I’m a bit torn on this.
A little back story. We moved into our neighborhood years ago. It’s nice, but older and nestled between some not-as-nice neighborhoods. We get people, obviously doing shady things, that trek through. Whatever. People can walk through neighborhoods. We do, however, have a few who like to walk through our yard…. right in front of us… and right past our “Private Property” signs.
Most recently it happened when we were having dinner on our patio. Some dude walks right through the yard, my husband yells at him, and he pretends not to hear and keeps on his merry way. It’s happened in the past when I was out gardening. Again, someone walked right past me while I was gardening IN MY OWN YARD. I’m not about to scold a man when I’m alone.
One time, I pulled into my driveway in the evening as two men walk through my yard and right past my car. Like they lived there. I stayed in my car until they were gone because I didn’t know them and it was dark.
What makes us annoyed is our yard is simply a shortcut. And by shortcut, I mean it saves trespassers LITERALLY TWO MINUTES because there is a street that us peasants use. It’s not like there’s not a public residential street, perfectly safe for walking, that they could take. They are either lazy or are shady and trying to stay off the main drag.
We put up private property signs. We built a fence. We put up cameras. We’ve called the police. My husband has confronted people several times and is usually met with a nasty remark or is completely ignored. There are neighbor kids that do the same thing, and they get the same “get off my lawn” treatment from him. We’ve become that cranky elderly couple in our 30s.
Not to mention, mere months after we moved in, the next door neighbors moved out, and in their place came a HUGE family with many vehicles and inadequate trash pickup schedules. At any given time, there are usually 7-8 cars parked everywhere but their driveway (which is full of junk, chairs, a metal barrel). At least 3 of those cars are non-working.
They burn trash, so the whole neighborhood smells like plastic sometimes. They obviously sell drugs, so there’s a revolving door of strangers sitting in their cars in front of our house at all hours of the night and day. In fact, they must have added to their inventory today, because I’ve heard a lot of cars swing through our street today, blasting music with disproportionally high levels of bass. Wow, I’ve truly morphed into the cranky old neighbor. The transition is complete.
So between looking at that every day and feeling like I could be met with a stranger at any given point in my backyard, I’m kind of over it. It feels like a privacy violation and no one seems to care.
I have fairly clear FIRE goals and don’t want to work extra years to pay off a home, but I’m about ready to start looking to move.
It’s a losing situation. Even with the crazy housing market right now, we cannot sell this place for its real value because of the junkyard next door. And then, we have to find a place to live. In a crazy market.
I’m having a hard time figuring out what the priority is. Do I just deal with burning plastic, drug dealers, and trespassers rolling through my yard in an aging (and maybe even decaying) neighborhood? Or do I maybe set my FIRE goals back to move someplace safer and more private? Renting here is honestly more expensive per month than a home, and I don’t think my husband is up for it. I might be, but only for a couple years.
Have you run into a situation where you’ve had to choose between FIRE goals and another big (but maybe necessary) purchase?
-K