Dealing With Difficult Neighbors When You Sell A Knoxville Home

Selling a home can be hard. You’re worried about what price you’ll get, how long it will be on the market, and when you’ll be able to close.

Unfortunately, when you add the additional factor of dealing with difficult neighbors when you sell a Knoxville home, the process can become even more stressful, particularly because this is a situation that is out of the hands of many sellers.

In this post, we’ll take look at dealing with difficult neighbors when you sell a Knoxville home.

Ways That Neighbors Can Make It Difficult To Sell A Knoxville Home

Difficult neighbors come in many different varieties, some are hoarders, some refuse to mow their lawn, while others park unsightly trailers in their driveway. Regardless, when a neighbor causes something to be an eyesore or is disruptive to the other neighbors, it can make it hard for you to sell your home. Here are just a few of the ways that neighbors can make it difficult to sell your home.

The One Who Won’t Mow

There are certain neighbors who just won’t take care of their yard. During the spring and summer months, while the rest of the neighbors keep their yards mowed and maintained, there’s always that one who lets their yard become overgrown.

When you’re selling your house, this can significantly take away from the curb appeal of your own home. Even though your home may be meticulously maintained, the eyesore of your neighbor’s overgrown lawn and bushes can take away from your home’s value.

The One With The Ugly Trailer Or Boat

There is also the other neighbor that parks an eyesore in the street or on the driveway every year. Boats, trailers and campers can be an unwelcome eyesore to many neighbors. Oftentimes, these large items don’t fit in the garage, so they end up parked in the driveway or the street.

You may be lucky enough to have a homeowner’s association that doesn’t allow this. But, this doesn’t necessarily mean that the rules will be enforced. Or, if you’re not part of a homeowner’s association, you’re stuck dealing with these items while you try to sell your home. Many buyers may be turned off by those items when they look at your home.

The Noisy One

Noisy neighbors can be another neighbor that can make it difficult to sell a Knoxville home. There are some neighbors who play their music too loud or constantly are having parties at their home. When this happens, it can be a turn off for many buyers.

As a seller, there’s not much you can do to control the noisy behavior of your neighbor. You can hope that potential buyers don’t realize it, but there’s no guaranteeing that that will happen.

The One Who Is A Hoarder

Another difficult neighbor to deal with when you sell your Knoxville home is a hoarder. There is sometimes a neighbor whose junk falls out of their home. It’s all over the yard and falling out of the garage, making it an eyesore for anyone who can see it.

Even when your home is neat and tidy, your messy neighbor’s yard and home can hurt your home’s value.

The One With The Obnoxious Animal

Finally, there are some difficult neighbors who have obnoxious pets that make it hard to sell your Knoxville home. It may be a dog barking at all hours of the day. Or, it could be a chicken that crows every morning.

When an animal is obnoxious, it can make it difficult to sell your home. No buyer wants to be kept up at all hours of the day from an animal.

How Do You Deal With A Difficult Neighbor?

Dealing with difficult neighbors when you sell your Knoxville home can be tough. You want to be able to sell your home for as much as possible, but at the same time, you don’t want to get into a battle with your neighbors.

Here are a few tips to approach the problem with your neighbors.

Communicate The Problem

Kindly, let your neighbors know what the problem is. Let them know that you’re trying to sell your home and that you’re worried that the problem may hinder the sale of your home. It’s important to pick your battles, don’t go nitpicking everything wrong with you neighbors, since it may cause them to get offended.

Offer To Help

Offer to help them resolve the problem. You may find when you talk to them that there’s a reason why they’re not mowing their yard or that there’s a reason the boat is parked in the driveway. If someone in their family has been sick, so it’s been hard to mow the yard, offer to help out. In some situations, there is a reasonable explanation and a seller isn’t meaning to be a bother.

Escalate The Problem, If Necessary

There are sometimes where a neighbor won’t be receptive to helping or just won’t care. In those cases, it may be necessary to see if there is another way to resolve the situation. If there’s an HOA and your neighbor doesn’t mow their lawn, see if the HOA can step in.

Drop The Price

Unfortunately, there are sometimes where there is nothing that can be done to resolve the problem. There is no way to make a neighbor change their behavior. As a seller, the best thing you can do is to drop your price and move on.

Are you thinking about selling your Knoxville home this year? Please let us know if there is any way that Knoxville Home Team can assist you. Rick can be reached at 865-696-9002 or via email at [email protected]. Kati can be reached at [email protected].