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Imagine buying a house in a neighborhood full of houses, but then over time the neighborhood starts to change. When one neighbor sells their house, they sell it to a developer who tears it down and builds townhouses. Then it happens again and again. Soon, your neighborhood looks nothing like it did before.
That’s the issue the family in this story is dealing with, but it’s actually much worse than that. A family who bought a house only to tear it down and build townhomes has decided to do the demolition themselves instead of hiring a crew.
After reading this story, you’ll probably agree that it would’ve been worth it to hire a crew. Not only would the demolition get done so much quicker, but they wouldn’t tick off the neighbors.
Keep reading for all the details.
Buyers of a property across the street are demolishing the house themselves and plan on overseeing excavation and construction as a DIY project
The parents of a young couple spent $1.4 million on a house for them to tear it down and build three townhouses in its place.
They have the money to buy the house at a hugely inflated price, but apparently not for a professional crew.
Tear-downs are very common in Los Angeles but typically a professional demolition crew just completes the process in a day or two.
When done professionally a huge public notice sign about the demolition is on display well in advance, and written notice is provided to the neighbors of the exact dates. They also post a permit.
Here’s how this family is handling the demolition.
With this family there was no form of notice, and there are no permits posted.
Instead for weeks this family has been out there all day, every day including on Sundays and the 4th of July tearing down the house by hand.
They have a bathtub in the front yard and a huge dumpster in the driveway blocking the sidewalk.
They put no parking, tow-away signs up on cones in the street itself to reserve parking for their family are taking up a block and a half.
This sounds awful!
They are related to the owners of a property next door who did the same thing, which is why four years into the process they still haven’t finished construction.
Those owners also “clean” the site every single night, after the actual construction work is done.
They will stand on the fifth floor throwing pieces of wood and trash down to the ground, shouting at one another, and creating a racket for hours on end.
They constantly wake up our toddler and freak out our dog with this cleaning process.
A professional crew makes a big difference!
Numerous neighbors have pleaded that they stop and they won’t.
They said that as property owners they are entitled to work whenever they want.
In contrast, another house the same size was torn down in 2021 and in under a year they have nearly finished six townhouses that are beautiful.
That crew works from 7 to 3:30 M-F and leaves us in peace the rest of the time.
Moving won’t be easy.
We’d like to move but it’s going to be harder to sell when it looks like we live across from a junkyard.
Two properties on the block have had a hard time selling and said this is a reason why.
Prospective buyers can never find a place to park due to this family consuming all the street parking and even on a Sunday there’s nonstop noise.
I feel really bad for this family. I think all they can do is call the non-emergency police line to report the noise and anything else these annoying neighbors are doing that might be illegal.
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Let’s see how Reddit responded to this story.
Here’s some advice.
True.
They definitely need permits.
This is good advice!
If they didn’t pull the proper permits, this construction (or demolition) would screech to a halt. Los Angeles does not mess around with permits, and the process can take quite awhile.
It definitely wouldn’t hurt (and would most likely help) to report this construction site for every violation.
The fire marshal is a good idea too.
This homeowner got some great advice. I hope the property owners are forced to hire a proper crew.
