Land deal trashed by neighbors

[Jared Drake]

After being on this site for a few years and daydreaming about owning my own land and cabin, I thought I was finally going to join the ranks of others who have posted projects on here. I found 11.5 acres that the bank was willing to take 7K for. Well, that was their counter offer anyway, although informally. (No contract was ever drawn up. The realtor just made mention of it to her contact at the bank) However, the only people who have a house that borders the land we're looking at literally toss their household garbage out onto the ground where the wind picks it up and blows it right onto the land we wanted. I'm absolutely disgusted and heartbroken. I loved that piece of land. It was perfect for a small house/cabin and hunting and those people have destroyed it. I looked in county records online and they haven't been served papers to be foreclosed on, so they're making their payments. I'm uhappy.
Jared

[glenn kangiser]

That's a bummer, Jared but you don't want bad neighbors.  I have all good ones and go out of my way to keep them happy.  Have you tried to talk to them?  Maybe not worth it as what they actually do will likely revert to what it si now.  Would a solid fence take care of the problem?   Maybe one made out of car hoods?

[jb52761]

I'm thinking that, maybe if you rounded up a crew to walk the property, did some picking up, make it look like someone is "moving in", that the messy neighbors might get the hint and clean up their act. If no one has been utilizing this vacant property for however long, they probably don't "see" where  their trash is going because they figure it's a vacant lot, who cares.....jb

[Squirl]

11.5 acres of trash is a lot of trash.  Are you sure it is all theirs?  At 7k for 11.5 acres, I would probably put up with the trouble.  I would probably buy the land, clean it up, sue them if they do it again, try and get a lien against their property, then try and force a sheriff's sale with a lien.  Then again, I am not exactly a conflict avoidance person.

Remember, you have the right to live in peace.  Someone is always willing to take away your rights if you are not willing to stand up for them.

[NM_Shooter]

Never, ever, ever assume that a neighbor will agree to keeping their property cleaned up.  Just don't deal with this heartbreak.  They might clean up, then you buy in, then it goes to hell again and stays that way.  You have no authority to tell them to pick up, and it will just cause you grief.

At my parent's house in Arkansas, we had a family move in behind our house.  Within a year the property was full of trash.  Heaps of it... literally.  From our back porch, 200' away, we could see multiple discarded vehicles, full of crap.  Piles of tossed trash 4 to 6 feet high (!!!)  and it was spread all around their trailer.  Unfortunately, that coincided with a need to sell our property, and in order to get to our house, you had to drive right past this other place.  We were sick.

Why would you want to buy into something like that? 

Actually, that brings up another point.  Before you buy anything, walk around and visit with the neighbors.  See what sort of folks they are, and if they have any warnings regarding any other neighbors. 

Good luck.  Sorry about the disappointment.

-f-

[Jens]

I think I would probably deal with it as well.  That's the cheapest land I've ever heard of in the US.  You may be able to get the penal farm to bring inmates out and clean it up.

[MountainDon]

Before we found the little piece of heaven we now call ours we cam across one other potential lot. It was a little smaller but had a well and electricity. It was actually a pretty good deal. It also had a neighbor with a couple old obviously non mobile cars and assorted junk on his larger piece of property. The building was also somewhat run down. It looked trashy. We turned it down as logic said there was no way to change that persons behavior.

I see a neighbor who dumps trash and lets it blow allover as a similar big negative. Why should you assume you can change their behavior simply because you purchase adjacent land? If they had any pride in themselves or their land they would not allow trash to blow around even if they lived in the middle of a thousand acres all alone and by themselves. Sure, maybe the sheriff would notify them to clean up; there's likely some statute that is being broken. But that puts you on the wrong foot with that neighbot right rom the get go. That's just adding fuel to a bad situation.

[harry51]

It would be a one-in-a-million shot if you could change the neighbor's lifestyle. If they're trashy, trashy is what you'll have from now on. If you use the authorities to harass them, they'll resent it and you. People hate to be told what to do, and some thrive on conflict, taking great pleasure in your discomfort.

If you build a fence, you still have the negative effect on your property values, as well as possible health, fire, and pollution issues.

There's a good chance that at least part of the reason the bank owns the property in the first place, and that it's cheap, is the neighbors.

I'd keep looking.

[andrew3d]

Why buy somebody else's troubles?

There are many things to beware of when buying property, and having decent neighbors is up there with good access and plenty of water.  All big items.

Any land that is unusually low priced is probably cheap for a reason. 

[John_M]

Any land that is unusually low priced is probably cheap for a reason. 

There will be other opportunities out there....keep looking.....

....but then again...find out how old they are...if they are really really old.....people can't live forever!!!   

[CREATIVE1]

Lots of good points made here.  I might suggest talking to those neighbors once before you make up your mind.  Probably a waste of time, but you never know.

What does other land around there cost, by the way?

[Jared Drake]

Lots of good comments. I've seen the neighbors, never talked to them. They looked about my age, early 30's. The land is so cheap because it's a repo property, along with a lot of other properties in that area. Someone was going to make a giant subdivision sort of thing, took people's money, went bankrupt and left town. This land out there is very hilly and on the property I want, maybe 3 acres is flat enough for a house. Which is perfect for me, since the rest of the land I want for hunting. Land around that area of Oklahoma is going for 1500-4000 an acre, depending on who owns it. There's a few properties that we could get for around 500/acre since the banks and asset companies are really wanting rid of them bad. We don't think the neighbors would ever change and I wouldn't want to put up a privacy fence even if it was just a 100 feet or so. Eventually, the trash would blow around the fence and onto our property. So, I'll just forget about that land and keep looking. I hate to do it, too, because another 10 acres was going to be included and we probably could have gotten it for 300/acre with the other 11.5 acres. The real estate agent was confident we could get all 21.5 acre for around 10-12 grand. Oh well.
Jared

[CREATIVE1]

If that other property for $300/acre is pretty much in the bag, and you could build on it instead???  One big ol' buffer with over 20 acres, depending on the lay of the land.

By the way, you can do a background check on those neighbors through www.intelius.com.  Keep that in mind for later if you decide to move along.  No criminals next door!!!!!

With so much cheap property available, though, I think you have a 100% chance of getting it done. sometime soon. 

I heard from a client in Oklahoma that you can possibly be paid lots of money to allow a wind generator to be set up on your property.  Do you know anything about that?  I want in!

[Jared Drake]

The other ten acres doesn't but up next to the 11.5 acres. It's across the easement. So, what I'd end up with is TWO parcels of land that butt up against the trashy people. I looked on that website someone on here listed, and it shows the man to be 54. Either way, I'm not going to make an offer. But I'm sure there's lots of people on here who have fallen in love with a piece of land only to find out that there's something wrong that keeps them from having it. And that other piece of land is all ravine. No flat land, period. It would be good for squirrel hunting, if someone were willing to travel up and down the hillside.
Jared