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A homeowner recently turned to Reddit after a neighbor made an uncomfortable request: take down a garden flag until the house next door sells.
According to the post, the seller rang the homeowner’s doorbell and explained that a prospective buyer was uncomfortable with the flag because of religious beliefs. The request, they said, would only be temporary, just until the sale closed.
At first, the homeowner considered it. “I am fine with helping out and being neighborly,” they wrote. “But I can’t help but feel a certain way about it.”
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The flag wasn’t political or profane. It was religious, just not mainstream. After commenters pressed for details, the homeowner clarified that the flag said, “This house is protected by witchcraft,” featuring a pentagram. “I am pagan. I was raised pagan. It is my belief.”
Many argued that removing the flag would only create a temporary illusion for the seller while setting the homeowner up for long-term conflict. As one highly upvoted reply put it, “As a buyer, I would want it to stay up. That way I can determine whether or not I would want to purchase the house next door.”
Others echoed the same idea: visible signs, whether flags, decorations, or yard behavior, help buyers decide if a neighborhood is a good fit. As one commenter said, “If you take your flag down, you may get neighbors you don’t want.”
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Several buyers shared personal stories of walking away from homes after seeing Confederate flags, extreme political banners, or aggressive signage nearby. One wrote, “I didn’t even get out of the car.” Another added, “There’s nothing worse than having neighbors that you really just don’t care for.”
A recurring theme was fairness. Commenters pointed out that the seller would benefit from the request, while the homeowner would be left dealing with the consequences. “This is just an illusion for the buyer,” one reply said. “And a long-term issue for the [original poster].”
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Real estate professionals chimed in as well. “That is something I would never even contemplate doing,” one broker wrote. “It could potentially end up getting the agent in a ton of trouble too. As it should.” Another commenter questioned whether there was even a real buyer involved at all, suggesting the request may have come from an agent trying to sanitize the surroundings.
Religious double standards also came up repeatedly. “If it was a ‘Bless this Mess’ or had any Christian iconography she would not have asked you to take it down,” one commenter noted.
Ultimately, the homeowner decided to leave the flag up. In an edit, they explained why: “I have to worry about who would move in next door and do not want to deal with horrible neighbors for the safety of my family.”
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This article The Seller Asked Them To Take Down Their Garden Flag Until The House Sold Because The Buyer Doesn’t Like It. The Flag Is Rather Unusual Though originally appeared on Benzinga.com
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