I’ve lived in my fair share of noisy apartments. My sophomore year of college I lived below an older man who was a pianist. He practiced all day and night and even taught classes out of his apartment. The soothing sounds of the piano music that rose up through the floorboards quickly became irritating and grating while I was trying to study or watch TV. It made for nice dinner music when I had guests over, but there are only so many hours in the day you can listen to a student try and play Beethoven’s 5th Symphony.
I never complained to my landlord about this but I did confront my neighbor. He was very respectful and said that if I was studying to let him know and he would quiet down. This was definitely a case where it was easier to approach my neighbor than involve my landlord.
When I moved into my next apartment, I had neighbors across the hall that had parties almost every night with a revolving door of guests coming in and out each night. Not only was I dealing with the noise from the loud music until 3am but I was also dealing with doors slamming and loud guests yelling in the hallway. After repeated, unsuccessful attempts to tell my neighbors to keep the noise down, it became a case where I had no choice but to report them to my landlord.
I know noisy neighbors will always be an issue but when I can eventually pay for a place of my own, I will have more authority to control these matters by myself. Recently, I’ve been saving money to buy a condo of my own. I’ve been paying my rent online through WilliamPaid to ensure that my rent is paid on the same day each month to build up my credit. When I am ready to purchase a condo, if I build up my credit enough, I’ll be able to get a better interest rate when I apply for a loan. I’ll no longer need to decide between approaching my neighbors directly and involving my landlord.
