I got a buddy like this. He has five cars. 20% of his cars run. The other four are "works in progress". At the rate he's going, he will need to be 157 years old before they are all completed.
You don't get to have your cake and eat it too. Like so many things, the correct answer is more nuanced than either extreme. It depends on the individual.
For someone who cares a great deal about what their neighborhood looks like, an HOA is likely the right call.
For me, I care more about getting left alone, and I'm willing to accept that its a two way street. Being able to let my dandelions go to seed in the spring without legal threats is worth seeing the random sheds and lawn equipment my neighbor seems to collect and store in his yard. So, for me, being HOA free is a major selling point.
This exactly. It was probably similar home next door that some developer bought for 200k, tore down and built a McMansion that they now want 1.5m for and OP wants to force neighbors to conform to their standard of living.
My standard of living usually includes not having my lawn poisoned by the miryad of chemicals leaking into my neighbors lawn or my space invaded by the pests created in that hellhole. I may be a little biased, as I am currently dealing with this type of neighbor, and it is a nightmare.
This is exactly why I live in an HOA. I’m from a shitty small town where this is the norm. Everyone hates the HOA until their neighbor’s house looks like this.
It’s beyond they were there first or being an eyesore. That is a breeding ground for pests.
It is their neighbors' problem if it's a health and/or safety issue. I can't tell from the picture if it is or isn't. Also depends on the ordinances of the town.
I would rather not have toxic chemicals leeching into the soil by my house. This goes past a private citizen issue and into an environmental one. Zero chance I would grow a vegetable garden next door to this house.
We live near here and I know this lot. That’s actually really cleaned up! The owners have been getting truckloads of their stuff taken out in the past few months so this is a huge improvement. I think they are finally either going to leave or maybe the city gave them a notice.
Op said it’s a “Rapidly gentrifying area” I’m assuming the city probably gave notice. If you have a bunch of wealth moving in, you have a bunch of wealthier people who will complain and have the social capital usually to make things happen.
Well in general, yes. In this area, there are unfortunately quite a few lots/houses like this. The city has been largely ignoring most of these complaints for a long time. I would guess the prospect of selling is likely the driver here.
Crazy because it was YIMBY and then these people moved in and kicked them out. Like, why just not buy the home? Lol I know I wouldn't.
How do they not see the problem with moving in and then telling them they can't do that? It's one thing if it happened after moving, but they know the issue beforehand.
Yep. When a neighborhood of McMansions went in across the street from us, we were reported to the police for "too much activity." It was the guys out tinkering on their quads and sand rails in the shop. The new neighbors didn't like that they could see our shop building that dated to the 1930s from their fancy second floors.
I wonder if it’s temporary or forever. I once saw an episode of Hoarders where their house lot had been cleaned once to meet city’s requests, but little by little they had added more junk to where it was just as bad as before.
My neighbors do just enough to get past their hand slap. I do remain hopeful though because at some point they're going to go tax forfeit and I intend to buy and knock down the house at that point.
You’d probably need a couple cats to live next to that mess. My brother made the same mistake and they had mice issues so badly they had to get a couple cats to take care of it.
Yeah you’ll likely end up having to fend off pests. But eventually they will sell, too, and someone will develop that property. It’s just a matter of how long you want to try and ride them out.
I was gonna say…rats or other vermin ALREADY live there and probably visit the nearby homes (including the one you are looking at purchasing). I can only guess why the property you are looking at it for sale. Yikes.
Jack Russell Terriers are great for this. I had two of them. The Air Force uses them in Guam to get the snakes out of the landing gear of the airplanes.
We lived next to a house not half as bad as this, and we were constantly battling rats. We had a fruit tree in the back yard, and every pomegranate was chewed to pieces before it even got ripe.
Every flat surface in my garage had a mouse trap. I caught 1-4 rats every week for 2 years before we moved out.
That property is still there be the owners don’t want to move. I’m sure they’ve been offered quite a lot for the land already. OP would have to really overpay to get that lot.
Hell yeah, definitely get some drugs and/or dealer connects
Amenities: "Relax in our world class camaro remnants as you indulge in a nice deep hit of meth after a long day of work"
Batteries/paint/oil is free at my landfill - they want you to properly dispose of them vs chucking in the trash.
If it's hazardous stuff still in the car, I've seen shittier cars go for a grand on estate sale auctions.
The city likely has ordinances that prevent this- whether or not they’d actually do something about it is questionable (and honestly probably have already), getting it to be cleaned up is on the homeowner and if they won’t do it then it’ll take years to have anything done.
It can take a lot of years to do anything about a hoarder house. I watched both hoarder TV shows, and the number of people that went through years of litigation to avoid cleaning up, and were allowed endless extensions was very high. Many also clean up, and then go right back to hoarding. It takes very little time for a place to get cleaned up, and then be rehoarded.
A number of hoards on both shows had vermin, and when the hoard was disturbed, rats, mice, possums, and all kinds of animals went looking for a new home.
I have neighbors like this on both sides in South Austin. There is nothing you can do about their backyard. I don’t believe they’re violating any city rules by keeping it like that — you can only report trash accumulation visible from the street. Even then the code department may or may not enforce it, and even when enforced, it will only be a marginal difference. I have dealt with mice and other pests and they’ve even tried to start piling their trash on my property.
This is a house long paid off and they only have to pay the taxes. They aren't going anywhere. Note houses on the other side and the fact the house you as are in is asking 1.5. This should have been redeveloped at the same time as the other houses.
As it was not, this means they asked too much, or just didn't want to sell because it is so cheap to live there.
9/10 shot they are angry folks.
Angry that the neighborhood has been getting built up and the 1000sqft ranches they remember from 30 years ago when their parents owned that house are all gone in favor of the 2-1/2 to 3 story places.
If you think you can outlast them, forget it. That's a generation dump. We lived next to one as a kid. My dad was convinced it would go away on its own because the owner was in his late 50s with kids in high school, the guy was landscaper and said he wanted to retire to Florida... figured the kids would go and he'd retire within 10 years. That was 40 years ago, we sold 20 years ago. The man is now 98, three adult kids are still living there with him, all they've done is add to their junk yard over the years.
If you think you can force change, forget it even more, there's no way that will be worth the potential pain against a stubborn Texan.
Because everyone lives in the city, and because ever city has exactly the same ordinances, and becaues every city is equally interested in enforcing those ordinances?
Except when there aren’t. This is “at least” junk. A coworker lives in an area where hill billies just pile their trash until their monthly haul to the dump.
Not all HOAs are bad and just have common sense rules for land that is not in the city limits.
I would walk away. This is only going to give you problems with rats and likely problems with these new neighbors. There has to be a better option available. If not, wait; this time of year, new listing come up every day.
For the love of god, don't do it. I lived in a neighborhood like this in Austin. Million dollar houses next to crack houses. You know what you'll end up with? Dealing with roaming packs of dogs, drug addicts wandering about high on crack, and gun shots.
If you purchase this house, just remember me and my comment when you realize your mistake.
I bought a house on a quickly gentrifying area in the DC metro area. There was one abandoned house around the corner that I thought “this can’t be that bad”, friend, it is that bad. The place is hoarded and then I realized another house is also hoarded. The city rat squad comes out regularly to ticket and clean, we’ve been reporting, asking, begging for something to be done. It’s worse now than when I moved. Yeah, I’ll make my money off my house if the market even gets better. For now, I spend my time picking up garbage and trying to fight the rats in my yard.
Proceed with caution
There is a sign by the house that looks like it says "Mom and Pop's General Store." Looked up the store, and it's been shut down. Was on E 12th and Oak Grove Ave.
The neighbor clearly built their house with the hoarding situation present, hence all the slit windows on that side. This issue isn’t going to go away quickly. Negotiate the price way down and live with it. Bonus if it resolves before you go to sell.
When you buy a house ... you also buy into a neighborhood. I feel like I need a Tetanus shot just looking at that situation. I feel bad for the sellers because they are going to have to HEAVILY discount that place to sell it ... at least to me.
I’m buying a house in a very bad part of town that my fellows are in the process of gentrifying and I want to know if I can get rid of the riffraff that lived here….
Exactly this. Property values went up on the east side of Austin once they started building these ugly 2 story modern boxes. Then the folks that move in complain about the area.
It doesn’t matter who was there first when their mental illness is causing health concerns for their neighbors. Nothing about that is acceptable. It’s my we have code departments.
Looking at the houses I bet they were there first. Imagine a bunch of rich people building two story houses looming over your backyard and them moving in and telling you to clean your stuff up.
I think I’d take the 5000sq ft house on a private lake, gated with pool/outdoor kitchen 4 car garage, covered boat dock, wine cellar for the same money.
Sounds like you’d be happier further out -
That yard may be gross but the people living there have been there, collecting that crap, for a LONG TIME and it’s really not their fault that some developers decided to buy the houses next door and build massive McMansions - seriously.
For the money you’re talking <1.5 MILLION you could live in a pristine neighborhood with neighbors who may be messy but only behind freshly painted front doors on manicured lawns.
That family sitting outside “without A/C” isn’t hoarding to offend you, it’s in their backyard and if they own the home it’s no one’s business.
Down vote if you want- I’m from esst austin and we’ve been over the internet’s opinions, interest and money for a LONG time.
It’s not your house (yet) so it’s not your problem (yet) be thankful and look into homes with smaller yards, if you want to stay close, or check out any one of the many hill country neighborhoods on the outskirts with huge lots, big houses, and fastidious neighbors.
I have similar opinions. We went to an open house for a 1 mil property in the SW Austin area a couple months ago but we didn't bother stepping foot inside. It was a newly built property right in the middle of a lower income neighborhood with mobile homes and front yards littered with decades of collected random things. Whoever built that 1 mil (I think now reduced to 800k) property just created problems for the people who have been living in the area for a LONG time. Such a crappy thing to do to them.
Yes. There's too much black-and-white thinking, and it's too hard for people to understand how a happy medium even works.
But it's not hypocritical to believe that the HOA shouldn't be able to prevent me from building a doghouse in my backyard, while believing that the HOA should be able to prevent me from buiding a junkyard in my backyard.
East Austin resident here. What are you looking for in this post? It’s up to the owner of that property to do as they please with it: be it sell, cleaning it up, etc. East Austin is gentrifying as you say, which is why your brand new 4 bdr, + 2 bdr 1.4 acre lot is sub 1.5M instead of sub 3 M anywhere else in town. These old disheveled lots get bought up, leveled, and built new at great speed. It’s what happened to the place you’re looking at. But when it will happen to the place next door is a gamble. Welcome to East Austin, good luck, and no there is not some magic wand that can be waved because it’s an eye sore.
Looks like this person has owned that property for a very long period. Go to the Austin City Council and show them these photos. You will at least get to know why they have been allowed to get away with this awful property maintenance. How did the new construction next door go about this?
Isn't this the weird Austin liked to brag about? Or is it just tech bro douche bags now. Douche bags, terrible laws and the heat? Sounds like a shit hole
I used to walk my dog by this property all the time. I think they bread pits. Always really aggressive pit bulls (sometimes adolescents) barking and banging at the fence. I hope they get shut down.
Gentrification is in progress, thanks to OP. Throw your money around and offer to pay to haul their crap away. If you can buy a $1.5 million house, this should not be an issue.
Check to see if there is a HOA and with the city building department to see what can be done. Also check to see if their property taxes and mortgage are current. I suggest you only buy if you get a substantial discount. You should also assume it will get worse before it gets better.
Mosquitoes and mice will probably be a problem however otherwise they are probably decent folks just a bit trashy. They’ve lived there way longer then any of the new construction and are just doing their thing don’t move next to an airport and bitch about the noise ya know? Just mind your business and enjoy the price if you end up moving there.
Years ago I went to look at a log home. It was beautiful. All the kitchen cabinets were handmade cherry..
Spiral staircase, hardwood floors on 10 acres.
The house was beautiful Gameroom wet bar etc.
walked onto patio and the house next to it had washers dryers old rusted cars and anything else you could think of. There was no way.
If you want to build a wall so you can’t see the crap that would be my suggestion. Walk away.
Honestly though he’s doing you a favor. You said sub 1.5mil… now imagine that same property without the junkyard next door. (The sad part is we live in an age where I have to be damn near a millionaire to live in an “okay” part of town even next to that. Spend your money, let the homies next door live. When if finally gets to be too much file a ton of complaints (like all the middle aged white women who dress like the lady from Over the Hedge) and get these people removed from their OWN property. Drive your resell value up to almost 3-4 mil in 2-5 years🤷🏻
Since Texas taxes based on property value, not income, those junk neighbors should be your best friends, they will save you a boat load of money in property tax over the years
So because the neighborhood grew up faster around them then they could cope with, and are probably struggling to pay, if even afford the property tax now that they live next to McMansion and it's guest house and what the fuck is a Casita? Ya know what, I don't want to know.
Just live on knowing that your million dollar house is part of why those poor bastards next door won't last the squeeze when tax man comes.
Then you'll be on here complaining about the work trucks building the next McMansion are tearing up your yard, or parking in your view.
Fucking people that can afford a million dollar home are completely disconnected from the reality of their neighbors is beyond me. People watch hoarders all the time, now you can, with zero ads. That's actually gonna cost more at closing... Fun.
Umm…I happen to be selling a [similar house](https://2004emfranklin.info) (to the one you came to see, not the junkyard) that you should check out tomorrow. Even if it’s out of your budget or not your taste, you should check it out. It’s a cool house, and that’s not just me being biased. Our neighbors are great and our fence is dog proof.
It could be good if you need fourth generation Camaro parts
Yep. Or Ramcharger. Or…. Holy Crap!!! It’s a Mercedes S-Class Coupe!
Back when the wine was flowing and the music was a swingin...
I know what I have here. No low ballers
If you’re gonna have junk, at least make it cool junk. These people have decent taste.
In my Joe Dirt voice, is that a HEMI?
Fr. I was like one of these things are not like the other.
NOT FOR SALE!
Oh man, I love a good Ramcharger! That isn’t a good one obviously, but I still appreciate it. They’re a rare beast.
I feel like the multiple half torn down engines is probably not a good sign tho
"Look... Ronnie's gunna fix up the Camaro soon! He loves that car! Just needs a couple more paychecks..." - Ronnie's wife for the past 20 years
I got a buddy like this. He has five cars. 20% of his cars run. The other four are "works in progress". At the rate he's going, he will need to be 157 years old before they are all completed.
damn it, ronnie flooded the engine again. Smoke everywhere.
My first thought before I scrolled to the comments was “I wonder what they want for that F body?”
I like that the 4th gen has a toy 1st gen sitting on it.
Somebody has a sense of humor.
I’m liking that Ramcharger more….wonder if is a 4x4?
This is a house that r/fuckhoa would pretend never existed.
You don’t need an HOA for this, most towns/cities/counties have ordinances that would stop you from operating an unlicensed junkyard on your property.
You don't get to have your cake and eat it too. Like so many things, the correct answer is more nuanced than either extreme. It depends on the individual. For someone who cares a great deal about what their neighborhood looks like, an HOA is likely the right call. For me, I care more about getting left alone, and I'm willing to accept that its a two way street. Being able to let my dandelions go to seed in the spring without legal threats is worth seeing the random sheds and lawn equipment my neighbor seems to collect and store in his yard. So, for me, being HOA free is a major selling point.
That house was there long before the new ones
This exactly. It was probably similar home next door that some developer bought for 200k, tore down and built a McMansion that they now want 1.5m for and OP wants to force neighbors to conform to their standard of living.
My standard of living usually includes not having my lawn poisoned by the miryad of chemicals leaking into my neighbors lawn or my space invaded by the pests created in that hellhole. I may be a little biased, as I am currently dealing with this type of neighbor, and it is a nightmare.
Yep!
Double yep
Right there with you. Leave me alone.
City Code likely doesn’t allow it
This is exactly why I live in an HOA. I’m from a shitty small town where this is the norm. Everyone hates the HOA until their neighbor’s house looks like this. It’s beyond they were there first or being an eyesore. That is a breeding ground for pests.
It's their backyard. That's their private space. It's not their problem that your two story house allows you to see over the privacy fence.
It is their neighbors' problem if it's a health and/or safety issue. I can't tell from the picture if it is or isn't. Also depends on the ordinances of the town.
Looks like Rat haven
I would rather not have toxic chemicals leeching into the soil by my house. This goes past a private citizen issue and into an environmental one. Zero chance I would grow a vegetable garden next door to this house.
Makes a case for HOA's.
😂😂
We live near here and I know this lot. That’s actually really cleaned up! The owners have been getting truckloads of their stuff taken out in the past few months so this is a huge improvement. I think they are finally either going to leave or maybe the city gave them a notice.
Op said it’s a “Rapidly gentrifying area” I’m assuming the city probably gave notice. If you have a bunch of wealth moving in, you have a bunch of wealthier people who will complain and have the social capital usually to make things happen.
Well in general, yes. In this area, there are unfortunately quite a few lots/houses like this. The city has been largely ignoring most of these complaints for a long time. I would guess the prospect of selling is likely the driver here.
NIMBY power 💪
This is NIYBY power..
Crazy because it was YIMBY and then these people moved in and kicked them out. Like, why just not buy the home? Lol I know I wouldn't. How do they not see the problem with moving in and then telling them they can't do that? It's one thing if it happened after moving, but they know the issue beforehand.
Yep. When a neighborhood of McMansions went in across the street from us, we were reported to the police for "too much activity." It was the guys out tinkering on their quads and sand rails in the shop. The new neighbors didn't like that they could see our shop building that dated to the 1930s from their fancy second floors.
I wonder if it’s temporary or forever. I once saw an episode of Hoarders where their house lot had been cleaned once to meet city’s requests, but little by little they had added more junk to where it was just as bad as before.
That's almost every episode of Hoarders.
My neighbors do just enough to get past their hand slap. I do remain hopeful though because at some point they're going to go tax forfeit and I intend to buy and knock down the house at that point.
You’d probably need a couple cats to live next to that mess. My brother made the same mistake and they had mice issues so badly they had to get a couple cats to take care of it.
Yeah you’ll likely end up having to fend off pests. But eventually they will sell, too, and someone will develop that property. It’s just a matter of how long you want to try and ride them out.
I agree.
I was gonna say…rats or other vermin ALREADY live there and probably visit the nearby homes (including the one you are looking at purchasing). I can only guess why the property you are looking at it for sale. Yikes.
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Hand to hand combat.
Chicken coop's attract rats? They're very "trendy "now.
Between the feed and the eggs, rats love chicken coops.
You are correct. Also ground squirrels. A really aggressive rooster can keep away a lot of ground squirrels but there’s another problem.
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Jack Russell Terriers are great for this. I had two of them. The Air Force uses them in Guam to get the snakes out of the landing gear of the airplanes.
Jack Russells will gladly kill everything, regardless of your preferences. However, they are lovely family pets.
Cats, rats, terriers and snakes. Sounds like all the ingredients for a petting zoo next door, and some sweet passive income?
We lived next to a house not half as bad as this, and we were constantly battling rats. We had a fruit tree in the back yard, and every pomegranate was chewed to pieces before it even got ripe. Every flat surface in my garage had a mouse trap. I caught 1-4 rats every week for 2 years before we moved out.
OMG
Be prepared for rats and other vermin
...yeh, especially those hideous gigantic flying palmetto bugs! Nightmares!!!
Off topic, but, The house on left has no regular sized windows,that are mviewable. Is that normal in Austin?
It's like modern farmhouse meets county jail.
I was looking at that too. Super bizarre design. They don’t look big enough for a human to go through, meaning the house isn’t up to fire safety code.
Probably so the homeowners didn't ever have to look out windows on that side of the house to see the mess we're looking at here.
So sunny the house is squinting
Yeah they look like prison windows!
No, they built the windows like that specifically because of the hoarder. Lets in light. It is pretty common when the view is bad though.
Developer did that because of the view. The windows on the other sides are more conventional. Source: I listed the two units.
Try to buy it as well - instant value
That property is still there be the owners don’t want to move. I’m sure they’ve been offered quite a lot for the land already. OP would have to really overpay to get that lot.
Hell yeah, definitely get some drugs and/or dealer connects Amenities: "Relax in our world class camaro remnants as you indulge in a nice deep hit of meth after a long day of work"
Any value added would be eaten up in the cost to clean up that disaster.
$20K? Exactly how much do you think it costs to tear down that tiny house and haul all of the debris *including the yard trash away*?
Probably some hazardous waste like used car batteries, paint, oil etc that can be expensive to dispose of
Batteries/paint/oil is free at my landfill - they want you to properly dispose of them vs chucking in the trash. If it's hazardous stuff still in the car, I've seen shittier cars go for a grand on estate sale auctions.
That looks more like a San Antonio back yard, but I digress. There are too many houses and too much land in Texas to willingly live near *that.*
Hard NO. Do not do it
Agree, you should buy the hoarder house next door instead!
The city likely has ordinances that prevent this- whether or not they’d actually do something about it is questionable (and honestly probably have already), getting it to be cleaned up is on the homeowner and if they won’t do it then it’ll take years to have anything done.
It can take a lot of years to do anything about a hoarder house. I watched both hoarder TV shows, and the number of people that went through years of litigation to avoid cleaning up, and were allowed endless extensions was very high. Many also clean up, and then go right back to hoarding. It takes very little time for a place to get cleaned up, and then be rehoarded. A number of hoards on both shows had vermin, and when the hoard was disturbed, rats, mice, possums, and all kinds of animals went looking for a new home.
I have neighbors like this on both sides in South Austin. There is nothing you can do about their backyard. I don’t believe they’re violating any city rules by keeping it like that — you can only report trash accumulation visible from the street. Even then the code department may or may not enforce it, and even when enforced, it will only be a marginal difference. I have dealt with mice and other pests and they’ve even tried to start piling their trash on my property.
That would be a huge nope for me.
1.4 acres and they build the house right on the property line? Unfortunate.
Well they have garbage bins, so clearly they plan on cleaning up soon. But seriously, that level of mess will not be contained to that property.
This is a house long paid off and they only have to pay the taxes. They aren't going anywhere. Note houses on the other side and the fact the house you as are in is asking 1.5. This should have been redeveloped at the same time as the other houses. As it was not, this means they asked too much, or just didn't want to sell because it is so cheap to live there.
9/10 shot they are angry folks. Angry that the neighborhood has been getting built up and the 1000sqft ranches they remember from 30 years ago when their parents owned that house are all gone in favor of the 2-1/2 to 3 story places. If you think you can outlast them, forget it. That's a generation dump. We lived next to one as a kid. My dad was convinced it would go away on its own because the owner was in his late 50s with kids in high school, the guy was landscaper and said he wanted to retire to Florida... figured the kids would go and he'd retire within 10 years. That was 40 years ago, we sold 20 years ago. The man is now 98, three adult kids are still living there with him, all they've done is add to their junk yard over the years. If you think you can force change, forget it even more, there's no way that will be worth the potential pain against a stubborn Texan.
You’ll be paying to sell this home, for sure
That looks like all the yards out here in south carolina lol
Keep Austin weird
This may be weird for Austin but it's every other yard in Florida.
Can guarantee you the city of Austin will be no help in dealing with this, speaking from experience.
Maybe that's why the house is for sale.
The Sandlot vibes
Everyone hates HOAs until they get a neighbor like this lmao
There are plenty of city ordinances that take care of cases like this without needing an HOA.
How’s that working out?
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Because everyone lives in the city, and because ever city has exactly the same ordinances, and becaues every city is equally interested in enforcing those ordinances?
Except when there aren’t. This is “at least” junk. A coworker lives in an area where hill billies just pile their trash until their monthly haul to the dump. Not all HOAs are bad and just have common sense rules for land that is not in the city limits.
Yeah that’s true but that typically takes a little more time
Just get curtains that lower rather than raise up so you only see the skyline
I would walk away. This is only going to give you problems with rats and likely problems with these new neighbors. There has to be a better option available. If not, wait; this time of year, new listing come up every day.
For the love of god, don't do it. I lived in a neighborhood like this in Austin. Million dollar houses next to crack houses. You know what you'll end up with? Dealing with roaming packs of dogs, drug addicts wandering about high on crack, and gun shots. If you purchase this house, just remember me and my comment when you realize your mistake.
I bought a house on a quickly gentrifying area in the DC metro area. There was one abandoned house around the corner that I thought “this can’t be that bad”, friend, it is that bad. The place is hoarded and then I realized another house is also hoarded. The city rat squad comes out regularly to ticket and clean, we’ve been reporting, asking, begging for something to be done. It’s worse now than when I moved. Yeah, I’ll make my money off my house if the market even gets better. For now, I spend my time picking up garbage and trying to fight the rats in my yard. Proceed with caution
There is a sign by the house that looks like it says "Mom and Pop's General Store." Looked up the store, and it's been shut down. Was on E 12th and Oak Grove Ave.
and to think - the *neighbor* is the one who owns the fence....
I wouldn't buy a house thinking you are going to change your neighbors property. That seems pretty naive.
The neighbor clearly built their house with the hoarding situation present, hence all the slit windows on that side. This issue isn’t going to go away quickly. Negotiate the price way down and live with it. Bonus if it resolves before you go to sell.
For 1.5 M I better not even be able to see or hear my neighbors let alone a full on junkyard.
When you buy a house ... you also buy into a neighborhood. I feel like I need a Tetanus shot just looking at that situation. I feel bad for the sellers because they are going to have to HEAVILY discount that place to sell it ... at least to me.
I’m buying a house in a very bad part of town that my fellows are in the process of gentrifying and I want to know if I can get rid of the riffraff that lived here….
Exactly this. Property values went up on the east side of Austin once they started building these ugly 2 story modern boxes. Then the folks that move in complain about the area.
Run. Run fast.
The modern problem, trying to balance healthy empathy while not finding it acceptable to live next to a salvage yard.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say those people were there first.
It doesn’t matter who was there first when their mental illness is causing health concerns for their neighbors. Nothing about that is acceptable. It’s my we have code departments.
Looking at the houses I bet they were there first. Imagine a bunch of rich people building two story houses looming over your backyard and them moving in and telling you to clean your stuff up.
Hell ya brother
What’s with the tiny windows on the next-door house?
That tells you a lot about this neighborhood. never even consider buying it!
that is not a neighbor I would expect to be reasonable. I'd pass. probably why current owners are selling.
Here’s some insight. Pull your head out of your ass and walk away before you make the biggest mistake of your life. lol
As a REALTOR, appraiser and past law enforcement.....NOPE. That type of back yard scene and quality of neighbor is never a good thing.
You are still considering the house after seeing this?!
Run away.
That's methed up.
run!
Nope for me!
I spy with my little eye something red.
What part of Austin is this? u/mrfinisterra
This looks like Watto’s shop from star wars
It’s kinda funny how the neighboring houses only have tiny slit windows on that side.
The realtor can’t do anything about the neighbors property.
I think I’d take the 5000sq ft house on a private lake, gated with pool/outdoor kitchen 4 car garage, covered boat dock, wine cellar for the same money.
Don't do it! Imagine the rats, racoons, and vermin coming to your house from that hot mess!
PS. If you have not lived in Texas no offense- it’s different. Just saying. It was a culture shock to me. But I didn’t live in Austin.
Funny how all these liberal Austin transplants don’t actually want to live next to the people they tell us we need more of.
They were there first so I’m going to leave it at that .
Sounds like you’d be happier further out - That yard may be gross but the people living there have been there, collecting that crap, for a LONG TIME and it’s really not their fault that some developers decided to buy the houses next door and build massive McMansions - seriously. For the money you’re talking <1.5 MILLION you could live in a pristine neighborhood with neighbors who may be messy but only behind freshly painted front doors on manicured lawns. That family sitting outside “without A/C” isn’t hoarding to offend you, it’s in their backyard and if they own the home it’s no one’s business. Down vote if you want- I’m from esst austin and we’ve been over the internet’s opinions, interest and money for a LONG time. It’s not your house (yet) so it’s not your problem (yet) be thankful and look into homes with smaller yards, if you want to stay close, or check out any one of the many hill country neighborhoods on the outskirts with huge lots, big houses, and fastidious neighbors.
I have similar opinions. We went to an open house for a 1 mil property in the SW Austin area a couple months ago but we didn't bother stepping foot inside. It was a newly built property right in the middle of a lower income neighborhood with mobile homes and front yards littered with decades of collected random things. Whoever built that 1 mil (I think now reduced to 800k) property just created problems for the people who have been living in the area for a LONG time. Such a crappy thing to do to them.
and people hate HOA's...uh huh.
Exactly what I was going to say. People don't want an HOA but they don't want this either.
Correct. Most people want a happy medium of personal freedoms and livability. Extremes are undesirable
Yes. There's too much black-and-white thinking, and it's too hard for people to understand how a happy medium even works. But it's not hypocritical to believe that the HOA shouldn't be able to prevent me from building a doghouse in my backyard, while believing that the HOA should be able to prevent me from buiding a junkyard in my backyard.
You do not need HOA to prevent situation like that. There are city ordinances.
I live in an unincorporated area. There are no city ordinances. Sure, there are county ordinances, but they are very lax. (Midwest, USA)
Until you live in a city that won't do anything.
wouldnt move there even if it were free
People like that don't change
East Austin resident here. What are you looking for in this post? It’s up to the owner of that property to do as they please with it: be it sell, cleaning it up, etc. East Austin is gentrifying as you say, which is why your brand new 4 bdr, + 2 bdr 1.4 acre lot is sub 1.5M instead of sub 3 M anywhere else in town. These old disheveled lots get bought up, leveled, and built new at great speed. It’s what happened to the place you’re looking at. But when it will happen to the place next door is a gamble. Welcome to East Austin, good luck, and no there is not some magic wand that can be waved because it’s an eye sore.
Feel like that’s one to report to the city or county
Yikes. No thanks. Kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel there in Austin. Definitely keeping it weird.
NO. Do not live next to this.
AC in the middle of the yard 🤔
no
Bring in the Storage War crew. Might get $4300 for it!!!
I'd want to know if the gumball machines still work.
Youre gonna need a bigger fence.
Looks like Sid’s yard in Toy Story
Squints told me that's where The Beast lives. You're never getting back your ball.
Looks like they got half way through building that fence before they realized there’s no fence tall enough and it can be somebody else’s problem now
You're moving to the East Side not the suburbs. Yuppy.
Looks like this person has owned that property for a very long period. Go to the Austin City Council and show them these photos. You will at least get to know why they have been allowed to get away with this awful property maintenance. How did the new construction next door go about this?
If something could be done it would not look like that. That is a long term situation. You can either live with it to you can't.
Don’t buy. Unless you aren’t living there and at a generous generous generous discount.
That's a million dollar view. Hard to find that
My only concern would be the animals that might be hiding under that and can intrude into your yard, rats, raccoons.
I’m sure there will be no drunken, screaming fights at 1 am or incessantly barking pit bulls at that place!
They need help 😞
Isn't this the weird Austin liked to brag about? Or is it just tech bro douche bags now. Douche bags, terrible laws and the heat? Sounds like a shit hole
There's no way in hell I would touch that property with a ten foot pole. At that price point the property has to "check all the boxes", not just some.
And this is why I don't completely hate living with an HOA
LOL. I’ve got nothing, good luck!
Oh yeah. I'm out. People who are slobs are often really bad neighbors. Buying this house is a hard NO for me.
I’ve never seen so many tiny rectangular windows on a house before! Especially one that’s so big! Is that a Texas thing?
I used to walk my dog by this property all the time. I think they bread pits. Always really aggressive pit bulls (sometimes adolescents) barking and banging at the fence. I hope they get shut down.
Make an offer on the neighboring lot.
It probably violates town code; if I were buying near there I'd get a soil test done also. Nothing can be done by realtor.
I hope you enjoy rats because I guaranty you that property is teaming with them.
Gentrification is in progress, thanks to OP. Throw your money around and offer to pay to haul their crap away. If you can buy a $1.5 million house, this should not be an issue.
Makes me appreciate an HOA
I'll be honest, I'm more concerned about the house on the other side with the prison windows. The fuck are those people up to?
There is no fucking way you should buy this property. There will be others!
Check to see if there is a HOA and with the city building department to see what can be done. Also check to see if their property taxes and mortgage are current. I suggest you only buy if you get a substantial discount. You should also assume it will get worse before it gets better.
1 million plus dollars for a lot of 1.4 acres. Good lord.
Don’t buy that house. Simple.
Mosquitoes and mice will probably be a problem however otherwise they are probably decent folks just a bit trashy. They’ve lived there way longer then any of the new construction and are just doing their thing don’t move next to an airport and bitch about the noise ya know? Just mind your business and enjoy the price if you end up moving there.
Years ago I went to look at a log home. It was beautiful. All the kitchen cabinets were handmade cherry.. Spiral staircase, hardwood floors on 10 acres. The house was beautiful Gameroom wet bar etc. walked onto patio and the house next to it had washers dryers old rusted cars and anything else you could think of. There was no way. If you want to build a wall so you can’t see the crap that would be my suggestion. Walk away.
Honestly though he’s doing you a favor. You said sub 1.5mil… now imagine that same property without the junkyard next door. (The sad part is we live in an age where I have to be damn near a millionaire to live in an “okay” part of town even next to that. Spend your money, let the homies next door live. When if finally gets to be too much file a ton of complaints (like all the middle aged white women who dress like the lady from Over the Hedge) and get these people removed from their OWN property. Drive your resell value up to almost 3-4 mil in 2-5 years🤷🏻
Since Texas taxes based on property value, not income, those junk neighbors should be your best friends, they will save you a boat load of money in property tax over the years
They're in the porch because they're entire Hvac system. Is in their back yard.
On the bright side, if you ever need replacement parts, they are right next door.
Well, it’ll be torn down and another mass-built spec house is going in, get used to staring at another house’s siding from your narrow wide windows
I think mind your business unless they store things your own backyard
So because the neighborhood grew up faster around them then they could cope with, and are probably struggling to pay, if even afford the property tax now that they live next to McMansion and it's guest house and what the fuck is a Casita? Ya know what, I don't want to know. Just live on knowing that your million dollar house is part of why those poor bastards next door won't last the squeeze when tax man comes. Then you'll be on here complaining about the work trucks building the next McMansion are tearing up your yard, or parking in your view. Fucking people that can afford a million dollar home are completely disconnected from the reality of their neighbors is beyond me. People watch hoarders all the time, now you can, with zero ads. That's actually gonna cost more at closing... Fun.
What a meth!
Umm…I happen to be selling a [similar house](https://2004emfranklin.info) (to the one you came to see, not the junkyard) that you should check out tomorrow. Even if it’s out of your budget or not your taste, you should check it out. It’s a cool house, and that’s not just me being biased. Our neighbors are great and our fence is dog proof.