Dear Urban Diplomat: What can we do about our semi-detached neighbours poor taste in exterior paint?
Dear Urban Diplomat,
An eccentric couple just moved in to the other half of our semi. All was fine until they started to paint their front porch lime green and DayGlo yellow. We’re selling our place, and I’m worried their paint job will lower the value of our half. What can we do?
—Attachment Disorder, The Annex
If your neighbours’ grass were too long or their garbage heaps too high, you’d be able to sic the city on them, but there are no ordinances regarding poor taste (hello, Honest Ed’s). That said, any real estate agent worth his or her commission knows that a neat, neutral-toned paint job can boost the value of both homes by up to 15 per cent. In your neighbourhood, that can mean extra tens of thousands of dollars, so it’s well worth your time and effort to intervene. Ask them to consider taupe or ivory, and offer to pay pros to do the job—and then undo it once you sell, in their preferred Green Bay Packers colour scheme.
Send your questions to the Urban Diplomat at urbandiplomat@torontolife.com
![](http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=https://torontolife.com/city/dear-urban-diplomat-paint/&title=Dear Urban Diplomat: What can we do about our semi-detached neighbours poor taste in exterior paint?&picture=https://torontolife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/may12UrbanDiplomatPaint.jpg&description=[caption id="attachment_140063" align="alignleft" width="292"] (Image: Jen Bojan)[/caption]
Dear Urban Diplomat,
An eccentric couple just moved in to the other half of our semi. All was fine until they started to paint their front porch lime green and DayGlo yellow. We’re selling our place, and I’m worried their paint job will lower the value of our half. What can we do?
—Attachment Disorder, The Annex
If your neighbours’ grass were too long or their garbage heaps too high, you’d be able to sic the city on them, but there are no ordinances regarding poor taste (hello, Honest Ed’s). That said, any real estate agent worth his or her commission knows that a neat, neutral-toned paint job can boost the value of both homes by up to 15 per cent. In your neighbourhood, that can mean extra tens of thousands of dollars, so it’s well worth your time and effort to intervene. Ask them to consider taupe or ivory, and offer to pay pros to do the job—and then undo it once you sell, in their preferred Green Bay Packers colour scheme.
Send your questions to the Urban Diplomat at urbandiplomat@torontolife.com){kind=link}
well, since the fronts of most annex houses look a mess maybe the newness of the paint will look inspired.
but probably not. i’d get a lawyer round in hopes of pinning the devaluation dollars on them… they might think again or even better get non-colourblind neighbours to fan the paint chips on their behalf.
Can’t believe peachy suggested a lawyer. Must be a litigious American believing in suing everybody for slightest imagined wrong. Please understand there is no legal right to sue for somebody’s personal taste. You take your chances with your neighbors and try to live together recognizing and understanding your differences. Peace be with you as you seem to need some.
And that is why most people don’t want to live in a semi-detached houses. It was at the top of my list of things I couldnt’ live with when I bought a house, right above ‘busy street’.