Do the power lines concern you?

Sorry but i would back out. I would be more concerned about the power lines. I do not even see how you would have any privacy with houses that close together. If you want privacy get a few acres.

Sorry you are going through this. I bet it is stressful. I think you are right to ensure the new neighbors are aware.

Can you use block to fill in the open balcony side that faces the neighbor? You don't want to be looking that way anyway. Even with a different neighbor floor plan, you might be looking into a window, or just a dark wall. You could put some large beautiful tree aloes against the balcony wall and make it lush and green.

The bathroom thing wouldn't bother me. I'd put blinds there and keep it closed. Even if there was a different floor plan next door, it's possible they could see into the bathroom from another window or the yard.

You already accepted apartment like conditions when you're only 10-feet away. For a $1M++ you don't have much space to enjoy the view. You did not get a bargain.

One benefit of their balcony open to yours is airflow vs being it not being bounced back by their wall, and you won't get their sun reflected into your space. You're in the desert, I grew up in Phoenix, that airflow will be important.

Put up plants to soften the browns of dust and dirt. Release your pearls. Unclench. Relax.

Semi-sheer curtain panel on the side, and one to block the power lines and development behind you.

I would try hard to get your deposit back and run. I agree it’s discouraging and frustrating, but I absolutely would not want my outdoor space that close. There are a whole host of things that could happen if your neighbors are not great— explicit or annoying music, secondhand cigarette smoke, conversations you wish you didnt have to listen to, talking to your kids without your knowledge. Some neighbors are wonderful, but not all of them. i realize many high density urban areas have to deal with this, but if you can avoid it, do.

Only you know if you can live like this.

Personally I would never have purchased a small lot where it would be possible that another home could be within 10’ of mine. Especially if I had young children.

I fail to see how you would have any leverage over the builder for him to build the Other Home to your liking. If you want to control another property, usually you have to own it.

"Who knows what activities might take place on their balcony? They could be smoking joints, Who knows what activities might take place on their balcony? They could be smoking joints, which is perfectly legal here, but it’s not something I want my kids exposed to, where they can easily view it in plain sight from just 10 feet away. It’s incredibly frustrating that the builder allowed this situation to arise."

Walk away and loose your EMD dollars. You have zero leverage, your bought one of 187 lots in a tract home subdivision. It was ALWAYS a possibility, one that you obviously did not think thru or think it could happen to you.

If one house catches fire, ten feet is nothing.

You should pull out and save a neighbor the anguish you may cause not minding your own business, but personally I don't see a problem. My son bought a 40' wide house on a 50' lot and all one can see from his deck is a long line of decks in every direction but everyone minds their own business so all is good.

I see no decks or balconies and walk around smoking weed and drinking beer any time I want without complaints. With woods between each 5 acre lots a neighbor may look but will mind their own business, or maybe join in on the drinking and smoking. We have trails through 40 acres of our 5 acre lots for off road vehicles with another 15 acres across the street but never had a problem because we have no Karens, we're like minded people.

This old exclusive 80 acre neighborhood is zoned Rural Reserve so we have all the amenities of rural living without a HOA telling us what we can't do, but we're surrounded by tract housing additions on all sides with HOA's controlling their activities and they hate our freedom. For some reason it's hard for these newcomers to mind their own business and often call the cops who tell them to mind they own business and no laws have been broken. One of these people is sitting in jail for aggravated assault (reduced from attempted murder) plus a charge of terroristic threats, resisting arrest and assault on a police officer just because he couldn't mind his own business.

Privacy, no matter the floorplan, is not a priority in this development layout. Many other benefits are ahead of it. Accept those or accept your own evaluation of its importance. This privacy appears to be connected to the second-floor layout. Flip or change that to produce better results. Or move on.

You can't just flip the house but you can just flip the house (sell it in the near future).

I don't know why people are so adamant against the homes being so close together. This is what a million dollars gets you nowadays in many cities. It's basically a large patio home, but it's better than a condo where you share walls. I'm pretty sure setbacks in a lot of crowded cities is minimal as well. In my city, the setbacks for ADU's has been changed to ZERO feet. The state also tried to change home setbacks, but thank god the governor vetoed it. Still, minimal setbacks might be the wave of the future, as developers squeeze more homes into smaller lots and states start to relax the setback/zoning laws thinking this will allow for more "affordable" housing. There are already news reports in my city of angry homeowners because their neighbor's huge adu's are up on their property line, darkening their backyards and pools.

I live on an acre lot, and I hear everything my neighbors do and say. To really get privacy, I think you need larger lots, maybe 5 acres.

I would assume there are other qualities of this community that led you to it, other than the 5' setback to side lot lines. A corner lot is typically larger than interior lots, because it has to have 2 "fronts," so often one side of the corner will have a deeper setback than the side that abuts an interior lot. But realistically, it is not "livable" yard space meaning part of the backyard or more yard right off the front porch, your house is just farther from the street on one side. But your taxes are probably higher pro-rata, and you probably have more traffic and a maybe a stop sign where vehicle noises are louder from pressing the gas.

I say that because if privacy or seclusion was a main goal for choosing a lot in this development, I would be looking for lots that abut to a drainage/emergency easement/access to a detention area, or even cul-de-sacs with pie shapes that widen some of the sides and doesn't align the back porches. I would not be choosing a corner lot.

Maybe if the other positives of the house design or community are strong enough, you might be able to find an interior lot that better suits your privacy goals. The builder might be amenable to letting you out of your deposit if you place it on another lot, maybe even with a small fee, and since it sounds like the house models haven't been master planned for location, your house choice might still work on another lot.

Thank you all for your insights. We're speaking with the builder tomorrow, and your feedback has been helpful.

To add and clarify:

1. We're aware the homes are 10 feet apart, which isn’t our issue. The concern is the adjacent OPEN-WALL balcony. If it had been on the opposite side and wall-enclosed, we wouldn't mind at all!

The photos are stock images from a quick-move-in home and the model, they haven't started on our construction yet. It hasn't even been excavated yet, so we're in the very early stages.

2. We paid a lot premium for a corner lot to ensure some level of privacy and space (12,000 sqft vs. the regular 5,500 sqft). We have a berm on the other side yard but has extra 30 feet of space. We might ask the builder to move our house 5 feet to the left, but I’m unsure if that’s possible due to a small easement.

3. After extensive research, we’re fine with the power lines. We can live with the aesthetics to be in this location, but privacy is crucial to us, and we’re not sure we can compromise on that.

4. If the builder can’t resolve this, could this be considered concealment or misrepresentation to reclaim our EMD, even after contingencies? I ask because, as mentioned, this floor plan is only 26 out of the 187 lots and NONE of them are adjacent, until now. The builder and sales consultant is well aware that we paid for that lot premium for some sort of PRIVACY, and they never told us about this possibility. They probably didn't even think about it and only noticing now as well since this configuration is a first for the community which again wouldn't be an issue if the flip was opposite (we having left side balcony and them having the right side)

They have three other 12k sqft corner lots, but they won’t be released until the end of the community phase. If they can move us to one of those, that would be ideal. However, if they force us to take this lot or walk away, I don’t want to lose our EMD. We’ve been very clear with them about our expectations and our willingness to pay extra for a corner lot specifically for privacy.

To be honest, we’re really heartbroken over this. The home and location check so many boxes for us, and we’ve invested a lot of time and effort into this build. We’ve visited the site and design center countless times, meticulously planning every detail, knowing every measurement and option available. Then something beyond our control happens—something we never imagined would be an issue because we were very clear about our expectations when we paid the premium for this lot. Any other suggestion we can say or bring up to the builder? I seriously felt deceived.

Thanks again. Have a great day all

I'm sorry that you're so upset about this. Unfortunately if you didn't get any of that in writing (and it doesn't sound like you even asked the question, just made assumptions) then you really don't have any recourse. It's not misrepresentation unless you have something in writing that says they won't do what they did. Doesn't matter that they hadn't done it anywhere else in the neighborhood. And no production builder is going to hem themselves in like that or put anything like that in writing anyway. You can't control what happens outside your property. Also, "Privacy" means different things to different people. Looking at those pictures it wouldn't even factor into my decision as I don't see anywhere as being private at all unless it's inside the house with the blinds drawn. You see some way of getting privacy in this neighborhood, which is great for you, but that doesn't mean the sales person understands what that means to you, or has any intention of guaranteeing that for you.

If they allow you to switch lots, there's no guarantee that they won't build the same house next to your new lot choice. So your only option would be to pick a lot that already has a house on the lot next to it, or to confirm that the orientation of the lots is not mirrored.

We all understand that you don't like that there's no wall. But like I said, you can easily put a screen and that solves your problem. If a solid wall is the only thing that will satisfy you, ask the builder for a change order and maybe they will build one in for you.

In your due diligence, did you look at the direction your house faces? Because if that balcony faces west, you will hardly use it anyway.

The one thing I recommend you NOT do is take out your frustrations and negativity on your neighbors (I can see you are already doing this by attributing what you perceive as negative habits to them in the form of pot smoking, and concluding that they didn't do their own due diligence in purchasing a $1million+ house). These people may end up being your new best friends, so don't write them off because you are finding out the hard way that building in a production community always has trade offs.

You may end up loving the neighbors. You don't know.

You're already setting your self up for it to be the Worst. Thing. Ever. But what if it's a non-issue..? What if it's someone who never comes outside? What if it ends up being your new best friend?

I'm not trying to poke at you. Many of us are familiar with the stresses of building a new home and at some point it gets to almost every one of us. I think I almost lost my poo over a flooring issue....that I literally can't even remember now.

Buy a patio screen, move in, and see how it goes.

" could this be considered concealment or misrepresentation to reclaim our EMD "

I do not see how. They offered home plans and the lots. No stipulations that this house could not be built next to another, or even all 26 in one row. It is a tract development would be pretty surprised if the builder bears any responsibility because you bought a premium lot. That afforded you a larger lot, no other special rights or privileges.

I agree with purchasing a privacy screen for the open side of the balcony. While it won’t help with noise, it will offer a little more privacy.

Another option if you cannot back out would be to go ahead and build the house, and then sell it and choose another place to build or buy. You may not mind once it’s finished. Bit if it ends up being a problem then you can always sell. I realize that’s not an easy option. But if you want more privacy it may be the only way.

As someone mentioned before, you might get out of this so you don't become the nightmare buyer and then neighbor. It won't stop here with you. You will continue to nitpick everything that occurs. This is just the beginning. You will find something wrong with the construction. You will find something wrong with the landscaping. Once the house closes you will find problems with your neighbors in whatever they do or simply existing.

The builder is not responsible for your privacy; you outfit your home to make it as open or private as you want. Unless the contract states that identical house, postured in any direction will not be done, you've learned something that you didn't know what to ask for before, but can't change. The contract in our neighborhood was that they wouldn't build the same exterior elevation within one house of each other. They adhered to that.

I would have never considered a corner lot as private because you have a side road with cars and pedestrians. Corner lots are cut through, May have more trash. The last thing we'd ever want is a corner a lot.

We're on our fifth home, all under $575,000, so I can't empathize with the million dollar woes. We've paid premium lot prices for two because they were on a green belt. We've never had problems with neighbors eyeballing us as we're rarely outside at the same time. You're predetermining your neighbors will be terrible people and that's not fair on them. You need to adjust your attitude otherwise you will hate living there.

"You may end up loving the neighbors. You don't know."

You may even end up being the pot smokers. Especially if Kevin visits. Kevin, don't start a friendly Minnesotan forest fire tossing your blunt on the ground during your walks.

I don't know if any tall foliage could work in your planting zone, but that and the enclosed balcony side (maybe leave a high open transom) are good options to soften the blow. Besides, not to add to the heartache but hopefully put it in perspective, from the model pic the top floor bedroom windows will face each other, and both you and all the neighbors can see into each other's back yards from the top 2 stories, so privacy seems to be a measurement in degrees.

Privacy is a priority for us, but a convenient location is more important. Our home sits on over an acre, but the lot is pie shape with the narrow part at the front. We tore down an existing house to build here after deciding that proximity to our grandchildren means more than anything else.

Trees, shrubs, tall planters and laser-cut aluminum privacy screens take care of any concerns outside including around the pool. Top-down shades cover some windows, while others have semi-sheers, and both are behind opaque curtains for night. Most of our neighbors have plantation shutters which are tilted partly open during the day and closed at night.

While I have no objection to what others smoke, I don't care for the odor. (Oddly, it didn't bother me in college many decades ago.) An exterior rated fan can help a lot if unwanted smoke from a neighbor becomes a problem. There are wall-mounted and free-standing fans that could be set to blow away from your balcony as well as ceiling fans.

Previously suggested ways of screening your balcony would take care of what your children observe. However, they're going to see the same thing all around your community since it's legal there, especially if you visit any parks, playgrounds, walking trails, or restaurants with outdoor dining patios. What potential neighbors might do would be the least of my concerns.

The builder is unlikely to do anything about your worries unless there are covenants in place that prohibit the same plan from being built side-by-side. Even then, there may be a legal out for the builder/developer that gives him the ability to change the rules to suit his business.

I'm not sure why we're being knocked on for "nitpicking." or a nightmare buyer. We're not buying a banana, we're investing our hard-earned money into this property, and we want to ensure that our living experience for years to come is nothing short of desirable, especially for our children.

Sorry, but are we wrong for trying to achieve that for our family as best as we can? Are we supposed to let things go and not voice our concerns so our builder can have a nicer day? I don't get it.

Thank you for all those with productive replies. We have a lot to think about overnight and appreciate all your inputs and suggestions.

Sure you can voice your concerns but that doesn't mean the builder has to do anything. I wouldn't be happy either but it is what it is. You want the neighbor to change their floor plan. If they have no problem with the balconies being so close and open to each other why should they have to change their choice of floor plan? See if the builder will build you a solid wall on that side or look into screenings that can be used to provide privacy. Who knows maybe the neighbors will never be out on the balcony. We had a balcony in a townhouse we once owned. Between full time jobs, a dog and a baby we were never out there.

Assuming the victim stance will not further your success. No one is a victim. You're in a situation you didn't know could occur. It's upsetting, but insisting the builder, or neighbor, do things (that aren't realistic) to make you happy isn't productive. Right now you're going to commiserate wondering why your hard earned money doesn't make people do what you want them to do. You're buying a home and not purchasing the right to demand for other people to do things for your best interest.

"Are we wrong for trying to achieve the best for our family?" No, but everything you do going forward doesn't have to rest upon this phrase. Make decisions and adjust your expectations such that you will not harm others in the process.

As Cher said, "Snap out of it!"

Are you suggesting they will not move the high tension wires either?

You had a chance to buy the adjacent lot and have complete control over it. You declined. You have nothing to complain about. Zilch.

I'd be a LOT more worked up over the power lines than a future neighbor's potential habits. Is that the only outdoor space? What if you pay more to have that balcony enclosed and make it a sitting room (or whatever) instead?

If you paid a premium for a larger lot but the house was still situated 5' from the side lot line, what's the point of the larger lot / privacy?

I suspect there is a large degree of uniformity of the homes in this neighborhood. Flipping the plan and maybe there are some slight elevation tweaks that will help with the copy/paste aspect but obviously won't help with the patio. I also suspect that there may be other plans that would put a balcony next to you as well.

Deep breath. If you liked the neighborhood, have the conversation about moving to another lot, try to site the home in the middle of the lot (increasing your distances) and get some confirmations in writing that the plan next door won't be one with a parallel balcony. The overall closeness here is not going to change and there are pretty significant limitations on how much you will be able to impact your real privacy. If this is "normal" for new development, you may want to walk away and consider an existing home, as they are usually on larger lots.

Good luck. Dealing with large production builders is a challange - depending on their goals, sales, etc will determine how flexible they are, and your willingness to wait, move to a later phase, etc. will make a difference too.

" Good luck. Dealing with large production builders is a challenge "

Unfortunately this is the same at any price point. 6 figures does not change it.

Perhaps your potential neighbor selected your plan and reversed the plan so he could watch you on your balcony from his balcony and talk to you as you soak in your tub as he soaks in his tub? He may be a friendlier neighbor than you think or want.

What are you thinking Mark! He did the reverse plan so after smoking some weed they can lay a 12 ft ladder between the balconies and, sneak over when they're soaking in the tub to steal their munchies and booze.

OP, did you talk to the builder? Any updates?