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Yeah, it was moving day. But I think there's something fundamentally different about someone who stacks trash bags, cardboard boxes, and a pet carrier outside next to the house rather than keeping it in the garage or otherwise out of sight...as the CC&Rs they just signed stipulate. We went back and they've just added to that pile in the narrow space between our houses.
Oh for crying out loud! They JUST moved in! Of course they have a ton of trash. Give them a week or two and it will be gone. They may need to set up trash pick up. Maybe they have CARS or BOXES in their garage right now so the trash has to go outside.
Don't be THAT neighbor....the neighborhood jerk who makes life hell for everyone else. You already sound like the neighbor from hell and you don't even own the place yet. You sound like the kind of person who needs acreage or their own island. You're in your 30's....an age where most people are having kids. You're moving to a development that will have kids all over the place. How did you not think of that before building a house in a development?
My experience with neighbors and HOA is most of the battles/complaints involve just a few...
On occasion there will be a bad apple that everyone is glad to see go... often it is just a clash of personalities and the problem is that getting off on the wrong foot is very hard to correct...
Or maybe they shouldn't move into a community with CC&Rs if they are not going to abide by them?
Who are you to judge? You do NOT even live there! It's not your house yet. You'll have boxes, too. Boxes and extra trash are always common when people move in. You're not even giving them a chance to have the trash picked up. You're being totally unreasonable. You do NOT live there!
Hate to break it to you, but CC&Rs aren't the beginning and end of the world. Some HOA's aren't super great at enforcing the regs. Others are the HOA Nazi's. Sounds like you prefer the latter. You seriously need to chill out. You'll NEVER make friends in the neighborhood with this kind of attitude. Having peace with neighbors makes life far easier than complaining about their boxes before you even own the house. I totally would not want you as a neighbor. If I found out the boxes disturbed you this much, I'd probably get more just to irritate you because you're sooooooo unreasonable. Go buy your own island. That's the only way you'll have everything the way you want it. If you can't afford that, tough. You have to learn to live with neighbors.
I don't really see why the OP is being faulted for wanting to keep this new investment looking new and wonderful before they get the chance to move in. It's a model home, those are bought as-is. I would imagine if you were in their shoes you would get a little worried about new sod or boxes and huge articles of trash as well.
Also, the OP has never said that children themselves are an issue. I'm not sure where that assumption has come from. I find that being concerned and already wanting to show a pride of ownership something that a neighborhood would find an asset. I seriously doubt that would make them the "neighborhood jerk".
Also, from the sound of their previous neighbors, they're likely jumpy and nervous to begin with. In reality, the OP is most likely a wonderful neighbor to have. They seem polite and concerned with the neighborhood.
All of this equals chaos. Whether it calms down is anyone's guess, but probably. As the kids get older, they won't be on their bikes as much. And 5-10 years down the road, the kids will be out of the house and at college. Maybe they'll get transferred next year. Who knows? Or, maybe, they'll end up being the absolute best neighbors you've ever had and will be lifelong friends.
Just go with the flow and give it a chance. Think positive.
We went to live abroad for 3 months a few years ago, while my husband worked on a project with an overseas company. We came back and a neighbor had sold their house, and the new neighbors had put up an ugly 6' privacy fence in front of our high-end black chain fence that blended so nicely into the greenery that bordered both our yards. Turns out they also have 3 yappy little dogs and they tended to leave them outside overnight. Our first week back, I ended up having to go over there at 1 am to ask them to please, please quiet their dogs -- their backyard was near our bedroom window and the damn dogs barked at EVERYTHING. I have dogs, too, but I never allow them outside after 9 pm because they tend to bark at the raccoons and other nocturnal animals in the woods behind our house. I can't imagine leaving 3 yappy little dogs outside all night long! (their bedroom was on the other side of their house.)
They got annoyed with us because they said that "our" dogs made "their" dogs bark, and if we hadn't gotten a dog, none of this would have happened. I had to remind them that my dogs were actually here years before they were, and were only being boarded while we were gone, and then commented that the fence probably made their dogs wonder what was on the other side and they barked out of curiosity. My dogs were very curious what the heck was yapping on the other side of the fence, but after a few weeks, they ignored it. So here we are, 3 years later . . . still yappy dogs, but at least they bring them in at night.
Maybe it's just my strict military family upbringing but I was taught to never make your problem anyone else's. Moving frequently as a kid it was actually my job to cut up and twine the cardboard for recycling collection in the garage. These are just strewn out there not even broken down and over the property line. A trash day has come and gone and they do have the bins so they are setup.
Yes I would be hesitant after that but it's because I would prefer not to live next door to that. We've moved a lot and never piled up trash outside other than to have a pile for the trash pick-up at the curb. And that was at the home we moved out of, not the home we moved into.
Or maybe they shouldn't move into a community with CC&Rs if they are not going to abide by them?
I can see it now. You'll get yourself on the board and spend all your spare time cruising the neighborhood measuring grass height, timing garbage can movements and seeing who's washing their car in the driveway.
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