They say “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”, and oddly enough, nowhere is that truer than apartment or condo living. You are living in each other’s “space” and need to be mindful of that. Neighbors can make or break your living situation. A good neighbor will enhance your life; a bad neighbor will make it an endurance run.

I had a neighbor once who had mental issues. She tried to insist that she lost her key and just needed to cross from our balcony to her own…three floors up. That did not happen.

Keep the rules to your complex within each reach.  Be very aware that sounds can carry a LOOOONNG way. Keep it quiet during the “quiet hours” listed on the rules.

Note: If you have not lived in attached housing before (apartment, condo, duplex) then you may want to run a “sound test”. Pick a time, not to early or too late and have a friend inside your new place turn up the volume to what you and they think is a “good” level, then go outside your place, walk around in the hallway. How loud is it? 

Be courteous. If you have having a party, notify the neighbors well in advance, keep control of your guests and do NOT extend the party into the hallways.

If you have issues with a neighbor, try, if all possible, to work them out in a friendly manner before involving management.

Open doors, carry extra bags, smile. These little extras will make a neighbor happy. (Wouldn’t it make you happy?) Follow the golden rule. Treat them the way you would like them to treat you.

Separate your garbage.  If your complex has a recycling bin. Make sure to use it. There is nothing so frustrating as going to throw something away, and finding you cannot because the garbage company refused to take it…because someone threw a bag of rotten food in with the cardboard.

Don’t cook curry. (at least every night) If you love curry (as my husband does) enjoy it when you go out. Keep in mind that anything you use in your apartment that has a strong scent, will be carried to your neighbors. With that in mind, if there are some meals that you cannot live without AND they have a strong scent, make them a special treat and cook them less than once a month.

Pick up after your pets. Seriously. (and if you need more details on this one? You don’t deserve a pet.)

-Auntie Zia