How To Sell A House With Bad Neighbors
Over the last decade, I’ve helped hundreds of homeowners sell homes with difficult neighbors.
And I’ll be honest. It can be brutal.
Buying and selling real estate is already a very complex and lengthy process. Add in some neighbors who just want to “stir the pot” and you’ve got yourself into an absolute nightmare.
However, it’s not impossible. And if you’re looking to sell your house with bad neighbors, then this guide will help you get it across the finish line.
How do I know?
Every year, homes across the country are sold with bad neighbors.
The trick is knowing how to navigate the sale.
In this guide you will learn:
- What constitutes a “bad neighbor”
- How bad neighbors can influence your property’s value
- What you can do to mitigate a difficult neighbor situation
- A full-proof strategy to sell any house with challenging neighbors
Let’s jump in!
- Just because you think your neighbors are “bad” does not mean everyone else does. This article defines what a “bad” neighbor could be when selling your house.
- Selling a property with difficult neighbors is not impossible. You do need to ask for help, when needed, and modify your approach as time goes on.
- There is only one guaranteed way to sell your house with bad neighbors in a fraction of the time. In this article, we will explain what that is and how you can do it yourself!
Understanding the Impact of Bad Neighbors on Home Sales
If selling your house is on your “to do” list and you happen to have bad neighbors, then you should immediately be thinking about how that could impact your sale.
It would be foolish to think that buyers won’t care what your neighbors are like.
In fact, it’s quite the opposite:
Buyers will go out of their way to know what the neighbors are like.
So will you go out of your way to understand how they might influence you property and its value?
You should.
How Bad Neighbors Affect Property Value and Buyer Interest
A long time ago, a real estate mentor of mine once said that your house is worth what someone else is willing to pay for it.
I always glossed over that. It sounded too simple to me.
The younger me knew better. I knew that a house is worth what comparable properties sell for. A house’s worth is a function of it’s location, condition and size.
I tend to get too logical too quickly. And I love working with numbers.
Years later, I can now appreciate the wisdom that he shared with me.
You see, you only need one person to buy your house.
That’s right. Just one.
While it may seem intimidating to find buyers and drive interest in your property, as long as the one right buyer is willing to offer on it, then that’s what your house is going to be worth.
You can do funky math. You can have a realtor run “comps”. Plug it all into some fancy algorithm.
But at the end of the day, none of that matters until you have an offer on the table.
Now, let me bring this full circle to having bad neighbors.
Selling a house with bad neighbors may be stressing you out, but remember you only need one buyer and one offer.
So, while bad neighbors might deter the vast majority of interested buyers, if there is just one out there who either:
- Does not care about bad neighbors
- Does not know there are bad neighbors
- Does not find the neighbors to be “bad”
Then you might be okay.
The moral of the story here is that difficult neighbors can absolutely deplete the buyer interest in your property.
On top of that, if you do get an offer and then it is later discovered that the neighbors are challenging…you might delay or stall the closing process overall.
I’ve seen properties go in and out of contract for this very reason.
This is a home that kept going on and off the market.
The culprit: consistent feedback on the neighbors being challenging.
Look at the price dropping over time!
To me, this illustrates the fact that bad neighbors sometimes show up during inspections, second showings, appraisals or even final walk throughs.
If you’ve got some noisy and disruptive neighbors sitting out front when any of these things are scheduled…then it’s going to draw in concern and uncertainty.
Uncertainty leads to lower offers and discounted property values.
In my estimation, a noticeable “bad neighbor” situation could impact a property’s overall marketability and value by as much as 10%. In rare cases, even more.
Identifying Types of Problematic Neighbors
Are you still not sure if you got yourself a problematic neighbor?
Well as the saying goes, if you have to ask…
But on a more serious note:
Knowing what kind of bad neighbor that you are dealing with is going to help you navigate the situation when selling your house.
I’m going to break apart four of the main “bad neighbor” profiles below to explain what they are and how they pose an issue to the sale of your real estate.
1. The Nosy Neighbor (Problem Level: Low)
Put yourself in the buyer’s shoes.
They pull up to your home for the showing. Realtor is waiting inside. Front door is open.
And as they start to walk up the steps, they are picturing this very walk as their new walk home for the next 20-30 years.
Then, out of nowhere, it’s interrupted!
The neighbor next door confronts you and your family.
They’re not angry or mad, just peppering you with questions.
Where are you living now? What do you do for work? Do you like pets? How many children do you have? Are they loud?
A bit overwhelming, eh?
You just wanted to see the place.
This is nosy neighbor.
The kind of person that you would pause at your front door to avoid. Or pull directly into your garage to eliminate any kind of possible interaction.
Conversations with this type of neighbor, if they aren’t controlled, can last 20-30 minutes easy.
And the topics they bring up with you are always very personal and private.
Nosy neighbors are super common but probably harmless in the big picture.
For buyers, it’s just a matter of their willingness to look past it.
After all, it could be worse.
2. The Noisy Neighbor (Problem Level: Medium)
Noisy neighbors, not to be confused with nosy neighbors (but they can be both!).
I like to think of noisy neighbors as lurkers.
What do I mean by this?
Sometimes you know they’re there, when other times you don’t.
Unlike messy neighbors who are easy to spot any time of the day, you might miss the fact that you have a noisy neighbor if you aren’t home at the hours that they are noisy.
Or in this case, there aren’t showings or walk throughs for buyers during these times either.
One type of noisy neighbor that is typically active all day long are those with noisy pets. Think barking dogs. Buyers usually trigger enough woofs to know it will be a noisy situation.
However, if you’ve got a neighbor who just likes to jam out after dinner every night for an hour with their stereo, then this might not be a huge problem for selling your house.
You can easily sell the house with a noisy neighbor as long as it’s not a problem for the buyer.
Here’s a list of very common noises that neighbors make:
- Music
- Renovations
- Partying
- Pets
- Screaming
- Yelling
- Fighting
- Auto repair
- Power tools
As the homeowner, there are some things that you can do to the house to alleviate some of the noise issues.
We’ve seen sellers update insulation, add higher fencing and even replace windows in order to improve the ambience inside.
3. The Messy Neighbor (Problem Level: High)
If you’re looking for an exemplary “bad neighbor”, it would be the messy hoarder who lives next door.
Having a neighbor with an eye sore of a property next door is a very serious problem.
For one, it’s easy to spot. Even in listing photos, buyers will pick up on it.
Secondly, it’s not super easy to fix. Unless you know the neighbor well enough to influence them to clean it up. And we all know that is highly unlikely.
The majority of properties that my team and I buy are from sellers who have messy neighbors.
Besides it being difficult to look at, it’s also:
- A breading ground for insects and pests.
- Usually a code and safety violation.
- Smelly in the summer heat.
- Unsafe if you have pets or children.
- Full of unkempt grass and overgrown weeds.
Homes with messy neighbors tend to sell for less because it’s easy for buyers to notice and challenging for anyone to control besides that neighbor.
Messy Neighbor Example
Take a look at this property juxtaposition.
If you’re selling a house next to something like this then you already know a challenge awaits.
4. The Angry Neighbor (Problem Level: Medium)
Is your neighbor just someone you don’t get along with?
Good news! Maybe you don’t get along with them, but that doesn’t necessarily mean others won’t.
When you spend years living next to someone, it’s common for disputes or disruptions to create anger and torment neighborly relationships.
About 1 in 4 people have a neighbor they find to be angry or disagreeable.
This might involve property boundaries, past experiences, political affiliations or even neighbors who create difficult living situations.
Angry Neighbor Example
This is a prime example of an angry neighbor being passive aggressive:
If you’re selling a house with an angry neighbor…or worst yet, an angry and violent neighbor, then it would be in your best interest to let the buyer know.
Strategies to Mitigate the Impact of Bad Neighbors
Now that you know what a bad neighbor looks like, let’s talk a little bit about the tactics you can use to sell your house with a difficult neighbor.
Not all of these will work, but they are worth exploring.
Approaching Your Neighbor Diplomatically
One strategy is to just address the issue directly.
Nobody likes confrontation, but it does work in certain scenarios.
If you plan to talk to your neighbor and resolve the conflict, then you should consider doing it in the following way:
- Find a good time to bring this up with them. Don’t catch them leaving their house or in the middle of yard work.
- Communicate clearly and respectfully. Don’t raise your voice and don’t assume anything.
- Bring a solution to the table. Don’t just voice your complaint with them, but also have a middle ground that you both can work towards.
- Listen. Give them time to speak and hear their story.
If you keep a level head and approach your neighbor with fair and reasonable solutions, then there might be a good outcome for both of you.
And for you, that could mean getting more money for your house when you sell it!
Leveraging Community Resources
Picture this scenario:
You approached your neighbor. They denied you.
You asked others. They didn’t help.
You tried everything and still your neighbor continues to be disruptive and obnoxious.
They are literally making it impossible for you to sell your house.
Where do you go from here?
At this point, it’s time to call in some help from the community.
Depending on your situation, you’ll want to start with the least extreme and work your way up.
For example, if there is a homeowner’s association, go there first and complain.
Then, escalate to the city (code enforcement, public health, etc.).
Then, if neither of those work, call the police.
If after all of that you are still struggling to sell your house with a bad neighbor, then get a lawyer and start to litigate.
By stacking the people that you reached out to in order of severity, you can be sure that each of them will approach your situation with more and more support.
Plus, you can document all of the people you have reached out to and effort you have put in – a very important exercise for any legal proceeding.
Legal Options for Dealing with Problem Neighbors
If you do end up taking legal action as a last resort, you’ll want to do so with a reputable real estate attorney.
Here’s why:
Real estate attorneys understand and appreciate property laws and disputes.
They are experts in nuisance lawsuits, boundary disputes and other miscellaneous property rights issues.
If you’re at the end of your line, it’s best to start with a free consultation.
An attorney can tell you right from the start whether you have something or not. And if you don’t, it’s usually because you have done enough yet (hence my stacking strategy above!).
They will want to see that you have done everything and expended your resources before filing a lawsuit.
Your Options: Selling Your House With Bad Neighbors
The whole point here is to sell your house – regardless of how much of a nuisance your neighbor is.
Let’s talk about some of the practical things you can do to accelerate the sale without bad neighbors slowing it down!
Selling to a Real Estate Investor
Selling your house with bad neighbors to a local home buyer is going to be the quickest and easiest option.
My company, Cash House Closers, buys houses all across North Carolina. We can give you an offer regardless of how difficult your neighbors are.
We buy your house “as is” and with cash. This means you don’t even have to approach your neighbors or let them know that you are selling your house at all.
The best thing about selling to an investor like Cash House Closers is that it can be done privately.
Many times, when you go to sell your house and have a neighbor who you don’t get along with…they will start to amplify their annoying behaviors.
Selling directly to a professional home buyer is the best way to sell your house with bad neighbors.
Disclosing Neighbor Issues to Potential Buyers
If you do decide to sell your house the traditional way, then you may need to disclose the neighbor situation to your realtor and prospective buyers.
Doing this is not only ethical, but it also protects you, the seller, from legal risks in the future.
Unfortunately, seller’s disclosures indicating neighbors that are challenging often result in a below-market sale or even a difficult listing process that could take months to produce anything.
Here are a few tips to sell your house on-market with bad neighbors – in a transparent way, of course.
Highlighting Neighborhood Positives
Focus on other areas of the home and neighborhood that are more attractive.
I’ve suggested that sellers make it easy for buyers to see the value in:
- Local amenities – parks, swimming pools, trails, shopping, etc.
- Neighborhood benefits – HOA, safety, perhaps other neighbors who are good
- School systems – proximity to good school options and job prospects
You may want to have your agent create a brochure or add some of this to the listing description!
Offering Buyer Incentives
Alternatively, you could just own the fact that you have “bad neighbors” and offer buyer incentives to get a deal done quickly.
This is really no different than selling your house at a discount, except that you might be able to get it done quicker.
In many cases where difficult neighbors prolong the sale of a property, I have seen owners offer to cover closing costs, seller concessions, home warranties, or anything similar to help mitigate the neighbor situation.
One time, we had negotiated to replace a fence so that the bad neighbor could be out of sight and out of mind the new buyer.
Lowering Your Asking Price
At some point in your home selling journey, you may have tried everything but your neighbors seem to be winning the race.
One quick and sure way to get your house sold is to just lower your price.
Nobody wants to do this, but it’s the surest way to be done with it.
Price adjustments are always a good option for anyone who wants to sell their house, but I recommend sitting down with your agent before you list the house and discuss your pricing/marketing strategy overall.
You may want to set the price low to begin with.
This typically draws in many offers from investors and cash buyers – people who will not necessarily care as much about bad neighbors.
If you’ve gotten to a point where your bad neighbors have stalled your home sale, then lowering the price of your home is a great way to get the job done.
FAQs for Selling A House With Bad Neighbors
Q: How do you sell a house with messy neighbors?
A: Selling a house with messy neighbors is like trying to push a ball of string uphill. It feels like it’s out of your control but you still try anyways. My suggestion is to approach your neighbor and offer to help them clean up the mess. It would only be the outside of their house that is messy and distracting for prospective buyers of your home. Let them know that you don’t mind it but others may and you want to give a good impression when selling your home.
Q: What can I do about my neighbor sabotaging my home sale?
A: There’s always a difference between a “bad neighbor” and a neighbor who would do anything to prevent you from successful selling your home. If you are dealing with the latter, you should immediately begin documenting the issues and reaching out to others for help. Start with your community and work your way up to law enforcement and legal help.
Q: What is considered a bad neighbor?
A: A bad neighbor typically fits into one of four main profiles: nosy, noisy, messy and angry. You can have “bad neighbors” that are one or many of those four profiles. Bad neighbors generally make selling your home difficult.
Q: Do you have to disclose bad neighbors when selling a house?
A: Depending on how challenging your neighbors are, you may need to disclose it to buyers. The last thing you want to do is hide something serious from buyers and then be liable in the future. I would recommend disclosing any situations that you think others would be interested in knowing.
Other Resources & Articles From Doug
Author: Doug Greene
Doug brings over a decade of real estate and business experience to his content. Educating homeowners and helping sellers with their properties is his passion.
His contributions have been featured on Realtor.com, Washington Post, Apartment Therapy, HomeLight, Better Homes & Gardens and many more.