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The 7 Deadly Sins of Being a Decent Neighbor
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According to a Harris poll commissioned for Ally Bank, 55% of those surveyed reported having had a “nightmare neighbor” in the past. I’m sure you don’t want to be thought of as one of those nightmares and end up vilified in a mortgage company’s poll, so here are seven things you should never do—unless you want to piss off the people who live next door.

Being too noisy

Being too noisy
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According to the aforementioned poll, the number one problem people have with their neighbors is noise, and if you’ve ever lived next to someone who won’t keep it down, you know exactly why. Keeping quiet can be difficult if you’re learning to play the tuba or something, but you should at least keep it to daylight hours. That includes your animals—there’s nothing worse than a neighbor with a yappy dog.

Not cleaning up your dog poop

Not cleaning up your dog poop
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Speaking of dogs, don’t be the guy who lets your dog poop on your neighbor’s lawn and doesn’t clean it up. It might seem like the perfect crime, but you never know when someone is secretly peering from their window to catch you in the act. They’ll eventually become suspicious of everyone in the neighborhood with a dog, so do yourself (and everyone else) a favor: If you see dog poop while you’re walking your own dog, pick it up. That way you’re not just avoiding being a bad neighbor, you’re actively being a good one.

“Saving” a public parking spot

“Saving” a public parking spot
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One of my neighbors painted lines marking “his” parking space on the street in front of his house. Obviously, he can’t really decide who parks where on a public street, but it somehow still works. I wish I could say that I make it point to park there as an act of defiance, but I try to park anywhere else. I respect his non-right to have a spot in front of his house! This sucks and you should not do it.

Being too nosy

Being too nosy

We’ve all had that neighbor who makes it their business to keep track of everything happening on their street—the kind of person who just happens to walk out of their house exactly when you do so they can buttonhole you into a conversation you don’t want to have. They are the worst, because even if you can’t see them watching you while you take out the garbage, you still know they’re there. Right behind the curtain. Staring. Don’t be that person. Just leave other people alone.

Not keeping your house maintained

Not keeping your house maintained
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This one doesn’t bother me on a personal level; I don’t care whether my neighbors trim their hedges or whatever, and I probably wouldn’t notice until it gets to Hoarders level. But letting your house fall into visible disarray is one of the top reasons people report not liking their neighbors. Thirty-four percent of people who have problems with their neighbors say it’s because they’re not keeping the place up. But then again, maybe those 34 percent are actually the nosy people who everyone else hates. It’s complicated.

Politicizing your front lawn

Politicizing your front lawn
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If you must, fine, put up a sign touting a candidate when there’s an election coming up. But please stop there. People can go way overboard with the flags and slogans, and it’s never a good idea. Even if others agree with the political side you’re on, they’ll still find your need to proudly tell it to the world distasteful and confrontational. I’d rather not be reminded of political divisions every time I pull into the driveway.

Having a noticeably “questionable lifestyle”

Having a noticeably “questionable lifestyle”
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People don’t want to live next to the party house, or have a neighbor who obviously sells drugs, works in the sex trade, or rents their house out on Airbnb. It’s not that any of these professions are necessarily problematic in themselves, but they do tend to draw strangers to the neighborhood. No one wants that, so deal your drugs from a street-corner on someone else’s block, and buy a short-term rental house far away.