Introducing yourself is a start, but there are also a few other simple things you can consider doing to make newcomers feel welcome:

1. Bring over a small welcoming gift. Giving a coffee cake, homemade cookies, or even some fresh fruit or vegetables from your garden is a thoughtful gesture, and a great way to break the ice (besides, you know you’re dying to see what the new people are like, and this is a great excuse to stop by!).

2. If you have an extra phone book for your area, offer it to the new neighbors along with bus or train schedules and a list of things like trash pick up or recycling days and which day the street sweeper comes by so they will know not to park on the street.

3. If a street dance, block party, or other neighborhood/community event is coming up, invite your new neighbors and let them know when and where.

4. If your new neighbors have children, you might want to bring your kids along and introduce them to the new kids, or let them know that there are other children in the area close to their ages.

5. Inform them where the local playground is, when school registration begins, or share other pertinent information.

If you feel comfortable after meeting your new neighbors, offer your phone number in case they have questions or need assistance. By welcoming new neighbors and offering a little kindness, you might be starting what will turn into a great friendship.

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You’ll be surprised what the neighbors might tell you and what you could find out. It might save you from making a terrible buying mistake and moving into a neighborhood where you could be miserable down the road.

When selling your home, if circumstances warrant, make amends with the neighbors before putting that sign in the yard. Because buyers will talk to the neighbors before fully committing to buy.

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They don’t just splash around – they laugh, scream, swear and make sexy noises. We’re happy that they’re happy, but we wish they would keep it down a bit. There are a lot of old people who live around here, and they don’t like noise after the dinner hour.”

Not suprising, since Chrissy loves to be provocative. Remember not too long ago, when she had said,

“On Sundays, we just do everything in the house, and we’re just cosy and laid back. We don’t need to go anywhere, we’re just with each other. We do everything naked. We even cook naked.”

Guess motherhood doesn’t change some folks, like they said.

Chrissy Aguilera and her man better behave themselves or find themselves a new gated community.

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Not only will meeting the neighbors give you a good idea of whether you will be compatible, but neighbors will disclose material facts that a seller might conveniently forget.

When Gary and Stephen found their dream home, they were ecstatic. It had everything they wanted, location, space, vintage, updates and a quaint yard. The price was right, too. Shortly after signing the contract, the two men drove over to the vacant home to meet the neighbors on both sides. The neighbors to the west told them the basement floods on a regular basis and seemed perturbed that the sump pump drained water into their yard. The seller’s disclosures did not mention a wet basement.

The neighbors to the east were blatantly hostile. They pointed to the rose bushes that appeared to be growing on the buyer’s property and said they had planted them. Although a fence existed between the two homes, the neighbors on the east said the boundaries were in dispute. They also said, "We smoke like chimneys and plan to sit out on our front porch every night smoking," adding with a smirk, "And there’s nothing you can do about it."

It was clear that the neighbors on both sides of this home had a bone to pick with the existing seller, but Gary and Stephen did not believe they should be the recipient of that ongoing battle. The neighbors’ reaction was enough to cause Gary and Stephen to buy a different home in another neighborhood.

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It seems my friends have quickly found that a bargain house does not include good neighbors. In fact, they found that neighbors hardly appreciate your financial gain. Wanna-be home buyers in this economy should be aware that when they buy a "foreclosed home," or a "short sale home," that they will most likely encounter three types of neighbors.

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