to message me then apparently, and I didn't want to just roll up and offer help (overbearing again).
Did I mention they also have a pool? That's going to go well I know it right now...
44 Comments
Your comment cannot be blank.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
It's sad that it took nearly four hours for the obvious solution to be posted. The Lounge really has gone downhill.
As to the lawn, maybe just mention where the boundary line is the next time you do talk. Or next time you see someone from the service they hired mowing the lawn, mention to them where the boundaries are. Most likely they simply have no clue.
Were you wearing your cellophane suit? The guy could probably see you're nuts.
Have you read your signature line lately...?
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Well with regards to the driveway there is a legal document about maintenance, mostly who pays for it and there's actually a voting hierarchy. Since I am at the end, while I pay the most for maintenance I also have > 2/3 of the voting rights so what I say goes
Reminds me of that Chevy Chase movie..... what was it called......... Funny Farm [wikipedia.org]! Basically he is a writer that moves to the country and the entire town are a bunch of assholes, when he wants to sell he bribes them all into acting nice.
Arson would also help with the neighbors lack of brightness, temporarily.
On the positive side they did a return salvo - sent us a letter, appears to be hastily written. Now how to broach where the property lines are located....
On the positive side they did a return salvo - sent us a letter, appears to be hastily written. Now how to broach where the property lines are located....
On the positive side they did a return salvo - sent us a letter, appears to be hastily written. Now how to broach where the property lines are located....
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
My original letter to them was basically a "hello" with a short note saying how it would be good to have a line of communication for whatever anyone needed (gave them cell #'s) and also listed all our names.
Their return letter was kinda odd and basically just said "k thanx". It was typed, but not spellchecked (?); These are "professionals" - one works in a law office and the other is a headhunter (recruiter).