I'll tell you what these HOA's in Tampa should be doing! (Orlando: foreclosures, rentals)

[cjrudy]

We are moving down next year and this is my worst fear, psychotic HOA's. I have done some research on many in the area finding some with crazy rules. I'm not sure I can stand someone telling me when I can park in my driveway, when I can open my garage door and plenty of other bizarre rules.

[BucFan]

Got to read your HOA documents for sure. Do you feel that HOA should pay to have someone help the OP with painting his/her house? Do you think HOAs are bottomless money pits that can afford to do that? Some people are barking up the wrong tree, in my opinion. Instead of complaining about HOAs they should be blaming themselves for not reading the documents that they agree to.

[gulfporter]

I will never understand why people would buy in a HOA community. Gawd knows there are enough government regulations when it comes to home ownership; why would anyone want to add another layer of bureaucracy to their lives in the form of amateur Napoleon-wannabees.

[gulfporter]

Here's how life is in NON HOA neighborhoods:
Being Neighborly on The Gabber

Being Neighborly
by Cathy Salustri
Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 5:53 pm

Being Neighborly | gulfport, neighbors,tober,grantham

Mark Grantham was the grateful recipient of Saturday's effort

When some members of the Gulfport Neighbors learned how local Mark Grantham’s yard had gotten away from him – largely because he has a brain tumor that results in eyesight and balance troubles – they decided to lend a neighborly hand with what they call a “flash cleanup”Saturday morning, April 26.

After a morning’s work – and a lunch supplied by Fazio’s pizza – Grantham described the difference as “night and day.”

Grantham has lived in the Middle East, worked as a buyer for high-end retail, and taught history. When doctors discovered a brain tumor, his life changed. Gone were the days of traveling to Syria and long workweeks. Grantham now walks with a cane, but still remains active in the community. He volunteers as a mentor at Boca Ciega High School, serves on Gulfport’s Historic Preservation Board and also recently accepted a board position with the Gulfport Historical Society. He can no longer drive; instead, he walks or takes busses to where he needs to go.

Even as volunteers used chainsaws to remove dead branches and stumps, adding to the mountain of yard waste awaiting pickup, Grantham carried yard waste to the curb, his cane in one hand and a pile of vines in the other.

“Our first ‘flash cleanup’ was great,”Gulfport Neighbors Vice President Margarete Tober said. “The amount of work accomplished by the 19 volunteers, in a few short hours, was amazing.”

Different than prior cleanups, the flash cleanups should take no more than a few hours, according to Tober.

“The idea is to complete the project in a ‘flash,’”she said, adding that “part of the notion of the flash clean-up is to get immediate neighbors involved.”These cleanups do not require as much planning or as many resources as the larger projects.

Although the cleanup didn’t take place on as grand a scale as others, to Grantham, it mattered just as much.

“The actions of the volunteers and Fazio's show us why we are lucky to live in such a town that truly cares about the residents,” Grantham wrote on the Gabber’s “Gulfport Ideas and Opinions”Facebook page Saturday afternoon.

[PhotoProIP]

Originally Posted by BucFan

Got to read your HOA documents for sure. Do you feel that HOA should pay to have someone help the OP with painting his/her house? Do you think HOAs are bottomless money pits that can afford to do that? Some people are barking up the wrong tree, in my opinion. Instead of complaining about HOAs they should be blaming themselves for not reading the documents that they agree to.

I did NOT say "pay"! nowhere....you can't read...
I said help finding a few volunteers! PLEASE READ BEFORE MAKING NASTY REPLIES TO ME, OR STAY OUT OF THREADS! YOUR NASTINESS IS UNBELIEVABLE.

[PhotoProIP]

“The actions of the volunteers and Fazio's show us why we are lucky to live in such a town that truly cares about the residents,” Grantham wrote on the Gabber’s “Gulfport Ideas and Opinions”Facebook page Saturday afternoon.

THAT was what I was referring to! But obviously Good luck with that in Florida!

These HOA's need to be supportive of those who live there, and not treat them like garbage when gras dies, or a house needs painting...these are not things that are caused by a homeowner, these things happen, paint doesn't last 1000 years. My point was simply that instead of acting like jerks, without even KNOWING the homeowners and their situation, instead of sending these impersonal letters threatening all sorts of things, they could instead offer to help them out.

But niceness is harder to achieve than nastiness!

Originally Posted by gulfporter

Here's how life is in NON HOA neighborhoods:
Being Neighborly on The Gabber

Being Neighborly
by Cathy Salustri
Posted: Tuesday, April 29, 2014 5:53 pm

Being Neighborly | gulfport, neighbors,tober,grantham

Mark Grantham was the grateful recipient of Saturday's effort

When some members of the Gulfport Neighbors learned how local Mark Grantham’s yard had gotten away from him – largely because he has a brain tumor that results in eyesight and balance troubles – they decided to lend a neighborly hand with what they call a “flash cleanup”Saturday morning, April 26.

After a morning’s work – and a lunch supplied by Fazio’s pizza – Grantham described the difference as “night and day.”

Grantham has lived in the Middle East, worked as a buyer for high-end retail, and taught history. When doctors discovered a brain tumor, his life changed. Gone were the days of traveling to Syria and long workweeks. Grantham now walks with a cane, but still remains active in the community. He volunteers as a mentor at Boca Ciega High School, serves on Gulfport’s Historic Preservation Board and also recently accepted a board position with the Gulfport Historical Society. He can no longer drive; instead, he walks or takes busses to where he needs to go.

Even as volunteers used chainsaws to remove dead branches and stumps, adding to the mountain of yard waste awaiting pickup, Grantham carried yard waste to the curb, his cane in one hand and a pile of vines in the other.

“Our first ‘flash cleanup’ was great,”Gulfport Neighbors Vice President Margarete Tober said. “The amount of work accomplished by the 19 volunteers, in a few short hours, was amazing.”

Different than prior cleanups, the flash cleanups should take no more than a few hours, according to Tober.

“The idea is to complete the project in a ‘flash,’”she said, adding that “part of the notion of the flash clean-up is to get immediate neighbors involved.”These cleanups do not require as much planning or as many resources as the larger projects.

Although the cleanup didn’t take place on as grand a scale as others, to Grantham, it mattered just as much.

“The actions of the volunteers and Fazio's show us why we are lucky to live in such a town that truly cares about the residents,” Grantham wrote on the Gabber’s “Gulfport Ideas and Opinions”Facebook page Saturday afternoon.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by tinytrump

If I buy an HOA condo for my last home on this earth,,, they better play fair/ or I'll be their biggest legal nightmare.

They have some pretty good lawyers to deal with you if you don't follow the HOA rules and fail to pay your fees.

[gulfporter]

Originally Posted by BucFan

They have some pretty good lawyers to deal with you if you don't follow the HOA rules and fail to pay your fees.

Thanks for supporting the case against living HOA'd.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by gulfporter

Thanks for supporting the case against living HOA'd.

Absolutely. If buy a home you can't maintain, you ought to avoid HOAs and probably rent or buy ina community where no one cares what your house looks like. Telling the HOA that you have car repair bills and can't keep basic upkeep on you home is a good sign that you're over your head in that house and should never had purchased there in the first place.

[BucFan]

Originally Posted by MAniacTHW

. But, I guess there are people out there who can't think for themselves who need someone to tell them what they can and can't do with their property, so I guess they serve a purpose.

Like this guy.....