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Post by mcscrapper on Apr 26, 2016 3:03:05 GMT
Ugh!! I was thinking the same thing the other day about my 'hood. I live in a great neighborhood that some would call "desirable," because of the schools, proximity to downtown, etc. There are houses that range from about $225-2.2M on the market right now. Median home price in town is about $140. (I bought well before this price boom)
Anyway, I have a decent little house that was built in the early 50s that I think I keep looking pretty nice - just put on new siding, replaced windows, etc. I keep my yard neat. I could use a little work but it isn't horrible either. My neighbor across the street looks like dang Sanford and Son's half the time. Several cars parked in the driveway and in the yard, odd pieces of furniture and junk he puts a for sale sign on. He does some handyman type work and bring all this crap home to either sell or put in the weekly rubbish pile. It makes me so mad because there is a dam toilet in his front yard every week! SO attractive! My other neighbors are great at least. As I run / drive around I am kind of shocked at the disrepair of some of the homes and yards. Just makes me shake my head. I get that people are busy or may not be able to afford lawn care or whatever but how hard is it to pick up the trash and keep your house somewhat presentable?
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Post by anniefb on Apr 26, 2016 5:34:04 GMT
Most of the houses in my street are well maintained. The odd one isn't but there's not much that you can do about it unless it's say a nuisance or health hazard. Painting and upkeep is expensive here and some people can't afford to have things done, or it's not a priority.
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mallie
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,253
Jul 3, 2014 18:13:13 GMT
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Post by mallie on Apr 26, 2016 10:58:30 GMT
So if the HOA can't do anything, then what's the point of living in a HOA neighborhood?
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SweetieBsMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 4,739
Jun 25, 2014 19:55:12 GMT
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Post by SweetieBsMom on Apr 26, 2016 11:10:40 GMT
Because I don't have time. Before DH was sick, our lawn was nice. Now all I can keep up with is mowing it and I mow it was short as I can get it. It's overrun with dandelions and I just don't have enough energy to care. I am hoping I can drum up the energy and time one weekend to pull out some of the flowers/shrubs in front of the house but it remains to be seen.
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Post by Florida Cindy on Apr 26, 2016 11:34:12 GMT
Are you involved in the HOA? Sometimes, you have to get active for changes to occur. It's what I had to do with our HOA and City.
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Country Ham
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,314
Jun 25, 2014 19:32:08 GMT
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Post by Country Ham on Apr 26, 2016 11:44:46 GMT
You had me till you mentioned the chairs. To me that's a matter of taste vs pride. I know a home with an actual flowered sofa on their front porch. Look good? not really. Tacky? maybe. Then you meet the couple. They love to sit on that thing and watch the world go by. Not harming a soul. Not everyone thinks dandelions are a lawns worse enemy. I am not sure how you can equate having "poor taste" as lacking pride.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 14:28:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 11:57:08 GMT
Ugggg.. I don't have the most manicured lawn, or the nicest flowers and all that.. But we keep our grass cut, almost weed free or try to be weed free...we don't spend a "ton" of time on the yard....but walking my daughter back and forth to school, people just don't give a flip about what their homes look like. WHY? I don't get it.. even renting, why is it such a pain to mow a yard that isn't much bigger than the size of a postage stamp. One neighbor down the street, he hangs his watering hose from a broken limb on the tree.. It's been hanging like that for six months? Now they have added two formal living room type chairs to the front porch. Classy. Another yard 1/2 their grass looks like it is moldy.. I don't know what they have done to it.. but it looks gross. HOA is saying all the homes need to be painted this year (they been warned for the last two years).. I seriously doubt 1/2 of anyone gets them done. (my home has been painted)... I just don't know why people move into a community that clearly states to keep your yard/house looking decent. Our HOA isn't horrible either.. they are pretty lenient for the most part. Don't people have any pride in where they live? If there wasn't HOA I would hate to see what kind of state this neighborhood would be in now... It's a great place.. lots of parks in the neighborhood, walking paths.. a school...it is a decent neighborhood... I just hate this time of year... everything is coming up so nice and then there is that house that really ruins it. Oh well.. nothing is ever perfect, right? Mine needs quite a bit of outdoor 'care' I do care but I work full time, come home, eat dinner, fall in bed and go back to work a few minutes later. You don't know which of your neighbors are working demanding jobs so they simply don't have the time/energy left to deal with yard work to your satisfaction. Add into the damands on time are kids needs, elderly parent needs or health issues and something goes to the back burner. I'll bet you spend more time outdoors than you realize. But some of what you are complaining about is a style choice. JUst because it isn't your style doesn't make it bad.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 14:28:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 12:17:36 GMT
We have one house on our street that's fallen into disrepair. I know that they struggle financially and have two special needs kids. I also know there are some mental health issues, too. So yeah, their house is not in good shape, but I cut them a break.
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Post by bigbundt on Apr 26, 2016 12:45:24 GMT
We aren't yard people and we just do the bare minimum to keep the HOA away. I consider all the joy and happiness that I give others who get to feel smug and good about themselves when they compare their perfect lawn to mine as my personal good deed of the day! There is a lot of gray area between a perfect lawn and one that looks like crap. It is expensive maintaining a good looking exterior. You are either expending physical labor yourself or you are paying someone to expend that energy on your behalf. Not everyone has the time or money. My right neighbors are retired and the wife is a master gardener and she probably thinks I'm lazy but I just don't have the time/knowledge that they do to garden to their level at this time. My priority right now is getting the inside of my house back in order. However I get where the OP is coming from. I don't judge based on non-perfection but I too don't get why someone wouldn't just keep their house, probably their biggest asset, at a minimal maintenance level. Again I am not talking about perfect lawns but we had a house in our neighborhood had a light fixture that their kids hit with a ball and had fallen off the post but was just hanging there by the wires. They even turned it on at night so it still worked. It stayed that way for two years until someone took ten minutes to get a screw and right the darn thing. Ten minute job. The door to their mailbox fell off and just laid on the ground for a few months until my neighbor (the master gardener) picked it up and popped it back on when she was on her morning walk. Less than a minute. Those are the things I don't get.
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Post by melanell on Apr 26, 2016 13:43:49 GMT
Not to mention that what looks like crap to one person looks okay to someone else. For instance, the stories I see on occasion of people who want to have a vegetable garden in the front lawn. Some people respond to that in the same way they would respond to piles of dog doo or 6 weeks worth of trash piled up in the yard. But others find it perfectly acceptable.
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Post by crazy4scraps on Apr 26, 2016 14:05:33 GMT
We aren't yard people and we just do the bare minimum to keep the HOA away. I consider all the joy and happiness that I give others who get to feel smug and good about themselves when they compare their perfect lawn to mine as my personal good deed of the day! There is a lot of gray area between a perfect lawn and one that looks like crap. It is expensive maintaining a good looking exterior. You are either expending physical labor yourself or you are paying someone to expend that energy on your behalf. Not everyone has the time or money. My right neighbors are retired and the wife is a master gardener and she probably thinks I'm lazy but I just don't have the time/knowledge that they do to garden to their level at this time. My priority right now is getting the inside of my house back in order. However I get where the OP is coming from. I don't judge based on non-perfection but I too don't get why someone wouldn't just keep their house, probably their biggest asset, at a minimal maintenance level. Again I am not talking about perfect lawns but we had a house in our neighborhood had a light fixture that their kids hit with a ball and had fallen off the post but was just hanging there by the wires. They even turned it on at night so it still worked. It stayed that way for two years until someone took ten minutes to get a screw and right the darn thing. Ten minute job. The door to their mailbox fell off and just laid on the ground for a few months until my neighbor (the master gardener) picked it up and popped it back on when she was on her morning walk. Less than a minute. Those are the things I don't get. This is what I don't understand at all, and I have two brothers like this. I'm not even sure where that comes from. Our dad was handy and very much a DIYer, but he was also a perfectionist so our house always looked nice and was well maintained growing up. A lot of their issues would be solved with a box of trash bags and a solid weekend of cleanup time (and in my older brother's case, a serious Craigslist curb alert, LOL). Neither of them work nights, weekends or holidays. How hard is it to throw your junk mail in a grocery bag and put it out on the curb on recycle day? Leaves me shaking my head every time.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Sept 29, 2024 14:28:12 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Apr 26, 2016 14:29:47 GMT
I try not to judge, because we were the house that left the lights up for a year. A year of hell. A husband that needed and got back surgery, a son diagnosed with asperger's and a baby daughter with GERD.
Not one neighbor offered to help take them down, but they sure could bitch about them being up.
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Post by bigbundt on Apr 26, 2016 15:10:42 GMT
Not one neighbor offered to help take them down, but they sure could bitch about them being up. We have two neighbors with mobility issues. Our left neighbor has hip issues and across the street the neighbor is on crutches (we've had to go over and help him up when he has fallen on the front walkway and can't get up). We offer to treat our left neighbor's yard when we do our own (at our own expense) to prevent weeds from jumping to our yard and she declines every year. We offered to mow the lawn across the street this year when it was getting very high (not normal) when we heard his mower was broken and he declined our offer. He declined the offer from another neighbor too. So even if people are willing to help, sometimes it isn't taken.
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ginacivey
Pearl Clutcher
refupea #2 in southeast missouri
Posts: 4,685
Jun 25, 2014 19:18:36 GMT
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Post by ginacivey on Apr 26, 2016 15:19:36 GMT
i try to not judge
i never know what is going on in a person's life
sometimes they are struggling just to make it day to day
other's just don't care
it's another reason we live rurally...their lawns don't bother me or my property value
gina
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grammanisi
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,741
Jun 26, 2014 1:37:37 GMT
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Post by grammanisi on Apr 26, 2016 15:22:14 GMT
I'm afraid that is going to be the house right next to ours. They moved in last fall. A couple of months later we find out he is a child molested/other sex offender. There yard hasn't been mowed and they have reg furniture on their back patio, which is directly across from our kitchen door. They don't have a car, but have 2 scooters that don't run and they are just sitting in the yard along with a broken hot water heater that he lugged home from another neighbor's who put it out for the trash man.
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Post by tlsmi on Apr 26, 2016 15:30:53 GMT
Our lovely neighbors with their pit bull loose scaring the shit out of us have a privacy fence of which half fell down in tremendous wind storm 2 years ago. We have offered our help to get it repaired but they say they'll get to it...you know who loves fences laying on the ground surrounded by weeds? Snakes.
They had huge trees cut down because they widened our road last year...all the wood still laying there. Those orange small construction like cones? Yep, they have six in the yard for unknown reasons. They have a 27 yr old able bodied grown son living at home and another teenager. I don't understand it.
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MerryMom
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 2,561
Jul 24, 2014 19:51:57 GMT
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Post by MerryMom on Apr 26, 2016 15:45:53 GMT
I really don't care about how someone's lawn looks, we live in the country. I love the farmers around us to death, but some of them really don't care about the impact of some of their practices on the environment, the water table, or their neighbors. I would be happy if my neighbor (out in the country) wouldn't keep picking the windiest days to burn his HUGE trash pile. It always seems to be when the wind flow direction is towards my house, not his house, but our house and our elderly neighbor's house. Oh, and yes he always wants to burn old upholstered furniture, broken pallets, and God knows what else. All that awful black smoke!!! After a few times of this, I noticed him getting ready to burn another huge pile of old furniture and I finally went over and asked him if he could burn it on a less windy day. He was very apologetic and said he didn't even think about the wind direction. Well that lasted for a couple of years, and he still does it on occasion. Oh and the pig farmer down the road who sprays out his pig barns in the middle of the night (he works 3-12 midnight shift at a car plant) and then proceeds to spray the "uncomposted" fresh pig poop on his fields. The smell of that is absolutely disgusting and yes, I am directly down-wind from it. I well know the difference between the smell of manure being spread on fields and uncomposted manure being sprayed. I finally made an anonymous phone call to the Health Department and he was cited. The Health Department was already on his case as there was a heavy rain the next day and all that fresh pig poop flowed into the creeks and ditches and you could see the yellowing burned grass. The EPA even got involved as the Health Department discovered where he has been burying hazardous materials in the ground. All that old expired chemicals, etc. The Health Department had to keep testing all the neighbors' wells and well water for five years. Our son was younger at the time, so we drank bottled water for five years. Oh and the other farmer who decided to install 9 perch ponds as a side business, but then wanted to fill all those ponds off of one well!!!!! He was cited by the Health Department for doing this and also faced a huge fine. It was in the paper, but he would sneak in the middle of the night with a hose to fill those ponds. It's August in central Ohio and very little rain and everyone's yard is brown, but his perch ponds are miraculously being filled?!!!!! Anyways, they caught him doing it again and another huge fine. He didn't care that our well and all the neighbors' wells could go dry. Oh no, it's all about him and what costs him the least. He was told by the Health Department that he had to install 7 wells and could only fill the ponds with so many gallons per day, but no, he didn't want to a) spend the money on the wells and b) have to wait the longer period of time to fill the ponds. He's a really nice guy, but he honestly doesn't see what he was doing was wrong in the least or how it impacts others around him. Yes he's one of those anti-government, Tea Party, fly the "Don't Tread on Me" flag, CCW, go Trump supporters. His "rights" obviously take precedence over the neighbors! Again, many of the farmers are super nice people and farm responsibly, but a few bad apples can really ruin your water quality.
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Post by blondiec47 on Apr 26, 2016 16:35:39 GMT
While agree with some of your post this statement
Another yard 1/2 their grass looks like it is moldy.. I don't know what they have done to it.. but it looks gross.
We had an issue with our grass last year--it turned white and furry in spots--we were told it was a type of fungus due to all the snow and rain we had over the winter. It took a while to get it straightened out. So that may not be entirely the homeowners fault.
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Post by melanell on Apr 26, 2016 18:12:40 GMT
I'm so curious about the descriptions of moldy looking lawns. I've never seen anything like that and I'm having hard time imagining what that even means. Black mold? Green fuzzy mold? White powdery mold? Sitting in patches in the lawn or on individual blades of grass?
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Post by jeremysgirl on Apr 26, 2016 18:25:11 GMT
I feel very blessed. I live in a pretty lower middle class neighborhood where pretty much everyone maintains their home. There is one house sitting empty in my neighborhood where someone comes and mows the lawn about once every two weeks. It is minimally landscaped. It is seriously the worst house on my street, which is awesome! I am also blessed with a DH who likes doing lawncare. So he maintains the outside of my house on a regular basis. We have brick up front and siding on the rest of the house and this summer I am trying to figure out what color I want to paint the wood siding. I'm going to do it myself. I think some powerwashing and some fresh paint and I might just have one of the nicest houses on my street.
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Post by blondiec47 on Apr 26, 2016 18:34:25 GMT
I'm so curious about the descriptions of moldy looking lawns. I've never seen anything like that and I'm having hard time imagining what that even means. Black mold? Green fuzzy mold? White powdery mold? Sitting in patches in the lawn or on individual blades of grass? Our lawn turned white in spots (it looked like someone dumped bleach on it) then it took on a fuzzy quality.
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Post by Darcy Collins on Apr 26, 2016 18:35:34 GMT
I'm so curious about the descriptions of moldy looking lawns. I've never seen anything like that and I'm having hard time imagining what that even means. Black mold? Green fuzzy mold? White powdery mold? Sitting in patches in the lawn or on individual blades of grass? I thought she might mean moss in the lawn. I've seen that in some wet areas where it looks like fuzzy green moss is taking over in places.
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marimoose
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,282
Jul 22, 2014 2:10:14 GMT
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Post by marimoose on Apr 26, 2016 18:35:49 GMT
I try not to judge, because we were the house that left the lights up for a year. A year of hell. A husband that needed and got back surgery, a son diagnosed with asperger's and a baby daughter with GERD. Not one neighbor offered to help take them down, but they sure could bitch about them being up. sorry. People are so quick to judge but seldom bother to see if another might need help. As for the lights, I see houses sometimes that leave the lights up all year (or past what is customary) and I tell my kids that we don't know what is going on in a home - there could be a person who is sick and those lights bring them a little joy. I try hard to not judge as I am not walking in their shoes.
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my3freaks
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,206
Location: NH girl living in Colorado
Jun 26, 2014 4:10:56 GMT
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Post by my3freaks on Apr 26, 2016 22:44:28 GMT
I've had to call code enforcement on them a few times for various maintenance problems, but usually their 12" grass (code is 8"). We don't have an HOA to make them paint or replace that damn garage door. But, I can force them to cut their lawn It sounds like you should've chose an HOA neighborhood. You don't have to call code enforcement, you choose to. I'm surprised that you know the exact length grass is allowed to be and how long theirs is, and call to "force" them to cut it. I also said this on the thread about HOA's, but I hate them. They're a busybody heaven.
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Post by Zee on Apr 26, 2016 22:50:30 GMT
I'm so curious about the descriptions of moldy looking lawns. I've never seen anything like that and I'm having hard time imagining what that even means. Black mold? Green fuzzy mold? White powdery mold? Sitting in patches in the lawn or on individual blades of grass? We had that one year, it was a fungus. White and fuzzy. I didn't do anything about it and it cleared up when the season got drier. Only happened one year.
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Post by 950nancy on Apr 26, 2016 22:50:55 GMT
I'm patient within reason. Maybe someone is battling a serious illness, or suffered a job loss and doesn't have the money. But if the place looks like a dump, there's no excuse for that. Our HOA is non existent, but we do have great neighbors (except for a rental property or two). We always mow for each other or do whatever needs to be taken care of so it looks nice. My neighbor had cancer for 3.5 years and just passed away in January. Her husband has just been lost. He put up the house for sale and we all are mowing, weeding, taking care of the pond etc. while he is on a trip visiting family for a few weeks. I grew up in that kind of a neighborhood and like living in one now.
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StephDRebel
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,691
Location: Ohio
Jul 5, 2014 1:53:49 GMT
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Post by StephDRebel on Apr 26, 2016 23:42:43 GMT
Our lawn and front porch look absolutely awful and honestly, I just don't care anymore although pulling up embarasses me and we don't have company over very often. We're in the process of buying a home but for now we're renting from family. i've done tons of cosmetic work inside and for the first 3 years painted and sanded the porch each spring but I can't get her to do any maintainance so i've decided to stop wasting my time and money. Everytime something frustrates me, I put the money I would've spent on this house into savings for the new one.
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Post by melanell on Apr 27, 2016 1:19:03 GMT
I'm so curious about the descriptions of moldy looking lawns. I've never seen anything like that and I'm having hard time imagining what that even means. Black mold? Green fuzzy mold? White powdery mold? Sitting in patches in the lawn or on individual blades of grass? Our lawn turned white in spots (it looked like someone dumped bleach on it) then it took on a fuzzy quality. Thanks for explaining. That is definitely nothing I have ever seen.
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Post by Heart on Apr 27, 2016 1:38:56 GMT
I'm lazy.
I work hard at my job and when I come home I just want to chill out. I have no interest in what my yard looks like to you. As long as I'm not getting a notice from the city, I will do what ever I want, which is usually as little as possible.
Yes, I'm tacky.
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Post by workingclassdog on Apr 27, 2016 3:06:05 GMT
Oh I understand if there is sickness, job loss, time.. I get that. We both work full time (WELL I am looking for a job full time... but currently doing contract work)..... we are busy and tired. So I get off my lazy ass and I take that Sunday or some evening I don't work and do what I can to keep my home decent. I guess my thing is when I bought my home cleaning the inside and keeping the outside decent is what home ownership is. Things happen I get it. I also get that the guy who has his hose hung up in a tree could very well hang it inside his garage. The chairs on the front porch that don't belong there and don't even fit, could be put in the garage. (there is room in the garage as I walk past this house everyday) I know my neighbor who is a little older, not feeble but it is really hard on him to shovel. We always always help shovel his driveway in the winter. Another neighbor lady who's lawn is perfect helps her single lady friends with their yards... so I get it if someone is unable...we try to help somewhat in those cases. Regarding the HOA, I am actually meeting with the manager of the property to go over some of these houses and see what the plan is this year to get some of these properties cleaned up or fined or whatever we can do to get them at least mowed. I am involved with part of the HOA (because there are duplexes and single family homes there are two associations in one neighborhood and I am involved with the duplexes) Anyways... peace out ya'll..
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