patrick.net

gbenson says

We don't get paid,

They get paid by getting to have a power trip. Sick bunch of useless money wasting f***ers. I'm so glad to be renting now. I'll never own where there's an association again. Local ordinances work just fine. BTW, Nothing personal.

gbenson says

I am on a HOA board at a condo complex where I own 2 units. The board is the only thing keeping the place from turning into a crime infested slum.

This is the propaganda HOA's use to justify there existence. If we let people do what ever they want, they will have over grown grass, broken down cars in the driveway with no wheels, trash in the yard and "Cannibalism Anarchy". And this does occasionally happen in some neighborhoods, you have that one person that uses there yard like a dump. But when you buy a nice house in a community, chances of it turning into a "crime infested slum" are slim at best. They really are not needed in nice areas, people who can afford to buy in a nice neighborhood generally are not the Beverly Hill Billies.

HOA could actually work, if the they are fairly set up where the homeowners can have some over them and the rules are minimal. Do we really need rules on what color a homeowner can paint there front door, how many flowers a homeowner can plant in there garden or how tall there grass can be before they have to cut it. HOA are often run by retired people on a power trip, there are some well run, good HOA's, but they are in the minority. Usually what happens in the developer sets up the HOA, and writes the bylaws to favor them. Then way over charge for the management services. If the HOA could use the free market, they could save a ton of money, but often the rules are written so its next to impossible to get rid of the management company. It ends up being a cash cow for the developer years to come.

Everything has consequences, once you get caught up in the system I say good luck and I hope you've got patience and fortitude for it. You hurt yourself these days, no sooner than they take an x-ray the insurance company is calling you to see if they can place fault and sue someone for money. They care more about that than making sure you heal correctly, they don't even ask if your ok when they call.

HOA are the cookiecutters of our condo living experience, people like uniformity. Outliers be damned. You can have a garden and things like that if they are ok'd by the board, but if your to lazy to mow or shovel, why would you want a garden?, it's work. The whole condo living experience is geared towards not having to do anything, just shutup and live in it. It's still neat hearing the stories about these HOA board meetings.

What sorrow for you who buy up house after house and field after field, until everyone is evicted and you live alone in the land. But I have heard the LORD of Heaven's Armies swear a solemn oath: "Many houses will stand deserted; even beautiful mansions will be empty. Ten acres of vineyard will not produce even six gallons of wine. Ten baskets of seed will yield only one basket of grain." Isaiah 5:8-10

TechGromit says

Do we really need rules on what color a homeowner can paint there front door

Yes... Yes we do.

gbenson says

TechGromit says

Do we really need rules on what color a homeowner can paint there front door

Yes... Yes we do.

Sorry, but I don't see anything wrong with someone living in a Hello Kitty house if he or she wants to, even if that person is my next door neighbor.

I'd rather have a nice, quit next door neighbor living in a Hello Kitty house than a loud, obnoxious asshole living in a McMansion next door to me.

Anyone living in a Hello Kitty house isn't going to be a pain in the ass.

That hissing sound is value leaving your house once your neighbors finish their Hello Kitty remodel.

It would be a landmark! "Ya, you can't miss it! It's next door to the Hello Kitty house!"

I went to a house in Fountain Valley that has INSANE Christmas lights every year. I mean unfuckingbelievable. Watching is probably bad for anyone with a history of seizures or who is easily hypnotized.
I went to see it, and there were quite a few others as well. It was neat, creative, and came sound tracked to an unused radio band.
Prices of homes in FV have since gone up.