Overheard the paint store.....

OOH, they are like my neighbor that ripped up my mint patch because she didn't like it. (She has nasty, rusty 5' flower sculptures in her yard. should I take those out?)

Gotta love neighbors who think they have a say in what your home looks like.

Ummm...yeah, a guy in my neighborhood tried to talk some of our neighbors into repainting their homes because *he* didn't like the way they looked. He thought they looked "ghetto", whatever the hell that means. He thought it would bring down home values in our neighborhood. It went over like a lead balloon.

Are these homes in my taste? No, but I'm not paying for them. Also, these homes are beautifully maintained and aren't run down at all. I sure as wouldn't like someone telling me what color to paint my home.

Sounds like she is the perfect candidate for a subdivision with an HOA! If that were my neighbor, I'd just laugh hysterically if they came to me and suggested I paint my shutters because they didn't like the color.

There are 2 houses in our neighborhood of 200 homes with awful paint colors. I joke with DH that I am so tempted to knock on their door and tell them that, but never in a million years would I actually do it!

The houses in our neighborhood are all about 25 years old. The aluminum siding on some is showing age. Others still look OK. My neighbor to the north got new vinyl siding in a color just a bit more yellow than their aluminum used to be. It looks really nice. The neighbor to the south of me pitched a shit fit. She was at our door. She was at the door to neighbor across the street from us. She doesn't like the change. She wants to say something. Why did they choose THAT color. Now, our strip of houses doesn't look as pleasant when you're driving by. Seriously?? If I hadn't been home to see them putting the new siding on, it probably would have taken me a week to realize they'd done it. It's been a couple years. She's still pissed about it. We're looking at totally changing ours from its tan color to navy blue. She's going to pop a gasket. I could totally see her picking up chips at a paint store to start a conversation. If she wants to pay for the siding, I might give her a vote.

Or like my New Mexico neighbor who came on my property and cut down my rose bush because he didn't like flowers in yards.

Our neighbors hated our tree...when they cut the roots to put in pavers in their driveway, it began dying...more so when we took the root out that grew under the driveway into the main part of our yard.

Rather than ASK US when/if we had plans to remove it, they reported us to the sheriff. Said sheriff said that as long as a single leaf is growing (many were) he can't force us to chop it down.

We already planned to get rid of the godforsaken thing, we just had to wait until tax season to do it. It was $700 to take it down...most people can't just shell out that kind of money because their neighbor doesn't like something. I realize it was unsightly and in the long run a safety hazard, but the trunk was still strong...it wasn't going to fall down anytime soon. All they had to do was ask what our plans were, but nope, they had to report it. The last time they asked if we were going to get rid of it (at the time it was a resounding NO), it was green and thriving...they just thought it was ugly and didn't like it overhanging in their yard (not their actual driveway, it was the side yard they decided to turn into a driveway). It had been 2 years...they could have asked again. They don't hesitate to wave at us and say hello when we're coming or going and they're outside, so why they couldn't just ask is beyond me.

It reminds me of the people who had our rental truck towed when we were in foreclosure. As if my dad wasn't already struggling financially, let's cost them a tow and add to it the tow (neighbors complaining to the HOA) caused a lot of damage to the furniture inside since it wasn't anywhere near full. Way to kick someone when they're already down.

That's why we bought our older foreclosed house. Having lived in an HOA and having worked for an HOA management company, no way were we going to deal with that. If I want to paint my house lime green, that's my business...no one else should be able to tell someone what to do to their home (especially when house color options are limited to 7 shades of brown but you can't use the same brown your neighbor's next to or directly across from you have) or when to fix something that isn't a safety hazard, just an eyesore. Unless I have car parts strewn about my yard and look like I'm dealing drugs on my front lawn, butt out. And while you're at it, have your bratty ass kids stop breaking our sprinklers because they are too freaking lazy to walk around our yard and must walk through it (and sometimes play in it without permission) EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Sorry, totally stealing your post here...but man, people wonder why it's not common to get to know your neighbors these days. People are disrespectful of your property but expect you to drop a huge chunk of money (that you might not have) to fix something because they don't want to look at it.

After reading this thread, all I can say is some people have big brass balls, and I'm glad I don't live in an HOA neighborhood.

That ^^

Good grief, this thread makes me grateful for my neighborhood and my immediate neighbors! Actually I'd never heard of an HOA until I started at Two Peas. I didn't grow up living in one and my part of Northern Virginia doesn't have any. 

The only times I've had dealing with my neighbors over some tree or plant or roof or whatever is things like when our one neighbor said "oh hey, I noticed that your side tree is touching your roof, just wanted to be sure you knew about it." [we hadn't noticed and were glad he mentioned it]. Another neighbor said "what IS that flower in your front yard?" lol [we had NO idea because it just showed up this spring, courtesy of the birds I guess.]  Or, right after we moved in -- ds was 7 and dd was 3 -- our neighbors cut down one of their trees that was partly hanging over our driveway. She told me that it wasn't in good shape and they had been planning for awhile to get it taken out, but now that we were moving in with two young children that was her motivation. She said she was afraid a tree limb would fall on one of the kids.

That's my neighborhood. 

People like that need to get themselves posthaste to a HOA neighborhood.

When I moved into this house 20 some years ago, I had a neighbor with a house that was an interesting color. A few years later, I watched as the painters repainted the house the exact same unpleasant color. That happened at least two more times before they moved. The new owners got around to repainting not too long ago and changed the color but it is still...one of those colors that more or less can't be defined. It isn't white, it isn't not white. It is kind of an orangey white I guess.

The color wheel lady's head would exploded by now. But such is the joy of living in a non-HOA neighborhood and an old one to boot. A lot of the houses were built in the 20's and sometimes that lends to all kinds of kooky outdoor themes.

I hope you planted a new tree in the same spot.

I wouldn't remove it. I'd let it stay all brown and rotten until it fell down. Screw him.