My wife and I are 38 and 39 respectively, and quit working full-time almost 2 years ago. She spent ten years making a really good living in medical research, and I was able to live within my means and save while working in retail management and by teaching ESL over-seas. We live in Asheville, NC in a tiny house we had built behind our main house, which we now rent out for profit. We also own a modest rental property 20 minutes out in the country, and are investing in a third property out-of-state where the math is more favorable. My wife spends her working time running the paperwork end of our rental enterprise, and I manage the physical upkeep of the houses. We probably spend 25-30 hours combined managing the rentals.
The issue that I am dealing with is how to deal with neighbors asking "What do you do?" Most frequently it's asked with genuine curiosity and kind intent. Sometimes, however, it seems like a challenge to our choices and an attack on our lifestyle. Recently, the next-door neighbor passive-agressively parked in our driveway because we had parked on the street in front of their house. ( We had to clear out the driveway so a large truck could deliver plants. ) We arrived home to see the car parked there, and the neighbor standing by it. We explained why we parked where we did, and that even though it's public street parking we understand their opinion and promised not to make a habit of it. The net result is that the neighbors called us "entitled" and displayed their poor level of social functioning.
Fortunately, these neighbors seem to be in the small minority. What I really want to avoid is offending the vast majority of our hard-working and kindly neighbors. Many of them are members of our urban tribe, and we spend time together hiking, going to all the free and cheap music that makes AVL great, and having cook-outs in each others' yards. I usually answer "What do you do?" by saying that I am the super for our rentals. Sometimes I even direct the more open-minded questioners to the MMM blog. Despite this, I feel I can detect their skepticism when they see me walking my dog at 10 am with my coffee, taking off for a bike ride up to the Blue Ridge Parkway at 3 pm on a Monday, or packing my converted mini-van camper to leave for a week on a Wednesday.
My wife and I generally try to diffuse "hater-ism" by being as kind as possible. For instance, my wife will baby-sit the neighbor kids ( not the next-door people ) for free a few hours or so very week on average ( or incredibly cheaply, so as not to make the neighbors feel like charity cases ), and I am often available to lend labor or muscle for neighborly projects. We both actively participate with the local pro-environmental non-profit, and we are generous supporters to some of our favorite local charities. We love our neighborhood and the vast majority of our neighbors rock!
Has anyone else dealt with jealous or even hostile neighbors? How have you approached the subject? I am tempted simply to tell everyone exactly how my wife and I were able to achieve our preferred level of mostly-retirement, about our conscious and intentional 7 year plan we enacted when we became a couple, the near decade that I cycle commuted an hour each way to work in my twenties, the time we spent apart while traveling for work, the discipline we use with our budget, etc. I fear that that would seem like gloating.
The rumor is that we are trust-fund kids, we came from privilege, blah blah blah. I'm aware that we started off ahead of many of our neighbors. Then again, we all live in America, in houses, with bodies that started off healthy, etc. I don't feel like I need to apologize for maximizing my life situation. Utimately, I don't care that other people are jealous of us. Frankly, I'm just a little tired of dealing with the issue.
Any thoughts? Thanks
