Great house, questionable neighbor?

[Anonymous]

PP here. I have seen slob neighbors that have no mental incapacities or issues whatsoever; just disdain for those who live around them. This may come as a surprise to you, but some people are simply slobs. Nothing more, nothing less. Don't try to create a problem where there is none, lest you be that problem neighbor.

OP, it should be relatively easy to tell if the squalor is caused by an attitude or a mental disability. In either case, is this something you wish to sign up for? Because even PP has to admit they might (just might) have other things going on in their lives than to worry about other peoples rats and the chance to live elsewhere.

[Anonymous]

Two stories:

First, we looked for a while before deciding to build an addition on our house. One house we really liked was next door to a ramshackle house with lots of stuff in the yard. It really turned us off, and probably others, as it was on the market for a while despite being completely renovated.

Second, our neighbor to the rear was a woman who at first seemed harmless enough but over the years appeared to be mentally ill. She would get into it with the neighbors and completely destroyed her back yard (total aye sore) but, as I kept telling my husband, she was old and I figured eventually she would die and the family would sell the house. She did and they did. The house was bought by a self-declared flipper who is now my hero since he has completely renovated the house and the yard. Now his yard is nicer than ours! So there is hope.

[Anonymous]

Who destroyed her backyard? She destroyed her own back yard? Or the neighbors destroyed her back yard? Unclear.

Just because she stood up for herself does not mean she was mentally ill. Maybe the neighbor was a bully who wanted to bully a nice little old lady. It is not unheard of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:just keep calling the cops and eventually some type of inspector will come out and make the guy leave if he is living in scwaller

Scwaller. Haha!

[Anonymous]

We lived next door (row house) to a crazy hoarder and it turned out to be one of the worst decisions ever. He was fine when we moved in but his mental health seemed to deteriorate over the course of the years we were there. Within a year, the backyard was crammed full of shit. He was always sitting drunk on the porch at all hours smoking. We couldn't open our windows because of the smell and even with them closed the smoke got in to my bedroom and my DC's bedroom.

Two years in, he started urinating on our neighbor on the other side's door. The cops were called many times but there was never any evidence to link him and they couldn't get him for being dirty.

We ended up having to move. We can't sell because we're underwater and so now we rent our old place at a loss and rent a new place in another neighborhood. FWIW, this neighborhood was not a bad one, in a historic VA neighborhood. Not worth it, OP. Even if it's your dream house. Stay far away!

[Anonymous]

One other thing to consider is the critters that like to hide in the Hoarders stuff. When there are piles of junk outside, it makes delightful homes to lovely little critters, who replicate and spread......and if you are next door.....well, you get the picture.

[Anonymous]

Oh, OP, I'm sorry... I would not take this house if it were me. Neighbors can make or break my experience--I know this now.

If you want to be sure, check with other neighbors and ask *explicitly* about that house. I wonder if you can check to see if it's been cited? Are there city or county records on that kind of thing?

At any rate. If the preponderance of the evidence is that the man is ok and a reasonable explanation is given for his behavior, then... maybe. But just the evidence of the hoarding is enough to make me back off. Way off. Hoarding is an addition, man.

[Anonymous]

A mentally ill person living alone is a recipe for unchecked nuttiess that isn't going to change, except during brief hospital stays. He probably isnt deemed dangerous. I am sure that the neighbors call the cops and/or his burnt out and powerless family members any chance they get. The vermin issues that come with hoarding are terrible. Not to mention the fire hazard...

If you choose to take the house, prepare yourself for continued dealings with a crazy person. Your requests to do things will go absolutely nowhere or quickly devolve into some legal scuffle. Not to mention, rats at your barbeque, possible ongoing rants, loud music and other routine disturbances that often come from someone with untreated schizophrenia (which it may be in addition to OCD).

This is not worth the stress. For the money that I am sure you are planning to pay, your home should be an oasis of peace.

[Anonymous]

No way. There is probably a colony of rat's nests in his back yard.