Checking out the neighborhood is essential for home buyers at any time of year but, for some, the best time of the year to look around neighborhoods is December.
That’s when the Christmas decorations go up.
Most people love the festive lights of the season, and tons of people follow the local news stories about the 10 best neighborhood displays. When you put 20,000 lights on the property, it attracts a lot of people and a massive display next door can be problematic.
In Celebration, Florida, and El Paso, Texas, entire neighborhoods deck their homes out in displays that you can probably see from space. Of course, the neighbors love it. At least, the neighbors who participate love it.
In one New Jersey neighborhood, a homeowner puts out 47,000 lights, a display larger than Rockefeller Center, but his neighbors aren’t pleased. Their Christmas signs quietly point out that the house is in violation of zoning regulations and, they opine, excessive.
Famously, a homeowner in Australia commented on his neighbor’s elaborate display with a lighted arrow and the word, “DITTO.”
The public adores these elaborate displays, but neighbors often complain about the traffic, trash thrown out of cars onto lawns, and the bright, often flashing, lights that force them to put up room-darkening curtains in self defense. And then there’s the music.
For homeowners, putting up Christmas lights is a tradition. Generally, most neighbors will be happy with a modest display. Just be polite:
* Wait until mid-November to put up decorations.
* Take them down after January 6 (Epiphany).
* Turn off the lights by 11 p.m., especially if you have a flashing display.
* If your display of lights heads north of 10,000 bulbs, you may be going too far.