Anonymous wrote:Aren't there a lot of new homes, formerly old homes that were torn down for new homes in Vienna? The owners must be used to them by now.

Seems like it happens more sporadically in Vienna. A house here, a house there, maybe an entire block. Patchy.

Aren't there a lot of new homes, formerly old homes that were torn down for new homes in Vienna? The owners must be used to them by now.

.....IF they are NORMAL neighbors!

We bought a new construction in Vienna and love our neighborhood! My neighbors on both sides have been living in their older, smaller homes for decades and couldn't be friendlier. There is a mix of older couples, empty nesters and young families on my street and we all know each other, wave, smile and chit chat on beautiful days when no one wants to be inside.

There are fun bbq get togethers and at halloween the street is filled with kids all walking up down with their parents.

Once you move in and get acquainted with your neighbors you'll be fine!

We live in a smaller home, not in Vienna, but also in an area with lots of tear-down activity. We are excited to see all new large homes being built on our street, it increases our home value and provides us extra cushion should we ever decide to tear down and rebuild later.

OP, Congratulations on your success! I have never known an UNsuccessful person to purchase a NEW home The new neighbors should be grateful, but alas there WILL be resentment. You are wise to know that.

Regardless, enjoy your new home that you worked hard to build. While ITA that you need not a chip on your shoulder, be aware, and not overly anything, and you should do fine.

There is a recent trend of old homeowners trying to bully and goad new homeowners. DO NOT ENGAGE. Hopefully this will not be the case with you, but it is becoming very common, predictable, and well known in this age of new home construction.

Face it, most of the old homeowners would never be able to own a new home in their own neighborhood right now - or they would! Given the choice, didn't you yourself choose a NEW home??!! While some of them may be fine with this, some are not.

My friend lives next to the neighborhood whacko who used to reside in (my friends) new house when the whacko neighbor was a student renter. The whacko bought the next door house on foreclosure. I swear my friend hears his blood boil every time a new house is constructed. The other neighbors ignore his inaccurate gossip and goading, as he has a bad reputation (he made it for himself), and he has gotten rather desperate in recent years. The whacko neighbor resorts to anything - slander, libel, trespassing, mobbing, you name it! Hopefully you won't have one of those. But I must say, their neighborhood really is becoming more and more beautiful by the week.

I would be grateful and not complain if I were in an old home. The new homes pay almost twice the taxes of the old homes, and practically carry the tax base.

Enjoy your new home in good health and ignore any troublesome and/or troublemaking "less than"s - it is their BEHAVIOR, not their money, that makes them so!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, they will probably just hate you because they hate themselves for having to live in Vienna!

+1 they hate the commute not you and they probably spend more time on the road then at home LOL

I moved to Vienna last year after 5 years in Logan Circle. My 35 minute commute to Crystal City (walk/metro) from Logan was really not much better than it is now by car from Vienna...just sayin...

We sold our very small "original" house in a Fairfax County neighborhood to a builder. Although the streets around our neighborhood were beginning to be torn down, we were the first on our street.

Our next door neighbor made life hellish for us and probably much worse for the eventual new neighbors once she found out our house was to be torn down. She began to dispute property lines and easements, build a fence, put up signs, etc. We could not wait to leave.

Some old timers are generally resentful of the big, new houses that are rocketing their property taxes sky-high, Most have owned their houses outright for decades and hate the idea that the house next door will dwarf theirs and change the landscape. Not to mention, they often resent the construction and noise. All legitimate concerns, just FYI. Move in with a friendly attitude, be neighborly and get to know your neighbors.

They can get over it. Wecome to Vienna

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, they will probably just hate you because they hate themselves for having to live in Vienna!

+1 they hate the commute not you and they probably spend more time on the road then at home LOL

They might work in Fairfax or Tysons and have very short commutes, or they might take the Metro and have a fairly pleasant commute by rail. You really haven't a clue.

Anonymous wrote:No, they will probably just hate you because they hate themselves for having to live in Vienna!

That's such an asshole thing to say. Only someone who's a miserable POS would respond like that.

OP - some of the older residents don't like the teardowns and won't like you simply because you live in a teardown. Once you move in, you'll know who those people are fairly quickly. Most of the others will form an impression based on how you behave as a full-time resident. The primary exception might be if you have kids and some of your neighbors-to-be are excited that another family with children is moving into the neighborhood. That's just how it is. Don't sweat it. For what it's worth, I'd rather live in a teardown in Vienna than in Arlington, where the rancor between the owners of older homes and the owners of teardowns is much greater.

Anonymous wrote:No, they will probably just hate you because they hate themselves for having to live in Vienna!

+1 they hate the commute not you and they probably spend more time on the road then at home LOL

I think you should assume they just don't know you yet. We moved into a row house in DC 7 years ago and felt what we thought was hostility from our neighbors. 7 years later, we are friends/friendly acquaintances with all of them.

Don't move into the neighborhood with a chip on your shoulder. Be friendly and neighborly and I can almost guarantee you'll get what you give.

No, they will probably just hate you because they hate themselves for having to live in Vienna!

I'm moving to Vienna in a month. We went under contract a month ago on a spec home in Vienna. The neighborhood is a mix of a few newer homes and a bunch of 1950s ramblers. I've walked through the neighborhood a bunch of times, and I'm nt really feeling the love from neighbors.

My question is, do my neighbors hate or resent me and my family because we bought a big expensive house in their neighborhood? I'll admit my new home doesn't really match the older smaller homes on the block.

If you own a small home or are in a previous tear down and ave some experience with these attitudes, please chime in!