[lair8]

Originally Posted by beach48urs

park 2 in garage and 2/3 in the damn driveway!

Do you really think most of the garages in these HOA communities can fit 2 cars? Even just 1 Corolla or Civic will take up 70% of the space of the average garage.

[Ghaati]

Originally Posted by lair8

It's not just that. Even if the typical garage were empty, it would still only fit 1 sedan and nothing else. Cars have gotten wider over the years, including sedans. While it may be technically possible to squeeze in 2 cars, you wouldn't want to try backing into or out of a driveway on an uphill slope with another car in the garage and another car on the driveway; you don't get much leeway.

Also, the number of cars per household has increased over the years:
* Both spouses are working instead of one.
* People in their 60's having to work several more years because '08 recession and covid recession messed them up, whereas their parents at the same age, were able to just both retire sooner and share only 1 car.
* People staying with their parents longer because rent prices have doubled.

Suburban residential areas were laid out with the 1950's nuclear family and 1950's economy in mind. So it's kind of outdated nowadays.

We have a pickup truck, a compact, and two golf carts. We don't have a garage. We manage to fit all 4 vehicles in our driveway - and we can get each one out, without having to move any of the others.

People need to keep certain needs in mind when selecting their future home. If you have 2, 3, 4 vehicles - you have to consider where you'll be parking them, when looking for your new home.

Florida is the land of HOAs. Everyone moving here should learn this, but not everyone does. But when they go to see an open house, it's right there in the listing: The HOA fee. That means they know before they put in an offer, that there's an HOA. That's the time to ask about parking. Not after they've already moved in.

[lair8]

Fair point. Solution: don't move to florida.

[Mightyqueen801]

I grew up in suburban New Jersey. There was no overnight parking on the streets in any of the towns near me, and it wasn't an HOA, it was the municipality. The more urbanish areas closer to the city had street parking.

I don't think it's all that uncommon, and it may have nothing to do with an HOA.

You didn't get towed right away, though. You got a ticket if you forgot and left your car out on the street overnight. It was usually 2 am to 6 am.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by AndySipowicz

If you can afford all those cars, you can afford proper storage for them.

When my uncle had the 6 cars, they lived in a 900 sq ft frame house with a driveway that held two cars and no garage. The cars ranged from a 1962 Pontiac to a 1972 Oldsmobile. All used, all cheap.

[Dave_n_Tenn]

Originally Posted by lair8

Because people don't have a choice. Right now houses are in short supply and prices have skyrocketed. Many people are lucky to take what they can get. Even though people may disagree with their current HOA, they don't want to move to a new place and pay significantly more for it.

In many areas of Florida, the majority of residences have HOA; while finding a non-HOA home is possible, that limits your pool of options.

There are more people that need a home than there are homes. HOA's know that homes are a necessity and in short supply.

If there's a lack of competition, you don't have to care too much about whether or not your customers are happy, because if one family decides to leave, there are 3-4 families lining up to get in that same home, and that slot can be filled the next month.

Incredibly inaccurate.

[AndySipowicz]

Originally Posted by WRM20

When my uncle had the 6 cars, they lived in a 900 sq ft frame house with a driveway that held two cars and no garage. The cars ranged from a 1962 Pontiac to a 1972 Oldsmobile. All used, all cheap.

I don't know when this was, and I really don't mean any disrespect, but he should've found another place for his jalopies or not gotten them to begin with.

[Nerad]

Originally Posted by beach48urs

Sorry friend or pal, you're dead wrong. It is no where NEAR the norm that residents have "4 cars or more" on a lot, including garages and driveways. What planet are you living on? It's very unusual here for a SF house to have.. 4 cars or more domiciled at a single SF residence in a decent development !......in the ghetto?, well NO...they even park on the lawns around here


I'm still laughing : "4 or more" VEHICLES ??????????? oh my my !!!!


If SO, park 2 in garage and 2/3 in the damn driveway! If any family needs more than THAT, they have untold issues

Without even thinking, over half the homes in my neighborhood have 4 or more vehicles. There are many homes with teenagers and college students. It’s really not that uncommon. Plus I have a hobby Mustang. i *wish* I wasn’t paying for 4 regular cars and maintenance and insurance but having two kids in college one of them a nursing student who needs a car for clinicals it’s the reality of life.

We have a large driveway but sometimes we have a bbq or the kids have a few friends over and they stay the night and their cars park on the street.

None of this is unusual or outlandish. What’s outlandish would be paying an HOA fee to then have
a hawkish towing company grab cars at the stoke of midnight. It makes zero sense.

Some petty rules that just make life harder and pit neighbor against neighbor. Then, paying for the privilege to have your neighbors police your home is the ultimate salt in the eyes lol.

Builders often use boiler plate HOA covenants so where it makes sense to limit street parking can then end up making no sense in other neighborhoods. It’s actually frightening reading some of these posts how people convince themselves some of these HOA rules make any sense.

[Nerad]

Originally Posted by Mightyqueen801

I grew up in suburban New Jersey. There was no overnight parking on the streets in any of the towns near me, and it wasn't an HOA, it was the municipality. The more urbanish areas closer to the city had street parking.

I don't think it's all that uncommon, and it may have nothing to do with an HOA.

You didn't get towed right away, though. You got a ticket if you forgot and left your car out on the street overnight. It was usually 2 am to 6 am.

No idea about NJ but are those narrow streets? That’s completely different than someone who just thinks cars should not be parked on the street.

In some cases where it’s heavy handed enforcement and trucks come in right at midnight my hunch is that someone’s pockets are getting lined. Our RE agent seems to know which are the worst HOAs but the concern is some nutty power freak gets on a board and starts trying to put in crazy rules.

Some HOAs seem way more laid back and have rules that aren’t so insane. I’ve seen some HOAs that allow boats to be in the driveway for up to so many days. Exactly what I need as I pull my boat home to do detailing or maintenance. Most marinas won’t allow you to work on your own boat so towing it home for a few days is common. So this is where parking cars on the street for a few days comes into play. It seems some of these HOAs get it but many don’t.

Some of these covenants read like someone from NYC wrote them because to them parking is a limited resource.

Tough finding the right home and HOAs has made us cross many homes immediately off the list.

[Nerad]

Originally Posted by Ghaati

We have a pickup truck, a compact, and two golf carts. We don't have a garage. We manage to fit all 4 vehicles in our driveway - and we can get each one out, without having to move any of the others.

People need to keep certain needs in mind when selecting their future home. If you have 2, 3, 4 vehicles - you have to consider where you'll be parking them, when looking for your new home.

Florida is the land of HOAs. Everyone moving here should learn this, but not everyone does. But when they go to see an open house, it's right there in the listing: The HOA fee. That means they know before they put in an offer, that there's an HOA. That's the time to ask about parking. Not after they've already moved in.

The HOAs aren’t the problem it’s the people behind them. Certainly parking space should be a consideration when buying a home but even in this thread people are posting as if multiple vehicles is some outlandish lavish luxury.

I don’t want to be in an HOA as I don’t want the hassle. My wife wants amenities like a pool and clubhouse so I’m getting squeezed