Prospective new neighbor knocking on your door - crazy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:SERVANTS answer the doors in $950k neighborhoods.

Maybe in Des Moines, or wherever you're from, but not in NOVA . . .

[Anonymous]

Oh my goodness, all of these people who think 950K is so much to spend and these people have servants answering the doors, are you for real? Do you actually live in Washington? We can't quite do 950K, but I'm afraid that's a fact of life in most good DC area neighborhoods. I live on Cap Hill and many homes here are going over a million. None of my neighbors have servants!

PS. To the "ghetto" poster: you are REALLY annoying and I'm willing to bet nobody besides you thinks that you are funny.

And OP, if you knocked on my door I'm not sure I'd answer during the day (I'm usually in the middle of something on the weekends and work during the week) but if I did, I wouldn't mind answering questions and meeting a prospective neighbor at all.

[Anonymous]

Mormons are "white trash"? MORMONS?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ok, first time home buyer here, seriously concerned about the neighborhood where the dream house is. Where I come from we go around the neighborhood talking to people, introducing ourselves and asking questions. If I do it here in NOVA will people think I'm crazy? The house costs 950K and the neighboring houses are in the same range. I've driven around and there are lots of children in the neighborhood. Will I make a bad impression if I try to talk to a few people around?

Questions: what makes you "seriously concerned" about the neighborhood? Are the $950K houses decrepit or something? And what would you like to ask exactly?

Knocking on the door to pepper people with questions about the neighborhood is a little much. If I were sitting on my stoop I'd be happy to chat, but don't knock on my door to ask me about the Boo Radley down the block or something.

[Anonymous]

Since when did knocking on someone's door become over the top?

[Anonymous]

First, let me say we don't have a servant.

Second, I think it's nice that you want to be sure about the neighborhood you might be moving to and if no one is outdoors, I don't think there is anything wrong generally with knocking on the door to introduce yourself. I would keep the conversation short, however, since you don't know if you're interrupting. Pick a reasonable time of day - not dinner time which is everyone's favorite time to knock on our door. Also, since having babies, I've become much more sensitive to those who ring our bell because of naptime. So just ring once and if no answer, move on.

[Anonymous]

When we were looking in MD, neighbors came up to us wanting to talk - that was one of the things that sold us on our neighborhood.

[Anonymous]

I'd knock on doors. I don't answer if I'm busy, but I'd be pleased to speak with a potential neighbor. If people are rude, you don't want to live in that neighborhood. Best times to walk around are weekend afternoons, when people are home, and often in their yards if it's a nice day. But there's NOTHING wrong with knocking on doors in a 950 neighborhood, any more than a 750 or 350 one. People are people. If they are nice, they will talk to you, and you'll have more information, and can decide whether or not the neighborhood is for you. Best of luck, OP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The knocking on doors thing is white trash. Think Mormons and JWs. It's ghetto to tell cyberstrangers how much you paid for your house. Get over yourself.

You're very judgmental I can tell. I'm born in another country, I've been in the US for only 2 years living in rental places that my company paid for and has chosen for me. Now it's my turn to chose where I'll live and I want to make sure I'll feel comfortable around the neighbors. The place I come from we knock on each other's doors to ask for a cup of sugar, to ask for butter and just to chat. The building where I live is cold and I see no difference between it and the building where I work. you get into the elevator, nobody looks at each other and people go straight to their cubicles.
I thought that saying the price of the house would help people give opinions on what kind of people live there. The behavior of people living in apartments is different from people living in town homes, duplex and detached homes. I'm still figuring it all out. And it's ugly to say the price of the house and bribe about it in person. I don't see anything wrong in giving people this data to help to sort out what kind of neighborhood I'm moving to. Sorry if I sounded trashy or if I made you jealous. I've been working hard to afford a comfortable life and I want to make sure I make the right decision. I apologize for causing you so bad feelings, and I wish one day you can afford it too.
Many thanks for your input.

PP's Thank you so much for your ideas!!! I love the idea of walking around and talking to people hanging out on their yards. We drove around in the evening and we liked what we saw. This weekend we'll walk around and talk to people.Thank you very much for your help!

[Anonymous]

Another thought on this though - when we purchased our first home in California our agent paved the way for us to meet and talk to our adjoining neighbors before we closed.

At the time I had a young child and our agent was really protective of us and she really worked hard to make sure we purchased the right home.

Any chance your agent can help you with this? or is this not part of an agent's job here in DCMDV?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When we were looking in MD, neighbors came up to us wanting to talk - that was one of the things that sold us on our neighborhood.

which neighborhood? We're looking for some place friendly. TIA.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Another thought on this though - when we purchased our first home in California our agent paved the way for us to meet and talk to our adjoining neighbors before we closed.

At the time I had a young child and our agent was really protective of us and she really worked hard to make sure we purchased the right home.

Any chance your agent can help you with this? or is this not part of an agent's job here in DCMDV?

She has been awesome to us and I don't doubt she would do that, even though I don't know the answer for your question. I've been in the country for only 2 years and I didn't even know we needed an agent to help us buy the house until we got started in the process.

[Anonymous]

We paid about $2m, and I would absolutely do it again. How else are you going to knew what you are dealt next door? It could be anything!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When we were looking in MD, neighbors came up to us wanting to talk - that was one of the things that sold us on our neighborhood.

which neighborhood? We're looking for some place friendly. TIA.

We live in the Park Overlook neighborhood in Derwood. Looked at about four houses in this area, as well as many more in the Rockville area, and this was the only neighborhood where people came up to us saying "Are you looking to buy here? Let me tell you how much I love it here/what I think of the local elementary school/how long I've lived here/etc." Was nice to hear from people who lived here and also to see that the neighbors were friendly.

[Anonymous]

Do it! I live in Arlington and every single one of my neighbors would chat with you, whether they live in the $1.4M house or the $700k (it runs the gamut on my street). I'd probably talk your ear off myself because I love my neighborhood so much, and I've got PLENTY going on. And on a sunny weekend day you'd certainly find us all out in our yards, walking dogs, riding bikes etc. Then we'd know who you are when you show up at our Halloween block party!