Know Thy Neighbor

It is not meant for as a moral suggestion. As a matter of fact the suggestion has an economic value. And I just lost some money for not knowing my neighbor. How so?

Having moved to my apartment, I decided to sell my house in Lippo Karawaci. It was a very small but lovely house in a safe and nice neighborhood. I had lived there for 5 years before I moved to Jakarta. Actually I hardly really lived there because I spent most of my time in Jakarta (about 25km away) not only during the week but also in weekends. Just like thousands other commuters I had to commute to Jakarta every day because I worked in Jakarta. And almost every weekend I drove back and forth Jakarta since all of my friends live there. Probably it was more of a hotel than a house because I only put my stuffs and came to sleep at night. So, I did not have time to socialize with the neighbors.

Is it really? Nope, I think I just found myself an excuse.

The truth is I am not really that kind of person who likes to socialize with the neighbors. I have this kind of attitude of “leave-me-alone-and-mind-your-own-business”. I did not try to make any efforts to get to know any of them. Too lazy to have small talks. It is also the reason why I chose to live in an apartment now. Is it really a typical attitude of city folks? I hope only a few people in Jakarta have that kind of attitude. I’ve learned my lesson ;-).

Anyway, I then contacted a property broker to help me sell the house. It took her almost a year to find a buyer with the price that I wanted. And to my surprise, it was my neighbor who bid my house. They wanted to buy the house for their daughters. Why didn’t they call me instead? Well, how on earth they could get my number if I have never had talked to them? And when I put the house on sale, I already had moved to the city.

So, get to know your neighbor. If it’s not for a moral reason, at least you may save some money. They could be your potential buyers. It had cost me the brokerage fee for not knowing the people who lived next to my house ;-). Not good enough for a reason, huh? Sounds too calculating? What if I say that I actually felt bad for not knowing Pak Johan and Bu Yulia who turned out to be very nice people? Okay ... that sounds better.