We bought a property we are going to knock down  so we can build our dream home. I introduced myself to a few of the neighbours and in those conversations I was told that the neighbour directly next door to us tended to be 'difficult' to deal with. This worried us as we had to get some exceptions put through council for the build, and the neighbour could potentially block those. I decided I would not listen to the bad rumours, but instead assume the neighbour was reasonable.

In our conversations with this new neighbour about our plans to build, there was one thing that troubled them. We appeased this, as it was a reasonable concern, and the neighbour was very happy. Since that time this neighbour has been our biggest fan, and a great help.

In the past I would have gone in with the attitude that they were a 'difficult' neighbour, and already decided they would fight against the exceptions we wanted to file for. This would have affected how I dealt with them and almost created the very problem I was trying to avoid ( I would have been defensive, etc).

Instead, I gave them the benefit of the doubt, and assumed they would work with me. I didn't listen to the negative talk about this neighbour. Because of that we had a good outcome and a really pleasant relationship, which is great since we'll be living next to each other for a very long time. I'm glad we came to our own conclusions, rather than listening to rumours.


Posted in February 2016


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