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Are most of the homes in fort mill developments? I'm coming from Staten Island Ny and currently live on top of one another, I can step out on my deck and shake my neighbors hand, I'm looking for a little privacy but not an acre or anything just a little room between houses... Thoughts?
Are most of the homes in fort mill developments? I'm coming from Staten Island Ny and currently live on top of one another, I can step out on my deck and shake my neighbors hand, I'm looking for a little privacy but not an acre or anything just a little room between houses... Thoughts?
Sadly, most homes around here are all in developments, with HOA's and rules and restrictions. Very few are just built on land thats yours without anyone telling you what to do. Some houses are built very close, others have some land. The more land, the more money you pay.
When we lived in NoNJ we were on .16 of an acre and felt close to our neighbor's house. Here we have .25 acres and don't feel nearly as oppressed. Others may think .25 acres is a small lot, but our perspective is different since we came from a postage stamp lot!
We looked into getting an acre when we moved here, but once we saw just how big it was, we knew it would be too big for us to keep up with. It doesn't sound like much - but it's bigger than you think.
When we lived in NoNJ we were on .16 of an acre and felt close to our neighbor's house. Here we have .25 acres and don't feel nearly as oppressed. Others may think .25 acres is a small lot, but our perspective is different since we came from a postage stamp lot!
We looked into getting an acre when we moved here, but once we saw just how big it was, we knew it would be too big for us to keep up with. It doesn't sound like much - but it's bigger than you think.
Ditto!
We lived in a 3 bedroom ranch in NJ on a .16 acre lot. This to us is HUGE in comparison. We have a nice sized back yard and a decent distance from our neighbors -- 20ft on each side. Our lot size is 80ft wide by 160 feet deep - .25 acres. The house is a little shy of 3000 sq feet since our basement doesn't count in the square footage.
Best thing to do is drive around the neighborhoods to get a feel. In some, the houses do feel like they're on top of each other but in others you get a little bit more breathing room.
We were also looking for one acre lots when we decided to move here, but in Fort Mill that will cost a pretty penny and honestly the maintenance for us isn't worth it, and around here living in an HOA isn't bad. See some of the neighborhoods outside of an HOA and you'll understand. We saw one house on Hensley that we liked, but we didn't like anything else around it since it was outside of a development. Hensley Rd is an eye opener as to what living outside of a neighborhood can end up looking like!
Some of the older, established neighborhoods do have bigger lots. Yes, a neighborhood, but room to breathe for sure. There are a few older neighborhoods off of Pleasant Road and Doby's Bridge that should be to your liking. Some will have HOAs, but I don't see why people feel so contenious about that. Mow your yard, take care of your home and don't throw loud parties and you'll be fine. Most of the newer neighborhoods do have very small lots.
Some will have HOAs, but I don't see why people feel so contenious about that. Mow your yard, take care of your home and don't throw loud parties and you'll be fine.
HOA's are contentious because; even if you think you are following the rules; taking care of your home; mowing your yard and not throwing loud parties; you can still get in trouble.
All it takes is one person to get on the board that has an agenda and things can go down hill fast.
A good example is that I lived in a neighborhood that had a HOA to where the board president would walk up to homeowner's windows and look to see if anyone had an pet that wasn't on the approved list (she was mostly looking to see if someone had reptiles or spiders). Yet the when the homes were built and a majority of the homeowners moved in; the only pet exception was that you couldn't have farm type animals. The rules changed after she became HOA president and she would start to write people up for violations.
She also wanted to limit dogs to under 50lbs and wanted to have a monthly doggie weigh in day to make sure no dogs in the neighborhood weighed over 50lbs. The management company stopped this rule before she could try and enforce it.
She looked at the neighborhood as her little kingdom; and at one point; it got bad enough to where everyone got a petition done that removed her from the board.
Don't get me wrong there are some well ran HOA's out there that while having rules; use common sense when enforcing them. Those are the better HOA's in my opinion.
HOA's are contentious because; even if you think you are following the rules; taking care of your home; mowing your yard and not throwing loud parties; you can still get in trouble.
All it takes is one person to get on the board that has an agenda and things can go down hill fast.
A good example is that I lived in a neighborhood that had a HOA to where the board president would walk up to homeowner's windows and look to see if anyone had an pet that wasn't on the approved list (she was mostly looking to see if someone had reptiles or spiders). Yet the when the homes were built and a majority of the homeowners moved in; the only pet exception was that you couldn't have farm type animals. The rules changed after she became HOA president and she would start to write people up for violations.
She also wanted to limit dogs to under 50lbs and wanted to have a monthly doggie weigh in day to make sure no dogs in the neighborhood weighed over 50lbs. The management company stopped this rule before she could try and enforce it.
She looked at the neighborhood as her little kingdom; and at one point; it got bad enough to where everyone got a petition done that removed her from the board.
Don't get me wrong there are some well ran HOA's out there that while having rules; use common sense when enforcing them. Those are the better HOA's in my opinion.
Psy
My co-workers neighbors grass is a disaster and is never fixed, yet he can get in trouble for having the wrong shade of roof shingles. You hear all the time people who cant put a flag out or do something to honor someone.
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