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It costs nothing for people who do it themselves; hand mowers don't break. The only legitimate reason not to confom would be the infirmities of age. However, some seem to be insinuating that this trollop deserves help because she presumably needs time for drugs, alcohol, and illicit sex. She neeeds a flogging. Taxpayers are already maintaining her in lavish splendor. If she refuses to do this little bit let this woman and her spawn move to the benighted warrens of the foulest regions where they can be in the company of their kind.
Let the persecution of honorable ladies and gentlemen cease. Asking a dignified but infirm lady to explain herself and beg for alms is an outrage. Thankfully, most of this committee have the honor and wisdom to act in a virtuous manner. The OP would do well to learn from them.
Teddy, please ignore my remarks. They came out of confusion around too many issues dumped into your thread. I think many poor comments were made including mine (and including yours: reference to gays in church). ......
You may not be aware that Teddy's reference to gays in church was in response to someone who had found and quoted a previous post of his in another thread (possibly in another forum also). That link to Teddy's previous post was taken down by a moderator, leaving his post "orphaned" and without apparent context. In other words, he was just defending himself.
Although you were responding not to me, but to someone else, I do have a reaction to your comment. We write posts and people respond to them. If we happen to engage in inconsistencies, mistakes, or contradictions, then it is only normal for others to point them out. That is not the same as being the "resident CD police".
Some people even imagine themselves to be the "on-topic" police. Imagine that!
Define the size of lawn (or lawns if front and rear) being mowed and how many times it is getting mowed for $35.
Having gotten about 2/3 of the way through this thread - my thoughts are...
It's a little like the blind men and the elephant. Everyone is writing from the POV of his/her own situation (with some hypotheticals thrown in). My husband and I live in a HOA that has about 1200 houses. The average head of household is about 40 - although there are some older people like us. The home values range from $400k to $4+ million. We are medium strict in terms of enforcing our covenants (which cover - among other things - exterior maintenance). And no allowances are made for stingy older people or spendthrift younger people or anyone else (the president of our sub-association - who usually initiates complaints - does so as a result of "drive-bys/walk-bys" - my husband was the chairperson of our rules enforcement committee - and neither usually knew anything about who owned particular houses before the date of the hearings). IOW - your lawn spoke for itself.
Most of the people here who don't maintain their property do so as a result of buying houses they can't afford/changed financial circumstances/etc. During the recent housing bust - we had about 15-20 houses go into foreclosure. And - when they did - owners not only stopped maintaining their property - they stopped paying their HOA fees as well. You can fine these people all you want - place liens on their property - etc. But you can't get blood from a stone. Luckily - our real estate market has picked up again - most of the foreclosures are finished - the houses have been resold - and they're being maintained again.
We personally own about 3/4 of an acre of land that has to be maintained. My husband used to be our "lawn guy" - but gave up his "job" last year. We got quotes from various services last year. They ranged from $150/month to $400/month. For weekly service in the summer (April through November) and every other week service in the winter (December through March). Which includes mowing - "blowing" - edging - shrub maintenance - weed control and spring cleanup. But not large tree maintenance or lawn chemicals. We went with a service that costs $262/month for a variety of reasons. And it provides excellent service at that price - for a piece of land that is most likely larger than most people own. IOW - I think it's probable that most homeowners with normal sized yards can get an ok - perhaps not excellent - job done for about $35 a pop/$140/month (perhaps somewhat more depending on the general price levels in the area in question).
Also - I think that in many - if not most - cases - any person (regardless of age) who cannot afford to maintain a particular property - and who isn't capable of doing the maintenance personally - should move/downsize. Perhaps someone might disagree when it comes to the Widow Smith who lives in a $75k house in a somewhat run down area and is squeaking by on her SS and a meager pension. Someone who - even if she sells - has limited or no options available elsewhere. But - I'm the "blind person" only looking at part of the elephant - and I don't live near the Widow Smith or in a neighborhood like hers. The mileage of everyone here may vary (a lot).
Finally - as my husband and I get older - there's less we can do personally in terms of maintaining our own property. Especially without waking up with sore backs/legs/whatever the next day. No way we're going to volunteer to do the physical labor necessary to maintain anyone else's house.
Also - in Florida - most of us have Augustine grass or similar. It can't be mowed with a push mower. So you're talking about powerful mostly gas mowers - edgers - string trimmers and the like. Dangerous equipment. There are all kinds of laws/rules to contend with when it comes to work like this. Child labor laws. Workers' comp laws. OSHA. Tax withholding. Unemployment insurance. Also insurance considerations (especially products liability if the homeowner is supplying the equipment). No way I'm going to get involved having some person's kid working with equipment like this on my property:
Also - I think that in many - if not most - cases - any person (regardless of age) who cannot afford to maintain a particular property - and who isn't capable of doing the maintenance personally - should move/downsize. Perhaps someone might disagree when it comes to the Widow Smith who lives in a $75k house in a somewhat run down area and is squeaking by on her SS and a meager pension. Someone who - even if she sells - has limited or no options available elsewhere. But - I'm the "blind person" only looking at part of the elephant - and I don't live near the Widow Smith or in a neighborhood like hers. The mileage of everyone here may vary (a lot).
And that's where I differ because I can well imagine someone who owns a nice house (not a $75,000 house. is there any such thing?) trying to maintain it on a meager pension. Just because they own a $250,000 home instead of a $million home doesn't make them riff raff. Divorce, death of spouse, serious illness, all can leave a person with less money than they would have had and why should they be forced to live in some dump or in an institution when a helping hand could keep them in their own home.
We have a new (to us) house. The yard and sidewalks can get out of hand if I get busy at work. Sixteen hour workdays or even twelve hour days doesn't leave much daylight to do the work needed. Mowing in the middle of the night? That would make neighbors justifiably p'd off. I am working to an saner solution. Landscaping with perennials and rock gardens. My new neighborhood has people with fun 'toys' to make life easy. Snow hits, and I blow the sidewalks of a few neighbors as well as mine. My neighbors do the same.
A neighbor offered to let me use his garden tiller. I like my neighbors. My kind of people.
I have the brochure of a robo-mower. I am seriously looking at that possibility. The wire gets buried around the perimeter of the lawn. Robo takes care of it. If the equipment will stand up to years of use, the dollar cost average makes it a reasonable option. A few amenities can make this house an age-in-place friendly house, without the crazy rules (to me) of an HOA. A combination of self reliance, neighbors working together, and a little ingenuity makes a more interesting life.
BTW, our house isn't far from the $75k range. Different parts of the country have vastly different housing costs.
Last edited by Devans0; 05-11-2014 at 09:07 AM..
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