My good neighbors are moving :( :(

[Laura2592]

We had the neighbors over this past weekend when we stayed at our cottage ("hot neighbor" according to @Anonymous and one of our more interesting guests). They have baby #2 on the way and are planning to build a house on grandpa's farm/live in the basement until its done. They had talked about building their own place before and looked at land here and there. But this time it looks like its going to happen. They plan to put their house up for sale in the spring. 

They are the only neighbors we share a property line with. The other side is a business which is basically a big parking lot and very small office. You can't see it because of tree growth. You can see their house and its well-maintained with lots of nice garden. They have been fantastic about alerting us to any goings on in our space and really tolerant. 

I have a lot of concerns about this. Any advice on how to prepare for new neighbors? 

[Kelly149]

@Laura2592 buy the place yourself?

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149 I am really thinking about it. But so far I have not figured out a way it makes financial sense. They want too much for their house too. Its bigger than our cottage and they have done a lot of improvements. 

[Brian2036]

@Laura2592 @Kelly149 

That would be the ideal solution for me, and I’ve done it before.

I’m not sure that this is a good time to buy real estate, although interest rates are not likely to go any lower.

 You know the market, so is it likely to be viable as a rental property?

Possibly you could talk the owners into keeping it and using it for STRs. You would be in a good position to help them get started or even act as property manager for a fee.

If some ignoranus buys it and starts complaining about your STR it will really suck.

[Laura2592]

@Brian2036 its a 4 bed/4 bath place so I really would not want to rent it. I don't have luck renting big family houses-- either 1 or 2 bedroom apartments/homes are my sweet spot. Too much to maintain. The neighbors need the equity to build their house. They are a young family without a ton of cash reserves. 

We would probably sell our cottage rather than deal with an asshat next door. We have decent equity in it and frankly STR is not worth both the headaches of guests AND neighbors. 

[Colleen253]

@Laura2592 🤣”Asshat”. 

I suppose the only thing you can do then is wait and see what transpires as far as new neighbors. Maybe they will be just as great! And you will no doubt win them over if they are tetchy about the Airbnb next door. You do such a great job of managing it, it won’t cause issues for them. Good luck! 

[Laura2592]

@Colleen253  yeah I was just wondering if anyone else had gone through something like this and maybe had some tips on how to navigate this new relationship. We don't tend to attract rowdy guests but we have had a few odd ones. Privacy fencing may be in my future. 

[Michelle53]

@Laura2592  I've had three new neighbors since I started Airbnb in 2015.    Mostly, it's "live and let live" around here, unless there is someone creating a disturbance.   

I always mention it to new folks moving in, because, of course, they will become aware of the people coming and going, with luggage. I try and make sure the guests that stay here know about quiet hours and respecting neighbors, and neighbors know they can contact me if there is ever an issue. 

It all depends on the kind of relationship one builds with neighbors. 

In my case, a fence wouldn't help because my guest entrance is in the front of the house.  It most impacts my neighbor directly to the south of me, since my guest entrance is pretty much right across the pathway from their front door. I've never heard anything from them about it.  But I also don't impose on them to watch my guests on my behalf. 

[Brian2036]

@Laura2592 

Yes, that would probably be my next option.

Maybe you could sell out and find something more convenient to manage.

Obviously my perspective is somewhat biased, but after 50 years of renting city, rural and suburban properties I definitely prefer rural. Really REALLY rural.

If I were younger I would look at buying 40 acres of “unimproved” land and building a series of 1BR/1BA cabins on it.  Maybe some RV sites too.

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  I can understand your apprehension, but I wouldn't cross that bridge until you come to it, and the new owners may be perfectly cool people who couldn't care less that you run an Airbnb. I know you've gotten weird guests, but it doesn't seem like you get guests who party and disturb the neighbors.

I would invite the new neighbors over for coffee when the place sells, have a normal conversation like you would with anyone, and just mention during the course of it how it's your getaway place that you plan to retire to someday and entertain them with your "you won't believe this one" guest stories. You probably have nothing to worry about.

[John5097]

@Laura2592 I'm sure you will be fine with the new neighbors. All you can really do in these situations is the best you can. Im sure they already know you are great and the guest have been very respectful. I have two new next door neighbors and it can get tricky. One was blocking my driveway where guest park so had to address that with them. They are also planning to rent out their entire house for part of the year. There is on going issues with all my neighbors doing something I have to address. I think I'm going to let them know that I'm only planning on doing this 5 years and start cutting back in 2 years. If that doesn't work out I'll just rent it out my entire place to some college students, and see how that goes. 🙂