Neighbor Upset with our buying MH.....

[Dale Pruitt]

The topic of paying you to move your coach Jack needs to understand most lawsuits in real estate at least in my state are against sellers failing to disclose by buyers. Not against scamming realtors , against scamming sellers.

[B52Guy]

After 7 years in the real estate business, this is the first time I've heard this opinion from a real estate professional and it appears illogical to me: many of the homeowners that bought into this neighborhood did so precisely because they could store their RV (boat, motorhome, trailer, whatever) on their property and avoid paying fees to store offsite. Not everyone who bought into the neighborhood was concerned about this particular deed restriction, but I will bet the vast majority of current RV owners who bought into the neighborhood were very aware of the rules (or lack thereof) and the ability to avoid storage fees weighed heavily on their decision to buy into this neighborhood.

I'll also bet there are several boats, trailers and other RVs stored around the neighborhood...if it is legal, it makes little sense to pay to store your unit off-site.
As many have pointed out, the ability to park your RV on your property is an asset...at least for those that want to live in this neighborhood. Yes, many folks don't like the idea of living next door to someone that has a Class A parked along the side of their home...and for those folks, they are best served by buying into a neighborhood with deed restrictions that prevent such parking. For the rest of us, we consider the ability to park our motorhome on our property a right and a positive asset…and would likely be willing to pay extra for such a neighborhood.

Good thing there are a lot of really good real estate agents out there….your neighbor just needs to find one that touts the positive attributes of your neighborhood!

[wanderso]

While it may be true that in many cases one can do "whatever you want" within the law regarding your property, it does not mean that one should do such. We have a nearby property that was sold to put in a Walmart and shopping center that local infrastructure is insufficient to support. Many folks are upset. The owner has a cool $6+ million in the bank from the sale. The livability and character of the town - forever changed.

Our neighborhood has no restrictions apart from the city ordinance of not parking on the street for more than 72 hours. When we moved in, folks were parking boats and small, aging RVs adjacent to their front yard. We quietly started making our landscaping much nicer than the prior owner as well as some exterior upgrades and eventually a nice addition on the house to the back yard. I also walk with my kids and pick up trash that blows out of bins on trash day.

The cleanup of the place was noticed by the neighbors and I get teased from time to time about "giving the guys a bad name with their wife" because they will get assigned projects. I smile and speak happily with them.

Of interest along the way is that I keep record of the google images for our neighborhood as they change and I can actually see the neighbors nearest to us make improvements in their properties in the photos.

I have room for RV parking alongside the house. The prior owner used it for storing a boat. Yet I choose to park it offsite in covered storage because I have seen it result in fewer neighbors choosing to do the same and I want to protect the rig from the elements. It has not impacted how often I drive it. It also calls less attention to my home and possible wealth that I may have.

Realtor or not, you might consider doing the same. No you are not required to do so. It's surprising what one person's impact can be on a neighborhood. The golden rule, while commonly quoted in my youth, isn't spoken about as much these days. (No I'm not that old. . ).

[SuperGewl]

Sorry to hear about the neighbor, but they weren't much of one to begin with in that case. Now the flip side, What is the possibility of putting up a High gate in front of the MH to make it harder to see from the street and a slightly higher fence along the side? This would be in helping to keep the peace and also protecting it even better. It would help by making it harder to see from the street also. I have seen various neighbor hoods done like this so to not actually hide it but obscure it from the street side view when driving thru.

[whitetop]

As most have said find a new Realtor,sounds like this one is trying to make a quick sell using a $20000.00 head start.There should be no shortage of hungry Realtor's in your area.

[RELHUB]

I would tell Jack and Jill to take a walk up the hill. You have every right to park your vehicles on your property.

[RTinVa]

Park it where you want to and enjoy your new coach. I think the sellers have nerve asking you to move the coach even if they are willing to pay the expense. What a slap in the face. Don't know if you were friends with them previously but if so you can definitely see they really don't care about your happiness and don't appreciate your extended courtesy of notifying them of your intent before you parked the coach (Which you had no obligation to do.)
What if you told them you don't like the color of their car and asked them to park it out of sight so you didn't have to look at it. How would they feel? They obviously put $$$ in front of actually caring about people. Shameful.
I have a solution to help you stand your ground. Home Page Black I recommend the 22 footer!
By the way, that is my house behind my coach in my avatar. That is where I park it!
Safe travels!

[HuntingHawk]

As has been pointed out, your MH might be a saling point for the property next door. Prospective buyers see they can park their RV, boat, etc in their yard & not have to pay storage fees. Tell Jack & Jill they should be paying you monthly for that advertizing to sale their home.

[JMonroe]

Me, as prospective buyer of the home next to you.

Wow, neat! We can park our RV at our house in this neighborhood. Where do I sign?

One man's...

[joemcgin]

See if they'd be willing to prepay for a 5 year lease on a heated aircraft hanger if you have an airport nearby. Can't pass up that deal!

[gemini5362]

I skipped to the last page on this if I am repeating what others have said I apologize. The reason that jack and jill want to pay you for storage is because they do not want any perspective buyers to see it. I agree with the realtor it might make a difference. There is a reason why there are literally hundreds of thousands of communities with covenants that prohibit parking your MH in the driveway. Lots of people do not like seeing them there. I do not agree with that philosophy but obviously a few million people do. The problem I see here is that Jack and Jill are potentially committing fraud and if the realtor advised them to offer to pay for parking it then they are in a conspiracy to commit fraud. If a person that buys there house has an objection to MH being parked in the driveway then then they are committing fraud by hiding the fact you own one from them. I do not think they are the kind of people I would want as friends or neighbors. Now how does this affect you. If someone buys there house that objects to the MH in your yard then when you do start parking it there they are going to be upset. At the least they are not going to be happy with you for helping to hide that fact. Next level of problem is they start going to the city council or the zoning commission to get regulations started to ban them. For those of you that say they cannot do that I can tell you about my friends father that had motorhomes parked on a pad in his yard for over thirty five years. The city passed an ordinance and he now pays for parking in a commercial storage area. The worst thing that happens is the neighbor realizes someone has committed fraud by hiding the motor home. He now decides to go and sue everyone involved. Remember what I said about conspiracy to commit fraud. If you park it for one season out of sight you could be named in that lawsuit also. Best thing in my opinion is to keep it parked where it is going to stay parked and let the neighbor who wants to commit fraud be mad at you.

[Joemaz]

If they loose 20K on their house, it won't be do to your RV! If anything, some potential buyer may be looking to buy one in the future???
Best of Luck!
Oh, what did you buy? It's going to be fun!!!

[csrrsr]

Originally Posted by gemini5362

I skipped to the last page on this if I am repeating what others have said I apologize. The reason that jack and jill want to pay you for storage is because they do not want any perspective buyers to see it. I agree with the realtor it might make a difference. There is a reason why there are literally hundreds of thousands of communities with covenants that prohibit parking your MH in the driveway. Lots of people do not like seeing them there. I do not agree with that philosophy but obviously a few million people do. The problem I see here is that Jack and Jill are potentially committing fraud and if the realtor advised them to offer to pay for parking it then they are in a conspiracy to commit fraud. If a person that buys there house has an objection to MH being parked in the driveway then then they are committing fraud by hiding the fact you own one from them. I do not think they are the kind of people I would want as friends or neighbors. Now how does this affect you. If someone buys there house that objects to the MH in your yard then when you do start parking it there they are going to be upset. At the least they are not going to be happy with you for helping to hide that fact. Next level of problem is they start going to the city council or the zoning commission to get regulations started to ban them. For those of you that say they cannot do that I can tell you about my friends father that had motorhomes parked on a pad in his yard for over thirty five years. The city passed an ordinance and he now pays for parking in a commercial storage area. The worst thing that happens is the neighbor realizes someone has committed fraud by hiding the motor home. He now decides to go and sue everyone involved. Remember what I said about conspiracy to commit fraud. If you park it for one season out of sight you could be named in that lawsuit also. Best thing in my opinion is to keep it parked where it is going to stay parked and let the neighbor who wants to commit fraud be mad at you.

XX2 As one poster suggested, save Jack and Jill's e-mail and let them know (as well as their Realtor) that any more negative comments or actions by them and you'll disclose the e-mail to the local board of Realtors. I've been licensed since 1976 and this e-mail definitely constitutes fraud and is totally against full disclosure laws in all states.

[DeWat]

Originally Posted by csrrsr

XX2 As one poster suggested, save Jack and Jill's e-mail and let them know (as well as their Realtor) that any more negative comments or actions by them and you'll disclose the e-mail to the local board of Realtors. I've been licensed since 1976 and this e-mail definitely constitutes fraud and is totally against full disclosure laws in all states.

***IF*** that story as given by Jack & Jill is accurate! They've already demonstrated there "whimpy-ness" by corresponding with the OP by email when he was nice enough to first talk to them in person. There can be several reasons that Jack and/or Jill don't want the OP's MH around (control, eyesore in their opinion, envy/jealousy, thinks themselves... not the realtor that it will bring the neighbor value down), and are just blaming the whole thing on the realtor.