<p>We have German friends and they were amused by how Americans do so much landscaping in front so other people see it because German gardens are in the back where they can enjoy them.</p>
<p>Yes, but in Germany you cannot mow your lawn on Sunday. You’ll get ticket.</p>
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But often their cement homes are up against a cement sidewalk in the front which is up against a street. That’s if they have an actual house since for many it’s a cement apartment building up against a cement sidewalk up against a street.</p>
<p>I’ll take what we have here with the set-back homes with a front yard ‘and’ a back yard/garden.</p>
<p>(I’m generalizing - of course)</p>
<p>Oh yeah… we report. One house with a bad yard will make all the property values in the neighborhood go down, not to mention that it’s a huge eyesore. Sorry, but if you have the responsibility of owning a home in suburbia, I think you have the responsibility of keeping the yard in decent shape too. If that isn’t your style, then move out to the boonies! Speaking of which, living out in the middle of nowhere would have its perks… no neighbors! Sounds like heaven! ;)</p>
<p>Hey, this thread is good luck–the across-the-street MIA neighbor showed up today along with a yard crew. We had an excuse to introduce ourselves and trade phone numbers.</p>
<p>Took the 2-3 yard crew guys half a day to get the yard tamed.</p>
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Still waiting for someone to show some actual evidence that someone’s uncut lawn is actually lowering your property value.</p>
<p>Eyesore, sure.</p>
<p>An uncut lawn is a cheap and easy fix. Less easy/cheap would be doing an overhaul on your neighbors so they are no longer petty & mean spirited.</p>
<p>I’m not sure that there would be actual evidence of a lower property value but if you have your home up for sale and you have a neighbor next door whose yard is a disaster, it’s going to be an issue for potential buyers, no doubt.</p>
<p>One tiny piece of anecdotal evidence of neighborhood lawns affecting house values:</p>
<p>In the recent buyer’s market, with all property values already down, our neighbors had their house on the market, and got multiple responses during the first open house regarding the sad state of the yard next door. Long grass, unkempt bushes, weed filled flower beds, junky grill next to the house. The sort of stuff that longtime neighbors didn’t mind, and in fact didn’t really even see. However, potential buyers looking for reasons to cross a house off their list saw it as a bigger issue. Only a couple of lowball offers for months until the people selling their home cleaned up the yard next door. They got a solid offer the next weekend.</p>
<p>I can totally see that. We went to a showing last night and we didn’t like the house, but we liked the neighborhood so much that we drove around looking for other houses in that neighborhood that were for sale. We were supposed to schedule another showing on Tuesday for a different house on a different street, and we decided not to after driving through the neighborhood… there was nothing grossly wrong with it, it just wasn’t particularly attractive either and the other neighborhoods in the area are. I can get pretty much that same house in at least four other neighborhoods that have more aesthetic appeal. And in these neighborhoods, if one person did have a terribly overgrown yard, that would stick out like a sore thumb. I probably wouldn’t buy the house next door unless it was my dream house and unless I could put up a fence.</p>
<p>Wouldn’t the neighbors in many cases be interested in who you sell your house to? ( unless they are short term renters). Have people had neighbors who were actively trying to discourage sales, even after you discussed your plans with them?</p>
<p>The kind of neighbors that are much more annoying to me than ones who don’t mow their grass every week are the ones who tear down a perfectly good house, and build something that looks like a Ultra modern dentist office in a neighborhood of arts & crafts style bungalows. Ironically the home across the street from it was also a tear down, but the new owners built something that blends in to the other homes quite nicely. The way the dentist office is positioned on the lot, there really isn’t even any room for landscaping to partially screen it.</p>
<p>I probably would get tired of this paint job really fast, but I don’t think it is as garish as some I’ve seen.
[Official:</a> Polka dots painted on N.D. home an eyesore](<a href=“Help Center - The Arizona Republic”>Help Center - The Arizona Republic)
Some houses that I have seen over the years look like they were painted with leftovers from industrial bathrooms.</p>
<p>We are painting our house this summer, & I painted large swaths on the siding to get feedback, ( oh crap that reminds me, I think the Millerpaint store burned down last night)
:(</p>
<p>I can add another piece of evidence–when we were house-shopping, we rejected a nice house because of the appearance of the house next door–it was more like junk cars than long grass, though. This is a matter of degree. A lawn that looks like it’s overdue for a cutting isn’t going to affect your value (probably). But a yard that looks like the people there don’t care for it at all definitely will.</p>
<p>Here’s my pet landscaping peeve: chain link fence. I would never buy a house in a neighborhood where people put up chain link fence around their yard. </p>
<p>BTW, I just wanted to let everyone know that I actually mowed some grass and weeded a flowerbed today. :D</p>
<p>The first house H & I owned was next door to a house that was a mess. When we bought it, we did so with the understanding that they were fixing it up … they had pulled a permit for renovations. Guess what? Several years later, nothing had been done. The weeds had grown high enough to hide the junk truck doors laying on sawhorses, so there was that …</p>
<p>It took us ages to sell our house, and I know we got less for it than we could have otherwise. We intentionally bought in a neighborhood that had rules (they are not ridiculously restrictive rules, but they assure basic upkeep).</p>
<p>[7</a> Neighbors That Can Hurt Your Home - Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pf_article_112656.html]7”>http://finance.yahoo.com/news/pf_article_112656.html)</p>
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<p>Some owners of houses for sale in our subdivision they have actually been personally maintaining the lawn of the houses next door (after of course requesting permission from owner.)</p>
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Sure, in extreme cases like a dump right next door, maybe 15%. But a lawn? I don’t think that falls into the same category as a power plant or level 3 sex offender right next door.
Well, sure. A pristine kitchen would do the same. As would other improvements.
Cute, but they don’t quantify it.</p>
<p>I myself wouldn’t want to run my life by the dictates of those who would equate unkempt yards with sex offenders. I’m not sure they even rise to the level of nuclear plants, myself. Though others might think differently.</p>
<p>In our small town, we can’t afford 24-hour police protection, and vandalism is a chronic problem. But we can afford a code enforcement officer who goes around looking for overgrown lawns etc. So I wouldn’t have to report a neighbor; the officer would beat me to it.</p>
<p>Are you kidding?
So does your township use the county sherrif services or does everything wait till 8am?</p>