Should I move here?

October 18, 2013 2:06 PM

I'm moving to a new apartment, and looking for a place that will be quiet and peaceful. I've found an apartment I like—based on the description on Craigslist, at least—and I just drove by in advance of the open house. The market where I live, in the Bay Area, is so tight right now that I'll probably have to apply immediately at the open house if I want a chance of getting it. When I drove by, I noticed that the house across the street was literally falling apart-- the roof had holes that were visible from the street, shingles were falling off, and the whole thing looked like it might eventually collapse. I saw someone go inside, so it looks like people are living there. The rest of the block looks ordinary enough. Having never lived near a place that looked so bad, I'm just wondering if there's anything I should be worried about. Other than the fact that it looks bad, and I feel bad for the people who have to live there (and for the house itself, which clearly was once very nice), does it matter that this place is across the street?
posted by three_red_balloons to Home & Garden (10 answers total)

In January of 2008 we bought and moved into the house next to this building. We bought for the neighborhood, and this was the one blight in the area.

Over the next few years the place continued to deteriorate (that picture was taken early last year), the one resident came and went, then his truck disappeared, and a few process servers came looking for him. We had evidence that he was occasionally still coming and going from the house, but he tried to be unobtrusive and we never managed to talk to him.

Then the city finally condemned the property, and it now looks like this and goes on the market officially this weekend.

I'd talk to some of the other people on the street. In our case the rumour mill is that the guy had some developmental disabilities, his parents bought him the house to get him out of theirs, and he couldn't handle life on his own. But he was never a problem, in fact in this neighborhood if we could have gotten him into a discussion we maybe could have figured out how to help him.

Your mileage will vary, but that's a "turned out fine for us".
posted by straw at 2:27 PM on October 18, 2013

Across the street? No I wouldn't be worried about that at all. In 2 years of living here I'd estimate that 20% of the homes around my block have had serious exterior renovations (painting/roofing or more).
posted by 2bucksplus at 2:28 PM on October 18, 2013

What city and what neighborhood are you looking at? There are a few neighborhoods in SF proper (Noe Valley and the Chenery St. section of Glen Park, for instance) where a lot of the houses are still occupied by very long-time residents who bought their houses in the 70s, live on a fixed income now, and can't afford to fix anything, so their places end up looking like dumps. But the neighborhoods overall are very safe in terms of crime, etc. If you are literally worried about a building falling on your head or something... no, I don't think that will be a problem.
posted by Joey Buttafoucault at 2:31 PM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

Assuming the neighborhood is otherwise safe and seems nice, I wouldn't worry. If anything, maybe it will scare off some other folks and that is not a bad thing in this crazy (and it is SO insane) rental market.
posted by rainbowbrite at 2:43 PM on October 18, 2013

Check your local newspaper or [neighborhood name].patch.com to see if there's any crime that can be seen to be emanating from that house. In any case... I have been in situations where a run-down place was full of good neighbors and I have lived in places (like I do now) where the run-down house next door is full of lazy, loud, inconsiderate, dirty slobs. YMMV.
posted by brownrd at 2:55 PM on October 18, 2013

I have lived in so many neighborhoods with dilapidated houses and I can't think of a single time it's been an issue. Unless you talk to a neighbor and they're like "oh yeah, that's where the satanic cult practices its rituals every moonless night" it'll probably be OK.

If you have a problem, it'll be the nice-looking house full of partying college kids, or the crazy lady in the apartment building across the street.
posted by lunasol at 2:56 PM on October 18, 2013

Assuming the open house is soon, if possible drive over Friday or Saturday night after dark, and see if you feel comfortable walking around a bit. That will tell you plenty about how you'd feel living there. Would your car be secure overnight?

If it's a single house that really sticks out like a sore thumb it probably implies something like a protracted estate hassle rather than crime hotspot. The neighbors will know, ask them.
posted by tula at 3:47 PM on October 18, 2013

Best answer: What city and what neighborhood are you looking at? There are a few neighborhoods in SF proper (Noe Valley and the Chenery St. section of Glen Park, for instance) where a lot of the houses are still occupied by very long-time residents who bought their houses in the 70s, live on a fixed income now, and can't afford to fix anything, so their places end up looking like dumps.

This has been my experience in other Bay Area neighborhoods (specifically Rockridge, in Oakland, and parts of Berkeley) as well. I agree with the advice about visiting the neighborhood at night and seeing if you feel comfortable there.

Find the police log for that particular city (I think almost all police logs are on line now) and see if there are a lot of call-outs for that block/street/neighborhood. And if you have the opportunity to talk to any neighbors, do so.
posted by Rosie M. Banks at 4:20 PM on October 18, 2013

Dilapidated and looking as though one person or family lives there? And you'll be renting? I wouldn't worry too much.

Looks as though it may possibly be inhabited by squatters? I'd worry much more. Much, much more.

Go for a walk Saturday morning (or tonight after work), talk to people walking their dogs, etc, try to get a feel for what's going on in the house.
posted by vignettist at 4:59 PM on October 18, 2013 [1 favorite]

In my S.F. neighborhood, there are still a couple of houses like this. I assume mortality will catch up to the longtime occupants sooner or later and the houses get sold, renovated, and flipped.

I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you. And you may find that the inhabitants of the tumbledown house are very interesting, so see if you can talk to them!
posted by vickyverky at 10:10 AM on October 19, 2013