Does your neighborhood have a HOA?

[Aharami]

No accounting for taste, I guess. It's a McMansion on a lot half the size it should be on.

The tudor next door is ~60 years old and is built to last another 100+. That place is new construction; the brick is facade and has fallen off twice.

it's a mcmansion for sure. but doesnt change the fact that it has the most appealing design out of all the houses in that block. and yes, it is too big for the lot and doesn't fit the neighborhood. But it's not an ugly house and it is well maintained. I don't see what's so bad about it, unless you're just envious

 

[olds]

Aren't dungeons strictly forbidden by most HOAs?

What they don't know, won't kill them.
Wait, wat.....?

 

[vi edit]

Aren't dungeons strictly forbidden by most HOAs?

It's not a dungeon. It's a...panic room?

 

[Dirigible]

Don't live in one. Don't want one. Luckily, none of the places around here to which I'm likely to move has an HOA so it's a non issue.

 

[olds]

Aren't dungeons strictly forbidden by most HOAs?

It's not a dungeon. It's a...panic room?

I am thinking of converting it to a home theater room.

http://pics.bbzzdd.com/users/oldsmoboat/home_theater.jpg

 

[rivan]

it's a mcmansion for sure. but doesnt change the fact that it has the most appealing design out of all the houses in that block. and yes, it is too big for the lot and doesn't fit the neighborhood. But it's not an ugly house...

Being too big for the lot and not fitting the lot is a huge part of what makes it ugly to me. Just like you don't paint houses cool pastels anywhere but Florida - but in Florida, they just sort of fit. That house would be far better if it were in a neighborhood where that design fit in.

It's fine you don't agree with me though.

and it is well maintained. I don't see what's so bad about it, unless you're just envious

It's less than 5 years old in that pic. They do keep the yard up well, but the house was shoddily built. I have my doubts about how it's going to look in 20 years.

Envious? Hardly.

 

[coloumb]

It's a blessing and a curse.

HOA's keep the neighborhood at a certain standard to help prevent the value of the houses going down. However, sometimes they can be just annoyingly stupid at times:

- Extreme heat and dry spell, get a letter in the mail complaining the grass isn't green enough.
- Our fence was recently re-stained. Neighbor's fence looks like it hasn't been stained in years. We get a letter stating we have to match the neighbor's crappy looking fence.

Next place I move into will have a house on an acreage and the house will be located as far away from the closest road.

 

[BW86]

helllll no

 

[LtPage1]

preferably with security and a gate to prevent riffraff at night.

This sums up everything I hate about HOAs. Seriously, we have zero common ground on this issue.

 

[shortylickens]

preferably with security and a gate to prevent riffraff at night.

But then how do my call girls get in?

 

[Turin39789]

Nope and will never move into one.

 

[69Mach1]

No HOA, but I live in the boonies. My closest neighbor is about 1/4 mile away, have a couple more within a 1/2 mile. My house sits on a 1 acre plot on the corner of a farmers field. I won't have to worry about anyone moving in too close unless the Farmer decides to sell the whole farm, because he doesn't want more people too close to him. From what I've heard, I would not do very well living under a HOA.

 

[Herr Kutz]

Nope. It's great. I was able to build a nice 6' privacy fence around my backyard for my dogs. I put in an outdoor kennel for them. Built a nice shed to keep my lawn tools in. Was able to construct a veggie garden in the front of my house.

Hell, I even have a fire pit in my back yard.

It's nice to live in an older neighborhood where there are actually decent lot sizes, mature landscaping, and a variety of different house styles.

Not sure why you would ever want to live in one of these new neighborhoods where they pack you in like sardines, force a HOA on you, and make 400 identical houses.

I completely agree with the part I bolded which is why I hate just about all new subdivisions. You are lucky to even see a tree in new neighborhoods, at least from all the new ones I've seen.

 

[soulcougher73]

I dont have HOA. Around here it is about 50/50 on HOAs for subdivisions. I dont think i would like to live where they have HOAs. But i know i say that now and tomorrow my neighbor will paint his house purple or something lol.

 

[Kirby]

nope. i won't ever buy a home in the 'burbs, hoa or not.

 

[Chaotic42]

Yes, and it's not bad. They were going to put Section 8 housing near us, the POA got it stopped. They were going to put an RV park near us, the POA got it stopped. Part of my dues takes care of keeping the yard in order for me.

If I had to do it again, I wouldn't have moved here, but it's not too bad. It cuts down tremendously on the... trashy neighbors (though not completely).

 

[Schadenfroh]

This sums up everything I hate about HOAs. Seriously, we have zero common ground on this issue.

Teenagers in your county must not drive down random streets, playing loud music and firing paint-balls at houses for fun on Friday night.

Also, metal scavenging was on the rise when I moved out a few years ago. People would drive down random streets stealing any copper (or other metal) they find, which may or may not be attached to one's home or in one's yard. The folks that lived next door were hit by thieves in this manner.

 

[Terzo]

Teenagers in your county must not drive down random streets, playing loud music and firing paint-balls at houses for fun on Friday night.

Goddamned right they don't.

 

[Capt Caveman]

One of the nice things about the HOA I used to belong to was having 24/7 security. They even patrolled the neighborhood. One time they called me to let me know that I had my garage door open during the night and wanted to make sure I was aware of it.

 

[Chaotic42]

Teenagers in your county must not drive down random streets, playing loud music and firing paint-balls at houses for fun on Friday night.

Also, metal scavenging was on the rise when I moved out a few years ago. People would drive down random streets stealing any copper (or other metal) they find, which may or may not be attached to one's home or in one's yard. The folks that lived next door were hit by thieves in this manner.

Just remember for next time: Lead is a metal.

 

[DrPizza]

Nope, and I love doing what I want. Had an awesome bonfire a little while ago, and enjoyed a couple of brews.

 

[sjwaste]

Nope. Not common in my part of Northern VA, either. Would my neighborhood look better? Probably. Do I want to run the risk that I piss off a board member and am suddenly getting harassed? Nope, not worth it.

Come to think of it, a HOA would probably run smoothly here. None of the neighbors really know each other or socialize. For the most part, everyone on the block is a busy professional w/ a family. Decisions would probably be fairly objective.

But no way, I don't want to pay dues, and my <1&#37; tax rate is fine by me. We do a nice enough job of having some pride and taking care of our block without it.

 

[tmc]

IMHO, what is wrong with HOAs is that how they get a lien on your property (after your mortgage?).

they should be just like any other service - like phone, internet, etc. they provide a service (maintenance, etc) and they get paid. if you don't pay up, then they can go with a collection agency, affect your credit report, etc. however, they will not be able to foreclose your home, etc.

this one change would fix all problems I guess - basically this will put HOAs in their place.

 

[Anubis]

I completely agree with the part I bolded which is why I hate just about all new subdivisions. You are lucky to even see a tree in new neighborhoods, at least from all the new ones I've seen.

yea its like that in almost all new developments. Whenever i fly for work i always look at them from the plane and shake my head wondering why anyone would want to live in a place like that