{"id":3519,"date":"2019-02-22T14:50:19","date_gmt":"2019-02-22T21:50:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/?p=3519"},"modified":"2019-02-22T14:50:19","modified_gmt":"2019-02-22T21:50:19","slug":"seven-qualities-good-neighbor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/seven-qualities-good-neighbor","title":{"rendered":"Seven Qualities of a Good Neighbor"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

If you want good neighbors, you\u2019ll first have to become one yourself. Master these seven techniques, and even you (yes, you!) can win the approval of your entire neighborhood.<\/p>\n

1. Good neighbors bring cookies<\/strong><\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re new in town or haven\u2019t kept in touch, a delivery of freshly baked goods is a perfect way to break the ice and let neighbors know that you\u2019re thinking of them.<\/p>\n

If cookies can keep Santa returning year after year with a bag full of loot, then surely they can train your neighbors to do your bidding. Consider the following scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cHoney, somebody\u2019s robbing the neighbor\u2019s house again.\u201d
\n\u201cWait, Janet. The ones who brought cookies yesterday?\u201d
\n\u201cExactly. This time I\u2019ll call the cops.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

2. Good neighbors rarely gossip<\/strong><\/p>\n

If your neighbor seems to know the dirt on everyone within a two-block radius, you can count on them to keep tabs on your personal life as well.<\/p>\n

The next time Nosy Nellie gleefully describes the contents of the Rickenbacker\u2019s trash again, move the conversation along by refocusing the conversation on her. \u201cSo, what are you growing in\u00a0your garden<\/a>\u00a0this year?\u201d<\/p>\n

You aren\u2019t in high school anymore, so preserve relationships with your neighbors and avoid the gratuitous gab fests.<\/p>\n

3. Good neighbors share phone numbers<\/strong><\/p>\n

For such a connected age, you should really question why you don\u2019t have your neighbors\u2019 phone numbers. After all, what if they receive your package by mistake? What if the house floods while you\u2019re on vacation? Worse yet, what if you need a babysitter?<\/p>\n

If you feel uncomfortable bringing it up, ask during one of your cookie deliveries (you are following rule number one, right?) or right before a trip. Jot down your name, number and email address on a piece of paper and ask if your neighbor is comfortable sharing theirs.<\/p>\n

4. Good neighbors help before they\u2019re asked<\/strong><\/p>\n

The neighbor who says, \u201cLet me know if you need anything,\u201d probably isn\u2019t going to help whenever you actually need something. You, on the other hand, are a good neighbor and genuinely want to help out.<\/p>\n

To get ahead of the meaningless small talk, anticipate their needs. If they have kids and you\u2019re comfortable babysitting, tell them up front. If they\u2019re clearly struggling to mow\u00a0the lawn<\/a>\u00a0during a heat wave, ask for the best time to stop by with your lawnmower.<\/p>\n

5. Good neighbors are tidy<\/p>\n

Even if you lack self-respect, respect the sensitive tastes of others and clean up your act.<\/p>\n

Keep the ironic lawn ornaments to a minimum. Keep trash receptacles hidden in the side yard, or better yet, the garage.<\/p>\n

Whenever you\u2019ve finished gardening or landscaping for the day, put away your tools and bags of unused mulch. Rake the leaves and clean up grass clippings and all the other stuff your dad used to bug you about.<\/p>\n

And if it\u2019s not too much trouble, pressure wash and\u00a0paint your house<\/a>\u00a0periodically.<\/p>\n

6. Good neighbors mow the lawn<\/strong><\/p>\n

An unkempt and weedy lawn is embarrassing for your neighbors, so it should be embarrassing for you as well. Keeping it mowed every week or two is a good start, but it will take more than that to win the approval of the locals.<\/p>\n

Trim the edge of your lawn regularly, fertilize on schedule and keep weeds to a minimum. Keep your foundation plantings simple, neatly trimmed and topped off with mulch.<\/p>\n

If your neighborhood allows it, go the no-lawn method by planting swaths of low-maintenance, drought-tolerant ground covers. Crucially, don\u2019t overdo it on the sprinklers \u2014 especially when it\u2019s raining.<\/p>\n

7. Good neighbors communicate<\/strong><\/p>\n

That old \u201cgood fences make good neighbors\u201d quote had to come up at some point, right? A good neighbor must respect boundaries. That said, they should also be crossed when the fences themselves start losing pickets and falling over in a storm.<\/p>\n

Even if it\u2019s technically their fence, you might not be happy with the shoddy workmanship and resentment that you\u2019ll have to live with when they get around to fixing it themselves.<\/p>\n

Address shared interests like fences, drainage ditches and troublesome trees ahead of time so that you can work out a plan that both parties can agree to.<\/p>\n

Oh, and don\u2019t forget to bring cookies.<\/p>\n

Originally published on zillow.com.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If you want good neighbors, you\u2019ll first have to become one yourself. Master these seven techniques, and even you (yes, you!) can win the approval of your entire neighborhood. 1. Good neighbors bring cookies Whether you\u2019re new in town or haven\u2019t kept in touch, a delivery of freshly baked goods is a perfect way to … Continue reading Seven Qualities of a Good Neighbor<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[419],"tags":[660,854,212,213],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3519"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3525,"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3519\/revisions\/3525"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3519"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realtyexecutives.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=3519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}