With ten thousand things on your to-do list, the last thing that might come to mind when you just got your keys and are about to start renovation is to say hi (& sorry!) to your neighbours.
Unlike BTO projects where homeowners get started on making friends pretty early, most blocks in mature estates don’t have active communications channels like Telegram.
However, don’t forget that your new neighbours:
- may not know you are moving in, and
- will not appreciate the noise, dirt, and chaos during your renovation period.
Most contractors will put up a notice downstairs to notify that renovation works are undergoing. However, this notice usually only goes up on the day that renovation begins, which doesn’t really give your neighbours much of a heads-up.
With that in mind, it is certainly more polite to notify and apologise in advance for the inconvenience caused. In case anything goes awry during the renovation (burst pipes, leakage etc.), they are likelier to be more forgiving.
Your kind neighbours will also keep an eye out for you! Some check if strangers enter your house to take your furniture (yes, it happens). They may even offer to collect any Taobao or Shopee deliveries for you too!
Recommended to-do for new resale owners:
- Make sure to say hi to your immediate neighbours in person as much as possible.
- Introduce yourself as their new neighbour and share which unit you’re moving into.
- Share your renovation dates so they have a better sense of how long to expect the disruption for.
- Plus points if you can prepare gifts or personalised notes to thank them in advance for the inconvenience caused! If you’re not confident your neighbours will be in, try to gift non-perishables and state your unit number clearly.
What we did, for reference:
We made special effort to visit our neighbours on a weekday night when they would most likely be at home. This was based on our observations from previous visits to our units. However, it should typically work for most homes as well.
As there are only 2 units on our floor, we paid visits to the unit next door, the one upstairs, and the other one downstairs (in total 3 units). Depending on how many neighbours you have and your budget in mind, you may cap the gifting to only your immediate neighbours on the same floor and the unit directly below.
We met all of our immediate neighbours in person and bought pandan chiffon cakes from Bengawan Solo as a ‘safe’ choice to gift our neighbours. Again, exercise discretion here and also observe your neighbours! Some good choices to consider are your usual suspects like chocolates, honey, and tea.
We hope this tip will be useful to you and help you build good relationships with your neighbours from the get-go 🙂
Leave a Reply