One of the most annoying things that a neighbor can do is to undertake renovation projects on their house without telling you. Property renovations can go on for a long time and can be very disruptive.
Fortunately, it is possible for you to set up alerts so that you know how and when your neighbors are upgrading their houses. Additionally, if your neighbors have been given permission to upgrade their house, then you might also be able to get it too if you want to upgrade yours.
This article will explore this subject in greater detail:
Receiving Alerts About Local Renovation Projects
There are two ways of finding out whether or not your neighbors are upgrading or renovating their homes. The first (and most effective) way is by setting up notifications on a real estate website.
Real estate websites can also provide you with notifications regarding houses that are going up for sale in your area. If you are looking to buy another house, then according to the realty experts from eXp Realty, it’s important that you find a space that can offer you and your family the best future possible.
Signing up for local property alerts can help you to find this property. You can also sign up for alerts for properties in different areas if you want to move far away.
The difficulty with receiving notifications about work that’s being undertaken locally is that many real estate portals don’t have access to this information. However, if you contact local realtors directly, they should be able to tell you about any renovations that are taking place in your area. Realtors are usually the first people to learn about this kind of thing.
The only real estate portals that can provide you with notifications about ongoing renovations are the ones that scour the internet for this kind of information. Before any large-scale renovations can be undertaken, property owners need to get the relevant building permits.
In most states these permits are then published online, allowing real estate portals to take the information and send alerts to people in their local area notifying them of the work. As long as you are using a real estate portal that searches the internet for this information and updates its portal regularly, then you should have no trouble finding out about it.
The only other way of finding out about local renovations being undertaken is if your neighbor comes to your house and tells you. As long as the neighbor lives on your street, they should tell you.
Somebody that lives a street or two away probably won’t. Your immediate neighbors will tell you purely so that they do not end up annoying you. Most neighbors will tell you what times and days the work will be taking place so that you can prepare.
Why Should They Tell You?
Your neighbors should tell you if they are having renovations undertaken because renovations can be very disruptive. The same is also true for you. If you are going to be having any renovations performed on your home then you need to tell them about it.
If you don’t tell your neighbors about any renovations, then you will likely annoy the entire neighborhood. The main reason that neighbors should tell you is common courtesy. As long as they have building permits and permission from the local government to carry out renovations, they aren’t actually breaking the law, even if you find it annoying.
If your neighbors are having work carried out on their home and they haven’t told you, then it might be worth going over and speaking to them politely. The first thing that you should ask them is why they began working without telling the neighborhood.
Second, you should find out what times and dates the works are going to be carried out. You can then distribute this information to your other neighbors so that you collectively know what to expect. With all of the above said, it’s very unlikely that neighbors would perform renovations without telling you anyway.
Taking Action Against Them
If your neighbors have undertaken renovation work without telling you, there’s not much that you can do. Most states do have regulations in place to limit the times that people can perform renovations on their properties, however.
These rules tend to be that no work can be carried out past 8 P.M and before 7 A.M. If the state that you live in has these rules, then you should phone the building authority and mention to them that your neighbors are breaking them, and in doing so, disrupting your entire neighborhood.
Also, if your neighbors are performing additional renovations that they haven’t got permission for, you can report them for this too. If it turns out that they are indeed not sticking to the renovations they would have put in their building permit application, then they can be forced to tear everything down. They can also receive a huge fine.
If they are just being noisy though, there’s not much that you can do. The best thing that you can do is to go and ask them to keep the noise down, but then, builders aren’t likely to stop working just to please you.
Benefits of Local Renovations
Despite what you may think, there are a lot of benefits to having renovations performed locally. One of the main benefits is that it is a sign that your local housing authority is approving people’s renovation applications.
If there is any work that you want to do for your house, then you might be able to get approval. In addition to getting approval for largescale renovations, you can also use the noise being created by your neighbor’s renovations to perform your own noisy renovations, such as repairing areas of your home or redoing your garden.
It’s unlikely that you will get approval for largescale renovations quick enough to have them done while your neighbor’s builders are still active, however. If you are going to get approval for your own renovations, then make sure that you space it out a while so that your neighbors have a break from the noise.
Which Renovations Can You Perform?
If you are going to have your own renovations done, then you might be wondering what you can do. You aren’t really limited by what you can do, as long as you get the approval and your renovations aren’t a fire hazard. You could even build a second house on your property if it was large enough.
If you are going to perform renovations and use them to boost your home’s value, however, then there are some renovations that are very desirable. Renovations to a property’s façade are an effective way of increasing its value.
You can go ahead and add lights to the walkway up to your front door, plant flowers, repaint, and even add a new door and windows. Your property’s façade is the first thing that people will see when they are viewing it. You can then go ahead and add interior changes, such as smart features. Adding carpet is also an effective way of increasing your property’s value.
If you have the money, you could also build an annex on your property or add an extension to your property. Houses that have extensions and annexes are very desirable, especially for homebuyers that have families.
Visiting Properties Being Renovated
If there are any property developments being undertaken in your area, then you might be able to go and visit them. When we say developments, we don’t mean locals renovating their houses. Instead, we mean actual property developments, where large companies are building new houses and improving local properties. These are called open houses.
Visiting open houses can give you ideas about what you can do with your property. They can also give you an idea of what’s going on in the local area. If new houses are being built, then it’s a sign that your area is very popular and it could be a good time to sell. Investment in an area is indicative of it being attractive to homebuyers.
With that said, you might want to wait until the houses have been sold before you start selling—or you might want to list your house for sale prior to the development being opened for sale.
Be Accommodating
If your neighbors are having renovations undertaken, then be accommodating (as long as they accommodate you). If they go out of their way to tell you when work will be being carried out, then be cordial with them and wait until the work has been completed.
As long as they don’t break any rules, then there’s nothing that you can do, so you might as well accept it. If the noise is becoming very disruptive, then you could consider investing in better soundproofing for your home. Most work is completed very quickly, so it will be over before you know it. You should also consider visiting to see what’s going on, if you are able to.
If work is being carried out on your neighbor’s houses, then they have a duty to tell you. It is also your duty to be respectful and understand that they want to improve their home. As this article has already suggested, you can actually use your neighbor’s renovations to your advantage– you can use it as an opportunity to renovate your own home.
