People who move into nice neighborhoods and don’t care for the house

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There are a number of people in my area who have these huge, gorgeous houses and NO landscaping. I keep saying I’m gonna go during the night and just put some boxwood in the front. I think there are people who only care how the inside looks.

A lot of the new homes have very little landscaping bc the builder only installs what is required by the permit (for example, a few trees to meet stormwater management requirements). My theory is that people move in and don't want to spend money on one more thing (or they think that bc they bought a "fancy" new house, everything looks fine and nothing more is required). This is...obviously not true. I don't think they are savvy enough to find a landscaper. I really don't.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our neighborhood is the opposite. When we moved in there were mostly middle aged to older neighbors and many of us did our own yard work and maintenance. Over the years a number of the houses have been torn down and replaced with new houses. These people have all maintenance outsourced, including several who pay my teenagers to water their outdoor flower pots that are not reached by the sprinklers. We who remain in the neighborhood feel that we had to step up our maintenance to meet the standards of the new people.

Good thing you can afford it. I don’t think it should be responsibility of people how had lived in a neighborhood for a long time to have to live up to the standards of new money. New money has a lot of choices, they can choose HOA or exclusive rich enclaves that had been established for many decades and never had regular middle class people living there. But MC people homes are getting torn down to build their new luxury homes, so you should expect there will be some older neglected homes around for a while. Also, landscaping can get wild over time if you don’t invest more money into changing it periodically and trying to control runoff and invasive species, which regular grass lawn care services will never do. It costs a lot to redo landscaping and hardscaping. You cannot expect older home owners to be able to afford this, also considering that their homes and landscaping is worth exactly zero since their homes are tear downs ad will be only sold for price of the land. Not many homeowners will want to spend a lot of money to keep a tear down home in a tip top condition.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not important to them!

+1 Some people just don’t care about this stuff.

[Anonymous]

I don't get it either. Similar to people who buy multi-million dollar homes and don't furnish or decorate at all. I'm always so surprised when it looks so nice on the outside but looks like crap on the inside.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't get it either. Similar to people who buy multi-million dollar homes and don't furnish or decorate at all. I'm always so surprised when it looks so nice on the outside but looks like crap on the inside.

With such a diverse country you're going to get diverse tastes.
I took my kid to a playdate in a beautiful old Victorian house in the nicest neighborhood. They had just finished remodeling after buying it. When we got there I saw that they had removed all the plants and filled their yard with rocks for some inexplicable reason. The inside of the house was cavernous and white like an art gallery with gold, throne-like furniture. The mom was obviously very proud and gave me a house tour but I was kind of perplexed! I'm sure she thinks my house is tacky in return (Craftsman bungalow.)

[Anonymous]

Maybe they have two kids that attend GW and one kid in med school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

..so you’re lazy? Was this supposed to be a badge of honor?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a number of people in my area who have these huge, gorgeous houses and NO landscaping. I keep saying I’m gonna go during the night and just put some boxwood in the front. I think there are people who only care how the inside looks.

A lot of the new homes have very little landscaping bc the builder only installs what is required by the permit (for example, a few trees to meet stormwater management requirements). My theory is that people move in and don't want to spend money on one more thing (or they think that bc they bought a "fancy" new house, everything looks fine and nothing more is required). This is...obviously not true. I don't think they are savvy enough to find a landscaper. I really don't.

Why don't agents facilitate transfer of information regarding home services? Because they are trying to hide the true cost of the property?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There are a number of people in my area who have these huge, gorgeous houses and NO landscaping. I keep saying I’m gonna go during the night and just put some boxwood in the front. I think there are people who only care how the inside looks.

A lot of the new homes have very little landscaping bc the builder only installs what is required by the permit (for example, a few trees to meet stormwater management requirements). My theory is that people move in and don't want to spend money on one more thing (or they think that bc they bought a "fancy" new house, everything looks fine and nothing more is required). This is...obviously not true. I don't think they are savvy enough to find a landscaper. I really don't.

Why don't agents facilitate transfer of information regarding home services? Because they are trying to hide the true cost of the property?

It was generally common knowledge amongst those buying in those price ranges. Apparently not so much these days.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

This is not the flex you think it is, I hate people like you, single handedly bringing down property values.

I am not the PP, but if you think something like she describes materially affects your property value, you truly are an idiot.

Not pp. It does bring down property values and you just don't know enough about real estate to understand this. Don't come here posting as if you are some real estate expert.

Houses nearby may get fewer offers and get a lower price. There are lots of ways this can impact the price. We haven't been in this crazed housing shortage forever and it won't continue.

Lower property values are better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could have run out of money.
They could be from a culture that doesn't do home maintenance.

They could be me and doing this to not look "rich." Haven't had a single thing stolen since we decided to let the outside of the house go down a little.

"When in Rome..."
If you are "from a culture that doesn't do home maintenance" and move to a culture that does, you need to start doing it to.

Agree. I come from a culture like that. When we moved here to the US we realized how important a nice yard is to Americans, so we put in the time, money and effort to keep the yard nice.

and the truth is you don't have to be in a gardening competition to make your yard look decent. It takes very little money just to mow once or twice a month.

When you get a lawn you'll learn that mowing once or twice a month isn't nearly enough to keep it looking decent.

7-10 days is a normal mowing schedule. At mowing is just the beginning.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Lots of different types of reasons, but on my street it's almost all renters who are the problem houses. My street isn't fancy, houses are pretty cheap at just under $1M. But it's very easy to pick out the renters versus owners.

You mean it's the LANDLORDS who are the problem houses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They could have run out of money.
They could be from a culture that doesn't do home maintenance.

They could be me and doing this to not look "rich." Haven't had a single thing stolen since we decided to let the outside of the house go down a little.

"When in Rome..."
If you are "from a culture that doesn't do home maintenance" and move to a culture that does, you need to start doing it to.

Agree. I come from a culture like that. When we moved here to the US we realized how important a nice yard is to Americans, so we put in the time, money and effort to keep the yard nice.

Growing up in the land of corn we had a neighbor couple from India. Great people except they didn’t mow their lawn. So, my dad just mowed it for them. Should he have had to? No. But they weren’t going to do it and my dad wasn’t going to sit around hating good people because of a lawn.

They better have cooked for you! I'd make that deal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

There are two things that really bother me about your post. The first is that the empty pots and bags of potting soil can so easily be moved to the back or even side of your house so that it is less of an eyesore. It's a bit obnoxious that you don't just move them. If the pots are small and not very noticeable, ok but otherwise, what are you thinking? I love the fact that you love your garden and plants and I love neighbors who go crazy with gardens. Why do you crap it up when it sounds so lovely?

The worst thing is that you blame others for the condition of your driveway and refuse to fix it. That would truly impact the ability of a neighbor to sell their house. The housing market is changing and you could really hurt your neighbors. Do not blame people turning around in your driveway for the damage. Unless there are 2 ton trucks coming through every day, passenger cars coming up part of it here and there are not going to damage it.

I wouldn't care if your yard has leaf litter. I'm all for leaving the leaves be. I also don't have a problem with people who occassionally let their grass get high as long as it's under a foot and it's not constant. Any higher and you know, you're being a jerk.

It sounds like your yard could be a joy and yet you sabotage it.

Why is leaf litter OK but tall grass bad? Arbitrary.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I live in a neighborhood where homes go for 2-5M. Our yard is a glorious mess: as in, my husband and I coddle our handpicked prize roses, jasmine, mock-orange, lilac, Japanese maples, etc, but leave empty plant containers and potting soil bags lying around. Debris come from the busy street into our front yard and we don't immediately pick them up. And my husband, responsible for cutting grass, lets it go to seed at least once per growing season. We don't rake diligently and when we do, we use leaf debris for mulch, as nature intended - no buying mulch ever.

The driveway is damaged because lots of people are surprised by the one-way sign and turn around in our driveway - I am not fixing that, it's going to get damaged all over again.

People probably excuse us because we have the smallest house in the neighborhood, and they think we're poor. Not at all! We'd the same on a large property with a large house. We love plants but we don't care about your ridiculous standards for lawn and whatnot.

So gripe away, OP! You make me laugh.

Empty plant containers, potting soil bags, debris, damaged driveway.
Your yard looks like s***.
For the love of God, tidy up a little.

You tell 'em.
I've also observed on our local Facebook that the same people with these messes in their yards are the first to denounce others for not using "sustainable modes of transportation", using too much water on their grass, and on and on "for the greater good." And they're ALSO the ones who come back from their trip to Japan or Europe complaining that Americans should be more like that (I.e. clean, tidy, respectful of others.) But when it comes to their own front yard that everyone can see they want the "freedom" to leave it looking like a sty.

Not that fancy neighborhood poster, but it's not about freedom and there is no contradiction here, it's just a different approach to landscaping and more ecologically friendly. Fwiw many euro countries use NO pesticides in public area landscaping, and so it looks like weeds everywhere on the side of the road and "untidy" to American eyes. But it's so much better environmentally. That's going to be the case for most lawns that look less well-kept as well due to trying to conserve water and not using pesticides.

A weedy lawn can look fine if it is mowed to a reasonable height. My hoa isn't picky about weeds. Pesticides and herbicides are not required for a lawn to look neat.

It's the house with trash bags tossed outside, random stuff left out on the lawn outside for months or trash that is never picked up that sucks to live near. The worst I see in my neighborhood could be cleaned up in less that 30 minutes. The houses with tall weeds in the plant beds probably need an hour once a month.

How many years will you suffer before spending 30minutes to do it for them and leave a note?