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If it's as simple as you not being able to pay for it,
then you might be able to work out something else.
Often the problem is that people just don't want to,
it's not that they can't afford to.
So maybe make it obvious
and make it clear to your neighbour
that you understand that
there is an issue with the fence
and you acknowledge that there is a need
but that at the moment
because of your financial circumstances,
that you're actually unable to.
And if you approach it that way,
your neighbour can see
that you're genuinely just being unable to afford it
and that's what's stopping you from moving on further.
And that could actually help you
with your relationship with your neighbour.
So maybe you could postpone it for a little while.
You can come up with some creative answers
and creative solutions
to the problem of fixing the fence.
If your neighbour's come to you with a quote
and a design of a fence
that you're not comfortable with,
the first thing to do
is to really express that very clearly
and again, without too much emotion.
But you might actually need to say,
"This is not the design that's going to work for me,"
or, "This is not a fence I like,"
or that, "This is outside of what I can afford,"
and then look at some other options.
If it's one quote,
you might need to obtain a number of quotes
for the same product
or you might need to actually
begin to negotiate a different type of fencing
and give your neighbour some understanding
of what is affordable for you or not.
With working out how to deal with the problem of the tree
and how to cut the tree down,
it's very important for both parties
to actually go and get some outside quotes.
So what you can maybe do is to talk with your neighbour
and agree that each party will get, say, three quotes
and come together in a week's time.
And therefore, you can both have a look at all the quotes
that have been brought up by the other person
and have a look at which one suits you best.
And that way, you can actually negotiate
and work out which contractor works best for you
and who you can afford.
And you can actually obviously
mention this to them.
If your neighbour comes up with a really high quote,
you can explain that that's actually out of your budget
and therefore your neighbour might be OK
to move down to a different quote
that you're more acceptable to.