Not Mowing Lawn

[tater03]

I have a neighbor that is trying to sell his house. They had an open house the other day. The problem is that their neighbors yard is terrible. They have garbage on their front porch where you can see it. I am talking bags of it. They have two old cars that don't run one has all four tires flat. During the open house you would not believe the people that commented on their neighbors house and what an eyesore it was. This is the only house in the neighborhood that is like this. I just feel bad for him because it is turning away prospective buyers. What do you do in a situation like this? Any suggestions? Thanks

[vicki2]

Most towns have ordinances about just this and it would pay your neighbor to check with his town hall and find out what can be done. Some places are stricter than others but not many have no laws about this. There are fines.

[tater03]

Thank you, I will be mentioning this to him because it is absoulutly rediculous if you ask me.

[brian]

Definitely something to put off potential buyers!

[vicki2]

Worse case ...if you're desperate to sell ...is to offer to mow their lawn for them. I've seen people do that just to get through the showing process.

[mamab]

Where I live, there's an ordinance about mowing your lawn every so often (not sure exact time table). If you're in the city limits and do NOT take care of your lawn, the city will pay for having the lawn mowed, and then charge you for it. If the bill's not paid, they can escalate beyond that point.

I guess if your city doesn't have that policy, then doing it yourself is the next best option.

[tater03]

The problem is not just the lawn though. It is really the overall garbage and just stuff lying all over the place. He is going to check with the city and see if there are any ordinaces. I mentioned this to him just yesterday so hopefully something can be done.

[mamab]

How did things turn out, tater? Was your neighbor able to get anything done about the house with the trash?

Junk in a yard definitely makes a different problem than just an unkempt lawn. That would be a tough one. I don't know what they'd do about that where I live.

[vicki2]

I just looked at a little rental house for a friend of mine, and while the cottage had been redone and was nice enough (albeit tiny), the owners didn't bother to take a rusted wreck of a VW bus out of the woods next to the house and left up a rusty abvoe ground swimming pool frame. A definite turn off!!!! Yeck.

[tater03]

Well he did go to city hall and they came out. I guess something happened because they are now cleaning up the yard. Why you would have to have that happen before you clean up your yard is really beyond me.