Another slow day

So, because of the slow day what to talk about? Well since this is my forum I suppose I can talk about anything I want really.

I read in the paper today that some home owners in a swanky subdivision are upset about things not being finished. They have a hold/retention pond that they claim is a breeding ground for mosquitoes. And a huge dirt pile that is dangerous because kids play on it. Plenty of vacant lots around as well that are over grown with weeds.

Why does this seem newsworthy? Well I think I can answer that some what. A developer buys a piece of property to develop, which automatically makes the "imagined" value of the property to inflate. Now, I say imagined here as that is what it is. For instance, there is a development near where I live where lots start at 95,000.00. Yes,  you read that right, a LOT. No house, no improvements just a vacant lot.

Now, is this worth it? Of course not. That piece of property is worth about 3,500.00 according to assessment. It is simple greed and imagined worth on the part of the developer. But wait, it gets better!

Now, you fork over all this money for a vacant lot what do you do with it? Well you add improvements according to the HOA, which state that "You must build with-in the standard of the community and construction MUST start with-in one year of purchase of your lot.". It then goes into great detail about how high your house can be, what color it can be, how many windows you can have facing the street and which side of the house your garage can be on. And yes, you do have to have a two car garage.

Now what does this mean? It basically means that if you don't do what they want, they can petition to have you "Removed from the area, revoking rights to the property and all contained there in.". WTF????? Yes, it means they can make you not only remove your flag pole, dig up your flower beds, tear down and move your garage, demolish your storage shed, re-paint your house, move or remove you dish, park your car somewhere else as it's "an eyesore" and.....Ready for this one????????Brace your self.......MOVE FROM YOUR HOUSE!!!!!!

Yep, just sunk 250,000.00 into building your home? Tough, you have to go! But before you do, you have to PAY to have the house "corrected" to fit the community guidelines. Matter if you join the HOA? Nope.

Now, you ask "How can this get any worse?" well let me clue you in....YOU PAY FOR THIS MONTHLY EVEN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO JOIN!!!!!!!  Yes, you pay a "fee" to the HOA regardless of the fact that you don't join or use any of the property facilities other than YOUR home. So regardless of if your property is paid for or not, you get a bill from the HOA.

Is this legal you ask? Yep. Sure is. Since you are informed of this before buying your property. So what that means if you want something other than the cookie cutter house that everyone else has then you need to look elsewhere to live.

Just another example of someone else wanting to tell someone else how they should live. Personally I would show them what they could do with their HOA contract on the front lawn.