We are thinking of borrowing some money from my mom (adding it to the car loan I'm already paying on) to have a chain link fence put up on one side of our property and the front (there is a wood fence on the other side put in by our other neighbor when he built his place). She offered the loan (interest free) and it's something we plan to put money toward in the future anyway - it was just going to take us awhile to save up for it.
The main reason is peace of mind and to get distinct separation from our neighbor who is constantly encroaching bit by bit, year by year, on to our property. We just spent $1200 putting in the block retaining wall because several years ago he dug into the hill between our properties and cut into our side, which caused even more problems as the bank has sloughed off more and more and we've probably lost several feet of our property on that area over the years. He actually now has a car that is partially parked over the property line near the front by our garage. Some friends car he is storing for him and can't seem to find room on his 1.5 acres to park it. The second reason is it would be very helpful to have a fenced in place since we have 2 dogs now.
While we were putting in the retaining wall, discussion, of course, came up about where exactly the property line between us is. He, of course, thinks it's several feet or more into our side. This guy took out the property markers years ago - so nothing there to go by. BUT, we have them still in place on the other side and we clearly have a piece of property that is registered with the county at 152' in width (320' in length down between us) so when DH measured and showed him he was supposedly surprised. It didn't convince him to move the car, though. DH mentioned to him we will be putting a fence in one of these days - all the way down the length of the property. He didn't seem much to care for the idea. Years ago we put in a little gravel driveway on the back of his property from the road to his shop for him, and then continued it into the back of our property so we could access it that way. This arrangement was fine for several years but eventually all his "stuff" (think junkyard) was overflowing into his little roadway and we couldn't get though if we wanted to. No big deal - we weren't needing that access too often anymore anyway. But now, for some reason, he doesn't want us to block it off (but he doesn't want to move his stuff, either). Not sure why he cares, as he doesn't drive onto our property and we couldn't get though from the main road now anyway, with all his junk in the way.
More than likely he'll just use his side of the fence to prop up all the junk he brings to his property (he actually told DH this or that he would just put stuff on top of the retaining wall!). Not sure what we could do about that, but I guess it's better than actually having his junk on our property. I know the fence will be probably a foot onto the inside of our property line so technically we could tell him to remove his stuff from leaning on the fence, but then we are just dealing with a new problem with hm. At that point I'd probably just have to get the county or a lawyer involved, as it would most likely damage the structure of the fencing to have stuff leaning on it. We hope to put in tall privacy trees next spring to block seeing all his junk. Now that his son has pretty much chopped down every tree on their property - you can see it all even more now. We used to have more trees and natural brush separating us and keeping our view of their crap blocked.
DH is in the process of getting several quotes to have the fence put in. Hopefully we'll find one cheaper than the first quote! Because of our bankruptcy and finances we are pretty much stuck living here and getting this project done would go a long way to making it nicer and not have the junkyard (DH calls them "Sanford and Son") staring us in the face every time we step outside. DH has many times tried to nicely tell this neighbor we don't want his stuff on our property! Before we even moved here 20+ years ago we got a call from another neighbor that he had parked a 40' container on our property and just left it there. When DH told him to move it off - he was like "well, you aren't living here, what difference does it make?" This is the mentality we have to deal with.
It sucks living next door to slobs. There are a few, like us, in the neighborhood who have yards and some landscaping. Most don't, but at least they don't look like a junkyard.
Once your bankruptcy drops off, your credit score climbs and real estate values head back from hence they plunged, you need to high tail it out of there!
ReplyDeleteHopefully this day will come before you start hearing banjos playing from old Fred Sanfords way.... ;-)
Yes, we are hoping that by the time our credit improves the real estate values will also have improved. We are way underwater right now due to a home equity loan we took out beginning of 2008, when we actually had quite a bit of equity in our home. It's a nice piece of property we have and this is really the only neighbor that is such an eyesore. We used to be considered "way outside of town" 23 years ago, but town has made it's way out to us (which I like for the shopping convenience) and it's nice to have room and not be squeezed with a house 5 feet on each side of us.
DeleteYes, draw that line. I am so upset... we live in a condo and have had really good luck with neighbors until recently. Now there are biker types and a few unemployed guys that hang out all day, smoke and play loud music. A lot of the good renters are moving out and new renters are moving in and you never know what you are going to get.
ReplyDeleteI wish I could put up a fence but the best I can do is hope they find a better place to live. I actually dont' mind the bikers, they are nice to me and keep an eye out!
Oh well, I am staying put! Good luck!
Renters are usually not good neighbors in my experience. Unfortunately, the guy who owns next door to us also owns the acre on the other side of our other neighbor. It has always been rental and most not too good over the years. The last 5 years or so he had his daughter in law (divorced from his son) and her kids living there. Once she settled down in her life and got her act together she turned out to be a good neighbor and sorry to see her leave a few months ago, but now her mom is living there and seems nice and quiet, so we are keeping our fingers crossed it will stay that way.
DeleteOh wow - what a pain in the ass neighbor, with all of his crap that goes with him. THAT would make me nuts if I had to look at something like that on a daily basis. Why is it those who live like pigs think everyone else is OK with their pigsty? I totally understand not wanting to make trouble with them - living so close and all. Jeez, you guys are in a pickle, that's for sure. Hope it all works out in your favor. I fell for ya!
ReplyDeleteHe's a nice guy but honestly I think he's become a hoarder - and it's all outside. Just more and more stuff gradually building up while his place just deteriorates. We try to keep the peace and not complain too much, but it's getting harder. I think a fence and trees will go a LONG way to helping us live here happier
DeleteYes, I was going to say ... it sounds like hoarding to me. Put the fence in. That'll give you a clear division of property and reclaim whatever land your neighbor has encroached on.
ReplyDeleteCan't you just plant a row of shrubs or something. With your finances i don't think you should be spending loads of money. Shrubs are discounted now due to end of season and you can plant them no need to hire someone else. Also even if you do the fence can you find used or material and do yourself? Got to stop the spending. Think outside the box. What is the least expensive way to fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog from another blog and am reeling with "reality checks"
Just because you use coupons on stores does save money but so does thrift shops and garage sales. Paying a dollar for clothes and other items is better than 10 or 15 dollars and your savings needs help.
You need to ask yourself if you lost you job what would you do? Where is you savings where is your backup. You shouldn't have extra at the end of the month you should have a set savings amount period. With the amount of income you have you should have tons of savings and assets. Paid for assets! You husband also needs to bring in income. he's going to feel bad whether he sits at home or whether he works so work. It should be his eight hour a day job to find a job or be buying and selling things to make x amount of dollars a week. Your bankruptcy sure didn't give you a reality check.
I hate to be so blunt but i think you need a reality check.
Thanks for your taking the time to reply. I wish it were that easy to save tons with living on just what I make. I haven't found the secret to it yet, unfortunately. While I don't always go to thrift shops (I do on occasion) we do buy many many things used via craiglist or ebay. There is very little purchases of assets that we don't buy used anymore. Even my "new" car was used. Garage sales just don't really work for me. I'd spend too much in gas driving around to them, to hope I'd find something I'm looking for. I'd much rather use craigslist or ebay, such as we just did in finding DH's new desk for $175 or selling DD's old desk for $20.
DeleteIt's only been a little over a year and a half since our bankruptcy was discharged, so not a very long time to try and rebuild savings and assets. I did manage to save about $4000, but that has all gone towards medical bills the past 4 months. Without going into every detail of DH's health, the daily constant pain, muscle stiffness and muscle weakness he deals with is just too hard to work at this time. He can't even open his fingers in the morning to hold the glass of water to take his pills. That is why we are trying and trying to get him on a medicine plan that will help him feel better and hopefully at least be able to work part time. Nothing is working and at this point we feel like we are back to square one with his pain management.
I'm very aware of the reality of our post bankruptcy situation. We have made many changes in our financial lives since then (well, long before we filed). We have no credit cards and we do not live beyond our means. We are paying our expenses on what I make and not charging anything. I think I've only purchased one item of clothing so far this year for myself - a pair of jeans for $20. Sure, I could've probably found something at a thrift store for $3 but I don't feel like my small clothing budget is going overboard. We are trying to get to where we need to be, it just takes time. The kids are starting to earn their own money and this is helping, too. In the next 2-3 years they should be pretty self sufficient. It's just not all going to happen overnight and if I've learned anything the past several years in dealing with DH's illness and the bankruptcy is that life is short and we need to also budget for some enjoyment in life and right now, for us, that is fixing up our old house we have lived in for 23 years. In the process we might even get our property value to increase a bit.
We have priced out tall shrub type trees, but at filling in 310 feet of property line and having them planted (Dh is just not able to do that kind of physical work anymore) was actually more than the fence cost! Unfortunately we just can't do a whole lot of labor ourselves anymore. DS did do all the labor to put in our block wall and that is much appreciated.
Yes, I agree, there are cheaper ways to do everything. Could I live like Amy Dacyzyn does in her Tightwad Gazette books? No, not to that extreme, but nor do I live like someone who doesn't value her money. We don't have iPhones, heck we don't even have smart phones with unlimited plans. My cell phone prepaid plan cost me $20 this year. We don't go on vacations or out to eat all the time. We don't buy brand names or designer labels and we try to by used whenever we can. Our cable is pretty basic and we don't have extras like HBO or DVD recording. I love to read but get all my books from the library. I suppose I could go on with more examples, but I hope that at least gives you an idea of my reality.
Go read Robert Frost's poem "Mending Wall". ;-)
ReplyDeleteGreat poem! He has been a good neighbor all considering over the years and that is why we have pretty much kept our mouths shut. Sadly, though I think his acquiring stuff has gradually gotten out of control and the only way we see to keep it from overflowing into our life more than it already has is to put up a fence.
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