How important is it to get along with the neighbors of the rental properties you own? Pretty important. And it’s something every rental property investor needs to be aware of.
Let me tell you what got me thinking about this. This morning I was out cleaning up the street in front of my personal home — I do that sometimes just to get a little fresh air and see what the day is about. There’s a neighbor at the end of my block who has never said hi, doesn’t welcome anyone saying hi to her, and I believe has had several conflicts with people on the block. She kind of isolates herself.
Well, this morning, out of the blue, she came up and was very talkative. Turns out her father-in-law’s bike had been stolen, and now she suddenly needed something. She was trying to enlist my help as a fellow neighbor. And you know what? I welcomed it. Because it’s in my best interest to get along with neighbors. If she wants to suddenly be friendly, I’m going to capitalize on it.
Neighbors Are a Special Category
Neighbors aren’t family. They’re not friends. They’re neighbors — a special designation. And in many ways, they’re the people who are going to be there for you first. Family comes first, friends come first, but neighbors are immediate. They’re always right there.
If there’s a snowstorm, if you need a jump start, if somebody’s kicking in your door in the middle of the night, if somebody stole your grandfather’s bike — at some point, you’re going to need your neighbors. Might be tomorrow. Might be five years from now. Might be twenty years from now. But at some point, absolutely, you’re going to need to cooperate with the neighbor whose house touches your own.
What I See Every Day at My Property Management Company
In my property management company, we see it time and time again. A neighboring property affects our property, or our property causes damage to a neighbor’s property. A hot water heater leaks. We need to get into the neighbor’s unit to facilitate a repair. Having a cooperative neighbor — which we typically do — makes it easy. An unfriendly relationship? That can be a real bear to navigate.
And honestly, sometimes it’s us infringing on the good neighbor. Let me give you some real examples.
The Skylight in Fitler Square
We had a nicer property in Fitler Square here in Philadelphia and hired a roofer — one we no longer use — to replace a skylight. What did they do? They chucked the old skylight right onto the neighbor’s roof. The neighbor called us and said, “Hey, you’re the only property on this block with a skylight, and it’s busted up all over our roof.”
Luckily, that neighbor was friendly and understanding. We explained it was the roofing company, apologized, and had it taken care of immediately. If that relationship had been hostile going in, it would have been a completely different conversation.
The Contractor Trash on My Roof
Same thing happened recently at a house I’m dealing with. The insurance company next door had roofers who left contractor bags and carpet scraps all over my roof. I reached out — not expecting anything, not asking for compensation — just to say, “Hey, FYI, the contractors you hired left all their rubbish on my roof. You might want to know that’s how they operate.” That was honestly more of a help to them than to me.
The Debris in the Neighbor’s Yard
Here’s one that hits closer to home. My wife and I bought a rental property, and during renovation, our contractor — inexpensive, rough around the edges — was dumping a lot of debris into the neighbor’s yard. Not a few screws. A lot. The neighbor came out and said, “I have a small child. My yard is unusable and unsafe.”
The contractor apparently told him, “We’ll clean up when we’re done.” That’s when I had to step in. It doesn’t help the contractor to alienate this neighbor. And it definitely doesn’t help my wife and I — the owners — to have a contractor we hired making a neighbor’s yard unusable. That’s the kind of thing that lingers for years.
How I Actually Build These Relationships
Here’s what I do, and it’s not complicated:
- I do weed killing around the neighborhood at my rental properties.
- When I see a neighbor, I introduce myself and smile.
- I hand them my business card and say, “Grow Property Management manages this property. If you need anything, reach out to me directly.”
They always appreciate it. We always end up with very good relationships. At one of the rental properties my wife and I own, the guy next door works at Lowe’s, and he’s constantly saying, “Hey, I’ll get you anything you want with my employee discount, just let me know.” That relationship exists because I invested five minutes on the front end.
This Is an Investment Strategy, Not a Feel-Good Story
The whole point of this podcast isn’t to tell you to be warm and fuzzy. That stuff might come up for you — it does for me — but we’re talking about investing. And as far as investing goes, does it make sense to get along with the neighbors of your rental properties?
Yes. It absolutely does. Because at some point you’re going to need access, cooperation, information, or a heads-up about something happening at the property. A good neighbor gives you all of that for free. A bad neighbor costs you money — sometimes a lot of it.
It takes two seconds to introduce yourself, hand over a business card, and say “call me if anything comes up.” It might take a little more effort when a contractor is dumping debris and you have to step in and fix it. But it’s worth it every single time.
But what do I know? I’m just a humble Philadelphia property management company owner doing his best to answer your rental property investing questions. As always, happy rental property investing.
