Noise & Stuff

Since our return from Newport, R.I., the donkeys have been very vocal. Maybe it's the cooler weather; maybe they have new donkeys; maybe they have jennies in season.  But they've been very, very vocal.  For instance, last night they started braying at 9:54 p.m. and they continued to bray until 10:07 p.m. - NON STOP!  It wasn't just one donkey, but a whole passel of them...  Mr. Squeaky, Foghorn, and one or two others.

Yesterday afternoon, Karen K. & I went to visit with Mrs. Perea, a neighbor.  Mrs. Perea is a sweet lady who had 82 years of life under her belt.  She's a lovely woman and she does not like the donkeys. One reason for her dislike is she is not in the best of health and the donkeys prevent her from getting a proper amount of rest.  Another reason is that she wants to sell her home, but she's concerned (legitimately) that having a small herd of donkeys so close to her home will affect the property's value. The donkey paddock in the valley is about 300' from her house and 45' from her fence line.

Mrs. Perea has good cause to be concerned and she isn't alone in her concerns about the effect that the establishment of a donkey rescue will have on property values.  It is a well known fact that animal noise and bad neighbors can and will reduce property values up to 20%!  So, if your home is appraised for sale at $100,000, you will only get about $80,000 for it.  That is a considerable chunk of change to lose!  Face it, for most of us, our homes are the biggest investment we have.  We have dumped many hundreds of thousands of dollars into our homes: purchase, taxes, insurance, improvements, and repairs, only to have our investment evaporate due to bad neighbors and noisy animals.

According to an article, Seven Neighborhood Threats to YourHome's Value, by Brian O'Connell, published in MSN Real Estate, bad neighbors can seriously affect the value of one's property.  Real estate professionals say that a bad neighbor is any home or business that turns people off.  

"A bad neighbor is one that has no consideration for the rest of the community," says Mindy Pordes, co-founder of Pordes Residential Sales & Marketing in Aventura, FL. "For example, someone who doesn't take care of the outside appearance of the home, such as the gardening, painting of the outside of the home, roof, garbage, and general upkeep.  In addition, a bad neighbor may have constant visitors taking up parking spaces, perhaps on the street, loud house parties, dogs that bark all night or stray cats lingering around."

Another article, Nine Things That Will Trash Your Home's Value, published in Business Insider on May 15, 2013 states 

"A nearby property's overgrown yard, peeling paint, and clutter can easily knock 5% to 10% off the sale price of your home, said Joe Magdziarz, the president of the Appraisal Institute and a real-estate appraiser with 40 years of experience.  A true disaster – a junky home in deplorable condition and a yard packed with debris – could cost you even more."

Our neighbors, Mr. Cross & Ms. Lotter, fit the description of "bad neighbors".  They have accumulated piles of trash and junk on their property, making their yard 'unkempt'.  The trash and junk are eyesores, as are the run in sheds in the donkey yards as they are in need of repair.  They have not been taking care of their home and there is missing siding, odd materials used to patch the house, old tires around the base, and, in general, it is an eyesore and in desperate need of repair. 

The same Business Insider article goes on to state, 

"Noisy neighbors (or their pets) are enough to drag home values down by 5 – 10%.   There's a reason prospective home buyers are advised to make multiple visits to homes and at all times of the day: Noise can be a property value killer."

The noise; the lack of upkeep; the piles of trash & junk; all of them result in decreasing the property values of the other homes around them.  The homes directly affected as they share property lines with these people and their noisy animals are:

1046 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $189,000)
1052 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $296,000)
1038 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $253,500)
17 Whispering Elms (Zillow estimate - $187,600)
2 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $168,200)
8 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $167,500)
12 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $172,200)

Other homes in close vicinity, especially those adjacent to where they hide donkeys at 12 Log Cabin Lane and 1058 County Line Road are:

14 Log Cabin Lane (Zillow estimate - $200,700)
5 Whispering Elms (Zillow estimate - $178,600)
1056 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $162,100)
1058 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $290,900)
1081 County Line Road (Zillow estimate - $276,300)

It's rumored that they have several other places where they are hiding donkeys in a never-ending shell game. I know I've personally seen a couple of donkeys down on Quiet Valley Loop, which is where one of their supporters lives.  Of course, there were only 2 donkeys at the Quiet Valley Loop location, not a herd of 13 or more.  Makes a difference with regard to noise.

Some examples of noisy donkeys in the news include:

Reese Witherspoon, neighbors complaining about noise levels

Neighbors in Brussels complain about Lola.

Joseph, the Brierley donkey heard 2 miles away

Donkey stories on Horse & Hound


Other donkeys have made the news for other reasons:

Abandoned donkeys

Donkeys Maul & Kill Pensioner

Texas Mayor Killed in Donkey Attack

By the way, BernCo Animal Services was called last night about the noise, just to notate how long they brayed.