Trying to buy first property next door to me

[Christy Henson]

My neighbor put his home up for sale a few years ago, for sale by owner, and got no bites. It has not been for sale for a couple years now. When he had it for sale, we asked to buy the vacant lot between us that he owns, but he didn’t think his house could sell without it. Recently, I have become interested in owning rental property. My mother and I have discussed approaching them to see if they are willing to sell now. She has the idea to flip it, after taking off the land that we want. But I would rather keep it for a rental, as I don’t think we could sell it for a profit. It has 2 undesirable Section 8 rental trailers across the road, but the rest of the neighbors are brick homes and great neighbors. I was just wondering if anyone had thoughts about renting out a house next door to your own. And taking a chance on keeping it rented with sometimes crazy people living across the street. The crazies don’t bother us, but they are loud sometimes. We really, really want the empty lot next to us to spread out, as we plan to live here for the long haul.