tl;dr Subject: Just had a rude, weird first encounter with a neighbor from a house that's already had weird activity for several years. Want to lay out my thoughts and ask friends if my gut is reasonable to tell me this is weird.
Background
This is a wealthy neighborhood (in my opinion) with many houses north of $1 Million in current value. So little McMansions if you will. The only reason my mom/stepdad got this place was because they bought a foreclosure (just past the 2008 housing crisis) so the house was probably <$200K at the time + a whole crap ton of things broken, leaks, damage, etc.
New neighbors across the street moved in 2 or more years ago. My stepdad said they were from New York but they didn't talk much. I just saw them doing yard work out front and doing other normal things. I never had the chance to meet them.
Around 2024 (?) Out of nowhere, their house went "dark" and appeared vacant 24/7 for almost a year or more. My mom and stepdad are home all day and all night, and I'm also home all the time. I observed ZERO activity. Zero lights on at night. Zero vehicles going into their driveway or out of their driveway or parked in their driveway or parked anywhere on the street. Like literal, solid zero activity or lights. For 8-12 months
solid or longer. My stepdad can also corroborate this. I'm not crazy for noticing this and thinking "humph, wonder where the new neighbors went. Did they fall behind on their mortgage and lose the house? Family emergency? Did someone pass away? (They're middle-aged so unlikely). Are they super duper wealthy and this is just a seasonal mansion home? My point is: the house truly, truly appeared vacant for a year ish or even 1.5 years or more. Like 24/7 vacant.
Then suddenly either late 2024 or 2025 sometime (and I have pics!!), an out-of-county black Mercedes sedan would park in the street in front of their house super late at night (somewhat blocking our driveway... so our driveway exits the street at 90 degree angle, but if a vehicle is parked on the opposite curb, it's hard to get in or out of our own driveway.) But what was weird was a lady was sitting in the driver's seat of this car like 10 pm - 1 am or whatever (solid). Just... sitting there. Maybe sometimes going inside eventually. The only reason I know this is because sometimes I take out the garbage late at night or check the mailbox. It's normal to sit in your car, sometimes for a long time to relax or eat or call or text or goof off. I do it all the time. But never for 2-4 hours on multiple nights. I made many jokes with stepdad that the lady in that car was doing surveillance since she sat for hours many nights.
One time at night I was doing garbage/mail and saw this lady (not the 2 neighbors who moved in) just sitting there (after hours) so I walked with my EDC flashlight for safety as I walked down our long driveway to either do the trash can or mailbox. I lit her up and said hello (politely! no aggressive tone of voice), but I had my flashlight on since I left my house. I didn't jumpscare her. She just had literally zero situational awareness of her surroundings. She screamed and got out of her car and I politely asked if she was okay. She said yes. She also said she lived there. Cool I guess. Maybe worked many hours away and commuted 3-4 hours there? Seasonal job maybe. Student wouldn't make sense.
Haven't really seen her since but it was just... odd.
I've also seen MANY (dozens and dozens... maybe 50+?) different vehicles parked in that exact spot across from our driveway. Sometimes it would be parked there for 1-2 minutes, sometimes 5 minutes. Sometimes several hours. Sometimes a person would be sitting in the driver's seat waiting. Sometimes it would be vacant.
It's frustrating because it's common sense to not park directly across from someone's driveway. Because not only does it make it harder for them to ingress/egress, but it also increases the likelihood of getting their own vehicle hit or scratched, no? I keep thinking to myself, "Maybe tomorrow they will be smarter and less selfish." But I promise, it's been 100% where 50+ different vehicles would just keep parking there like idiots.
In my experience, the house across from my Dad's house (when he was alive), a high school guy in my grade (nice guy tbh) was a known drug dealer, and it would just be various drug customers parked in and out in and out in and out all day. People for 30 seconds to 10 minutes or so. Whatever conversations and transactions, etc. happen. I've also potentially seen drug deals in plain sight in public in random parking lots or public parks. Dealer car would pull up and wait. Customer would pull up. Someone from either the dealer or customer car would get out, hop in, you could see hands exchanging things, then they'd get back into vehicles and drive off. Just felt like a garden variety drug deal. I've never bought or sold or been in that world, but I 100% know that e.g. my friend was a drug dealer so it wasn't just speculation what I was seeing. It was 100% a drug dealer house. I've also worked police/sheriff dispatch and 100% was working when police or deputies would conduct a drug-related search warrant/arrest warrant. Sometimes with SWAT, sometimes without. It was just 100% part of the job and not paranoia. Illegal drugs are everywhere and not unicorns.
More recent activity
So the past 6-12 months, the house had regular activity, with Cadillacs or Volvos parked in their driveway with the same random people parked pseudo-blocking our driveway for 1 minute to several hours. Sometimes the house would be completely dark all night. Other times 1 random bedroom would have its light on, but never the same bedroom. Not sure who lives there.
September? 2026 weird tailgating/following my vehicle
I was slowly leaving my house to go see my [car accident] lawyer (I have a lawyer for a car accident here and another out-of-state lawyer for the contentious estate... stressful and not fun)... So I left my driveway and a newer white Cadillac Battery Electric Vehicle SUV (Maybe a Lyriq?) was in their driveway then off-roaded to do a U-turn and go into the neighborhood's driveway that goes down to the lake. I'm like "oh that's silly, they shouldn't off-road like that instead of just being normal and leaving their driveway."
But this vehicle tailgated and followed me for 10 minutes. Every turn I made they made. Eventually they pulled into the left lane and vanished. Cool BEV acceleration.
This could 100% be correlation/coincidence. It's possible people go the same direction all the time. I think there's ways to determine if someone is following you (on foot, in a vehicle, etc.). It's called Surveillance Detection Route (SDR) but I have zero training on this. But there's ways to find out if it's just correlation or if someone is actually following you and it's not in your head.
Today's weird conversation
I'm stressed and doing an urgent flight from GA to MO because I'm [politely!] firing my first lawyer who is general family/divorce lawyer and doesn't "know" contentious estates, probate, and Discovery of Assets stuff or fiduciary litigation things. And I hired a guy who knows more about this stuff. So because I never met the first lawyer and she DID NOT understand me, I desperately want to spend $1600 or whatever to fly, get rental car, and get hotel to meet with the new lawyer for 3+ hours. I'm desperate for understanding.
Anyway, I'm busy with calls, e-mails, etc. I'm strict with NEVER making a phone call while driving. Not even hands-free, because even taking your mind off the road is enough to cause an accident. So I get home but wanted privacy from my stepdad and just wanted to park outside my house for 5 minutes before pulling into the garage. It's my own house. It's legal street parking. I parked and got out my phone to call my credit card company. I was calling Elan to verify if the Fidelity 2% credit card really does reimburse you for TSA Pre-Check or Global Entry. They do btw! It's a great 2% cash back card and this "free" TSA Pre-Check is a nice perk.
Anyway, as soon as I parked, within seconds, this lady comes out of the weird house and walks up to my car. I ignore it and dismiss my gut and go "nah, she's not approaching me. Is she? Nah. Just ignore, make the call. Wait, she's closing in. Creepy." Note: Never ignore your gut because it can get you killed! I ignored my gut in East Cleveland and that's when I got ambushed from behind by 3 guys who literally said "Let's kill him."
Anyway, my dashcam got the entire video and audio recorded. I'll type a transcript:
Her: Hiiii.
Me: How you doin?
Her: Are you looking for someone?
Me: No. I'm making a phone call. Thank you.
Her: Do you live around here?
Me: I live there, yeah. *points to my house that I'm literally parked in front of*
Her: Oh, okay.
Me: Yeah. Do you live here?
Her: *I think she nods*
Me: *rolls down my window more* Oh wow, (I wanted to ask her about the weird stuff with the house being vacant). People moved in like last year or so and they were gone for months at a time.
Her: No. I've been here for 3 years.
Me: Really? Oh, okay. Okay, okay, cool.
Her: What's your name?
Me: My name's $first_name. Yeah what's your name?
Her: I'm $her_first_name. Do you live right here? [Edit: I literally just said and pointed to where I live... It's strange she asked a 2nd time right after I said it, no?]
Me: Yeah, yeah! (I felt like she dismissed my question so I wanted to politely try again). People were gone from this house for months at a time. It felt like nobody was--
Her: *she interrupted me again and deflected and changed the subject!!!* Why are you parking here? That's weird.
Me: It's because I wanted to make a phone call before I got back.
Her: Oh, gotcha. Okay.
Me: Yeah.
My comments: Few things:
* I talked to my stepdad immediately about the weird conversation. He assured me I wasn't crazy and that he was really creeped out at: 1) the house being vacant for like a year or so; and 2) the multiple vehicles parked outside our driveway all the time. Because we have to go like 0.5 mph and
barely get in and out of our driveway. All these people have to do is park 10 feet on either side but they choose not to.
* I politely asked her twice about the house being vacant for many months or a year or more, and the first time she was like "No I've been here for 3 years" which sort of dodged my question. So when I tried a second time she interrupted me and changed the subject and AGAIN asked why I was parked there because "it's weird."
* I thought about it more, and I do NOT think it's weird to park in front of your own house. Period. I couldn't disagree with her more. I think it's actually normal in all parts of the world to park in front of your own house where legal. Sometimes people park in garage (if it's not full of junk), and sometimes people park in their driveway. But street parking is normal.
* Hypocrisy: It's illogical to point the finger and say that it's weird for ME to park in front of my own house while completely ignoring the fact that DOZENS of cars park in front of her house on a near daily basis!!! Sometimes perhaps people who may live there or stay the night, and sometimes people who are only there for 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, 1-2 hours. How is it logical to say that me parking in front of my own house for 5 minutes is weird (especially after I told her I was making a phone call) while not being self-aware of people doing the exact same thing?
* Weird: It's odd that AS SOON AS I PARKED MY CAR in front of my house, she came out of her front door to confront me. Like within seconds of parking. It's one thing to be a nosy Karen or care deeply about suspicious people in your own neighborhood, but in context, it's weird that she came out immediately to confront me. Also, why not be kind to one another? "Love thy neighbor/love others as you love yourself" is the 2nd Great Commandment. I think of it as an opportunity to leave a great first impression on a new person and that it's important to have a good relationship with your neighbors. It's odd that she was so rude to me.
Another weird vehicle immediately after my phone call
My call to customer service was like <4-5 minutes. I hung up and was about to pull into my garage.
A white vehicle was a few houses away and came to a stop facing me (so like 100 feet away like we're playing chicken). Very strange since they didn't park or make a turn. Maybe they're lost, not sure. But it appeared like it wanted to park in front of the creepy neighbor's house (maybe a drug customer and she was waiting and my presence made her paranoid? And she came out to interrogate me because maybe I was an undercover police officer?)
Anyway, the vehicle then drives along at <1 mph (so like... extra slow motion) and the person inside is dangerously close to my car (inches) instead of being normal and driving on the right side of the street. I don't know 100% because windows are tinted, but it felt like they were glaring at me. I don't 100% know this though. I have this recorded on dashcam and I can change brightness and contrast and maybe get more detail.
The car turned around in the cul-de-sac behind me and then cut me off and stopped right in front of my car, 100% blocking my driveway. Like full block. Then they turn on their 4-way hazard lights. So this is blocking my driveway and across from the creepy house. It just felt like they
really wanted to park in front of the creepy house but my presence made them nervous. "Why are you blocking me?" I said out loud.
They inch along at <1 mph with their hazards on and then turn deeper into the neighborhood. They don't have a license plate. They have a temp tag like when you first buy the vehicle. My dashcam should hopefully have captured their license plate.
My gut was just saying it was... creepy since it wasn't like a typical "lost" person. It almost feels like the weird neighbors are possibly drug dealers and that would explain the drug-house behavior (from a decent amount of personal and professional life experience). It would explain her paranoia and interrogation and also changing the subject when I asked her why her house was vacant for months at a time. It would explain why she came out within SECONDS of me parking, as if she was expecting someone. And it would explain the weird white car wanting to park there but then getting nervous, sizing me up.
I just want to reiterate that I'm not being paranoid or weird. I really believe in my heart that:
1. It's odd for the house to have been dark and vacant for like a year.
2. The million different cars parked there is strange. Maybe Avon lady? Or Scentsy candles? There's perfectly legitimate things people sell besides illegal drugs honestly. It could be innocent/wholesome. But I do think the high car activity is identical to my real experience personally knowing a few drug dealers. That's exactly what you see if someone deals from their own house.
3. I do think it's weird to come out within seconds and ask why I'm there. Maybe if I was parked there for 15, 30 minutes, 1 hour, etc. then yeah it's creepy to sit in your car
that long like you're doing surveillance as a cop or private investigator. But seconds as soon as I park? Like I can't park there? I was legally parked, btw. You can park on both sides in this neighborhood.
4. I have many years of therapy/healing from narcissistic abuse. So things like NPD, BPD, and ASPD. I'm pretty decent when I feel something is strange. So when I politely brought up twice why the house was vacant for months at a time and she interrupted, deflected, etc. just... it's something she clearly did not want to talk about. I don't think her deflection and subject change 2x was an innocent part of conversation.
Side Notes
Despite being a wealthy 95% neighborhood, there is a surprising amount of serious crime. Our former neighbors on the other street were the HOA Treasurer, and a few years ago they vanished without a trace. Apparently they had been embezzling HOA funds. I spoke with a HOA Vice President (he was running for President and was going door to door to ask for our vote). Nice Army veteran guy. I asked about it and he was like "Oh yeah, he's in prison for fraud. For something else." So it's like serial fraudster/felon.
I have this on video and pics, but several months ago there was a house party, and shots were fired. A man was on the corner of our front yard on his back. I saw a sheriff's deputy on his knees just... hanging out. I knew it was a medical emergency from my window. Few minutes later Fire then EMS show up. Then quite literally almost 20 sheriff office vehicles with... at least 1 officer per vehicle. So basically all of night shift was there. House parties in this neighborhood tend to involve 50-100 cars that park for a quarter mile or more. Insane congestion. I've had to call cops many times because people block the stop sign, etc.
There was a helicopter hovering over our area. Either news or LE. Way too much drama on the corner of our front yard, literally.
Just wanted to point out that even though it's a rich, 98% Southern neighborhood, there is still serious felony level crime going on including [attempted?] murder and fraud. And I do feel that things like drug dealing are more common than naive people think.
I'm just creeped out that I was somehow the "bad guy" and when I politely tried to ask, I was shut down multiple times. And the creepy car inching towards me. In movies/TV shows, that's when you get shot point blank range. I was vulnerable if that's what they wanted. Despite being a firearms instructor, I felt like I was not in a safe situation even in front of my own house.
I want to go introduce myself to the neighbors and hopefully they'll be nice to me this time. Because once you know your neighbors' names and faces, we can all be on the same TEAM and be on the lookout for bad people and criminal behavior. Except in the situation where your neighbor is potentially the criminal.
On the one hand, I want to follow the Golden Rule (treat others as you wish to be treated) and give people the benefit of the doubt that they're not criminals, so I want to just say howdy neighbor and build a relationship. But on the other hand, if they ARE criminals and they ARE paranoid, then me interacting with them will just get me and my family on their radar and that's very dangerous.
