I recently was showing my biggest and best rental house to a good quality rental applicant and she told me she loved my house but would not be interested in renting it. Reason: She said 'the house across the street is real crummy looking and that means I will have sleazy neighbors if I live here'. She went on to say,..'houses like that only attract the worse tenants'. Would you agree with this?

Yes, there is only one crummy (has the Class D look) house on this block and it is just across the street in plain view. This is not a bad neighborhood though,...but the house across the street is a slumlord house.

I feel like I am between a rock and hard place.

Yes, I would agree with this. I have the same situation on one of my houses. The house next door is vacant and has been for years. It's falling apart. The owner lives out of state and doesn't care. They pay the taxes every 3 years (takes 3 years before the county will step in and start foreclosure). They never mow, the city has to do it for them (got to be 10' this last summer before the city finally mowed it).

I can't tell you how many times people have said they didn't want my house because of the one next door. I'm trying to work with the city, but they can't do much. At least this last year I built up a good rapport with the head of housing inspections and we should be able to keep the yard mowed better this next summer.

When I get my current rehab done, I'll be in that same situation.

Being very, very good at landscape, I've been giving neighbors gentle nudges at all of my houses. That takes patience, and a gentle demeanor, which I think you have.

The advice to buy it is probably your best solution, but, if that's not possible, I'd encourage you to get to know who:

1.) owns the place

2,) occupies the place

3.) does the yard work

One of those persons might be interested in having a better appearance, just not know anything about how to do it.

In my situation, #3 is who I'll have to work with, and that 'person' happens to be Department of Neighborhood services. Fortunately, I've worked with the inspector on a couple of my houses when our city had a non-owner occupied inspection program. So, having that good relationship works in my favor.

At that same house, I've been 'working' with the kid who mows lawn and snow blows the duplex next door for a couple of years. The duplex he maintains now looks much better. I trim weed trees for him, he doesn't have the tools/know how. And, in the winter, when I get to my property, he's usually already snow-blowed (snow-blown?) half of my sidewalk. Yay! (Especially since I have cold weather asthma)

For many of my neighbors, just teaching them about trash and recycling really improves curb appeal.

When I get my current rehab done, I'll be in that same situation.

Being very, very good at landscape, I've been giving neighbors gentle nudges at all of my houses. That takes patience, and a gentle demeanor, which I think you have.

The advice to buy it is probably your best solution, but, if that's not possible, I'd encourage you to get to know who:

1.) owns the place

2,) occupies the place

3.) does the yard work

One of those persons might be interested in having a better appearance, just not know anything about how to do it.

In my situation, #3 is who I'll have to work with, and that 'person' happens to be Department of Neighborhood services. Fortunately, I've worked with the inspector on a couple of my houses when our city had a non-owner occupied inspection program. So, having that good relationship works in my favor.

At that same house, I've been 'working' with the kid who mows lawn and snow blows the duplex next door for a couple of years. The duplex he maintains now looks much better. I trim weed trees for him, he doesn't have the tools/know how. And, in the winter, when I get to my property, he's usually already snow-blowed (snow-blown?) half of my sidewalk. Yay! (Especially since I have cold weather asthma)

For many of my neighbors, just teaching them about trash and recycling really improves curb appeal.

We had that situation. Trouble is, the eyesore was completely hidden from the street by OUR house, so no one care but us (and our tenants.)

I contacted the County and they said they had talked to the owner and it was taken care of.

So I took multiple pictures, and sent them one at a time via email to the person in charge.

I did this twice over two weeks.

It is a free country, they should be able to do as they wish.

You want to come into the neighborhood and profit, then do so at your own risk.

I'm very touchy about my neighborhoods. Jakcovvs come in with their We Buy Houses signs and I pull that junk down as quick as I can. They tell me how they are going to help our area, nonsense, they are here to help themselves and then litter our streets.

I've had many homes around my shacks that didn't look good. I took my crews and we cut the grass. In fact, we routinely do it now.

Some of these owners are doing the best they can, dealing with health insurance issues and they live far away. I can't demand that they sell. They have dreams too and although their dreams may not work out, the deal was if they pay taxes, they get to keep the place.

Smokowna, mostly I agree with not calling the authorities. I've mown many a neighboring yard, hauled trash, trimmed trees. But, sometimes, the owner has just decided they don't want to do a darn thing with a place but collect rent. I'm not willing to let my neighborhoods get run down while somebody else is living large and treating their rentals and tenants like trash.

At one of my properties, the owner moved out when she decided the neighborhood was too sketchy. ( it was her relatives that were sketchy.) she let her family 'rent' from her, there ended up with two junked cars, trash everywhere, and a severe rat infestation. All the neighbors had known her for years, kept in touch, but she wouldn't do anything about it. Her 'tenants' weren't happy either, I helped them with a few issues.

Finally, neighbors had enough, got city working on it. She did give the tenants the heave ho when they finally stopped paying rent. Another neighbor and I maintained her yard for a year while it sat empty.

Now, a closer relative, whom I've worked with before, moved back in. He's not a neat-nick, but, it's better than before. And the sketchy people are gone.

I dropped off some money at her current home once (rented her driveway for my tenant while my driveway was being redone.) she lives in a beautiful condo, in a ritzy neighborhood. Oh, and she retired as a former project manager for HUD.

Sometimes, ya gotta get a big stick...

Exactly, Busy. Smokowna, I'm not one to complain to the authorities, our own yard is not pristine!

But there is a limit. My little ol' lady tenants deserved better than that guy. The local landlord never visited the place, maybe because the tenant was a scary drug dealer. Yes there were rats and other vermin. Yes there were people visiting the place, going inside leaving car running and then leaving within a few minutes all hours of the night and day. Yard was FILLED with trash and blowing debris. And of course two barking dogs.

After being threatened by the county with fines, she put her big girl pants on and evicted him, and had the place cleaned up (it took dumpsters and a team of people to do it.)

Answer : NO.

Years past, A mans Home was his Castle.

(and Most people minded their Own Business. (not others)

My dad always helped neighbors, RB. That was how he was brought up. I learned that during the depression, my grandpa bought neighbors farms, let the continue to operate them, and when the neighbors could afford it, Grandpa sold the farms back. I never knew my Grandpa, but, I'd love to live up to that!

Putting up with bad actors isn't minding one's own business, it's letting the business run down the crapper, in my opinion.

I've only ever called the city once. But, I've helped many people out. Most neighbors want their places to look nice, more often than not its education or abilities. I don't call for pesky little things, like a dog barking.

I had a neighbor call on me once when we had 'too many cars' in the driveway. Our town has a rule of two more cars than licensed drivers in the driveway. We had three, and since my husband and I are both licensed, we should have been under the limit. When we talked with the officer, we explained that two cars belonged to our son, serving overseas. Cop said, he counts as resident, if he has no other domicile.

In my neighbor's defense, if our three cars were bothering one neighbor, they were probably 'bothering' more, so getting rid of one car may have also appeased others. But, the neighbor could have TALKED with us, rather than calling the city.

This house stays vacant 6-8 months out of the year. Someone just moved in and if history is correct, they will stay for about a month and move out.

BTW: this is not the type of house I would care to buy. This house needs bulldozer,...not a buyer.

When I was going to college I got a property manager to help me with my six rental homes. One house that I just purchased had the neighbor from "Hel-l" next door. So my realtor/manager went to that property and told them,

"They had won 1 months free gardening service and a second month at half price". Those neighbors were great-full. I paid my gardener an extra $75 to clean up the neighbors front lawn. Throw down some seeds and water once a week for the next few weeks.

Warning (Ky) - I'm curious. Am I the enabler from heck ? Or the busy bod in chief, lol!

Either way, it's what werks fer me. Cheers!

If it's that bad that it needs a bulldozer, owner might just be waiting for city to foreclose for taxes.

Busy,

Three years ago, the city tore down (bulldozed) the eyesore house that was next door to this one. My city knocks down about 30 houses a year but they have back-log of 10 times that many. Nobody re-builds on these lots either.

My area too. That's what I am hoping will happen to the house across the street. (Fire damage, gaping hole in roof, blue tarp is mostly shredded. Happened six or eight months ago.)

So, it sounds like one of the likely solutions for now is to do your best to keep up neighbor's appearances for now. All those city 'mow your lawn' notices look like heck too, and when they get posted on the door, it's a couple of weeks till the city mows. A few neighbors asked why Someone who looks like me, but isn't me might trim trees, mow lawns that aren't mine, I mean, theirs, I just say 'better to ask forgiveness than permission.' Having said that, I do start with 'working with' the neighbor if possible. (The duplex next door to mine- the kid that does lawn and snow and I have a good thing going. )

If the owner is never around, has a post office box for mail, then someone, WHO LOOKS LIKE ME, but ISN't me might just happen to mow and trim a bit. And haul trash. I don't paint , but Someone might have boarded up a window . (Did you know, with the right paints, you can paint plywood to look like a nice window with a curtain? *grin*)

And if the property is next door or behind, I believe there are hedges that grow quickly in your area. I buy a lot of cheap shrubbery through those cheap glossy garden catalogues. But one, get the second for a penny! Do a little research on those though. They'd sell you kudzu!

could you have said something like "They are moving"

That is my canned answer,,, i don't know if they are or not, but usually they are as there is alot of turn over.

That was me, LLOTF. The "view" is from the second floor apartment. ALL of their ugly yard was on display.

Like I said, I'm not one to complain and we are not landscapers and sometimes things sit around our own spaces longer than they should - but this was BAD.

They had a boat up on a trailer they were using as a never-emptied dumpster. Garbage bags torn open by critters, spilling out and over and blowing across the yard. Piles of stuff all along Their other neighbor's high-wooden fence, so the other neighbors couldn't see it, but we could plain as day. Trash bags piled along their own (chainlink) fence, torn open and spilling. Etc.

The dump across the street is an eyesore and costs you a potential A / B rated tenant. NOW you may have to settle for a D rated tenant.

The house across the street is a tear down in your eyes HOWEVER in the eyes of the landlord its a money stream ok a money trickle.

It would not hurt to check the ownership of the house. There maybe multiple owners and MAYBE they can not get along. And its only going to get worst. If you want the best option to find the owner hire a title company to run a title search that will give you a clear picture of one owner or multiple owners. Family dynamics can be a real issue with real estate ownership. Parents, aunts or relative dies wills it to several family members. Now the Hatfields and McCoy's can not get along. PLUS you find out other liens on the property with a title search.

Roy,

We have painted and cleaned up MANY neighboring houses for this reason.

And installed TALL privacy fences along the sides and back of my props.

Unfortunately, there's not a tall enough privacy fence that a municipality would permit in front of the house to block the eyesore across the street...

The side and back may permit a 6' to 8' privacy fence but if its a two story house next door; it's not going to be blocked by an 8' fence.

Buy the house call the fire dept if they would like a fire drill practice on the house and once you own it set it on fire. HOWEVER that may not work due to the houses being to close to each other. Hire a demolition company to remove the house.