So bummed

lyndausvi · February 2015

So I finally got DH to look at a new build. It's a little farther from work for him, but not horrible. (note we have always lived with in 5 miles of work, so anything farther is "long" for him). Love the house, the proposed lot. Great views of the mountains, river. Faced South to get a lot of sun. The HOA fees were very reasonable and included the pool and golf. There is a nice restaurant/bar. Overall a nice place and more importantly in our budget. Plus the developer is a member who eats at DH's place every week. Loves DH. Pretty sure we could get them to throw in some upgrades.

So after about 45 mins the sales can causally mentions that the HOA limited dogs to 1 per household.

WTF? These are single family homes, not condos, townhouses or duplexes.

GRR, what a fucking waste of time.

mikenberger · February 2015

lyndausvi said:
So I finally got DH to look at a new build. It's a little farther from work for him, but not horrible. (note we have always lived with in 5 miles of work, so anything farther is "long" for him). Love the house, the proposed lot. Great views of the mountains, river. Faced South to get a lot of sun. The HOA fees were very reasonable and included the pool and golf. There is a nice restaurant/bar. Overall a nice place and more importantly in our budget. Plus the developer is a member who eats at DH's place every week. Loves DH. Pretty sure we could get them to throw in some upgrades.

So after about 45 mins the sales can causally mentions that the HOA limited dogs to 1 per household.

WTF? These are single family homes, not condos, townhouses or duplexes.

GRR, what a fucking waste of time.

That's the worst

We have a similar development here. 1 dog only. I'll never understand why people want to PAY to live in a place where they tell you how to conduct yourself. Maybe they'll start limiting the amount of children per household?

larrygaga · February 2015

I will never ever live in a place with a HOA. I want to do whatever the fuck I please with my property.

Plus, it's so boring when all the houses and yards look the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!

flyingfoxes · February 2015

What a bunch of crap.

MyNameIsNot · February 2015

That's just silly in single family homes. I could see limiting it to 3-4 (no one wants to live next door to the crazy cat lady), but only 1 is crazy. Dogs like having siblings!

beethery · February 2015

Horse apples!

Maggie0829 · February 2015

Ugh, that sucks Lynda. HOAs suck so bad sometimes and the rules can just be so damn ridiculous. I get rentals having those types of rules but when you are BUYING a home that you will own, it really pisses me off that they still try to control what you can do to that home and what you can have inside that home.

H and I had a similar issue, but only AFTER we bought our home and moved in. When we bought (had a town home built), the sales guy said that work trucks were allowed. This was important for us because when we rented we ran into so many places that did not allow H to park his work truck in the over flow lots. Then we moved in and got a letter from the property management group stating that the truck was in violation of the HOA rules. Well I raised hell and told the property management lady that we were told by the sales guy that the truck was allowed and that it was one of the reasons why we bought where we did. I told her the truck was going to stay parked in the overflow lot, but that H will park it towards the back. She was not happy with me but I guess she saw the steam coming out of my ears and decided to just drop it.

It just infuriates me that because H works for a company that gives him a work vehicle that he has no choice but to drive that he then gets penalized (for lack of a better word) when living in certain areas. Sorry not sorry that he works for a living and because of that allows us to be able to afford our home.

banana468 · February 2015

Some HOA laws are a PITA. I think MIL ams FIL's HOA head a similar rule about trucks-even a small pickup. But he's been allowed to park his Suburban and Expedition. OK?

I can understand the dog rules in a condo bit in a house it makes no sense. Sorry Lynda. That is the suck.

lyndausvi · February 2015

My brother's house in AZ was hard to find because everyone was the same on the outside. Same style, same color, same landscaping. They had no choices to have big ass numbers so you knew which house was what. I found that to be ridiculous.

This neighborhood wasn't like that though. They all had the same vibe, but the outsides were different enough in style,size or color that it didn't look all the same.

We saw yards with sheds, play-sets, trampolines. So I didn't get the impression they were very strict about what can go on your lawns. I doubt boats or campers could sit out though. Which doesn't apply to us anyway.

I've only found one house here that didn't have HOAs. They are pretty common. Although some of the HOAs were just for trash and snow removals. From the lawns it was clear they didn't have restrictions on what can be stored on your land.

maeday2 · February 2015

Ugh. I feel your frustration. It sucks to find a property that's otherwise perfect aside from one major detail. Limiting to one dog seems crazy to me, though.

We're in the hunt for a house right now and have found one we LOVE, but can't get in to view it because the seller's are elderly and won't vacate due to snow. It's so frustrating since houses in that neighborhood move very quickly and we're 95% ready to make an offer. We just need to see the inside. I guess since we're not allowed to view it right now, no one else is either. So there's the silver lining.

KatieinBkln · February 2015

HOAs are nuts, man.

I have always been under the (podunk? Naive? Who knows?) impression that when you own something, you can do whatever you want with it, as long as it doesn't affect other people. Then I moved to NYC and was shocked at all the rules that come with buying a condo or co-op. Sure, you are buying one apartment in a larger building full of people, but it doesn't really feel like ownership to me if your co-op board can unilaterally decide not to allow dogs.

Not that I will ever be able to afford even the down payment on a New York apartment, but even if I hit the jackpot, I can't imagine owning property that comes with so many strings attached.

AddieCake · February 2015

Awww, I'm sorry.

VulgarGirl · February 2015

lyndausvi said:

My brother's house in AZ was hard to find because everyone was the same on the outside. Same style, same color, same landscaping. They had no choices to have big ass numbers so you knew which house was what. I found that to be ridiculous.

Yep, that sounds like AZ. I fucking hate it, it's my chief complaint about houses here. They all look exactly identical.

My dad and step mom have lived in their house for 10 years. I still drive right the fuck by it because it looks like all the other houses on the block.

katiekessler123 · February 2015

I'm sure you have your reasons for looking at a new house, but I'm just throwing this out there: my husband and I own a house that was built in 1900. Our home inspector told us it was the sturdiest house he had ever inspected and that so many new houses have tons of problems because they are built so quickly and cheaply. Multiple other contractors etc. have echoed similar thoughts. Our friends recently built a new home, about a year ago. They have had so many problems with their house. The floors in their kitchen are literally built on a slant. Anyway, just food for thought. And, I have to say I agree with Larrygaga, new developments freak me out a bit..it reminds me of Edward Scissorhands where all of the houses look the same with tiny little trees.

climbingsingle · February 2015

larrygaga said:
I will never ever live in a place with a HOA. I want to do whatever the fuck I please with my property.

Plus, it's so boring when all the houses and yards look the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!

Totally agree with this. They're not common here in NY (unless you live in a TH) and it's weird to me.

Lynda, that sucks!

lyndausvi · February 2015

katiekessler123 said:
I'm sure you have your reasons for looking at a new house, but I'm just throwing this out there: my husband and I own a house that was built in 1900. Our home inspector told us it was the sturdiest house he had ever inspected and that so many new houses have tons of problems because they are built so quickly and cheaply. Multiple other contractors etc. have echoed similar thoughts. Our friends recently built a new home, about a year ago. They have had so many problems with their house. The floors in their kitchen are literally built on a slant. Anyway, just food for thought, but good luck with whatever you decide to do! And, I have to say I agree with Larrygaga, new developments freak me out a bit..it reminds me of Edward Scissorhands where all of the houses look the same with tiny little trees.

We live in the mountains of Colorado. Inventory is very low for our price range. And well, there is not a lot of inventory for 100 year old homes as there was not a huge population here back then. Sure the exist, but way out of our price range.

ETA - my parents have built a bunch of homes in different parts of the country. Never had a problem. Just like everything else, some new builds are not done right. But that can be said for homes built during any era. There are good builders and bad builders.

WinstonsGirl · February 2015

No HOA's are part of the reason we moved to our current neighbourhood and not the one next door. I can't stand them.

Could you negotiate something allowing more than 1 dog onto your mortgage?? I know sometimes you can get away with it, though not always.

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

What a load of shit, Lynda. I'm sorry.

@larrygaga I'm with you on those neighborhoods. H used to work for a big developer around here and I just haaaated the way they all looked. So cookie cutter, and I'll be damned if anyone thinks they can tell me what color Christmas lights I can put up or whether I can have a fence.

MyNameIsNot · February 2015

KatieinBkln said:
HOAs are nuts, man.

I have always been under the (podunk? Naive? Who knows?) impression that when you own something, you can do whatever you want with it, as long as it doesn't affect other people. Then I moved to NYC and was shocked at all the rules that come with buying a condo or co-op. Sure, you are buying one apartment in a larger building full of people, but it doesn't really feel like ownership to me if your co-op board can unilaterally decide not to allow dogs.

Not that I will ever be able to afford even the down payment on a New York apartment, but even if I hit the jackpot, I can't imagine owning property that comes with so many strings attached.

But that's the whole thing, it does effect other people. Yes, HOAs can be very extreme, but if you've ever lived in a neighborhood where your neighbors refuse to take down their christmas lights or there's a dozen cars parked next door, etc, you see why those things matter.

A good friend is trying to sell her starter home right now in a neighborhood with no HOA. Her next door neighbors refuse to clean up the junk in their front yard (including a giant broken television set). It technically doesn't violate any county ordinance, so there's nothing friend can do, but it's negatively impacting her ability to sell the house.

I'm not saying matchy matchy ticky-tacky houses are great either, but I do think it's reasonable for an HOA to put reasonable rules in place for a neighborhood to protect the other neighbors. What's reasonable depends on the locale. I think one dog is extreme, but limiting the number of dogs people can have does make some sense.

levioosa · February 2015

That's a bummer. We're running into HOAs out here too in the area we'd like to buy. Some of them are ridiculous.

SmileDamnit · February 2015

That's bullfuck, Lynda. What a letdown

I moved to the burbs when I moved in with H and it was the first time I've ever lived in an HOA governed community. Not my first choice, but it's where SS goes to school (…H moved down here when SS started school b/c it's the best district in the state), and obviously good schools trump annoying HOAs.

thespeshulestsnowflake · February 2015

climbingwife said:

larrygaga said:
I will never ever live in a place with a HOA. I want to do whatever the fuck I please with my property.

Plus, it's so boring when all the houses and yards look the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!
Totally agree with this. They're not common here in NY (unless you live in a TH) and it's weird to me.

Lynda, that sucks!

I cannot stand cookie cutter houses. That's one thing I love about where I live now, none of the houses look the same. Identifying someone's house is as easy as saying "oh it is the one on the corner with the purple door."

luckya23 · February 2015

larrygaga said:
I will never ever live in a place with a HOA. I want to do whatever the fuck I please with my property.

Plus, it's so boring when all the houses and yards look the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!

Totally agree with you. Sometimes I think living within the city limits is too restricting for my personality, but I like my small yard, sidewalks, and commercial things within walking distance.

VulgarGirl · February 2015

MyNameIsNot said:
HOAs are nuts, man.

I have always been under the (podunk? Naive? Who knows?) impression that when you own something, you can do whatever you want with it, as long as it doesn't affect other people. Then I moved to NYC and was shocked at all the rules that come with buying a condo or co-op. Sure, you are buying one apartment in a larger building full of people, but it doesn't really feel like ownership to me if your co-op board can unilaterally decide not to allow dogs.

Not that I will ever be able to afford even the down payment on a New York apartment, but even if I hit the jackpot, I can't imagine owning property that comes with so many strings attached.

But that's the whole thing, it does effect other people. Yes, HOAs can be very extreme, but if you've ever lived in a neighborhood where your neighbors refuse to take down their christmas lights or there's a dozen cars parked next door, etc, you see why those things matter.

Actually...no I don't see why this matters. So someone leaves up Christmas lights all year round, so the fuck what? I like like twinkle lights myself. We have ours up inside still we don't have much of an outside to work with.

theartistformerlyknownas · February 2015

MagicInk said:

MyNameIsNot said:
HOAs are nuts, man.

I have always been under the (podunk? Naive? Who knows?) impression that when you own something, you can do whatever you want with it, as long as it doesn't affect other people. Then I moved to NYC and was shocked at all the rules that come with buying a condo or co-op. Sure, you are buying one apartment in a larger building full of people, but it doesn't really feel like ownership to me if your co-op board can unilaterally decide not to allow dogs.

Not that I will ever be able to afford even the down payment on a New York apartment, but even if I hit the jackpot, I can't imagine owning property that comes with so many strings attached.
But that's the whole thing, it does effect other people. Yes, HOAs can be very extreme, but if you've ever lived in a neighborhood where your neighbors refuse to take down their christmas lights or there's a dozen cars parked next door, etc, you see why those things matter.

Actually...no I don't see why this matters. So someone leaves up Christmas lights all year round, so the fuck what? I like like twinkle lights myself. We have ours up inside still we don't have much of an outside to work with.

We drove around our potential new neighborhood last night and it made me smile to see how many people still had their lights on. They were pretty.

lyndausvi · February 2015

I did mention the golf included in the HOAs, but I might not have been clear it's a golf club neighborhood. Golf courses have a certain look and having junk stored all over the lawn is not one of those looks.So I understand having some rules about that kind of stuff.

I read the other rules and they looked pretty standard for HOA on a golf course. Nothing overly restrictive except for the 1 dog per household rule that would effect us.

No big deal. As spring and summer comes I'm sure something will pop up for us.

katiekessler123 · February 2015

luckya23- I'm not sure what city you are in, but we also bought a house in a city. We LOVE living within walking distance of probably 30 + restaurants, shops, coffee shops, parks, etc. Most weekends we park our car and don't get in it again until work on Monday. I agree that it was limiting at first when we started looking, and I felt like we made some compromises on what we wanted in a house, but it's worth it for the quality of life that comes with city living, in my opinion.

bethsmiles · February 2015

larrygaga said:
I will never ever live in a place with a HOA. I want to do whatever the fuck I please with my property.

Plus, it's so boring when all the houses and yards look the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!

This is exactly how I feel.

It really sucks that you loved the house and they have that stupid one dog rule.

lyndausvi · February 2015

bethsmiles said:

larrygaga said:
I will never ever live in a place with a HOA. I want to do whatever the fuck I please with my property.

Plus, it's so boring when all the houses and yards look the same. Tell me I'm not crazy!

This is exactly how I feel.
It really sucks that you loved the house and they have that stupid one dog rule.

I know. DH golfs and loves pools. Both are within walking distance and the bar/restaurant too.

It was a nice size for us (just us, no kids, no plans on kids). Had a study for my home office. Nice chef's kitchen for DH. Nice views. Energy efficient.

Grr. I need to just stop. Something will come our way eventually. Until then we can save for a bigger DP.

KatieinBkln · February 2015

MyNameIsNot said:

KatieinBkln said:
HOAs are nuts, man.

I have always been under the (podunk? Naive? Who knows?) impression that when you own something, you can do whatever you want with it, as long as it doesn't affect other people. Then I moved to NYC and was shocked at all the rules that come with buying a condo or co-op. Sure, you are buying one apartment in a larger building full of people, but it doesn't really feel like ownership to me if your co-op board can unilaterally decide not to allow dogs.

Not that I will ever be able to afford even the down payment on a New York apartment, but even if I hit the jackpot, I can't imagine owning property that comes with so many strings attached.
But that's the whole thing, it does effect other people. Yes, HOAs can be very extreme, but if you've ever lived in a neighborhood where your neighbors refuse to take down their christmas lights or there's a dozen cars parked next door, etc, you see why those things matter.

A good friend is trying to sell her starter home right now in a neighborhood with no HOA. Her next door neighbors refuse to clean up the junk in their front yard (including a giant broken television set). It technically doesn't violate any county ordinance, so there's nothing friend can do, but it's negatively impacting her ability to sell the house.

I'm not saying matchy matchy ticky-tacky houses are great either, but I do think it's reasonable for an HOA to put reasonable rules in place for a neighborhood to protect the other neighbors. What's reasonable depends on the locale. I think one dog is extreme, but limiting the number of dogs people can have does make some sense.

I'm not against all HOAs on principle. (I should have said SOME HOAs are nuts). I'm against the kind that nanny-state a person into limiting the number of dogs they own vs. being responsible for those dogs (for example).

I don't mind an HOA (or neighborhood association, or city law) that prohibits planting a giant tree in your yard that blocks the view of your neighbor when they're trying to back out of their driveway. I would mind an HOA that states "No Douglas Firs allowed!"

That is the difference. That's what I mean when I qualify the "whatever you want" with "doesn't affect/harm other people."

climbingsingle · February 2015

My neighbor still has his Christmas lights up. I can't say it really bothers me. Actually, he still has some Halloween decorations out there too.

So bummed

Re: So bummed

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