Dear Ms. Demeanor: The perfect renovation notification letter....?

By Jamie Lauren Sutton | May 18, 2011 - 11:55AM

Dear Ms. Demeanor,

We are renovating and have to notify the neighbors. Will you help us write the perfect letter?

Thanking you in advance,

Condolezza Gutterman

Dear Condo-Gut,

Here is the one I recently gave to my own neighbors, accompanied by baskets of cookies to sweeten the blow.

Dear Neighbor,

The [your last name here] Family wishes to thank you all for your warm welcome to the [name or address of building here] family. We have truly enjoyed the first six months of what we hope will be many, many years.

We are starting the renovation of our apartment sometime in June. It is scheduled to last for 16 weeks. We apologize in advance for any inconvenience this may cause and will do our utmost to minimize the renovation’s impact on your quality of life, if any.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions or concerns.

We look forward to sharing our home with you at our post-renovation housewarming party.

Respectfully,

[Your name, email and phone numbers where you can be reached during your project.]

Ms. Demeanor is channeled by a longtime Manhattan vertical dweller and real-estate voyeur who writes under the pen name Jamie Lauren Sutton. She is here to commiserate, calm and correct. Please email your quandaries to [email protected] and put "Dear Ms. Demeanor" in the subject line.

See all of Ms. Demeanor's advice here.

Renovate Without Conflict: Why Notifying Your Neighbors Helps Plus 3 Sample Letters That Worked

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