Why does it bother my neighbors that I never open my blinds/shades?

In My Humble Opinion
1

(First of all, I hope they’re not reading. I would hate for them to think I have some sort of problem with them. They seem like perfectly decent people.)

A couple of years ago, I bought a house, and it’s the type I grew up calling a twin, though in this part of the country most people are unfamiliar with that term, and call it a duplex. I live alone; my neighbors on the other side are a childless couple. It’s a dense neighborhood, with the houses close to each other and close to the street. If I left my window coverings open, everyone from the neighbors across the street to people walking their dog past could see right into my house, especially at night, but even to some degree during the day. So I just leave them closed all the time. My neighbors usually have theirs partially open, at least during the day.

A few months ago, the wife made a comment to me, to the effect that “someone was walking through the neighborhood and asked us if your place was for rent. They said they thought the fact that all the window blinds were completely closed was a sign that a place was for rent. You might want to open your blinds at least some of the time.” So I did, for a little while. Then my mother came to visit. The guest room is in the front of the house, so naturally, for privacy’s sake, she kept the blinds in that room closed the whole time she was here, and I never reopened them. Meanwhile, I stopped bothering to sometimes open the front door shade or the window shades in my office (which is the room in the front of the house on the first floor.)

Then the guy texted me this afternoon to tell me that a 3rd person just asked them if my place was on the market, so I might want to start opening some of the shades sometimes.

I would also add that I put no thought into, nor do I care about, exterior decorations. The place doesn’t look like an abandoned house; it’s clean and well-kept, we have a lawn service that mows once a week, trims the shrubbery and mulches the shrubbery bed, etc. The places have small front porches and if mine gets much debris on it I sweep it off. But there is nothing on mine except a welcome mat under the door. (Well, I just got a fern for out there, but it’s small and in a small pot, and is probably going to take a while to grow big enough to be noticeable.)

Since it’s no skin off my back if people think my house is for rent or for sale (it’s not,) I have to assume it bothers my neighbors for some reason that I keep my blinds closed. I can think of two reasons:

  1. Property values. I grew up in a lower SES, and I’m still not used to this obsession over property values. When I was a kid, owning a house was a goal because a. you could do whatever you wanted with the place, and b. you were building some equity, so you would at least get something when you sold. But the idea that I should have this goal to sell my house for quadruple what I paid for it and that’s going to be a major portion of my retirement funds still is just not on my radar screen. I rented for many years, and reason “a” above was one thing I always looked forward to about owning. I’m not doing anything that requires absolute privacy; I’m not a nudist or something, but it’s my house and if I want to sit inside all day and night with all the blinds and shades drawn, I should be able to. But I could see how my neighbors might be thinking “c’mon, Arcite, your place looks like nobody lives there, and it’s causing our Zestimate to be $1000 lower than it otherwise might be.”

  2. Crime. Maybe they think people are casing the joint and if a place looks un-lived-in, break-ins are more likely to occur.

Do you think it’s one of those two reasons, or something else? Or are they just being good Samaritans and they assume it would bother me for people to think my house is on the market, and they’re trying to help me out?

2

Very hard to say. My Wife and I live in a single family dwelling with front and back yard. Other homes in this area are much the same. I can’t say that I’ve ever noticed or cared if the neighbours blinds were open or closed nor would I care.

I’m gathering there’s a number of Gladys Kravitz types near you.

3

Could it be that the neighbors were simply bothered by being asked repeatedly about your house and strangers knocking at their door?

Housing and rental market is tight and everyone is looking for an edge right now including knocking on the door, and even finding out the owner of a property and texting them their interest. If it looks like it might be unoccupied it’s not unreasonable to ask the side of the house that looks occupied about it.

4

That’s a good thought. I had just assumed these people were approaching them because they happened to be outside (they sometimes sit on their front porch, and they have a dog that they walk) but to be honest, I’m not sure they actually told me how these people contacted them, and if it was that they interrupted them and knocked on their front door when they were inside, that would be annoying.

5

Why wouldn’t they knock on your door to actually see if anybody lived there?

ETA: Don’t you ever get JW or other random door knockers?

6

If your side of the duplex looks like no one lives there, then I guess someone might assume that it’s vacant. I would guess that closing the blinds would be normal in that case. What might help counteract that assumption is to make your side look more lived in. Perhaps have a chair, some plants, etc. on the porch. That way it’s clear that someone is living on that side. It’s probably a combination of things like “blinds are closed, nothing personal outside, no one walking around, etc” that make people wonder if it’s for rent.

7

If I have, I’ve never been home for it.

Maybe these people are knocking on my door first, but I’m not home, so when no one answers, they knock on my neighbors’ door. I have the impression my neighbors are at least partly working from home now, whereas I’m not.

Then again, it is unusual that I’ve never been home when a random door-knocker knocked. It’s not like I’m never home.

8

Well, yeah, I’m aware of that. The question is why my neighbors care.

9

Maybe they just want to sit on the porch in peace and are getting tired of people asking about your side. It sounds a little overreaching on their part, but that’s part of the “fun” of living in a neighborhood. Neighbors complain about all sorts of things. I’m guessing that if no one asked them if your place was for rent, they wouldn’t care if the blinds were closed.

10

The most direct way to find out is to ask your neighbor. You’re not mad at them for asking you to open the blinds, but you’re curious what the issue is. As you said it’s completely up to you. I would walk over to my neighbor with a plate of donuts, cookies, or cupcakes and ask if they would mind chatting for a moment.

Instead of leaving the blinds open, as suggested you could do other things like park your car in the driveway during the day, or put up political posters in your yard. But find out why your neighbor cares. If it really is people coming up to their side and asking them if it’s for sale or rent or you could make a sign that simply says this place is not for sale or rent and put it on your lawn.

11

I’d wonder if this neighbor had an unnatural curiosity about what went on in your side of the duplex and was frustrated by the closed shades.

I have my doubts that people are actually pressing the neighbor on the subject of whether your home is for rent. You have zero obligation to show that the place is “lived in”.

12

I think they call that style of house “semi-detached” in the UK. We don’t have many houses of that style in San Francisco, ours tend to be stacked, one per level, two or three levels tall, or else single-family homes with zero lot lines (i.e. houses are touching on either side but do not share walls).

I sympathize with the “living on the sidewalk” feeling when your window coverings are open. From your description, it sounds like the place just doesn’t look lived-in from the outside. Lawn and shrubbery is pretty basic, such as one might have at an empty dwelling, so if you have room on your porch for more stuff than a fern, like a chair or something, that would probably help.

But in the end, it’s your house, and you are entitled to leave your window coverings closed if that makes you more comfortable. It sounds like your place is well-maintained and clean, and really that’s all that the neighbors and their property values can ask for.

13

The neighbours are being ridiculous, IMHO. I’m glad I live in a place that isn’t so nosy. I generally leave my front window shades closed because … why not? Upstairs is a guest bedroom that is rarely used, and my study where I often use the computer late at night and where the sun glare during the day is annoying. Downstairs the blinds are open in the living area, but it’s well obscured from the street by shrubbery. The only time I frequently open the blinds is during spring and fall “transition season”, when I open the windows for fresh air and neither furnace nor A/C is running.

If someone is interested in snooping into the goings-on at my house, they are welcome to maintain surveillance through the massive windows and sliding glass door at the back of the house, which have no blinds at all. If they’re lucky and maintain good vigilance, they might see me come down in the middle of the night in my tighty-whities to fetch a Coke or a bowl of chips. If they’re really lucky, they might see me hanging around for ten minutes or so making myself a sandwich. :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

So far I have had neither complaints nor encouragement.

14

I suppose that it might also be possible that, with the blinds closed 24/7, neighbors might also wonder if there is something illegal or unseemly going on inside, such as a meth lab.

15

Sometimes one person owns both units and lives on one side while renting out the other. If that’s common in your area, people may be used to renting with the owner next door. People walking around may be assuming that’s the case with your building and assuming that your neighbors are the owners of both units. Since it sounds like your side may be a bit spartan, it’s probably not that an unusual assumption to make. Your neighbors may be thinking that opening the blinds are the best way, but that’s probably just them. I would guess that doing anything that makes your side look lived in will help avoid people asking if it’s for rent.

16

Their noses should tell them otherwise.

Come to think of it, the blinds at our house (the ones visible to the street, anyway) are closed almost all the time, with the exception of the upstairs bedroom where I grow a large number of house plants and perennial/vegetable starts in season, and from which emanates the glow of fluorescent and LED grow lamps. Thankfully no one has come knocking on the door to inquire about a nonexistent cannabis grow operation.

17

Since you have the guys phone number call the police and tell them you are being harassed. I’d get one of those Ring things for your door and make sure your doors and windows are locked at all time.

18

“The guy” is the husband of my neighbor couple, not the person who asked if my place was for rent.

Unless you’re suggesting I call the police and complain that my neighbors are harassing me.

I have no indication that the any two of the three times someone has allegedly inquired about my place, it has been the same person. I’ve been assuming they mean it was three different people.

19

It’s still strange behavior. There’s some reason this is coming up and it’s not your blinds.

20

Right, I suspect “people keep asking about your place” is an excuse, and what’s really going on is that my neighbors have some other reason for not wanting the place of which their place is the other half to have its window coverings closed all the time, because they think that makes it look shady or something.