mtn (Forum Supporter) said:
bobzilla said:
For that reason I refuse to live somewhere with an hoa. Being chastised for it by the usual suspects is getting berkeleying old.
Nobody is chastising you and nobody is telling you you should live in an HOA. You're reading things between the lines that aren't there.
Signed, a guy who specifically bought a house without an hoa for similar reasons to your not wanting one.
I love you both, but seriously.... this is a fun thread. It's not about the joys and pitfalls of actual HOAs. This is a fun experiment to delve into the completely hypothetical idea of what fake HOA rules would exist if GRMers had a community.
Please stop talking about what makes good and bad HOAs. We have a dozen other threads about that. Revive those zombies, but not here.
TL;DR... Stampie's bar is open. Relax and socialize.
llysgennad said:
I think it needs a small city-park type railroad, operated by neighborhood kids, that goes to each property and will transfer parts from one place to another as needed. Would also collect and deposit "surplus to requirements" items to a local community outdoor repository. Neatly, of course. Dogs and drunks ride free
Great idea - my kids would be all over that.
The development should have no normal houses. All townhouses where the bottom floor is garage. Make the house footprint approx 50x30 (1500 sq ft), with a 1500 sq ft garage below it. Everyone gets a fairly large shop with no need for any lawn/exterior maintenance (baked into HOA fees). Larger families could get one that is 60 or 70 x 30.
Common park area with playground, grills and picnic tables and whatnot across the street for those times you wish you had a yard for an hour or two.
Ample common area parking/guest parking.
Depending on size of the neighborhood the HOA should integrate a good mountain biking trail.
No projects outside. 1500sq. feet is ample space to ls swap something stupid, build an exocet, etc.
All of this reminds me of why I still hate HOAs and condos.
In reply to ProDarwin :
You just described the house I'll probably be building in the next 3-5 years. The steel is about $50k. I figure I can finish it for another $50k+- if I do most of the work myself. The dirt I already own.
Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) said:
In reply to ProDarwin :
You just described the house I'll probably be building in the next 3-5 years. The steel is about $50k. I figure I can finish it for another $50k+- if I do most of the work myself. The dirt I already own.
So its not that different than my house (but mine is stick built). My house is around 48x30. The first 30x30 of the basement is garage. The remaining area is unheated/cooled (not needed here) storage/utility room.
The big problem with the house is: Its surrounded by grass and nature crap I need to take care of. Also, my neighborhood does not have an HOA and county ordinance is a joke so there are shiny happy people to deal with as well.
In reply to mtn (Forum Supporter) :
I wasn't referring to you. There's a particular member that likes to have in his beliefs on me any chance they get. If I ever get that island or mountain I'll be sure to send invites. Y'all can visit but you ain't staying!
In reply to ProDarwin :
Luckily the patch of dirt I will be building on is in the middle of a 400-acre farm. I won't have neighbors.
My current house doesn't have an HOA. While our city is very reasonable as far ordinances, they will crack down on you if your neighbors complain. Excessive trash, vehicles that obviously don't run, unkempt lawns or shrubs, etc. If your house is that much of a mess they will make you bring it into 100% compliance or do it for you and send you the bill.
It is actually the perfect amount of oversight without dealing with an oppressive HOA.
In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :
I'm with you on this. My area of the County is pretty reasonable when it comes to "messy" code violations. They normally just react to neighbor complaints and then make sure you follow through. Was I pissed when a neighbor complained about my un-tagged cars? Yes, but it had gotten a little excessive AND it motivated me to move some inventory and put in a privacy fence. The place looks better and has motivated me to do more landscaping.
The issue I have is when unrealistic (or stacking) fines are levied against homeowners without any communication from an HOA, City, etc.
In reply to hobiercr (FS) :
I keep the unregistered vehicles out of sight. All of my projects are in the backyard and not visible from the street, unless they are larger or people are looking for them. My front yard is manicured and neat. I don't have excessive cars in the front driveway. I still got a nastygram about SanFord when I was about halfway through the painting process because I had an abandoned bus in the yard. I called the city and offered to bring it down to city hall for an inspection of the registration and insurance paperwork and to prove it was running and driving. The city said as long as the paperwork was straight and it was mobile they were good with it, just try to get the paintwork done in a reasonable amount of time.
Then I parked it in the front driveway for a week. As a general rule, my neighbors don't mess with me anymore.
In reply to Toyman01 (Moderately Supportive Dude) :
That is exactly the setup I'm looking at for my country lot.
In reply to bmw88rider (Supportive Dude) :
The pictured building is from Ameribuilf Steel. I had them send me a quote about a year ago. It was a touch under $50k for the building engineered for 150 mph impact zone and a galvanized frame. It's 3000 sqft total. That's 1500 for living space and 1500 for shop space. My wife is even on board so there is a really good chance this will be happening in the not too distant future.
In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :
Nuts with these funky little pretend tracks. The track should have a minimum of 14 corners. All requiring Elevation changes including the 270 degree carousel. No less than 3 really long straights followed by tight corners. And at least 4 miles in total length.
