HOA's
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An HOA who sends a notice because of 1 dandelion or a pot of flowers is ridiclously overbearing and not the norm.
I can think of a lot of good things about an HOA. They clean, mow, and landscape the common areas. They maintain the pool, clubhouse, and tennis courts. They keep property values up by making sure the entire neighborhood looks nice. They mow the lawns at vacant houses. They help settle disputes between neighbors. They keep the neighborhood safe.
We moved here in Oct 2010 and wanted to find a house right away. We looked at a few nice houses that we strongly considered but in driving through the neighborhood we'd see run down places, places overgrown with weeds, rusted, obviously not running cars in yards, etc and we didn't make an offer on any of those houses. The owners of the places we looked maintained their home but it was in a neighborhood where others didn't and didn't have to. We could have bought one of those houses for less than we paid here but it was worth it to us to live not only in a nice house but a nice neighborhood. I like it when people come to visit for the first time and immediately upon entering the neighborhood say "Oh wow! What a beautiful neighborhood!" That alone is worth a decent chunk of our HOA fees.0 -
My HoA is cool. I can do whatever as long as everything stays with the means of everyone else. We have meetings that no one goes to. I like the no soliciting. I replaced my deck. One of my neighbors was the treasurer, and he was like don't bother the HoA. We don't caer as long as it's nothing crazy. Besides, if you're making your house better, why should we mess with you? Just don't make it pink. My HoA is a live and let live HoA. No a few miles down the road in COlumbia MD, people want to kill the board members in that HoA. You have to make sure everyone sh!ts the same color or else.0
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Buahahaha... dead grass in West Texas is the ONLY kind of grass anyone has... It's the softest dead grass I have ever seen too... :laugh:
I live in Florida, where fake grass is very abundant...my family's, however, is all weeds. Really gross, stinky, stubborn weeds. It's a pain to mow. And mow, you must, since the entire property is weeds...verified by a lawn inspector this year. It's unfortunate...but what can ya do. They've put way too much time and money into it already and it still is weeds. Plus I'm 99% sure it's on a sinkhole...like a majority of the rest of Florida properties.:ohwell:
Florida is the Mac Daddy of HOAs. I think I would kill myself before I ever moved to south Florida with all those cookie-cutter gated communities and every house looks the same. In Tally, at least we have some diversity in the landscape.
I think the thing I hate most about HOA communities is how much everything looks exactly the same and it's TOO manicured. Not just cut grass, but your flowers and everything has to be just so. I like a dandelion here and there. What's wrong with them?0 -
Buahahaha... dead grass in West Texas is the ONLY kind of grass anyone has... It's the softest dead grass I have ever seen too... :laugh:
I live in Florida, where fake grass is very abundant...my family's, however, is all weeds. Really gross, stinky, stubborn weeds. It's a pain to mow. And mow, you must, since the entire property is weeds...verified by a lawn inspector this year. It's unfortunate...but what can ya do. They've put way too much time and money into it already and it still is weeds. Plus I'm 99% sure it's on a sinkhole...like a majority of the rest of Florida properties.:ohwell:
Florida is the Mac Daddy of HOAs. I think I would kill myself before I ever moved to south Florida with all those cookie-cutter gated communities and every house looks the same. In Tally, at least we have some diversity in the landscape.
I think the thing I hate most about HOA communities is how much everything looks exactly the same and it's TOO manicured. Not just cut grass, but your flowers and everything has to be just so. I like a dandelion here and there. What's wrong with them?
I agree. I think "cookie cutter" can and does look nice, but, at the same time, it's not for me. I want to be able to do whatever I want to my house, whenever I want. Which is probably why I ideally would be living on at least 5 acres in the country side. I also don't care what my neighbor does, however, I do realize that's important if we ever sell this house. :grumble: I'm in central FL (about 15 miles northeast of Tampa) and it's definitely turning into a gated community lover's heaven, here. I like the neighborhoods on the beaches, though--talk about unique! Those million-dollar homes are as eccentric as they come. One house I saw in Clearwater was covered almost entirely in starfish and seashells and sand dollars...it was interesting.0 -
Buahahaha... dead grass in West Texas is the ONLY kind of grass anyone has... It's the softest dead grass I have ever seen too... :laugh:
I live in Florida, where fake grass is very abundant...my family's, however, is all weeds. Really gross, stinky, stubborn weeds. It's a pain to mow. And mow, you must, since the entire property is weeds...verified by a lawn inspector this year. It's unfortunate...but what can ya do. They've put way too much time and money into it already and it still is weeds. Plus I'm 99% sure it's on a sinkhole...like a majority of the rest of Florida properties.:ohwell:
Florida is the Mac Daddy of HOAs. I think I would kill myself before I ever moved to south Florida with all those cookie-cutter gated communities and every house looks the same. In Tally, at least we have some diversity in the landscape.
I think the thing I hate most about HOA communities is how much everything looks exactly the same and it's TOO manicured. Not just cut grass, but your flowers and everything has to be just so. I like a dandelion here and there. What's wrong with them?
I agree. I think "cookie cutter" can and does look nice, but, at the same time, it's not for me. I want to be able to do whatever I want to my house, whenever I want. Which is probably why I ideally would be living on at least 5 acres in the country side. I also don't care what my neighbor does, however, I do realize that's important if we ever sell this house. :grumble: I'm in central FL (about 15 miles northeast of Tampa) and it's definitely turning into a gated community lover's heaven, here. I like the neighborhoods on the beaches, though--talk about unique! Those million-dollar homes are as eccentric as they come. One house I saw in Clearwater was covered almost entirely in starfish and seashells and sand dollars...it was interesting.
That is really neat.
In my ultimate fantasy, I want to live in the village in Cornwall where they film Doc Martin. Quaint and old and so much character. I think that's what I don't like about the planned communities. They have no personality. I like things wild.0 -
It really depends on the people running the HOA. Back in my hometown, my mom's townhouse was in a development with an HOA. They charged out the *kitten* and did things like take down trees that provided privacy from the main road... Really annoying. We do not have an HOA in our current housing development and I like it better that way. I pay for my own trash removal and maintain my own septic system. We don't have a pool, but it's Florida and most people have pools in their backyard. Plus, there's the gulf beaches about 40 minutes away. It's up to you. Sometimes they're worth it, sometimes they're not.0
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They have no personality. I like things wild.
Agreed. :flowerforyou:0 -
We are currently renovating the house we are in... and since we are still getting relatively established in our careers (we graduated from a college a mere four years ago)... we wanted a "fixer upper" that we could work on while we were living there... It's a good thing we don't have an over bearing HOA... because we would be getting notices all over the place for things that I don't think have been replaced since the house was built 30 years ago... :ohwell: For crying out loud, the idiots that owned the house before us planted plastic flowers.... I kid you not.... sure they had shrubs... but besides the rose bushes and the stupid dwarf nandinas, it was plastic daisies and forget-me-nots from Hobby Lobby...
We have to replace the beams on our front porch... and the tile on the porch...0 -
Well ... they don't need to be watered!0
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I guess not... but dang, there are plenty of flowers that don't need to be watered... that are real... Interestingly, flowers require less water than grass does.0
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We are currently renovating the house we are in... and since we are still getting relatively established in our careers (we graduated from a college a mere four years ago)... we wanted a "fixer upper" that we could work on while we were living there... It's a good thing we don't have an over bearing HOA... because we would be getting notices all over the place for things that I don't think have been replaced since the house was built 30 years ago... :ohwell: For crying out loud, the idiots that owned the house before us planted plastic flowers.... I kid you not.... sure they had shrubs... but besides the rose bushes and the stupid dwarf nandinas, it was plastic daisies and forget-me-nots from Hobby Lobby...
We have to replace the beams on our front porch... and the tile on the porch...
Minus the plastic flowers, we're almost in the same situation--my house wouldn't last with a HOA. Our house was built 52 years ago, and the former owner was a crazy cat lady hoarder who let the yard go to hell.
Even with all of that, though, our property still looks better than all of our neighbors. :laugh:0 -
We are currently renovating the house we are in... and since we are still getting relatively established in our careers (we graduated from a college a mere four years ago)... we wanted a "fixer upper" that we could work on while we were living there... It's a good thing we don't have an over bearing HOA... because we would be getting notices all over the place for things that I don't think have been replaced since the house was built 30 years ago... :ohwell: For crying out loud, the idiots that owned the house before us planted plastic flowers.... I kid you not.... sure they had shrubs... but besides the rose bushes and the stupid dwarf nandinas, it was plastic daisies and forget-me-nots from Hobby Lobby...
We have to replace the beams on our front porch... and the tile on the porch...
Minus the plastic flowers, we're almost in the same situation--my house wouldn't last with a HOA. Our house was built 52 years ago, and the former owner was a crazy cat lady hoarder who let the yard go to hell.
Even with all of that, though, our property still looks better than all of our neighbors. :laugh:
Since we moved in we did get the chimney fixed and the mail box bricked... before that it was sitting on a 4x4 meant to tie into the columns on our front porch... we also had the trees trimmed... which was something that hasn't been done in forever... As soon as we can scrape up $8,000 we will have the front yard landscaped... seeing as it's a total mess... again, thankfully we don't have an HOA to harp on us about it as we just don't have the time to bring our yard up to where even we want it... of course it will be well taken care of later... but we need to have the grass re-sodded and a french drain put in (our driveway near our garage floods BAD when it rains... I usually have to wear flip flops and capri's to work or park out front so I don't get my work clothes soaking wet) anyway.... and to be honest, we would have had the outside done a long time ago had our AC not broke down in the middle of the summer... in Texas... and we had to scrape $10,000 for a whole new system... the drain pans from the compressors kept overflowing and running down our walls... not to mention the fact that the duct work had sections missing so air wasn't going back into the house... So I think I would be having a conniption if I had someone say our yard looked like crap (which it does and we are aware, but there are things higher on the priority list than the outside) and that we had to fix it pronto.0 -
Buahahaha... dead grass in West Texas is the ONLY kind of grass anyone has... It's the softest dead grass I have ever seen too... :laugh:
I live in Florida, where fake grass is very abundant...my family's, however, is all weeds. Really gross, stinky, stubborn weeds. It's a pain to mow. And mow, you must, since the entire property is weeds...verified by a lawn inspector this year. It's unfortunate...but what can ya do. They've put way too much time and money into it already and it still is weeds. Plus I'm 99% sure it's on a sinkhole...like a majority of the rest of Florida properties.:ohwell:
Florida is the Mac Daddy of HOAs. I think I would kill myself before I ever moved to south Florida with all those cookie-cutter gated communities and every house looks the same. In Tally, at least we have some diversity in the landscape.
I think the thing I hate most about HOA communities is how much everything looks exactly the same and it's TOO manicured. Not just cut grass, but your flowers and everything has to be just so. I like a dandelion here and there. What's wrong with them?
I agree. I think "cookie cutter" can and does look nice, but, at the same time, it's not for me. I want to be able to do whatever I want to my house, whenever I want. Which is probably why I ideally would be living on at least 5 acres in the country side. I also don't care what my neighbor does, however, I do realize that's important if we ever sell this house. :grumble: I'm in central FL (about 15 miles northeast of Tampa) and it's definitely turning into a gated community lover's heaven, here. I like the neighborhoods on the beaches, though--talk about unique! Those million-dollar homes are as eccentric as they come. One house I saw in Clearwater was covered almost entirely in starfish and seashells and sand dollars...it was interesting.
I live in south Florida.. Infact I live a far south as you can and still live on the mainland.. However I was lucky enough to rent a house in an area without a HOA and not all the houses look the same thank goodness. However most of ym co-workers and friends have HOA and all I here about are the horror stories. See down here if you give an 80 yr old retieree to much power they go mad with it lol... There have been alot of reports complaints and lawsuits regarding HOA in south fl. Also down here kicking someone out of their house for not paying thier dues does bring in bugs. ANY long term empty house down here brings in bugs and damp lol0 -
You couldn't pay me to live with a HOA. Never in a million years. I am all about individuality. I love the odd and outrageous things some people do with their houses/yards. Not to mention I wouldn't want to live in a new boring house. I love older homes way too much.0
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Buahahaha... dead grass in West Texas is the ONLY kind of grass anyone has... It's the softest dead grass I have ever seen too... :laugh:
I live in Florida, where fake grass is very abundant...my family's, however, is all weeds. Really gross, stinky, stubborn weeds. It's a pain to mow. And mow, you must, since the entire property is weeds...verified by a lawn inspector this year. It's unfortunate...but what can ya do. They've put way too much time and money into it already and it still is weeds. Plus I'm 99% sure it's on a sinkhole...like a majority of the rest of Florida properties.:ohwell:
Florida is the Mac Daddy of HOAs. I think I would kill myself before I ever moved to south Florida with all those cookie-cutter gated communities and every house looks the same. In Tally, at least we have some diversity in the landscape.
I think the thing I hate most about HOA communities is how much everything looks exactly the same and it's TOO manicured. Not just cut grass, but your flowers and everything has to be just so. I like a dandelion here and there. What's wrong with them?
My girls love dandelions. They pick them all day as soon as they pop up, until they are mowed.
We don't live in an HOA, we live in the city. If we don't mow, the city sends us a letter. If we don't shovel the sidewalk, the city sends us a letter. If we have trash all over, the city sends us a letter. All much the same way an HOA would except it's not an added expense (on top of taxes). We rent so we can't do whatever we want to our house. We have put in a garden, that I would bet an HOA wouldn't like. We have a little pool in the backyard for the kids, that an HOA would probably fight. We also have the smallest driveway ever and when we have more than one vehicle, the second is parked in the grass (granted we have grass in front of the "garage" at the back of the lot). The other houses in the neighborhood are kept up well, and the neighbors seem to watch after each other.
I guess my overall thoughts are that you'd pay enough in property taxes and city taxes that most of the really important issues should be addressed. We don't have a community tennis court or swimming pool in my neighborhood. There is a small park that the city keeps up. There are a few free community pools that the city keeps up too.0 -
Oh....and my pet peeves- Christmas lights up year round on your house and parking your car in the grass.
Ha! That's my 'hood! Our only recourse is 311 but I *have* seen good turnaround time on responses (not that **I** rat anyone out!
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I had no idea people were so bothered by Christmas lights being up. Surely some of you would just go ape**** if you drove past my mom's house.0
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I would start twitching!I had no idea people were so bothered by Christmas lights being up. Surely some of you would just go ape**** if you drove past my mom's house.0 -
I would start twitching!I had no idea people were so bothered by Christmas lights being up. Surely some of you would just go ape**** if you drove past my mom's house.
WHY?! It's just Christmas lights. :laugh:
I'm more bothered by their ugly football crap plastered on their front door, personally.0 -
I would start twitching!I had no idea people were so bothered by Christmas lights being up. Surely some of you would just go ape**** if you drove past my mom's house.
WHY?! It's just Christmas lights. :laugh:
I'm more bothered by their ugly football crap plastered on their front door, personally.
I wouldn't even SEE the lights unless they were actually turned on.0 -
There's a house a couple blocks away that had lights up so long they started to fall/sag/droop. They never kept up the lawn very well but recently it got really bad. Like jungle bad. A couple weeks later, for sale sign in the yard (foreclosure).
I try not to get worked up about it since some folks may not actually be able to do much (like if their home is being taken away) buuuuuut those folks were had been trashy all three years I've lived there..
eta - I may be going through a similar situation with my neighbor - they're gone and it seems either unexpectedly or just not well planned. I saw them before the disappearance but they're not too chatty (they speak very little english and I speak really crappy spanish). I just got back in to town and their lawn junglified. I started to try to mow but it was bad enough to almost kill my mower on a high setting. What to do? No HOA and it wouldn't matter since they (the homeowners) are MIA...0 -
I'd pay someone to mow it, Lauren.
How can you NOT see Christmas lights still on houses during the day? Our HOA is really good at taking care of that. Come February 1, they have to be down.0 -
There's a house a couple blocks away that had lights up so long they started to fall/sag/droop. They never kept up the lawn very well but recently it got really bad. Like jungle bad. A couple weeks later, for sale sign in the yard (foreclosure).
I try not to get worked up about it since some folks may not actually be able to do much (like if their home is being taken away) buuuuuut those folks were had been trashy all three years I've lived there..
eta - I may be going through a similar situation with my neighbor - they're gone and it seems either unexpectedly or just not well planned. I saw them before the disappearance but they're not too chatty (they speak very little english and I speak really crappy spanish). I just got back in to town and their lawn junglified. I started to try to mow but it was bad enough to almost kill my mower on a high setting. What to do? No HOA and it wouldn't matter since they (the homeowners) are MIA...
Have you tried calling the city? Usually they have a department that deals with this kind of thing... I know ours does and so does the major city to the west of us. Usually it's Code enforcement or some such.0 -
I'd pay someone to mow it, Lauren.
How can you NOT see Christmas lights still on houses during the day? Our HOA is really good at taking care of that. Come February 1, they have to be down.
I willfully ignore lights that are still on a house in July... as long as it's not a hazard, I really couldn't care less...0 -
I'd pay someone to mow it, Lauren.
How can you NOT see Christmas lights still on houses during the day? Our HOA is really good at taking care of that. Come February 1, they have to be down.
I willfully ignore lights that are still on a house in July... as long as it's not a hazard, I really couldn't care less...
There are about 5 houses on my street with lights still up. I think mostly because these are elderly people who probably are physically able to take them down or had help setting them up. The lawns are mowed and nothing excessive out in their yards or driveways.
I could really care less about Christmas lights, to me, there are far bigger issues than lights on a house.0 -
Like Shamrock, I live in town. You get fined if you don't mow and the second warning, the city comes and mows and leave you the bill. If there are cars parked on the street parking that are not running or do not move for long periods of time, they get towed.
This spring, my boyfriend and I spent hours outside cleaning up our yard. Pulling weeds, finding buried flowerbeds around the porch and garage, planting flowers... I think the best thing to do for value is to encourage your neighbors and lead by example! The old-couple across the street came over one day when we were working and complimented us on how nice the house and yard looked. Within a week the neighbor to our left and one diagonally across were planting flowers and cleaning up their yards. It was like a bonding experience. :happy:0 -
Because I just don't care that much what people do with their own property. I'm not a control freak.I'd pay someone to mow it, Lauren.
How can you NOT see Christmas lights still on houses during the day? Our HOA is really good at taking care of that. Come February 1, they have to be down.0 -
I would start twitching!I had no idea people were so bothered by Christmas lights being up. Surely some of you would just go ape**** if you drove past my mom's house.
WHY?! It's just Christmas lights. :laugh:
I'm more bothered by their ugly football crap plastered on their front door, personally.
I wouldn't even SEE the lights unless they were actually turned on.
Agree. I didn't even know my mom still had hers up until a couple of weeks ago when she said "I might as well leave my lights up for Christmas in July." I had no idea what she was talking about until I went outside and looked, and sure enough, they were still up. It's not like she lights them or anything. :laugh: Dark cord with dark (when not lit) lights on a dark roof...isn't exactly noticeable.
The only time I have an issue with anyone's personal property is when they have something that obstructs my view of traffic. My neighborhood is unfortunately notorious for that. People who live on corners thing it's cute to put up huge shrubs and bushes and park their car JUST so that you can't tell if traffic is coming at the stop sign. Reporting it has gotten absolutely nothing done.0 -
It's not about being a control freak. Over grown yards can also attract mice, field rats, snakes, etc. what about the value of your neighborhood? Do you not care about that? Rundown, uncared for homes can drive down the value, too.Because I just don't care that much what people do with their own property. I'm not a control freak.0 -
Yeah, we have a neighborhood protection part of the city's service request department - they're pretty responsive but they send someone out to evaluate the situation and then talk to the property owner (or leave something, I suppose). I think there is a 30 day (2 weeks even, maybe) period to comply and then after that, fines.
These folks aren't there and probably don't have the $ to pay fines that accumulate in their absence. It's a nuisance, not only visually, but also for other potential issues Patti mentioned but I also don't feel comfortable hiring someone (with potentially dramatic mowing equipment at that) to go to someone else's property.
eta - someone *did* try to cut some of it...one line and it looks like they gave up. Some cars have shuffled around, too, so maybe they've reappeared..0
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