Bluebird
Posts: 384
Joined: 2/17/2006
From: Las Vegas
Status: offline
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When we bought our first house, I SWORE I would never live in one of those "oppressive, stifling associations." I grew up in a rural area, average lot size was about 20 acres, lots of farms, even though one of our neighbors literally had a pigsty for a yard, it was about 1/2 mile away so it didn't really bother anyone (except when the pigs got away, but it was fun to chase them). So I am pretty much a live and let live person. So => first house, no HOA. BUT, we then learned about "zero lot line" (where your wall is your neighbor's property line) and one neighbor had dogs that jumped on our wall all day. The dogs also dug up and destroyed the irrigation system next door, so he had no yard other than dirt, and because his gate was right next to our front door, the dogs scared the crap out of anyone coming to our front door. Made it kind of hard to sell when it was time! Also, the neighbor across the street (rental unit) was running some kind of boarding house - at least 20 people sleeping there in shifts. And that house didn't pay for garbage pickup, so they just kept loading all their trash into a broken down van parked in front. It gets a bit *warm* here in Vegas - want to know what that van smelled like on a June day? Eventually we called the health department and they towed the van away. You had better believe those neighbors impacted my resale value!
So, that is why when we bought our next house, we reluctantly looked into an HOA community. Being one of the first homeowners in the community, I made it a point to get on the board and help shape the "rules" (different from the covenants, which are the overriding restrictions, more like zoning). The "rules" CAN be modified with homeowner input, and it behooves anyone who lives in a HOA community to get involved. If you sit back on your duff, then you really cannot complain that you don't like the busybodies who write stupid rules. And really, if you don't like the idea of an HOA at all, you should simply not move into a community with one -it's not like there is nowhere else to live!
Even in a rural area, you have the zoning board, the water board, the school board - these shape your community standards and way of life. If you don't participate (and the glory of our country is we CAN participate in these things), then you are silencing your opinion to others who care enough to get involved.
< Message edited by Bluebird -- 9/29/2006 12:45:00 AM >
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Love is patient, love is kind. I am neither. Get over it.
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RE: When did Old Glory become tacky? - 
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