Opinion needed - Cleaning up a neighbors yard - Good Update!!!

[Hillbeans]

Now that the excitement of our fathers day and my son's mouse bite has calmed down, my DH is planning a trip into PA to do some minor repairs on the fixer-upper we're trying to sell.

The problem is that the neighbors have a HUGE (and huge barely does it justice) pile of aluminum cans, garbage, brush, rocks, bricks, etc., which is directly behind the kitchen window of this house. I feel part of the reason this house hasn't sold is b/c of the huge eyesore out the window. My FIL spoke with the owners and they've agreed to let us get on the property and help "clear some brush" as he stated.

With that in mind I have the following questions 1) would you do this? It's totally gross, however we feel it'll get our house sold and 2) what do you do with all the garbage when you're done?? Would you leave it outside of their house or just take it somewhere (not quite sure who would take gross old cans and gosh knows what else).

Thanks.

 

[Keli]

You can take the metal to a scapyard if you can find one in that area. They will pay you per pound for it (I have no idea how much though). Otherwise I would call a local trash company and ask for a dumpster to be set up on the property and fill it up with the stuff in the pile.

 

[KristaTX]

Originally posted by Hillbeans
My FIL spoke with the owners and they've agreed to let us get on the property and help "clear some brush" as he stated.

How tactful . Yeah - if it would help sell the house I would do it. I'm sorry your neighbors are trashy. I bet if you just leave the garbage you clean up outside their house, they'll just leave it there .

 

[AZ JazzyJ]

Originally posted by Hillbeans
what do you do with all the garbage when you're done??

Throw it over the fence to the neighbor's yard.

 

[marlasmom]

We went through hell with this same situation. However our neighbor explained that he had lost his job three years before and could not pick up the trash. Very logical.

Yes do it. If you have to rent a dumpster, fill it up and have the dumpster people haul it away.

So sorry you have to do this. Hope you do it and the cleanup lasts long enough to sell your house.

 

[FroggyinArk]

if its really bad i would consider renting not only a dumpster but a skid steer loader to load it with,, they r ent for 300 or so a day and one good day would probably load the pile make sure if you do rent a loader that you get nieghbors permission to use it on his property, you might even ask him to half the total cost of disposal?

 

[Mishetta]

Yes, I would do it if you really want to get that property sold.

We passed on a gorgeous home that had absolutely everything we wanted (and then some).....due to the yard behind them. After months that this beautiful home was on the market, they started dropping their asking price, then they put up a 6 ft fence but you could still see the junky backyard of the people behind them, if you were standing on the deck (picture Sanford & Son). Anyway, that house took about 1.5 years to sell where the other houses in that same neighborhood were selling right & left immediately & for way more than this house was listed for. I really, really wanted that house too, but that is undesirable property when you live behind a junk yard!

 

[Lewisc]

Not sure HOW HUGE you mean. You might just get heavy duty black bags, bag the stuff and put them out by the street. Give the garbage me some $$ and they should pick it up.

 

[phorsenuf]

What about a fence instead? I know a fence around my yard was a selling point for me when we looked at this house. It may actually work to your benefit provided it blocked the "view".

 

[auntpolly]

Make sure they don't really just mean, "Clear some brush". You don't want to get them all steamed because you "stole" their valuable junk!

 

[Hillbeans]

Thanks for the replies. I'll have to check what my FIL actually said, but we'll really need to clear out all this junk to get the house sold. No one wants to look out the window at a pile of aluminum cans (there has to be hundreds) bricks and junk. A fence would have to be about 20 feet high to cover the yard since it's on a slope. The pile itself is manageable however it'll probably take us all day to do it.

This house has been my DH and my investment property separate from our current house for close to a year now and we'd really like to get it sold so we're willing to do what we can, even clean up neighbor garbage, to do so. I get the feeling it's not selling because of this eyesore.

Thanks!

 

[phorsenuf]

If its really bad, why not call the town. I know in some communities they will "make" you clean it up if its bad enough. I know you want to sell the house but it shouldn't be your responsibility to do it. The neighbors seem to be taking advantage of the situation. I'd call the local health dept or some other town official and see what can be done. I think I'd explore all my options before cleaning up their yard. Like someone else said, you don't want to be accused of getting rid of anything you shouldn't have.

On a side note, I know that if I looked at property that backed up to an eyesore like that and then found out that the sellers cleaned it all up before buying the place, and then the neighbors just let it all go again I'd be pretty steamed about that. I know its buyer beware, but how would you feel if it was you? Its a tough spot to be in.

 

[kilee]

Definetly verify that they are allowing you to get rid of what might be their "valuables". You don't want to find yourself in hot water because he thought you were going to mow the lawn and trim the hedges or anything.

 

[Hillbeans]

Originally posted by phorsenuf

On a side note, I know that if I looked at property that backed up to an eyesore like that and then found out that the sellers cleaned it all up before buying the place, and then the neighbors just let it all go again I'd be pretty steamed about that. I know its buyer beware, but how would you feel if it was you? Its a tough spot to be in.

Well, the best way I can describe it that this house is being sold for under $75,000 and it's in a lower class area of PA. It's not a million dollar house by any stretch of the imagination, and other houses in this town seem to use their yard to store their trash. I in no way would feel bad if someone bought this after the yard was cleaned it up since they're getting a 4 bedroom house for a super price. If someone buys in this town, they probably already know what to expect.

Edited to add - thanks for the points about speaking to them about the cans...we definitely will before doing any cleaning.

 

[Lorix2]

I was going to suggest calling the town/city too.

We had to put up a fence to shut out a huge eyesore with our neighbor who collected junk all his life before we moved in next door.

He had scrapmetal, washers, dryers, tires, doors, windows, cars, 50 gallon drums, etc...to the point you he couldn't walk out his back door which was my side view. After we put up a 6ft fence, he erected an 8ft tire rack to spite us, but DH knocked it down again and again. This man was in his 70's and stopped fighting back.

A couple of calls to the city, letters sent WITH pictures had city personnel come and take a look for themselves and within a few weeks the yard was cleared of all the debris.

Nobody should have to put up with that. Good luck!

 

[CindysGusGus]

We have this problem too...The lot next to us is empty and the person who is supposed to keep it up never does. The grass and weeds are over my waist and I am almost 6 ft tall. I guess my Dh will have to keep it up when we put our home up for sale. It looks awful over there!

 

[HollyJoy]

Can you put up a fence?

 

[Hillbeans]

Great news....

The clean-up went so well, it's a shame it wasn't done sooner. As DH, his dad and brother were cleaning up the rotted tree, some shrubs and other brush, the neighbors at the dump next store actually came out and started helping. They bagged 3-4 huge piles of the cans they had and also helped clear some other mess in the yard. Not only does our house look better, now their yard does also. They must have just needed some motivation to get off their behinds and clean up the huge mess in the yard. To top it off, someone even came to view the house during the cleanup. We unfortunately don't live anywhere near this house, so we do hope it'll now sell this summer so we don't have to keep driving so far away to do this work.

Thanks again to everyone for their great advice....sometimes one little idea to improve something can get a whole group of people working together for a common goal.