Wedding Woes

:: homeowners ::

is this person's reaction normal?  i'm not a homeowner, so i don't know.  however, i do love looking in people's houses, irreguard of what's going on in my life. 

my parents sold my childhood home and moved about a block away.  childhood home burned to the frame about two months later.  after the new owners rebuilt, my parents sent them a huge plant as a new, new housewarming gift.  okay, it was really a bribe in hopes that my parents could see what the house looked like now, but all they got was a lovely thank you card.  and my parents could se from the street that the new owners forgot what they said about the tree in the backyard (needs to be fed on the regular )and it died.

Dear Amy: There is a home in our neighborhood that sat empty for several years due to a foreclosure.


New buyers purchased the property and began extensive renovations.


Last month, postcards were sent to many of us in the neighborhood.


The postcard is a photo of the home's exterior with a caption that reads, "We know you're curious."


The text on the back states that food and beverages will be served at the home, and stresses that everyone should "come see what we've done with the house." Word through the grapevine is only a handful of people even bothered to RSVP.

I suspect these newcomers are simply clueless, so for other readers who may have been fortunate enough to invest in a fixer-upper, here are some things to keep in mind:

  • Your house dragged down the value of ours over those long months.
  • It's nice that you can afford all new things for your home. We'd like to do some of those renovations ourselves, but we either have no equity or had our equity line of credit reduced.
  • Some of us were recently laid off and are struggling just to make mortgage payments.
  • Please excuse us for not wanting to come over to be escorted around the newly manicured grounds.
  • We don't begrudge what you have. We're just not eager to have our collective noses rubbed in it.

— Suburban Party Pooper

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Re: :: homeowners ::

  • mrsconn23mrsconn23 member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its First Answer
    edited December 2011
    It's a little presumtuous of the new owners... but maybe they had a LOT of people stopping by expressing interest, so they figured that they would invite people to see what they did.  Maybe they should have limited the guest list to the people who were actually curious.  IMO, it was gracious of them to invite everyone and provide food and drinks.  In my neighborhood, if someone gutted and rebuilt a house, it would get some attention.


    That being said, the writer is a green-eyed Bitter Betty and needs a good dose of STFU.
  • 6fsn6fsn member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    If the first house burned to the ground, who cares what was rebuilt?  I can understand being peeved at the tree dying.  I'm still mad the people who bought our house took out the stained glass window in the bathroom.  I would have taken it.

    I think the invite with "I know you're curious" was cute.  The response about dragging down property values and rubbing their nose in it is crappity crap crap.  If someone bought the house across the street I'd love to look inside. 
  • notamrsnotamrs member
    Knottie Warrior 1000 Comments Combo Breaker
    edited December 2011
    I think the caption on the postcard is a little weird and self-important.  A simple invitation to a housewarming party would have been better. 

    However, it's not the new homeowners' fault that the house sat in foreclosure before they bought it - it wasn't their house when it was "dragging down the home values in the neighborhood" and it certainly wasn't their fault that other neighbors got laid off.  I'm like you, Hmo - I love looking in other people's houses, so I probably would have gone , especially when you add free food and drinks to the mix.
  • DG1DG1 member
    Ninth Anniversary 5000 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    I don't think it's normal.  There's a house on our street that was on the market for well over a year. I can tell that the new owners have done a ton with the outside, and I'd love to see the inside.  We had considered buying it as a rental property.

    I'd also just love a friendly invitation from someone in the neighborhood.  I like waving to my neighbors as we pass in the car, but it would also be nice to know someone's name, you know?

    Then again, the people who bought that house had a big McCain/Palin sign in their yard for the election, so we probably wouldn't have a heck of a lot in common anyway.

    image
  • zsazsa-stlzsazsa-stl member
    Eighth Anniversary 5000 Comments 100 Love Its First Answer
    edited December 2011
    WHAT?  No, that is not a normal reaction.  There is a house down the block from me that I would LOVE to tour.  I think it sounds like a nice way to meet the neighbors.

    But...maybe they should have worded the invite differently.  Like rather that saying "we know you're curious" they should have just called it a housewarming/block party/whatever. 
    image

    I just a friendly gal looking for options.

    Wedding Countdown Ticker
  • TheDuckisTheDuckis member
    Seventh Anniversary 5000 Comments 25 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    The only reason this is a problem is because of the way the invite was worded. "We know you're curious" is presumptuous and bitchy, and no matter how curious I actualy was I wouldn't give in and accept an invitation like that. New owners would have gotten a lot farther with their neighbors if they'd just sent an invite for a we want to meet our neighbros block party.
  • hmonkeyhmonkey member
    Ninth Anniversary 10000 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    :: cries at 6's meanness to my parents ::
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  • nicoleg1982nicoleg1982 member
    5000 Comments
    edited December 2011
    Every time we improve the house our neighbors ask to come over.  We love them, so it's not rude IMO - just friendly.  But they've been there 30+ years, so they've seen the house from brand new to now with all of the different owners.
    imageimage
  • edited December 2011
    I don't know any of my neighbors, and I think this might be a nice way to get to know them. Sounds like that one lady just has some crabs in her drawers, or something.
    image
  • 6fsn6fsn member
    Knottie Warrior 10000 Comments 500 Love Its Name Dropper
    edited December 2011
    Ha, Hmo I didn't know that was you speaking.  I'd still have the same response.  It wasn't the same house, but I would be peeved about the tree.
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