Nuisance Neighbors Need Not Destroy Home Values
Judy lives in a modest house in NE Portland. She has always taken pride in her home, keeping it very clean, inside and out, and keeping up with all the maintenance. Judy keeps to herself but she does smile and wave at the neighbors, although lately it’s been getting harder to do that. In the past five years since the house next door changed owners, additions have been added that she’s not sure would pass a building inspection. A couple of old cars appeared on the street and haven’t been moved since. For the final straw, these neighbors had a yard sale weeks ago but still haven’t cleaned up the unsold junk on the curb.
Now Judy’s ready to sell her home and move to West Linn to be closer to her aging parents. Her careful upkeep of her home will positively impact its appraisal value, but what about that eyesore next door?
Judy calls her Portland real estate agent to ask. It’s true – even though the home appraiser can’t take into account the neighbor’s house when evaluating Judy’s home, potential buyers will surely be discouraged. Judy might not get the offers she wants, just because these buyers are uncertain about their view when they walk out the front door, and how it will deteriorate in the future. Judy summons up her courage and knocks on the neighbors’ door, but they seem indifferent to her complaints. She’s moving anyway, what does she care?
Luckily, there’s a happy ending to this story. Judy’s real estate agent advised her to call Portland Building and Development Services (BDS), the city department charged with bringing property owners into compliance with building codes, housing standards and zoning requirements. They sent an inspector out to her neighborhood, and suddenly the homeowners next door were very apologetic.
Within weeks, the junk and the old cars had been removed, and the house additions had been brought up to code. Judy’s smile and wave became genuine again. Best of all, her Portland real estate agent brought her an offer on her house that was above and beyond what they’d hoped for!
According to Portland City Code, ”All exterior property areas shall be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition, free from any accumulation of rubbish or garbage”. BDS also sends inspectors to discourage “the accumulation or storage of non-trash items such as appliances, building materials, furniture or other items not suited to outdoor use.”
What about uncut grass, tall weeds and unchecked erosion? BDS enforces that too. Ditto for noise, illegal business operations, unlocked and abandoned buildings, and basketball hoops on telephone poles. In fact, the list of potential code violations in Portland is long and detailed, so it’s worth a look! If your neighborhood nuisance is on the list, submit a complaint to Portland BDS online or call (503) 823-CODE.
Before you do, consider that you might benefit more by a friendly “head’s up” to neighbors who might not even know what they’re doing is a code violation. Your kindness might earn you the best neighborhood feature available — a smile and a wave from your neighbors when buyers come to check out your home!
