Getting even when neighbors despise each other...

[Aredeeem]

The point is people are happiest living around other people who share their particular outlook on things. In this feel good age of inclusion and incorporating diversity the aforementioned tendency remains unshaken. Jeff K., you’ve managed to exclude people like Fred Sanford because they can’t afford your zip code. I’ve managed to do the same thing by putting a price tag and a list of restrictions that discourage anti HOA folks from moving in. To each his own. Don’t move next door to me and gripe about the HOA rules and I won’t move next door to you and complain about your driveway engine swap and barking dogs.

 

[spasm3]

I absolutely refuse to live in an HOA. Some of them are okay, but a lot of them are just petty and annoying. A friend of mine lived in an HOA for less than a year. He works odd hours, some 24 hour shifts, and it rotates so he can get behind on a thing or two from time to time. He went a couple days over cutting his grass, and got a fine from the HOA for his grass being too tall with a picture of someone holding a tape measure to his grass showing it a 1/4" too tall. He got another fine shortly after that for "parking on the lawn" with a picture of the edge of his back tire touching the grass on the side of his driveway. A month or so later, he got another fine for "broken down vehicle / no working on vehicles on property" with a picture someone took through his cracked open garage door showing him changing his own oil in his own garage. He put the house up for sale the following week and moved in with his parents until he could find another place.

My wife's cousin lives in an HOA not far from us who are very "high standard". Her 2009 Altima, which was in great shape with
To me, an HOA is a bunch of overzealous brown-nosers with nothing better to do than hunt down petty violations in the neighborhood. No thank you. Not to mention HOAs tend to look extremely boring. Every house is exactly the same, every lot exactly the same, etc... There's no originality. I just can't stand it. When we were house shopping early last year, our realtor was insistent on wanting to show us houses in HOAs, but we kept telling her that an HOA is a deal-beaker. We will not even consider the house if it's in an HOA. We went rounds with this.

R: "What about resale value?"
Us: "We plan to live here for the rest of our lives. This is our retirement home. What do we care about resale value? Higher value just gets me higher taxes."

R: "What about school districts?"
Us: "We homeschool (Abeka) so that means nothing to us."

R: "What about restrictions to dangerous breeds?"
Us: "We have a pitbull so that's exactly what we're trying to avoid."

R: "What about neighbors?"
Us: "If my neighbor can smell me grilling in my backyard, they're too close to me. The point is to not have neighbors."

R: "What about community?"
Us: "You mean paying a monthly fee to a coalition of Karens to tell me what I can or can't do on my own property? No thank you."

I'll add one.

I can take a leak in my back or even front yard.

Only these guys can see me.

 

[Aredeeem]

True. You never know what will move in next door.

In perspective, I would rather have a Fred Sanford type than a meth cooker with traffic coming in and out at all hours not to mention the many dangers inherent to that practice.

Talk about setting the bar low.

 

[Aredeeem]

I'll add one.

I can take a leak in my back or even front yard.

Only these guys can see me.View attachment 48213

Don’t be so sure. Chris 142 thought he could get away with putting a pool in his backyard until satellite imagery tipped off the authorities and he got a knock on the door. Peeing in your yard could be grounds for an illegal septic installation

 

[aquariuscsm]

I absolutely refuse to live in an HOA. Some of them are okay, but a lot of them are just petty and annoying. A friend of mine lived in an HOA for less than a year. He works odd hours, some 24 hour shifts, and it rotates so he can get behind on a thing or two from time to time. He went a couple days over cutting his grass, and got a fine from the HOA for his grass being too tall with a picture of someone holding a tape measure to his grass showing it a 1/4" too tall. He got another fine shortly after that for "parking on the lawn" with a picture of the edge of his back tire touching the grass on the side of his driveway. A month or so later, he got another fine for "broken down vehicle / no working on vehicles on property" with a picture someone took through his cracked open garage door showing him changing his own oil in his own garage. He put the house up for sale the following week and moved in with his parents until he could find another place.

My wife's cousin lives in an HOA not far from us who are very "high standard". Her 2009 Altima, which was in great shape with
To me, an HOA is a bunch of overzealous brown-nosers with nothing better to do than hunt down petty violations in the neighborhood. No thank you. Not to mention HOAs tend to look extremely boring. Every house is exactly the same, every lot exactly the same, etc... There's no originality. I just can't stand it. When we were house shopping early last year, our realtor was insistent on wanting to show us houses in HOAs, but we kept telling her that an HOA is a deal-beaker. We will not even consider the house if it's in an HOA. We went rounds with this.

R: "What about resale value?"
Us: "We plan to live here for the rest of our lives. This is our retirement home. What do we care about resale value? Higher value just gets me higher taxes."

R: "What about school districts?"
Us: "We homeschool (Abeka) so that means nothing to us."

R: "What about restrictions to dangerous breeds?"
Us: "We have a pitbull so that's exactly what we're trying to avoid."

R: "What about neighbors?"
Us: "If my neighbor can smell me grilling in my backyard, they're too close to me. The point is to not have neighbors."

R: "What about community?"
Us: "You mean paying a monthly fee to a coalition of Karens to tell me what I can or can't do on my own property? No thank you."

^^I think you must be my brother from another mother!! I totally agree with everything you said. HOA's are nothing more than apartment complexes. To me, home ownership is about freedom. To live as you please and to do with what's yours as you please.

I remember years ago we had a really sweet Mexican family next door. They loved to have huge parties and would always invite us. If we didn't go,they would hand us plates of food and beer over the fence

 

[AutoMechanic]

^^I think you must be my brother from another mother!! I totally agree with everything you said. HOA's are nothing more than apartment complexes. To me, home ownership is about freedom. To live as you please and to do with what's yours as you please.

I remember years ago we had a really sweet Mexican family next door. They loved to have huge parties and would always invite us. If we didn't go,they would hand us plates of food and beer over the fence

That is some awesome neighbors. My friend has the HOA for his house and they force them to have a landline phone as part of their agreement and they hate it and they complain about his old cars that he has.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I've always had a motto. I'll put up with your noise if you put up with mine, aka "live and let live".

 

[RDY4WAR]

^^I think you must be my brother from another mother!! I totally agree with everything you said. HOA's are nothing more than apartment complexes. To me, home ownership is about freedom. To live as you please and to do with what's yours as you please.

I remember years ago we had a really sweet Mexican family next door. They loved to have huge parties and would always invite us. If we didn't go,they would hand us plates of food and beer over the fence

I completely agree that land ownership is about freedom. You own the property, it's yours, and you can do as you please. Now of course there's some things that are common courtesy. If your neighbor has a septic tank overflowing sewage into their backyard and they refuse to pump it causing the whole neighborhood to stink, well that's a problem. Outside of sanitary issues, I don't care if someone has 50 rusted cars in their yard or a bunch of kids toys laying around. That doesn't cause me personally any inconvenience so I don't care. Do what you do.

Common courtesy should go the other way as well. Back in the fall, we noticed one of the houses down the road had stopped cutting their grass and it was growing really tall with a bunch of weeds. This is a house that's always been kept up. We went and knocked on their door one day to make sure they were okay and offer to cut their grass for them. We found out from the woman there that her husband was in the hospital for over 2 months from Covid, and was still recovering. I cut their grass every week for about a month until he felt good enough to get on his lawnmower again. In the case of the OP, instead of getting the city/county involved, I would rather just go talk to the guy. A lot of the time, hoarders suffer from mental disorders that causes them to obsessively hoard things as compensation for a tragic event, obsessive compulsive disorder, or something similar. Sometimes, just talking to them may be what they really need. You come at them with legal matters, they're going to feel backed into a corner, dig deeper into their beliefs, and effectively accomplish nothing (moral wise). Yeah, you might get their property cleaned up against their will, but it's just going to repeat because the root cause wasn't addressed.

 

[JeffKeryk]

Jeff K., you’ve managed to exclude people like Fred Sanford because they can’t afford your zip code.

FYI, I am always willing to lend my Tundra, tools and to lend a hand if I can.
Niighbors know I will gladly lend a car if their's is in the shop, or I will fix a flat, etc.
Jumper cables are always at the ready.
Sometimes I have been taken advantage of, but that's just part of the game AFAIC.
It's called being neighborly. All good.

 

[Job]

The point is people are happiest living around other people who share their particular outlook on things. In this feel good age of inclusion and incorporating diversity the aforementioned tendency remains unshaken. Jeff K., you’ve managed to exclude people like Fred Sanford because they can’t afford your zip code. I’ve managed to do the same thing by putting a price tag and a list of restrictions that discourage anti HOA folks from moving in. To each his own. Don’t move next door to me and gripe about the HOA rules and I won’t move next door to you and complain about your driveway engine swap and barking dogs.

I engine swapped, in my cul de sac driveway in Palo Alto, my Bronco, took me months. I had at least four cars around the front of my land, on my land. I had a fishing boat and trailer out in front too. I was always working on my cars in the driveway. Next door neighbors and all others on the street were nice as can be. You want nice yard, and I have done that way too, that’s fine. If you want fishing boat in front, that’s fine too. It is your land and decision. Stop judging others by what you like. One thing that has changed is the people, far snootier than before. The farther back in time, the less snootier imo. Of course you could buy a home in PA for under 20k in the 60’s, and the finest one in town for under a 100, probably 75. The first house in PA over 100k was about 1972, a fabulous property on a lot of land in the heart of the finest area.

 

[aquariuscsm]

I completely agree that land ownership is about freedom. You own the property, it's yours, and you can do as you please. Now of course there's some things that are common courtesy. If your neighbor has a septic tank overflowing sewage into their backyard and they refuse to pump it causing the whole neighborhood to stink, well that's a problem. Outside of sanitary issues, I don't care if someone has 50 rusted cars in their yard or a bunch of kids toys laying around. That doesn't cause me personally any inconvenience so I don't care. Do what you do.

Common courtesy should go the other way as well. Back in the fall, we noticed one of the houses down the road had stopped cutting their grass and it was growing really tall with a bunch of weeds. This is a house that's always been kept up. We went and knocked on their door one day to make sure they were okay and offer to cut their grass for them. We found out from the woman there that her husband was in the hospital for over 2 months from Covid, and was still recovering. I cut their grass every week for about a month until he felt good enough to get on his lawnmower again. In the case of the OP, instead of getting the city/county involved, I would rather just go talk to the guy. A lot of the time, hoarders suffer from mental disorders that causes them to obsessively hoard things as compensation for a tragic event, obsessive compulsive disorder, or something similar. Sometimes, just talking to them may be what they really need. You come at them with legal matters, they're going to feel backed into a corner, dig deeper into their beliefs, and effectively accomplish nothing (moral wise). Yeah, you might get their property cleaned up against their will, but it's just going to repeat because the root cause wasn't addressed.

You're a good man!

 

[Aredeeem]

I engine swapped, in my cul de sac driveway in Palo Alto, my Bronco, took me months. I had at least four cars around the front of my land, on my land. I had a fishing boat and trailer out in front too. I was always working on my cars in the driveway. Next door neighbors and all others on the street were nice as can be. You want nice yard, and I have done that way too, that’s fine. If you want fishing boat in front, that’s fine too. It is your land and decision. Stop judging others by what you like. One thing that has changed is the people, far snootier than before. The farther back in time, the less snootier imo. Of course you could buy a home in PA for under 20k in the 60’s, and the finest one in town for under a 100, probably 75. The first house in PA over 100k was about 1972, a fabulous property on a lot of land in the heart of the finest area.

I am not judging you. I am simply saying that people are not the same. If you’re comfortable with doing month long engine swaps and having fishing boats and trailers parked on “your land” I say God bless you. But there are a lot of people who are more comfortable having their residential domiciles remain residential. If you hate HOA’s do us both a favor and don’t buy into one.

 

[Aredeeem]

It is not good to have a neighbor like Fred, especially if you want to sell you home.

But that is why there are HOAs- don't want to risk a Fred next door, live in a HOA. Even five/ ten acre lots don't prevent a Fred from disrupting the peace. We live in a pretty good area of Utah with many million dollar homes dotted all over the place, but one home has coon dogs that bark from early evening until dark non-stop. I am quite sure it doesn't bother all the California people who purchased these million dollar plus homes, they are inside with their a/c on. My Wife and I don't have a/c, we are out on the back patio every evening in the summer, and hear the dogs. We are glad we are likely 500-1000 yards from the dogs, but if one lived next door it might be a horrifical situation to have dogs barking/ howling non-stop every evening.

I don't want to live in a HOA- but they sure are a good option for those that want standards and discipline in the area they live in.

Barking dogs are the worst kind of torture. Hard to even have a conversation or a relaxing second of solitude, isn’t it? 4 years into my HOA and not a bark. Dogs not allowed to be kept outside. Pure bliss.

 

[gathermewool]

It can be fun to observe neighbor feuds from a distance.

I'm in a bit of a neighbor battle myself though not quite like that. Twice now someone (anonymously of course) has left a letter on my mailbox citing the county ordinances on "inoperable vehicles" and how I should remove my "inoperable vehicle" as "nobody wants to look at your junk car."

That "junk car" is my drag car. It is very much operable, but with a 4.56 rear gear, slicks, cage, skinny front tires, no AC/heat, only a bucket driver seat, only a 3 gallon fuel cell, and a tiny radiator that won't keep it cool on the highway... it's not going to get driven on the street. The tracks have been mostly closed due to Covid so of course it's been sitting a lot. I mean, if they want to me to show it's operable, I can certainly do that. I can crank it up, open headers, race fuel, etc... and go shake the ground around the neighborhood for a few minutes every week. Certainly that'll satisfy the "operable" issue.

I would pay to see you do a quick pull through the neighborhood!

 

[Fattylocks]

As much as a hate HOAs sometimes, this is an instance where I see the value.

Couldn't agree more.

 

[Fattylocks]

I am amazed anyone would update a home in Illinois. Seems no way out for that state and its pension obligations. Illinois pays the second highest pension payment per person in the country, and has the highest percentage of people receiving pensions per capita. And that ratio keeps rising, because as soon as a state of Illinois pensioner gets a pension, they move to Arizona- leaving the good private citizens still left in the state to pay that guy's retirement in Arizona.

We own a hone in Illinois from a job transfer, and have not been able to sell for over a decade, unless we want to provide 50k-75k at closing. It does generate $400 positive cash flow as a rental..... but houses are in a bad economic situation in Illinois....this is all from 50 continuous years of pension shenanigans' (which are unfunded).

Very, very grim situation in Illinois.

Depends on where you're at in IL.
I sold five different properties in IL in the last ten years and did well on all of them. One sold in four hours. It's all in the zip code.

 

[Fattylocks]

I absolutely refuse to live in an HOA. Some of them are okay, but a lot of them are just petty and annoying. A friend of mine lived in an HOA for less than a year. He works odd hours, some 24 hour shifts, and it rotates so he can get behind on a thing or two from time to time. He went a couple days over cutting his grass, and got a fine from the HOA for his grass being too tall with a picture of someone holding a tape measure to his grass showing it a 1/4" too tall. He got another fine shortly after that for "parking on the lawn" with a picture of the edge of his back tire touching the grass on the side of his driveway. A month or so later, he got another fine for "broken down vehicle / no working on vehicles on property" with a picture someone took through his cracked open garage door showing him changing his own oil in his own garage. He put the house up for sale the following week and moved in with his parents until he could find another place.

My wife's cousin lives in an HOA not far from us who are very "high standard". Her 2009 Altima, which was in great shape with
To me, an HOA is a bunch of overzealous brown-nosers with nothing better to do than hunt down petty violations in the neighborhood. No thank you. Not to mention HOAs tend to look extremely boring. Every house is exactly the same, every lot exactly the same, etc... There's no originality. I just can't stand it. When we were house shopping early last year, our realtor was insistent on wanting to show us houses in HOAs, but we kept telling her that an HOA is a deal-beaker. We will not even consider the house if it's in an HOA. We went rounds with this.

R: "What about resale value?"
Us: "We plan to live here for the rest of our lives. This is our retirement home. What do we care about resale value? Higher value just gets me higher taxes."

R: "What about school districts?"
Us: "We homeschool (Abeka) so that means nothing to us."

R: "What about restrictions to dangerous breeds?"
Us: "We have a pitbull so that's exactly what we're trying to avoid."

R: "What about neighbors?"
Us: "If my neighbor can smell me grilling in my backyard, they're too close to me. The point is to not have neighbors."

R: "What about community?"
Us: "You mean paying a monthly fee to a coalition of Karens to tell me what I can or can't do on my own property? No thank you."

I live in a city that is one giant HOA. Full of the nicest people I've ever been around.
I spent three, full twelve hour, days last week doing a controlled burn on my grounds. Burned at least a half acre of narly old oak leaves. Boy did it stink. Chainsaw ripping non stop tossing downed trees from a storm two years ago into a giant burn pile that could have roasted an elephant.
No body complained.
My lots are surrounded by common property that is owned by the HOA.
Buffer from neighbors. I cut trails through it. No body cares.
I bombed around in a lowered loud '94 Caprice wagon for my first year here. People loved it.
Most houses are custom built. No cookie cutter here. There are some people who aren't as neat as most but for the most part people keep there stuff up real nice.
Vintage muscle cars in abundance.

Here's what I get for my $23 a month fee. You could call it a tax.
Garbage pick-up.
Five stocked manmade lakes. Plenty of piers and we'll maintained boat launches. Deep crystal clear water with good swimming spots.
Four impeccable public golf courses, I pay a very reduced rate. Great walking paths when the golfers aren't using them.
Two modern, one recently updated, fitness centers. One has a super nice door pool. Kind of liking that.
Outdoor pool, rec center with mini golf.
Community center with fun events that include booze.
Rv park.
Outdoor amphitheatre in a kind of a rock canyon.
BMX park. Local history museum.
Tennis center. Way more than a few courts.
Has it own modern hangout building with a kitchen. Tournaments and lessons from pros.
More mountain bike trails than you can ride in a week. All machine built and very well maintained.
Some half decent restaurants.
Marina with boat rental.
More but I'm tired of typing.
That's what the HOA provides.
Pretty good deal if you ask me.
I've lived next to Fred. Never again.
I'll take Karen any day.

 

[Job]

I am not judging you. I am simply saying that people are not the same. If you’re comfortable with doing month long engine swaps and having fishing boats and trailers parked on “your land” I say God bless you. But there are a lot of people who are more comfortable having their residential domiciles remain residential. If you hate HOA’s do us both a favor and don’t buy into one.

The last HOA I owned a house in was in Hawaii in a very upscale custom home neighborhood. I built my fancy house on a 15000 lot overlooking an unoccupied valley and mountain range, and obeyed all the rules. No big issues except other people built outside the rules because they were buddies with big shots who lived there too. I owned a nice condo in Mountain View CA. You get these super controlling personalities on the board and omg they are impossible irrational people. Their opinion is all there is. So as far as telling me what to buy into or not, you are entitled to talk how you please.
I think you missed my whole point anyway. It wasn’t a month engine swap it was many months, and the boat was filled with things I didn’t put away. Across the cul de sac, this is in Palo Alto remember, multi million homes are tear downs, was an original owner guy who lost wife etc. He had a large Ford dump truck, blue, in his driveway for many years, probably 30. Nicest man around. How about them apples? These houses cost $5000 in 1952, and a good portion of them were bought by returning ww2 vets who saw the area passing through, and said wow this is nice and no snow ever. One neighbor I knew would stand out on his driveway all the time. I learned he led a rescue mission into Germany. A better man can’t be found, and I was not telling him to keep up his flower beds.

 

[Dinoburner]

Live out in the boonies where target practice goes on most weekends although less the last month possibly due to expense. Neighbors include a hilltop mansion to a 40 year old plus single wide. We all get along fine, hope it never changes.

 

[Fattylocks]

Live out in the boonies where target practice goes on most weekends although less the last month possibly due to expense. Neighbors include a hilltop mansion to a 40 year old plus single wide. We all get along fine, hope it never changes.

That reminds me. My town also has a shooting range. Actually two. Rifle / pistol 25, 50 and 100 yard range and a separate skeet range.