pudgygroundhog
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,643
Location: The Grand Canyon
Jun 25, 2014 20:18:39 GMT
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Post by pudgygroundhog on Mar 29, 2016 18:06:25 GMT
One new thing I learned today: because I live in a neighborhood with an HOA I'm a Stepford Wife. Watch out bitches, I will strangle you with my pearls or stomp your toes with my kitten heels if you even THINK of painting your door a non-approved color. It's just as silly for people to think all HOA people are the same as it is for people to think all non HOA people think the same. Obviously. I was making light of the the original post that said people who live in HOA's are Stepford Wives.
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Post by 950nancy on Mar 29, 2016 18:11:36 GMT
I wouldn't buy without an HOA as I've seen over and over again how junky neighborhoods can become without them. Your property value is far more likely to be higher in neighborhoods that don't allow things like trailers on your land. Where I live and where I'm moving to in April would never allow it. The builder will often tell you anything to make a sale. I doubt your friend will win this battle. And if she does, she won't be popular with her neighbors. I won't even buy in a development that doesn't insist all cars must be kept in garages overnight as garages become storage sheds for some. holy crap. Wed never be able to do that. Dh and I each own a car, we also have a truck, and at one point both of our boys will be driving. Wed have to have a 5 car garage. We have two trucks, an SUV, and a car. We also have a jet ski. Only my SUV goes in the garage. Thankfully all of my neighbors but one have ground level patios and can't see the jet ski six months out of the year. Our neighbors have 5 vehicles. My neighbor used to work for the district attorney and she said homes with multiple cars outside were less likely to be targeted. I don't mind vehicles and things that are used daily, but I am not a fan of seeing peoples boats and trailers and RV's from the road.
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Post by 950nancy on Mar 29, 2016 18:14:59 GMT
That said, while I'd rather risk RV parking than have to adhere to mailbox aesthetic regulations, I'm not going to lie--having an RV parked right next to my house, visibly, would annoy me :/. Why is that? The only reason I could think of that it might be annoying would be that it could potentially block your visibility when you're backing out of your driveway. I can't think of any reason why it would be an eyesore or somehow different than any other car parked outside of a garage. We have a beautiful view of Pikes Peak that an RV would block.
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Post by moveablefeast on Mar 29, 2016 18:19:10 GMT
Yes, I live in a condo and was on our HOA board. We sent out very few violations for visual things. Our work was much more focused on collecting dues for all of the shared services, managing maintenance / capital improvements and all of the various vendors, etc. We DO have standards though. No parking travel trailers for more than 48 hours, no gas/charcoal grills on your porch (that's a city law, not just an HOA law), you're supposed to have light colored backing on your window coverings (no mickey mouse sheets as curtains), etc. But we probably sent less than 10 violation notices in the 3 years I was on the board for our 140 units. We're not all judgmental bitches or stepford wives. Just to be clear, while I did explain what the term "Stepford Wives" usually means, I didn't call anyone that. Actually I thought your explanation was clear without being insulting - I had nothing productive to add except that I disagree, so I read it and went on. You explained yourself well. I think some other folks who were perhaps a bit less measured in their comments created that response more so than you would have with your comments. Some really nasty things got said in this thread but I didn't think they came from you.
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Post by *KAS* on Mar 29, 2016 18:53:26 GMT
Yes, I live in a condo and was on our HOA board. We sent out very few violations for visual things. Our work was much more focused on collecting dues for all of the shared services, managing maintenance / capital improvements and all of the various vendors, etc. We DO have standards though. No parking travel trailers for more than 48 hours, no gas/charcoal grills on your porch (that's a city law, not just an HOA law), you're supposed to have light colored backing on your window coverings (no mickey mouse sheets as curtains), etc. But we probably sent less than 10 violation notices in the 3 years I was on the board for our 140 units. We're not all judgmental bitches or stepford wives. Just to be clear, while I did explain what the term "Stepford Wives" usually means, I didn't call anyone that. No, I believe MyShelly used that term.
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Post by Zee on Mar 29, 2016 19:39:56 GMT
Yeah, we have four cars. Four drivers. I suppose there's a special place set well outside the gates for those with extra cars? Or families just make do with two cars? Or they all have ginormous garages? I'm dying that there are people so offended by the sight of a car in a driveway. Just imagine if someone dared park on the street! We frequently get cited because the grass is too long (3" or something) or the trash can is out too early. The thing is by the time we get the letter in the mail, we have already mowed our grass or pulled in our trash can. We don't let the grass grow long. But, here it can rain for 5 days straight and the Johnson grass is going to jump up to 12-15" in that time frame. We always mow as soon as it stops raining for a few hours. The citations depend on when the volunteer gets around to inspect, turns in his/her reports and the mgt company gets them typed and mailed.
We had an old rusty Chevrolet window van that my husband used when he was doing yards during a layoff. It was hideous. We usually kept it behind the detached garage (we have a second garage door - don't tell the HOA). But when he was doing yards, he would pull it out and sometimes park it in the driveway if he was going to use it the next day (we had to do a huge car shuffle to get it back to behind the garage. And, mind you, he always parked it up at the top of the driveway where it wasn't visible clear down the street, but was visible from in front of our house. We got cited - our deed restrictions prohibited parking "inoperable vehicles". There is no covenant not to have an ugly but operable vehicle. Pissed me off to no end; the van worked just fine. I got a citation because it was ugly. I spend all my time following the rules and this? I knew who had likely put the complaint in. I had a field day with that one. Parked that sucker in the street (HOA allows street parking). Moved it every day to a new location on the street. I did this for about a week.
On a side note, everyone parks on the streets here. Everyone has 3-4 cars, garages full of junk and short driveways. We are lucky in that we do have a longer driverway and could park it farther from the street.
Hahaha I would have done that too, moved it every day!
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Post by whopea on Mar 29, 2016 19:51:33 GMT
holy crap. Wed never be able to do that. Dh and I each own a car, we also have a truck, and at one point both of our boys will be driving. Wed have to have a 5 car garage. We have two trucks, an SUV, and a car. We also have a jet ski. Only my SUV goes in the garage. Thankfully all of my neighbors but one have ground level patios and can't see the jet ski six months out of the year. Our neighbors have 5 vehicles. My neighbor used to work for the district attorney and she said homes with multiple cars outside were less likely to be targeted. I don't mind vehicles and things that are used daily, but I am not a fan of seeing peoples boats and trailers and RV's from the road. Around here, your home may be less susceptible to break in with multiple cars on the driveway, but the vehicles themselves become the target. It's easy to bust a window, grab a phone, computer or other electronic device left in the car. Sometimes they even steal the garage door opener and gain easy access to the house. Truthfully, I don't like to see RV's, boats, trailers, jet skis or multiple vehicles parked around a house.
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Post by Merge on Mar 29, 2016 20:57:52 GMT
To answer the question about RVs - I live in an urban residential neighborhood. Lots are medium-sized at best and not a huge amount of space between houses. If you've got an RV in your driveway, chances are good that I can't see down the street to back out of my own driveway, or that your RV is the only thing visible from the side windows of my house, depending on where your driveway is located.
I like to live in a neighborhood where people care about preserving a pleasant visual look and feel. Well-kept houses, nice landscaping, etc. Not identical. Just cared for and harmonious. A huge RV in the driveway is not a pleasant visual to me, and it's a BIG visual. It kind of overtakes the view for the houses nearby. If you want to park your RV at your house, and that doesn't bother you, please feel free to do so in another neighborhood. For myself, I will choose to own a house in a neighborhood that doesn't allow it - and I would be very irritated if I bought a house in a neighborhood that disallowed it in their covenants, and then found out that the builder had granted my next door neighbor an exception . RV storage places are very common here.
My comment about six cars in the driveway applies specifically to the situation I have next door, where the driveway only accommodates four (and two of those are project cars kept under filthy covers), and the other two are in the street 24/7. It's an older neighborhood with small driveways and narrow streets. It just looks like the place is overflowing with cars, plus the two in the street sometimes make it difficult for me to back out of my own driveway. I think it's not a good situation, but there's nothing in our deed restrictions about it, so there you go.
As for what the HOA can do about hoarders - whatever they can do, they can do a lot more quickly than the city can. Houston has nearly 6 million people in it. It takes 45 minutes just to get the cops to show up in an emergency - you can imagine how glacially slowly code enforcement moves. Depending on the covenants, HOAs can fine the owner for not cleaning up the visible parts of his property, have it cleaned up and then bill the owner for the work and/or place a lien against the property for the unpaid fines.
Finally, a lot of people like to complain about the terrible HOA did this and the awful HOA did that, but very few are willing to actually participate in this most local form of self-government. If you don't like the way your HOA operates, get involved. The people who run it are volunteers working to preserve your property values on their own time. I think it's pretty rude to complain about everything they do when you're not willing to get involved yourself. The world (and the HOA) are run by those who show up.
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Post by 950nancy on Mar 29, 2016 21:31:09 GMT
We have two trucks, an SUV, and a car. We also have a jet ski. Only my SUV goes in the garage. Thankfully all of my neighbors but one have ground level patios and can't see the jet ski six months out of the year. Our neighbors have 5 vehicles. My neighbor used to work for the district attorney and she said homes with multiple cars outside were less likely to be targeted. I don't mind vehicles and things that are used daily, but I am not a fan of seeing peoples boats and trailers and RV's from the road. Around here, your home may be less susceptible to break in with multiple cars on the driveway, but the vehicles themselves become the target. It's easy to bust a window, grab a phone, computer or other electronic device left in the car. Sometimes they even steal the garage door opener and gain easy access to the house. Truthfully, I don't like to see RV's, boats, trailers, jet skis or multiple vehicles parked around a house. I don't leave anything in my car overnight and I park in the garage. I grew up in a large city and that was just common sense. I do worry about the garage door opener though. That happens at the mall.
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Post by freecharlie on Mar 29, 2016 22:01:57 GMT
We have two trucks, an SUV, and a car. We also have a jet ski. Only my SUV goes in the garage. Thankfully all of my neighbors but one have ground level patios and can't see the jet ski six months out of the year. Our neighbors have 5 vehicles. My neighbor used to work for the district attorney and she said homes with multiple cars outside were less likely to be targeted. I don't mind vehicles and things that are used daily, but I am not a fan of seeing peoples boats and trailers and RV's from the road. Around here, your home may be less susceptible to break in with multiple cars on the driveway, but the vehicles themselves become the target. It's easy to bust a window, grab a phone, computer or other electronic device left in the car. Sometimes they even steal the garage door opener and gain easy access to the house. Truthfully, I don't like to see RV's, boats, trailers, jet skis or multiple vehicles parked around a house. who leaves a computer in the car?
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Post by Merge on Mar 29, 2016 22:05:20 GMT
Around here, your home may be less susceptible to break in with multiple cars on the driveway, but the vehicles themselves become the target. It's easy to bust a window, grab a phone, computer or other electronic device left in the car. Sometimes they even steal the garage door opener and gain easy access to the house. Truthfully, I don't like to see RV's, boats, trailers, jet skis or multiple vehicles parked around a house. who leaves a computer in the car? You would be shocked at what people leave in the car. At least once a week someone on Nextdoor in my neighborhood is posting, "Car got broken into last night. Thieves took my wife's purse, $300 cash, my work laptop and and the gun I keep under the front seat."
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Post by gmcwife1 on Mar 29, 2016 22:05:50 GMT
It's just as silly for people to think all HOA people are the same as it is for people to think all non HOA people think the same. Obviously. I was making light of the the original post that said people who live in HOA's are Stepford Wives. Sorry, the smiley didn't show on my tablet, but it does seem like there are people that think all think each way
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Post by freecharlie on Mar 29, 2016 22:06:45 GMT
who leaves a computer in the car? You would be shocked at what people leave in the car. At least once a week someone on Nextdoor in my neighborhood is posting, "Car got broken into last night. Thieves took my wife's purse, $300 cash, my work laptop and and the gun I keep under the front seat." ah, I've been stupid and left a Kindle in the car that a sleeping child had been using, but I'd br bringing that type of stuff insude
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Post by gmcwife1 on Mar 29, 2016 22:14:14 GMT
To answer the question about RVs - I live in an urban residential neighborhood. Lots are medium-sized at best and not a huge amount of space between houses. If you've got an RV in your driveway, chances are good that I can't see down the street to back out of my own driveway, or that your RV is the only thing visible from the side windows of my house, depending on where your driveway is located. I like to live in a neighborhood where people care about preserving a pleasant visual look and feel. Well-kept houses, nice landscaping, etc. Not identical. Just cared for and harmonious. A huge RV in the driveway is not a pleasant visual to me, and it's a BIG visual. It kind of overtakes the view for the houses nearby. If you want to park your RV at your house, and that doesn't bother you, please feel free to do so in another neighborhood. For myself, I will choose to own a house in a neighborhood that doesn't allow it - and I would be very irritated if I bought a house in a neighborhood that disallowed it in their covenants, and then found out that the builder had granted my next door neighbor an exception . RV storage places are very common here. My comment about six cars in the driveway applies specifically to the situation I have next door, where the driveway only accommodates four (and two of those are project cars kept under filthy covers), and the other two are in the street 24/7. It's an older neighborhood with small driveways and narrow streets. It just looks like the place is overflowing with cars, plus the two in the street sometimes make it difficult for me to back out of my own driveway. I think it's not a good situation, but there's nothing in our deed restrictions about it, so there you go. As for what the HOA can do about hoarders - whatever they can do, they can do a lot more quickly than the city can. Houston has nearly 6 million people in it. It takes 45 minutes just to get the cops to show up in an emergency - you can imagine how glacially slowly code enforcement moves. Depending on the covenants, HOAs can fine the owner for not cleaning up the visible parts of his property, have it cleaned up and then bill the owner for the work and/or place a lien against the property for the unpaid fines. Finally, a lot of people like to complain about the terrible HOA did this and the awful HOA did that, but very few are willing to actually participate in this most local form of self-government. If you don't like the way your HOA operates, get involved. The people who run it are volunteers working to preserve your property values on their own time. I think it's pretty rude to complain about everything they do when you're not willing to get involved yourself. The world (and the HOA) are run by those who show up. We have 3 RV's on our street and luckily not one person has ever said anything to any of us. I look at my neighbors and admire his rig, it's beautiful, 2015 full body paint. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or neighbor And luckily our other neighbor doesn't mind seeing our RV when he gets into his car each day and none of them stick out and block the view to the road. I keep trying to think of any annoyances we have with the people that live on our street and the only thing I can come up with is the one neighbor that wanders around his front yard with his shirt off. It's not a pleasant sight, but I'm not sure what different HOAs say about that!
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Post by freecharlie on Mar 29, 2016 22:34:23 GMT
To answer the question about RVs - I live in an urban residential neighborhood. Lots are medium-sized at best and not a huge amount of space between houses. If you've got an RV in your driveway, chances are good that I can't see down the street to back out of my own driveway, or that your RV is the only thing visible from the side windows of my house, depending on where your driveway is located. I like to live in a neighborhood where people care about preserving a pleasant visual look and feel. Well-kept houses, nice landscaping, etc. Not identical. Just cared for and harmonious. A huge RV in the driveway is not a pleasant visual to me, and it's a BIG visual. It kind of overtakes the view for the houses nearby. If you want to park your RV at your house, and that doesn't bother you, please feel free to do so in another neighborhood. For myself, I will choose to own a house in a neighborhood that doesn't allow it - and I would be very irritated if I bought a house in a neighborhood that disallowed it in their covenants, and then found out that the builder had granted my next door neighbor an exception . RV storage places are very common here. My comment about six cars in the driveway applies specifically to the situation I have next door, where the driveway only accommodates four (and two of those are project cars kept under filthy covers), and the other two are in the street 24/7. It's an older neighborhood with small driveways and narrow streets. It just looks like the place is overflowing with cars, plus the two in the street sometimes make it difficult for me to back out of my own driveway. I think it's not a good situation, but there's nothing in our deed restrictions about it, so there you go. As for what the HOA can do about hoarders - whatever they can do, they can do a lot more quickly than the city can. Houston has nearly 6 million people in it. It takes 45 minutes just to get the cops to show up in an emergency - you can imagine how glacially slowly code enforcement moves. Depending on the covenants, HOAs can fine the owner for not cleaning up the visible parts of his property, have it cleaned up and then bill the owner for the work and/or place a lien against the property for the unpaid fines. Finally, a lot of people like to complain about the terrible HOA did this and the awful HOA did that, but very few are willing to actually participate in this most local form of self-government. If you don't like the way your HOA operates, get involved. The people who run it are volunteers working to preserve your property values on their own time. I think it's pretty rude to complain about everything they do when you're not willing to get involved yourself. The world (and the HOA) are run by those who show up. We have 3 RV's on our street and luckily not one person has ever said anything to any of us. I look at my neighbors and admire his rig, it's beautiful, 2015 full body paint. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or neighbor And luckily our other neighbor doesn't mind seeing our RV when he gets into his car each day and none of them stick out and block the view to the road. I keep trying to think of any annoyances we have with the people that live on our street and the only thing I can come up with is the one neighbor that wanders around his front yard with his shirt off. It's not a pleasant sight, but I'm not sure what different HOAs say about that! wow, 3? May I ask why? I can understand if the RV is in the driveway. Since the op had a slab build, I assume it is on the side of the house, so the only view it is blocking is the color of the house on that side.
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Post by christine58 on Mar 29, 2016 22:41:58 GMT
It's just as silly for people to think all HOA people are the same as it is for people to think all non HOA people think the same. Obviously. I was making light of the the original post that said people who live in HOA's are Stepford Wives. I made the Stepford Wives comment...I did NOT say people who live in them are Stepford wives....see below...I bolded it
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Post by gmcwife1 on Mar 29, 2016 23:14:22 GMT
We have 3 RV's on our street and luckily not one person has ever said anything to any of us. I look at my neighbors and admire his rig, it's beautiful, 2015 full body paint. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, or neighbor And luckily our other neighbor doesn't mind seeing our RV when he gets into his car each day and none of them stick out and block the view to the road. I keep trying to think of any annoyances we have with the people that live on our street and the only thing I can come up with is the one neighbor that wanders around his front yard with his shirt off. It's not a pleasant sight, but I'm not sure what different HOAs say about that! wow, 3? May I ask why? I can understand if the RV is in the driveway. Since the op had a slab build, I assume it is on the side of the house, so the only view it is blocking is the color of the house on that side. Why three different people own RV's on our street? Ahhh, I see it looks like all three are actually parked on the street, no three different homeowners own an RV on my street, oops!!! Each of us parks our RV in our driveway/cement pad at our house We only pull them out onto the street the day before we leave and put them back into our driveways the day we come back. There are several RV's in our surrounding neighborhoods. Two behind us, one down the side street, one on the cross street. All of us park on our property. I guess we just enjoy RVing and having our rigs where we can pick up and go at a moments notice. We can keep them plugged in during the winter, pack them during the week and head out after work at the spur of the moment. We just took ours to a 3 day dog show last weekend. It was our second trip this year and it's just nice to be able to have it right there to pack during the week instead of off site and having to drive someone out to get it and back.
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Post by freecharlie on Mar 29, 2016 23:18:42 GMT
I read it as you owned 3 RV'S and wondered why you would need that many. I could see two...one for "camping" and one for travel, but couldn't figure out the third.
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Post by gmcwife1 on Mar 29, 2016 23:23:55 GMT
I read it as you owned 3 RV'S and wondered why you would need that many. I could see two...one for "camping" and one for travel, but couldn't figure out the third. Now that would be too many for even me My parents did own two, their new one and they kept their older one for us kids to use. After we bought ours they sold the older Minnie Winnie to my sister They do come in handy at holidays when the whole family spends the night at my parents house! You can have a entire family in their own RV. Beds for everyone!! Luckily they own 3 acres in the country with plenty of parking and trees so it doesn't look like a trailer park!
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Post by genny on Mar 29, 2016 23:41:14 GMT
When our neighborhood still had empty lots, the builder WAS the HOA. All rules were made and enforced by him, so if that's the case with the OP I would think what the builder said should stick!
Now when the last lot was built, he sent us all letters saying the HOA was now our responsibility as well as the water bill for the sprinklers at the front landscaped area by the sign. No one stepped up or did a thing --- and none of us ever received any by-laws or written rules or anything.
So about 4 years ago a couple of us decided we'd start an HOA for no reason other than to bring everyone together to work on, clean up and landscape an area near the entrance. We started an account, got everyone to pitch in a few dollars, got a discount from a neighbor who worked at Walmart and bought a bunch of plants. The whole neighborhood came out and worked that day - we took the extra funds and bought enough burgers and dogs and chips for the whole crew and had a huge cookout. That's pretty much the end of the HOA. I hold the checkbook and will occasionally go buy some round up and spray the weeds out front, but that's about it.
If we had strict rules, we'd probably be the first ones in violation. Fortunately we don't and everyone loves us and forgives the 3 regular cars in the driveway (because there is always a project in the garage ( or baby chickens like right now)) + all the kids/friends who are here regularly, the wildly painted shed and chicken coop out back because we are the neighborhood welcome wagon, hosts of the annual block pool party, givers of free eggs, and pretty much the ones who keep us all coming together.
We do have new neighbors who just moved in next door this weekend and we still haven't seen their faces. We will miss our old neighbor dearly as she was an animal and plant lover like us and very helpful when we were away (and we always looked after her pets and house when she was gone). Hoping the new neighbors are as nice as the rest of them are now.
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Post by melanell on Mar 30, 2016 11:58:58 GMT
Around here, your home may be less susceptible to break in with multiple cars on the driveway, but the vehicles themselves become the target. It's easy to bust a window, grab a phone, computer or other electronic device left in the car. Sometimes they even steal the garage door opener and gain easy access to the house. Truthfully, I don't like to see RV's, boats, trailers, jet skis or multiple vehicles parked around a house. who leaves a computer in the car? Around here it's pretty common for people to leave all sorts of things in their cars. So much so that local law enforcement has issued reminders in the past to please not take for granted that things left in (often unlocked) vehicles will be safe.
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