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You don't have to pay more. Buy a non-HOA lot and build a house on it. Plenty to be had if you look hard enough.
Doesn't have to be an empty lot, either, as you can buy a teardown, too. In many cases you're better off buying a junky house on a good lot as so many people think "oh no, there is a house on that lot already so nothing I can do." In many cases even with paying to have the house demolished you can still have less into a lot than buying one with nothing on it to begin with. In my opinion people around here overcharge for vacant lots because that's what most people look for. For some reason it seems people don't think about bulldozing anything. Maybe they think it costs more than it really does.
Unless you have the equipment & wherewithal to do it yourself, bulldozing & hauling away a tear-down costs money. That may be what you're paying extra for on that (newly) empty lot.
Unless you have the equipment & wherewithal to do it yourself, bulldozing & hauling away a tear-down costs money. That may be what you're paying extra for on that (newly) empty lot.
I understand that, my point was even with lot clearing costs factored-in you can still have significantly less money into a property than buying a lot already vacated.
In my case, the cost of my occupied lot PLUS the lot clearing costs were A LOT lower than buying a vacant lot that was ready to go. And I mean a lot. Huge. When I first started looking for a place to build our house but didn't know any better and focused on "land" when searching online or whatever. My realtor told me to search for all properties, including those with homes on them, as that might be a better way to do it. She was right.
On my lot I just hired a grading company to pick the lot clean and the builder took over from there. This was after getting a quote from my builder to clear the debris, too. My builder wanted to charge me twice as much as I got it done for by contracting it myself. They admitted they didn't want to screw with the debris removal part of it so they were going to be high. The builder was competitive on the costs to clear some trees for the house placement and the general grading of the lot.
Do your documents say they can actually come in your backyard on a regular basis? Or do they say they can enter your back yard without notice if there is due cause for concern, say next door neighbor saw flames there from her second floor window.
The latter. They can peek over or the neighbors can report it. They were looking for things like Weeds or accumulation of garbage, just things that no one really wants to see in teh front yard, except they decided they didn't want those in private backyards either. Also had to get approval by them to plant in the backyard. ;-/
The latter. They can peek over or the neighbors can report it. They were looking for things like Weeds or accumulation of garbage, just things that no one really wants to see in teh front yard, except they decided they didn't want those in private backyards either. Also had to get approval by them to plant in the backyard. ;-/
The latter. They can peek over or the neighbors can report it. They were looking for things like Weeds or accumulation of garbage, just things that no one really wants to see in teh front yard, except they decided they didn't want those in private backyards either. Also had to get approval by them to plant in the backyard. ;-/
I have no problem with that type of rule if your yard can be seen from any neighbors house. If I lived next door to you and tried to sell my house, and you had all kinds of weeds and trash in your backyard that can be seen from the 2nd story windows in my house, that eyesore would make it harder to sell my house.
If I was a buyer looking for a place I would not want to live next to someone like that. If the backyard is trashed then there is a higher probability the rest of the house is trashed, too, which would lead to a lower selling price if they ever tried to sell it. (Which would then be a bad, lower priced comp if I tried to sell mine.)
That HOA law seems fair to me as it protects the value of the homes around you, and even protects a homeowner from themselves if they can't figure out a trashy lot will lead to a lower value later.
I have no problem with that type of rule if your yard can be seen from any neighbors house. If I lived next door to you and tried to sell my house, and you had all kinds of weeds and trash in your backyard that can be seen from the 2nd story windows in my house, that eyesore would make it harder to sell my house.
Maybe you should have purchased a second story house. The fact that you can look down into their yard devalues their house because most folks aren't interested in being on display. So now you are the problem.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iamweasel
If I was a buyer looking for a place I would not want to live next to someone like that.
Well why do you think you are entitled to something other than the property you are purchasing? No worries, however, you as the buyer can look elsewhere and the seller has suffered no loss. There are people that don't want HOA property either but I don't see you trying to get rid of the HOA so that you can expand your potential buyers in that scenario.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iamweasel
If the backyard is trashed then there is a higher probability the rest of the house is trashed, too, which would lead to a lower selling price if they ever tried to sell it. (Which would then be a bad, lower priced comp if I tried to sell mine.)
Puhlease. When the HOA forecloses on you it devalues everyone else's houses. Since HOAs are supposedly there to "protect property values" then they shouldn't have foreclosure authority which only lowers values. See? Two can play your absurd game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by iamweasel
That HOA law seems fair to me as it protects the value of the homes around you, and even protects a homeowner from themselves if they can't figure out a trashy lot will lead to a lower value later.
It's not a "law" and the only value it protects is the value that the HOA attorney and HOA management company can create for themselves out of your home. The HOA has no business going into backyards.
BTW ya'll may want to read the case law about the LOVELY resident who SUED their CONDO HOA because they fined her for throwing her mail on the floor by the mail boxes.
She wanted a trash can maintained and they declined so she retaliated by throwing the mail on the floor.
She WON in court. A LARGE judgement.
Being a JERK goes both ways. Three ways, in fact. The volunteer HOA board members, the goofy RESIDENTS and the taxpayer funded heavy handed COURTS. She, in fact, was a lawyer.
Condo corporations have no business trying to "fine" anyone. They are not governments, courts, or police. Glad to hear yet another successful suit by an owner versus the condo corporation. Please provide a link to the story if you have one.
Maybe you should have purchased a second story house. The fact that you can look down into their yard devalues their house because most folks aren't interested in being on display. So now you are the problem.
Well why do you think you are entitled to something other than the property you are purchasing? No worries, however, you as the buyer can look elsewhere and the seller has suffered no loss. There are people that don't want HOA property either but I don't see you trying to get rid of the HOA so that you can expand your potential buyers in that scenario.
Puhlease. When the HOA forecloses on you it devalues everyone else's houses. Since HOAs are supposedly there to "protect property values" then they shouldn't have foreclosure authority which only lowers values. See? Two can play your absurd game.
It's not a "law" and the only value it protects is the value that the HOA attorney and HOA management company can create for themselves out of your home. The HOA has no business going into backyards.
HOA forclosures are extremely rare and some folks just seem to have a hard time grasping what the purpose of an HOA is in the first place. They are meant to handle common areas and other neighborhood maintenance plus protect owners in a given neighborhood from ending up next to a person who lets their lot become an eyesore. It's a voluntary thing and nobody is forced to be in an HOA. Personally, I like having HOA controls over the properties around me because then I know they will be maintained properly.
Are you against zoning rules, too? How would you feel if you bought outside an HOA and then a company gobbled up the properties next to yours, got the zoning changed and a pig farm or something next to you? Zoning laws regulate what someone can or can't do with a given property so how is that any different?
If someone is simply against all rules and thinks they should be able to do whatever they want on a property that is fine. I'm just not one of those people. I want the properties that surround me to remain in a way that doesn't hurt my property value. That's why I don't mind most HOAs and owned two homes within one. (My current house is not in an HOA.). Never once did we have any issues in our neighborhoods. I'm sure there are some really stupid rules on some HOAs but overall I think most of them are reasonable.
My HOA just told me I could not bury my mother in my yard. I did not see that in my CC&Rs
Sue the buggers. Sue 'em.
Let us know how that works out for you.
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