I am about to put my home on the market. I’ve tidied up my landscaping, painted my front door, etc. The biggest negative is the pig sty of a yard my neighbors have.
I have considered approaching them and making them an offer. I would tell them that i am pretty sure I can get a minimum of $X for the house. If their yard were tidied up a bit, I may be able to get ($X + $Y). In exchange for their cooperation (fixing up the yard) I would help with the fixing up, PLUS I would give them some agreed upon percentage of Y following a successful sale.
If they agree, am I breaking any of Pennsylvania’s laws here? Do I have to disclose that my neighbors are normally slovenly? What if the neighbors were Aryan Nation sickos and I gave them some cash to take down their white-power signs? :eek:
I think it’s up to state law, but generally the only information you have to disclose are known issues with the property you are selling. If your next door neighbor begins each day by standing on his porch and urinating into his rosebushes, you don’t have to say a word about it.
There’s probably a Seller Disclosure Statement which you’ll have to sign which asks specific questions about the age and condition of the mechanicals, roof, foundation, any water damage, whether you have made any alterations or renovations and if so, if any of the work was unpermitted, that sort of thing. I’ve never seen one that asked “To the best of seller’s knowledge, is any resident on the block a Nazi?”
Thanks corkboard. I’m really curious about what the neighbors’ reaction will be, along with what percentage of $Y they will accept. And who knows. . . they may like their property spiffed up and decide to maintain it that way.
I wouldn’t offer them a percentage of the sale price - just offer to do it for free. Tell them you’re fixing up your yard and the yards on both sides to make a good impression for buyers. If you do the other side as well the messy neighbors won’t feel singled out and offended and they’ll be more likely to agree. In fact, get the good neighbor to agree first and the messy ones will probably go along.
I agree with the others that I don’t think this a disclosure issue, or even a moral one. If their yard looks good, it looks good, regardless of who did the work. Besides, the neighbors may decide they like the new look and keep it neat.
Actually, it was my Realtor who mentioned offering them $$. She was suggesting a straight bribe. “Here’s $100, fix up your yard”. I thought of making it a percentage of my profit, thinking it added more incentive.
If you knew the people, you would see that not offering cash would be a deal breaker. They are not the reason I am selling, but leaving them will sure be nice.
If that’s the case, then I would pay for the work to be done and give the neighbors cash “for being a burden on them”. If you just give them cash to get the work done, then you would probably have to enter into some kind of contract with performance requirement, etc. No good can come from that.
If you just did the “Here’s $100, fix up your yard”, then I can pretty well guarantee that you will be out $100 and their yard will remain the same.
Notwithstanding my first post, if I was the neighbor with the “pig sty” for a yard, I’d be mighty offended if one of my neighbors offered me money to make my yard look nicer. I’d find it pretty condescending.
I doubt they don’t realize the way it looks; rather, it probably looks that way because they want it to look that way. If one of my neighbors told me that the appearance of my property is what was keeping them from getting top dollar for their home, I’d probably tell them “good. Now fuck off.”
If anyone was to make such an overture to the neighbor, it should be the seller’s agent. They’re removed enough from the neighborly relationship. Still, he or she shouldn’t be surprised if they get a door slammed in their face.
That sounds right. Have your agent do the talking and not mention that its your house he’s selling. Hire someone to do the work and pay the neighbors for the “bother” - through the agent.
Strikes me that at the point you do something about it, you are admitting that you think there is a problem.
So you pay the neighbors some money to tidy their yard, put the wheels back on the old Chevy, and move the couch off the porch. You then show the house, and someone makes an offer. No-one on your side mentions the neighbors.
During the sales process (which can take a month or so these days) the house next door slowly reverts to the old, crappy state. If I (as the buyer) ask “WTF?” and find out that money changed hands, I would be on the phone to my realtor quite quickly.
Are you sure their yard meets the legal standard of the city ordinances?
Here in Minneapolis, vehicles up on blocks, overgrown grass & weeds, trash piles are all a violation. (Couches on porches was considered recently, but the City Council decided not to prohibit that.) If you report these things to the Inspector, they will be required to fix them up.
Though it might be easier to just hire someone to clean up their yard. Don’t give them money, and don’t offer them a percentage. Just hire the work done. And if they get offended by the offer, what do you care? You’re moving away anyway.
Sounds fishy to me. I’d be all about looking into the city ordinances. Most of them clearly prohibit a lot of things that would make it unsightly. If it’s nothing but dead grass and messy kids leaving toys all around, then how bad could it be? If it so bad you’re willing to pay them to clean it up, it’s probably bad enough that the city could get involved.
Probably be cheaper to send a yard crew over to clean up the yard and maybe mulch the neighbors flower beds. If the grass is dead, nothing but water and time will help.
How you can do it that they won’t be insulted and refuse is beyond me. Unless the yard is messy because they’re disabled or too poor to fix it up they will be insulted. Maybe you can fix it yourself slowly in the middle of the night and hope they won’t notice.
Tell them “Hey, let’s clean up your yard so I can sell the house to someone who is not a pig like you. Do you want someone like you living next to you?”
Well, my Realtor (who is also my friend) has information that suggests that in 6 to 9 months, circumstances will contribute to an increase in property values. She has been right before, and I am an optimist.
I wish. This is a rural area. They could literally have a pig sty and be legal. They have a car on blocks, junk TVs, scrap lumber, you name it. All legal.
The idea of hiring workers to do it sounds good. I’ll see if my Realtor will make them an offer. As for insulting them, I do not think it is possible. And knowing them, the cash will help them get over any perceived insult.
My realtor stopped to take a pic of my house/property. She ran into my slob neighbors while walking about. They initiated a conversation. My realtor mentioned that she could probably get more for my house if adjoining properties were “spiffed up” and she had college kids who would do the work at no cost to the neighbors.
They jumped on it. My realtor gave me a number to call, and two college guys on break came and put in a very hard day straightening up the situation. I had a case of beer on ice for them. Realtor said to give them $50 a piece, but I doubled that and had them take the leftover beer.
As far as the legality of the situation, she told me that there was no way I would have to disclose that my neighbors were slobs.
