by Mike Colpitts 
Good neighbors are the most important factor when it comes to living in happiness, according to a new survey.
- One in five Americans would pay more to live next door to a good neighbor, a whopping $10,000 more.
- Living in happiness isn’t necessarily the case for many homeowners. Over half of those surveyed have complaints about their current neighbors.
Living next door to good neighbors is the top issue when it comes to living in happiness for the majority of Americans choosing a home, a new report from Anytime Estimate shows. In fact, an overwhelming majority of 82% surveyed say it’s the single most important factor when choosing a home to purchase.
Americans put their money where their mouth is when it comes to good neighbors. One-in-five (19%) say they’d pay $10,000 or more above the asking price of a home to avoid bad neighbors, who include those that are overly noisy, have too many parties, troubled with loud or violent family or friend problems and experience too many police calls.
In this modern day and age where people roll up to their homes in cars only to open the garage door with an automatic opener and rarely see their neighbors, 19% surveyed say they would spend another $10,000 on a home if they were guaranteed they’d never have to see their neighbors.
Psychologists say reasons for this sort of behavior are varied, and include everything from higher crime in some areas to the psychological need for privacy in a society that has fewer barriers to prevent outsiders from becoming part of their inner-group.
Over half of Americans (56%) have complaints about their neighbors. Almost half or 49% of homeowners have had to spend money on neighbor issues like landscaping, building fences, legal fees, and repairing damage.
As it turns out, many people aren’t very happy with their neighbors. Getting along for the simple reason that it’s a healthy practice to get along with your neighbors seems to be a dying artform. Almost half of Americans say a neighbor has wronged them in the past over some sort of issue.
More than 1 in 8 homeowners (13%) believe their neighbors or their neighbors homes would cause problems selling their own home. Almost half of Americans (44%) say their neighbors made an effort to meet them when they first moved in. Apparently, the practice of trying to be a good neighbor doesn’t count much to many neighbors.
The survey shows most people aren’t exactly living in happiness. Just 35% say they never have neighbor issues. An overwhelming 90% of those surveyed believe they are a good neighbor themselves.
Almost half of respondents (45%) would be open to moving if they didn’t like their neighbors. Some 88% of Americans see neighbors who frequently yell or fight as a deal breaker to buying a home, while 84% feel the same about neighbors who let their dog bark excessively. In fact, the top complaint neighbors have about neighbors is a noisy dog. Barking dogs can be a painful deterrent for a home purchase. Afterall, who wants to live in a neighborhood where dogs bark too much?
Some 57% say it would be a dealbreaker when buying a home to see a neighbor display a Confederate flag, a clear sign of bigotry. That’s substantially higher than those who view Black Lives Matter signs (36%) or pride flags (33%) as dealbreakers.
Most feel it’s important, however, to be a good neighbor and say a good neighbor’s most important attribute is to be trustworthy (65%). None of us want to get ripped-off. Second on the list was quiet (51%). It seems that most of us who have neighbors value quiet most of all.