1988RedT2 said:docwyte said:That doesn't happen when you live in a metro area, unless you just have a HUGE amount of money. Even then you'll still be able to see some houses.
Well, if the land is all cleared, then yes. But I would argue that you could pretty much disappear on just a few acres on a wooded parcel, or one with mature trees/landscaping.
For even an acre, I would need to move an hour away from where I am now and it would cost me $1,000,000 in a mediocre school district.
mtn said:For even an acre, I would need to move an hour away from where I am now and it would cost me $1,000,000 in a mediocre school district.
Not having neighbors:
1. Must be rich if you want a house
2. Could be dirt poor if you want to live in the woods
In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :
Yup. And to be clear, I do want to live in the woods or hills or wherever is necessary to have that kind of space/privacy. But selling that to my wife is difficult when you look at the quality of the schools, distance from our support systems and family, etc.
If I was single today, it wouldn't be a question. But I'm not, I've been with my wife for 14 years and married for 7; we have had two children together, we're close to her very ill parents and my parents are close enough to come babysit in an emergency... We have to make decisions based on where we are in life right now.
Luckily, HOAs are astoundingly easy to avoid around here.
I have a friend whose standard is "If I can't piss off the front porch without worrying about the neighbors, then I don't want to live there"
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Which doesn't exist in a metro area unless you spend a TON of money. Finding a few acres of land inside metro Denver simply doesn't exist unless you're willing to spend several millions of dollars. Especially if you want wooded lots.
Toebra said:You have a neighbor that is a troublemaker and does not like you, your dogs, or both. That is your problem, I guarantee it.
If they are not enforcing the HOA rules equally, and you can demonstrate that, depending on where you are, you can sue the HOA, or threaten to do so, in writing, via certified mail, and I suspect it will be the last you hear from them.
This is likely how the complaint was generated.
If I had neighbors with annoying barking dogs and smelly poop vapors coming into my house/yard you can absolutely garuntee I'd used every avenue to end that.
And I have.
I would 100% live in an HOA that had a no outside animals rule. I can ignore messy yards and driveways full of cars, but a constantly barking dog is the worst.
Man, around here you'd need an enormous amount of land to not be able to see neighbors. My brother has 10 acres and you can still see several neighbors from his house. Where y'all living, Siberia? I've seen 100 acre parcels for sale that were tempting but they're in BFE and have E36 M3hole schools and nothing for services. Having to drive a half hour to get groceries sure doesn't appeal to me.
docwyte said:In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Which doesn't exist in a metro area unless you spend a TON of money. Finding a few acres of land inside metro Denver simply doesn't exist unless you're willing to spend several millions of dollars. Especially if you want wooded lots.
Thank you all for reminding me just how good I have it! 
In reply to dculberson :
Florida?
Honestly, anywhere with significant rainfall. In Florida it only take maybe a good 20' of vegetated buffer and before long you won't be able to see through it. At the rental I stayed at earlier this year, there was a row of bushes between me and the neighbors and it was pretty hard to see through those. They were only about 10' wide.
Toebra said:You have a neighbor that is a troublemaker and does not like you, your dogs, or both. That is your problem, I guarantee it.
If they are not enforcing the HOA rules equally, and you can demonstrate that, depending on where you are, you can sue the HOA, or threaten to do so, in writing, via certified mail, and I suspect it will be the last you hear from them.
Or you could just leave a dead horse's head on your neighbor's front porch and never hear from him again.
pheller said:In reply to dculberson :
Florida?
Honestly, anywhere with significant rainfall. In Florida it only take maybe a good 20' of vegetated buffer and before long you won't be able to see through it. At the rental I stayed at earlier this year, there was a row of bushes between me and the neighbors and it was pretty hard to see through those. They were only about 10' wide.
Sure, a hedgerow and a fence might conceal a neighbor visually in a very minor way, but they're still clearly going to be there and you'll hear them and see their stuff every time you take a step outside of a very small area. "No neighbors in sight" to me means you've got a serious walk until you've come across someone else's irritating mess.
I've got a very nicely tree surrounded 3.5 acre lot and nothing but woods across the street and I still know I have neighbors, every day.
Now that things have settled down could send a very polite letter which bylaw is being enforced with a proper citation ( Sec 100(1)(c)(iii)) and please send an up to date version of the bylaws and up to date contact info for enforcement officers as mentioned in the bylaws.
In reply to 1988RedT2 :
Meh. I'm perfectly happy in my suburban neighborhood. With the exception of wishing I had more garage space
In reply to docwyte :
I hope to never be forced into suburbia hell. I understand those that prefer that life. I cannot.
The problem with any topic that has to do with HOAs is they get side tracked by all the people who only respond to say they wouldn't live in one.
stuart in mn said:The problem with any topic that has to do with HOAs is they get side tracked by all the people who only respond to say they wouldn't live in one.
Truth. I'd prefer not to live in an HOA but if you're going to have neighbors it's almost a requirement at this point because everyone has a DGAF attitude about what other people think. I could've either rented another apartment or for the same money I bought a house with a garage. I can put up with my not too overbearing HOA for that trade.
In reply to docwyte :
some folks have a very myopic view of life.
We don't have an HOA. They tend to be more intrusive than I want to deal with.
The city does everything I want to be done as far as keeping property values up. Yards are mowed. Trash is picked up. No junk cars scattered around the yards. A phone call to the city will have them stopping by to speak to the property owners. What more do you really need?
In reply to DrBoost :
yep. They just want peace and quiet and to be left alone as they leave others alone. There's obviously something wrong with them.
In reply to bobzilla :
are you talking about people who live in HOA 'hoods or people who refuse to?
Toyman! said:We don't have an HOA. They tend to be more intrusive than I want to deal with.
The city does everything I want to be done as far as keeping property values up. Yards are mowed. Trash is picked up. No junk cars scattered around the yards. A phone call to the city will have them stopping by to speak to the property owners. What more do you really need?
This is my general view on it as well.
Toyman! said:We don't have an HOA. They tend to be more intrusive than I want to deal with.
The city does everything I want to be done as far as keeping property values up. Yards are mowed. Trash is picked up. No junk cars scattered around the yards. A phone call to the city will have them stopping by to speak to the property owners. What more do you really need?
My HOA is very unobtrusive. Like, to the point where if we didn't have shared mailboxes and a few "landscape lots" (ie stormwater detention ponds) - I'm not sure we'd really need it all.
But my last place? Oh man, that area could've definitely used an HOA. Mostly because it was in the country, but everybody lived ontop of one another. So it didn't have quite the 'happy little community enforcement' of the city, and people were much larger shiny happy people to one another over complaints about noise, trash, etc. Out there, if your neighbor had several junk cars on his property, the county wouldn't do anything until there was a complaint, and then inevitably the owners of said proprieties would find out who filed the complaint and file complaints back of innocuous things. It was just childish, and having some sort of agency to avoid that might have been nice.
The sad fact is, pets, and especially dogs, are big impacts to the quality of life of people who are subjected to their noise, smell, etc.
Even in my HOA'd neighborhood, I've got a neighbor who can't control his dog. He's a nice guy. Big gearhead. But he just doesn't think he dog should be on a leash. Once he got a few neighbors with kids and a few visiting from animal control and the police, he finally put up a bigger/better fence for his dog and walks him around the hood on a leash.
Still doesn't clean up after the dog, though. 
In reply to bobzilla :
I'm not talking about HOAs or the people that like them. I'm taking about specific posters.
'I live in the sticks so I can do what I want' on one hand, then condemn others because the hobby they like is outside of their comfort zone.
Ironic, that.
In reply to pheller :
We have a voluntary homeowners club that takes care of the entrances and mowing the common areas. About half the neighborhood pays $35 a year into the kitty to keep the landscaping company paid and the signs looking nice. It works well. I still get to park my boats and trailers at home. I keep mine in the backyard, but not everyone does. An RV or a work truck doesn't bother anyone. On occasion, the neighbor's dog will get to barking but a phone call usually takes care of it. Sometimes I don't edge my driveway and sidewalk for months even though the grass is always cut. We have one neighbor that mulched her entire yard and planted banana trees and wildflowers. We do a pretty good job of live and let live. If one neighbor steps too far out of line, we will discuss it on the neighborhood FB page and someone will stop by and have a friendly conversation. Usually, it's a rental house and a conversation solves the problem. If that doesn't work, the city will get 30-40 phone calls about it. It doesn't take long for zoning to stop by and have a slightly less friendly discussion with them. We basically do exactly what a HOC does, just without the bylaws, the tension, and the insane requirements that they frequently come with.
Living in the country comes with the people that don't want to live in the city because they like having junk cars and unkempt yards. I wouldn't expect them to change just because I moved in. I can see where an HOA would be a benefit. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that. My next move will be to the country. But I'll be building in the middle of a fair amount of acreage in a little clearing in some woods. The neighbors can do whatever the hell they want. It will be well worth the longer commute.
One of my uncles was a colonel in the Air Force, moved every few years.
He always bought a house in a hoa.
Said it gave him some reassurance that his property value would stay high.
Probably the only good rationalization I can think of for buying in a hoa.
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