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Any Real Estate Lawyers out there? HOA Property Devaluation Issue

C

Caveman

Platinum Member
Per subject...

Found out the other night the HOA covenants for my section of the subdivision are completely inadequate.

I live in a large subdivision with "phases" of homes ranging from 1800SF to 6000SF. The section I live in has a min established standard (based on 37 of 40 lots built) is 4400SF min.

Unfortunately, I live next to one of the 3 vacant lots which I found out is NOT protected to anything less than 2500SF. And:

50% brick allowable (instead of the "full" like it should be)
1 car garage allowable (instead of 3 liek it should be)
slab allowable (instead of crawl space as it should be)

etc...

The other homeowners and I were unaware of the issue. Now that we know, we're hoping something can be done...

A builder can move in any day now and make property values take a nosedive...

Any advice on what (if anything) can be done to stop this?
 
Is this thread for real? Why do you care how big and expensive your neighbour's house is? You sound like a complete and utter snob TBH - I live in a beautiful neighbourhood, but my house would fail most of your snobby criteria. Why do you care how big my house is, considering most houses are too big anyway? What does it matter if me house is on a slab?

What a colossal asshole TBH.
 
Caveman said:
Per subject...

Found out the other night the HOA covenants for my section of the subdivision are completely inadequate.

I live in a large subdivision with "phases" of homes ranging from 1800SF to 6000SF. The section I live in has a min established standard (based on 37 of 40 lots built) is 4400SF min.

Unfortunately, I live next to one of the 3 vacant lots which I found out is NOT protected to anything less than 2500SF. And:

50% brick allowable (instead of the "full" like it should be)
1 car garage allowable (instead of 3 liek it should be)
slab allowable (instead of crawl space as it should be)

etc...

The other homeowners and I were unaware of the issue. Now that we know, we're hoping something can be done...

A builder can move in any day now and make property values take a nosedive...

Any advice on what (if anything) can be done to stop this?
Click to expand...

Buy the three lots and turn them into a park.
 
OP's premise is fail. A well-built, well-maintained house with decent owners doesn't devalue the neighborhood, regardless of size.
 
Ok... I understand... 1st world issues, etc... Not trying to be a snob... I worked for everything I have... I grew up in a 900SF home!

Owners moved to this neighborhood to be in a place that met their min standard. This is what people do... Even folks that live in a 900SF home don't want a trailer next door as it devalues your property...

Anyway, I'm assuming this is a "good luck with that one" type of situation but... Just want to turn over every stone... Expectation is $50K hit to property value overnight...
 
Mike Gayner said:
Is this thread for real? Why do you care how big and expensive your neighbour's house is? You sound like a complete and utter snob TBH - I live in a beautiful neighbourhood, but my house would fail most of your snobby criteria. Why do you care how big my house is, considering most houses are too big anyway? What does it matter if me house is on a slab?

What a colossal asshole TBH.
Click to expand...

It affects property values in a negative manner. If you could potentially lose tens of thousands of dollars in house value (depending on the market, of course), you'd be pretty pissed, too.
 
GotIssues said:
It affects property values in a negative manner. If you could potentially lose tens of thousands of dollars in house value (depending on the market, of course), you'd be pretty pissed, too.
Click to expand...

Does it matter if you don't intend to sell, like, immediately?
 
Wow I just did some conversions from caveman square feet into normal people square metres - holy shit American houses must be huge. How ridiculous. I still don't understand why it matters to you how big your neighbour's house is or it if has a basement. You are a class 1 snob.
 
Caveman said:
Per subject...

Found out the other night the HOA covenants for my section of the subdivision are completely inadequate.

I live in a large subdivision with "phases" of homes ranging from 1800SF to 6000SF. The section I live in has a min established standard (based on 37 of 40 lots built) is 4400SF min.

Unfortunately, I live next to one of the 3 vacant lots which I found out is NOT protected to anything less than 2500SF. And:

50% brick allowable (instead of the "full" like it should be)
1 car garage allowable (instead of 3 liek it should be)
slab allowable (instead of crawl space as it should be)

etc...

The other homeowners and I were unaware of the issue. Now that we know, we're hoping something can be done...

A builder can move in any day now and make property values take a nosedive...

Any advice on what (if anything) can be done to stop this?
Click to expand...

So you are one of Those People... If you don't own it and it isn't already covered as per your liking there isn't a thing you can do about it.
 
Mike Gayner said:
What does it matter if me house is on a slab?

What a colossal asshole TBH.
Click to expand...
I had to google this. According to ehow, slab is straight up welfare. It's like building your house on top of a parking lot. No basement. It also drives up the cost of fixing anything under the house, so that means things are less likely to be fixed. A shitty house with broken plumbing stays broken forever. Slab is also low to the ground because concrete is expensive. Crawl space is better. Things are easier to fix and therefore more likely to be fixed. They're also higher above grade; more resistant against water damage and floods.

Then again both of those would be considered welfare around here. We have basements here. The house doesn't need to be xbox huge because it has a whole extra floor under the main level. I live in the basement of a house right now. Rent's the same as an apartment but it's bigger, less shitty, cost less, and my only neighbor is the home owner upstairs instead of meth heads typically found in apartment buildings.
 
Most houses in NZ are built on slabs - only old houses have basements. In our house all of the services run through the ceiling, so no issue there.

But irrespective, I can't see how your neighbour's house being on a slab affects your house - visually it's difficult/impossible to tell from the road.
 
ShawnD1 said:
I had to google this. According to ehow, slab is straight up welfare. It's like building your house on top of a parking lot. No basement. It also drives up the cost of fixing anything under the house, so that means things are less likely to be fixed. A shitty house with broken plumbing stays broken forever. Slab is also low to the ground because concrete is expensive. Crawl space is better. Things are easier to fix and therefore more likely to be fixed. They're also higher above grade; more resistant against water damage and floods.

Then again both of those would be considered welfare around here. We have basements here. The house doesn't need to be xbox huge because it has a whole extra floor under the main level. I live in the basement of a house right now. Rent's the same as an apartment but it's bigger, less shitty, cost less, and my only neighbor is the home owner upstairs instead of meth heads typically found in apartment buildings.
Click to expand...

Again you know nothing.

You ever hear of a " Raised Slab ".
I live in a raised slab foundation and the only thing under it is dirt and the sewer pipe.
You cannot have a basement in a lot of areas due to the water table.
 
The slab condition is included to avoid having people building modular homes on a property. iow, trailers. Those who actually own a home don't want to see a neighbor build some crap that drops property values. For those who are into seeing your home's value decline, regardless of size, congrats on being an economic glutton for punishment. If you want to allow any old crap in your neighborhood then I'm glad I live nowhere near you.
 
TastesLikeChicken said:
If you want to allow any old crap in your neighborhood then I'm glad I live nowhere near you.
Click to expand...

If he were actually talking about "any old crap" I might see your point. But he's talking about petty, snobby bullshit. I like in a house built on a slab, along with all of the houses on my street. Some of the houses are partial brick, and mine is monolithic cladding. Moreover none of the houses in my street are gargantuan McMansions like he's describing. And yet my street is beautiful and pleasant.

And the most hilarious thing about it is that he wants to bring in a fucking lawyer to tell someone else what they can do with their own land. What an asshole.
 
Most of you are missing the point: Having a lesser home in your neighborhood can reduce the property values all around it. On that point, OP is right (though probably not to the extent he is assuming).

What I am unclear on is whether all the other homes have an actual deed restriction that these three lots don't, or is it that all the existing 37 homes just happen to have been built to the same standard?

MotionMan (<--- Real Estate Attorney)
 
TastesLikeChicken said:
The slab condition is included to avoid having people building modular homes on a property. iow, trailers. Those who actually own a home don't want to see a neighbor build some crap that drops property values. For those who are into seeing your home's value decline, regardless of size, congrats on being an economic glutton for punishment. If you want to allow any old crap in your neighborhood then I'm glad I live nowhere near you.
Click to expand...

Uh they don't put trailers on slabs. They make some very nice modular homes that would actually meet or beat his demanding taste.

I do not know what iow means?
 
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