DIYbanter - View Single Post - HOAs

On 19 Dec 2005 21:55:39 -0600, (Todd H.) wrote:

(D. Gerasimatos) writes:

My question is: Why do you care what color the house next door is?

You're focusing overmuch on the purple house. Make it the tons of
autos always parked on the parkway. Make it RV's in the driveway. Or
boats. Or disabled cars. Or really wacky looking additions. Check
the home repair newsgroup--not too long ago, some idiot wanted to
convert an in ground swimming pool into living space. If he was in a
municipality with a lax building code.... imagine.

Municipalities worth living in will address these problems. If
building codes are so lax in certain places, that's probably because
the residents want them that way. Your obsession with controlling the
things that matter to you (paint color, number and type of vehicles,
etc.) would kill you in such locations and therefore should be a free
clue that you should not live there.

People care because they know that--even it it doesn't offend their
own sensibilities--it is likely to drive buyers away when it comes
time to sell the property.

You willfully disregard that old adage: one man's trash is another
man's treasure. What you perceive to be extreme is perfectly
tolerable to a lot of people.

The other problems (if you perceive them to be problems) can be
handled by municipal ordinances.

If and only if the ordinances exist. Trouble is, you will find that
municipal ordinances don't disallow things that prudent sellers really
wouldn't want to have happening next door without recourse.

Please give us reasonable examples of such things. Paint color, as
you know, doesn't count because that can be changed very easily and is
highly a matter of personal taste anyway.

I think you are overreacting to Dimitri's essential point, which is
"live and let live." Everything really generally does come out in the
wash, assuming no malice involved (and if there is malice, let's
remember that other old adage: "what goes around comes around").

And I speak as someone who has bought and sold four houses in
different locations in the same city.