- 10,832
I live in a typical three bedroom/two bath house in a fairly typical looking nighborhood. When I bought the house I was not too familiar with the neighborhood. There were a couple things I could've done without but it was my first house and I didn't have much to put down. It definitely was the nicest house in the neighborhood, but that's probably not good, as I now know.
My wife and I aren't rich but we take care of our stuff and try to keep things looking nice. We also like to live under the assumption that people will display a modicum of respect for your property and privacy. But you can't assume.
Here is a list of why we have to move:
The neighbors to the South have Harley gatherings frequently. If you want to hear the stereo, TV, or your own thoughts, forget it until the earthquake machines have rolled off sometime after 1:00 AM. I hate Harley Davidsons. Nothing needs to be that loud. It's not cool.
The neighbors accross the street like to stand in their driveway and lob obscenities at eachother all the time. Late at night, early in the morning, in the middle of the day... All I hear is effin' this and effin' that and then a door slams, a car door slams, and screeching tires. Their poor kids... and that might have something to do with my next reason.
These neighbors had a fire almost a year ago. Seems the traumatized four year old decided to play with mommy's lighter in the bedroom closet and started a fire. Nobody was hurt. But the kid either did it because he was unsupervised and screwed up by his abusive parents, or they did it on purpose for insurance money. They did take a trip to Bermuda shortly after the fire.
So while they are in Bermuda their charred house sits as-is for me to have to see every day. A big hole in the roof, piles of burned crap all over the yard, furniture in the driveway... it basically looked worse than a dump. Every time there was wind half of it ended up in my yard. After six months of not cleaning up their mess I started calling city agencies to complain. I was unrelenting. I called everybody for every single thing that pissed me off. And it worked. They had to go to court and everything. Ha!
They left their dog there, unattended, for a week at a time and it barked all night long (no exaggeration) every night.
Finally a group of guys came over to start working on the place. It was a Saturday morning and while still in bed I hear the heaviest of metal music you can find, in my bedroom, at seven AM. I went accross the street to ask them to turn it down (big white pickup in the driveway with doors open, blasting the music). Of course they couldn't hear me so I got pissed because I had to yell. They told me to call the cops so I did. The music got turned down. But this resulted in a week-long harassment of me by them. Finally they left for good, but not without a few tense situations developing.
Then there was the two dumpsters, one in the street which made it nearly impossible to back out of my driveway, and the one in their driveway, which was just an eye-sore. Each one was there for a month, empty. Then they'd fill it in one day and let it sit a few more weeks.
Then there was the van with flat tires parked in the street for a month or so.
And that is a very condensed version of that one problem.
And there's the time a guy walked into my garage in broad daylight and stole my bike. I caught him and got it back. I doubt he'll come within a mile of my house again.
Every time I do yardwork there is a bunch of garbage in my yard... soda cans, candy wrappers, etc.
The girls who live to the north go door to door selling their dolls, candy their mother bought them, etc. I don't know what these little kids need money for but that's just weird.
The third Payday Loan joint (predatory lending) has opened four blocks away... not a good sign.
And the last straw was last week. Some creep stole our Christmas decorations in the night. That's really crummy.
So I've decided it's time to go. Like I said, I like the house; it's our home. But with the problems and a baby son on the way in two months, we could do better. We'll probably have a house built in a nicer area. But we'll see what the market analysis comes up with. I only hope we don't have to wait any longer.
Well if you've read this far, congratulations. You have a longer attention span than me.
My wife and I aren't rich but we take care of our stuff and try to keep things looking nice. We also like to live under the assumption that people will display a modicum of respect for your property and privacy. But you can't assume.
Here is a list of why we have to move:
The neighbors to the South have Harley gatherings frequently. If you want to hear the stereo, TV, or your own thoughts, forget it until the earthquake machines have rolled off sometime after 1:00 AM. I hate Harley Davidsons. Nothing needs to be that loud. It's not cool.
The neighbors accross the street like to stand in their driveway and lob obscenities at eachother all the time. Late at night, early in the morning, in the middle of the day... All I hear is effin' this and effin' that and then a door slams, a car door slams, and screeching tires. Their poor kids... and that might have something to do with my next reason.
These neighbors had a fire almost a year ago. Seems the traumatized four year old decided to play with mommy's lighter in the bedroom closet and started a fire. Nobody was hurt. But the kid either did it because he was unsupervised and screwed up by his abusive parents, or they did it on purpose for insurance money. They did take a trip to Bermuda shortly after the fire.
So while they are in Bermuda their charred house sits as-is for me to have to see every day. A big hole in the roof, piles of burned crap all over the yard, furniture in the driveway... it basically looked worse than a dump. Every time there was wind half of it ended up in my yard. After six months of not cleaning up their mess I started calling city agencies to complain. I was unrelenting. I called everybody for every single thing that pissed me off. And it worked. They had to go to court and everything. Ha!
They left their dog there, unattended, for a week at a time and it barked all night long (no exaggeration) every night.
Finally a group of guys came over to start working on the place. It was a Saturday morning and while still in bed I hear the heaviest of metal music you can find, in my bedroom, at seven AM. I went accross the street to ask them to turn it down (big white pickup in the driveway with doors open, blasting the music). Of course they couldn't hear me so I got pissed because I had to yell. They told me to call the cops so I did. The music got turned down. But this resulted in a week-long harassment of me by them. Finally they left for good, but not without a few tense situations developing.
Then there was the two dumpsters, one in the street which made it nearly impossible to back out of my driveway, and the one in their driveway, which was just an eye-sore. Each one was there for a month, empty. Then they'd fill it in one day and let it sit a few more weeks.
Then there was the van with flat tires parked in the street for a month or so.
And that is a very condensed version of that one problem.
And there's the time a guy walked into my garage in broad daylight and stole my bike. I caught him and got it back. I doubt he'll come within a mile of my house again.
Every time I do yardwork there is a bunch of garbage in my yard... soda cans, candy wrappers, etc.
The girls who live to the north go door to door selling their dolls, candy their mother bought them, etc. I don't know what these little kids need money for but that's just weird.
The third Payday Loan joint (predatory lending) has opened four blocks away... not a good sign.
And the last straw was last week. Some creep stole our Christmas decorations in the night. That's really crummy.
So I've decided it's time to go. Like I said, I like the house; it's our home. But with the problems and a baby son on the way in two months, we could do better. We'll probably have a house built in a nicer area. But we'll see what the market analysis comes up with. I only hope we don't have to wait any longer.
Well if you've read this far, congratulations. You have a longer attention span than me.
. 
(I think it was just revenge for all the city agencies coming down on him). The cops showed up at my door on a Sunday morning while my wife and I were eating breakfast. The funny part is he somehow or another got the restraining order against my father in law by mistake, probably because his name, instead of my wife's, is on the mortgage records. What a dumb ass 
), and once I got to working it was a real drag to drive that far every day. You couldn't afford to forget a thing at the grocery store, and babies really don't like being stuck in a car seat for 45 minutes at a stretch.
