Make A Good Neighbor

Dear Pat,
We’re planning to sell this spring, and we’re busy getting things ready inside our house, but it’s the outside that concerns us. Our south side neighbor has a big elm tree in his backyard that overhangs our property. It provides lots of nice shade in the summer, but it needs trimming badly, as some of the branches are dead and others are beginning to rub on our roof. We mentioned this last year but our neighbor hasn’t done anything. We don’t want to argue with him, but we do want the situation cleared up before we go on the market. Any ideas?
---Need a Good Neighbor

Dear Neighbors,
It’s surprising how often this question comes up in various forms, in regard to neighbors’ unsightly paint jobs, or junk in their yards, or noisy dogs, or broken-down fences. There is seemingly no limit to the ways we can be hindered by our neighbors when it’s our turn to sell. On the face of it, there appears to be little we can do—but I’ve practiced, and advised using, a proactive approach that can help to give you some control over these situations. This approach can be expensive, but may be well worth the cost to many who want to sell their home more easily. First, let’s answer your specific question.

The law gives you the right to trim branches that impinge on your property or that hang over your yard. Before you do, speak to your neighbor again. You cannot expect him to pay for a complete tree trimming, but you can at least explain why you need to cut back the branches touching your house. This is a good time to propose that you help him to trim the entire tree, by lining up the tree service and paying for half the cost. The offer may get your neighbor motivated, and in the long run it can help sell your house by making both properties look well maintained. Yes, it’s an expense of sale you had not planned on, but after you’ve compiled the numbers, you may decide it’s worth it.

What I am proposing is that you pay to make a good neighbor, Neighbors. In order to sell our own houses over the years, my husband and I once had trees planted in a neighbor’s yard to help hide his decrepit garage from our view, and another time we painted a neighbor’s peeling trim. I’ve advised clients over the years to pay to clean up their neighbors’ junky yards, mow their 10-inch lawns, and, on occasion, to provide neighbors with cosmetic repairs that we agreed were cost-effective. Obviously, it’s very unusual to go to these extreme lengths—but when a neighbor’s house can stop a sale, it may well be worth it. Good luck!