The back fence is leaning. You have mentioned it twice over the rail. They said "we should do something." A crew can come on the 14th if both households say yes by Friday. You are about to send a long recap of every conversation since they moved in.
A shared fence is a decision with a line and a bill. It is not a relationship review. They can answer a closed question. They cannot answer a saga.
One question about the fence
Pick the question that dies first. Often it is: "Can we replace the shared back run with the same height wood, split the quoted figure, crew on the 14th, yes or no by Friday 6pm." Sometimes it is only "Can you look at it with me Saturday at 10, yes or no" — if you do not yet have a quote.
That is a decision. "We should talk about the yard" is a topic. Topics become a call you both dodge.
Give the facts a cold neighbor needs: which run (back, side, alley), height, material you are proposing, the two figures if you have them, who would be on the property, the date. Cut the history of the dog, the tree, and who forgot to stain it.
No quote file. Write the numbers. If a contractor already mailed them a copy, say so.
Use the name on the mailbox. Not the nickname you use in your own house.
They will answer from email
They need no account. A neighbor is not connecting an assistant to a fence. The mail is the product. They reply from the mail or the page. You approve the wording. Your assistant does not speak as you over the rail.
If you use Claude and they use nothing, that is the usual case. If they use a different product, they still read the briefing, not your session.
One household per send. A block list is how a private bill becomes a street conversation.
Set a default you can live with. "If I do not hear by Friday 6pm, I will cancel the 14th and write you once with a later date." A default that lets a crew onto their line on silence is how you get a permanent fight.
Leave room for a no
They may say no in writing. That is still an answer. Say that a no is fine, and that you will not take silence as a yes. If your local rule requires a written notice of another kind, that notice is a different document, on the path those rules name. This letter is the human ask.
A sufficient reply is one line. "Yes, split it." "No — I can do repair only." "Yes if we wait until June."
What this is not
It is not a survey of the whole street. It is not a complaint about a person. A fence is a fence.
It is not legal advice. You can state what you want to do and what you think it costs. You cannot tell them what they must do under a statute. If a rule matters, name the rule in a sentence and where they can read it.
If your assistant already has the quote, let it draft the one-ask page. You read the line and the date. Then they can answer without a saga.