It’s great having neighbors who will lend you a hand and watch out for you, but the ones who drag you into long conversations every time you see them and you’re in a big hurry?

Yeah, that can get old…and we can all use another escape route when it comes to those folks.

How do you deal with overly friendly and annoying neighbors?

Here’s what AskReddit users had to say.

1. Worth a shot.

“Talk to their landlord. They don’t know.

Landlords usually want renters that don’t cause problems with the neighbors.”

2. Give them just a little bit.

“I think maybe they’re not so much intrusive just trying to spark a conversation.

I would stop what you’re doing, give them 5 minutes of undivided attention, you don’t have to reveal too much, just get to know each other, then wrap it up with an “alright good to see you, I gotta get back to this”.”

3. Short and sweet.

“Keep your answers short, simple, and vague.

“What did you do this weekend?” “Ehh not much.”

The conversation will eventually fizzle out they’ll get the hint.”

4. Whoa.

“I moved. It was to the point she had binoculars out watching us.

I have anxiety, and can’t do anything if someone watches me. I love wood work, and working on cars. I could do neither without her sitting on her porch and watching me. My yard wasn’t big enough to build a garage, so I had to work outside.

She would catch you outside and talk for 30 minutes.

Plus side, we made a butt load of cash off the house sale. Moving to a house with 2 garages and only one neighbor….a couple hundred yards away.”

5. Older neighbor.

“The only time I’ve had that happen was in my first apartment. Older lady next door always wanted to ask personal questions about me since I was so young.

When she asked overly personal questions I’d usually just smile and jokingly say something like “You’ll have to buy me dinner and a drink if you want to know me that well.””

6. Genius.

“Always leave the house wearing headphones, even if you’re not actually listening to music.

Every time you encounter said neighbor, give them a friendly wave and continue to carry on.”

7. Humor them.

“Some of the responses you’ve gotten don’t seem to understand that there are just people like this, that don’t respect personal boundaries and can’t pick up on subtle hints like one word answers.

The way I deal with these people is by humoring them for a bit, using some of the tactics already mentioned (giving short, uninterested answers). If they don’t catch the hints I’m dropping, I’ll pretend to have something else to do. Go inside.

The premise of this question is why the phrase “Good fences make good neighbors” exists. Try to make your boundaries clear, and, barring that, build a tall fence so they can’t see/bother you.”

8. Not sure about this one…

“Roll your eyes back, wobble at your knees a bit, and say “Whoa, did you hear that? The acid must be kicking in. Gotta bounce Bro”.”

9. Got it all planned out.

“Have some friends come over on the same date, same time once a month. Make them dress all in matching clothing, head to toe all one color.

When they arrive come out to greet them. Make some odd hand signals and hit your chest a few times while screeching. They hand you a box wrapped in paper with strange symbols written all over it. You hand them something obscure, like a rubber chicken or a VHS copy of Showgirls.

Once the exchange is over, your friends leave and drive around the block only to return to park in front of your neighbors house where they stare at his front door and write notes in tiny notebooks before leaving.”

10. Won’t work.

“My experience with people like that is: don’t engage them at their own tactics.

They probably have no problem telling you about their life story, hemroids, asking you to feed their cats, long awkward meandering stories that they follow you around to tell you, etc.

Be firm, polite and keep your distance.”

11. Vague.

“Vague answers to stay friendly.

Like if they say what do you do for a living? you say this and that.

How do you take care off your lawn? I do basic things to it any tips and just look serious and stare them on while reversing the questions to them.”

12. Maintain your focus.

“Being attentive or asking anything is probably a mixed signal.

On the one hand you don’t want to engage them, but on the other you ask them questions. Better to stay focused on what you are doing. When they ask their questions ask them to repeat themselves a couple of times because you don’t listen to them.

That s**t gets exhausting even for emotionally codependent/needy people who can’t take a hint.”

Okay, now it’s your turn!

Tell us how you deal with annoying neighbors!

Do it in the comments!