It is always smart to have a good relationship with your neighbors. This is very true for your personal residence. But, it is especially true to befriend the neighbors of your rentals. They can be called upon to protect your interests and theirs.

    A neighbor will be on the lookout for you and for themselves. Neighbors will give you information about the area before you buy, they will help to market the home and they can be your watchdog after you own. They want their neighbor, your tenant, to be a good neighbor to them. If your tenant is not a good neighbor, it could be a sure sign that you will have trouble with that tenant.

    I always make it a point to meet the neighbors of a property that I own or control via option. I give them my telephone number with instructions to call at any hour if they think it necessary.

    I was cleaning up a house that I had optioned from a neighbor. That is a story in itself for another time. This neighbor works for the city. Just that fact alone makes him a good contact. He is the neighborhood watchdog. He knows what is going on for at least two blocks around.

    He saw me cleaning and informed me that I should call the city and complain that my garbage had not been picked up. He didn't want the garbage people to bypass us again and leave the garbage on the side of the road. This was a nusance, as I only came by once a week while the home was for sale. I said “:OK”, which satisfied him.

    Then he told me that the police had responded to a domestic situation at the house across the street. He knew that this was of interest to me because I had recently sold that house to the current occupants. It seemed that they were becoming the neighborhood troublemakers. He would continue to keep me informed. he said.

    The current owner of that property had purchased the home from me for his troubled daughter. It seems she is continuing to give him trouble. I will stay on top of this situation.

    I send he and his wife a Christmas card and birthday cards. I had gotten the birthdates for the entire family from the 1003 mortgage loan document. Perhaps he will want to sell the home at some point. I would option the home for $1, and make a $10K profit by reselling and arranging for the financing. Thank you nieghbor.

    Going back six months, I had gotten a call from another neighbor. She says that she thinks she is hearing rushing water in the house that I was rehabbing. She wasn't sure, but she thought that she would call me, just in case.

    Of course, I rushed over! Sure enough, during the current cold snap, a pipe had burst in the wall of the upstairs bathroom. Water was gushing through the floor onto the newly sanded and refinished floor below and then the water was seeping into the basement where it was at least six inches deep.

    Holy cow!! I turned off the water at the main, watched it drain and then assessed the damage. The wooden floors were buckling slightly and the ceiling under the bathroom needed partial replacment. It could have been much worse. Thank you neighbor.

    I turned the heat up, waited a few days and thankfully, the floors unbuckled. I did not even need to call the insurance company as the ceiling replacment was not costly.

    I can only imagine what more damage would have occurred if I had not prepared my good neighbor to be on the look out and call me if necessary.

Mitchell Goldstein - Coach Mitch
518-439-6100 until midnight EST