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People bad mouth Homeowner Associations but this is one area if there is a strong one they can sometimes force the work to be done or actually do the work to the exterior and put a lien on the house.
Personally, I like a very strong HOA. They help prevent the neighborhoods from losing value in many cases such as this.
Do you have an HOA and have you called them to complain ?
I live in an SF HOA. We do not have rules about maintaining private property. This is intentional and has worked for 45 years. HOA will not tresspess and maintain private property under any circumstances.
We have one abandoned property ( owner died and estate is upside down on mortgage.) Neighbors maintain almost an acre in addition to their own. There is a special place in heaven, for neighbors like this.
I have seen many folks over price their property and it is often done because of some foolish belief that they can swim against the current. The funny thing is that more often than not this type of seller really has a product that, while not broadly desirable, really not is so repellent that people will look at it , but the combo of high price and "uncurable" negative kills deals. Let me use some examples-- I have seen older houses that lack master baths sit for a really long time, as probably 98%+ of buyers really want to have some privacy in their master. I have seen places without a basement sit for a really long time too, unless there is some superb storage people need that basement to store off season stuff. Similarly homes that have awkward access issues ( like right off a busy street or on a flag lot that puts in behind other homes) rarely sell quickly -- people need to be able to find a home before they can be expected to make an offer on it!
When these sorts of challenged properties are the only ones to choose from then sellers can stick to a high price as the hot market will eventually drive someone to over pay, maybe even a developer. Conversely, when we are in a situation with fewer confident buyers and more inventory these sorts of homes really can't have the price cut low enough...
Now if the property that the OP is mentioning is not "odd" in any significant way and the seller really is just way off on the asking price that is something that would seem easy to correct, but the reality is that most buyers that might have considered the home, had it be priced appropriately, have just written the place off. It is very likely that the buying seasons that were wasted will never be recovered.
The seller probably should take the listing off the market, do whatever is needed to put the place as close to perfect as possible and then realist with new pictures after the days on market resets, and set the price much closer to reality...
Do you use logic much? When did I say that all places without an HOA are not nice looking?
Quote:
...The rest of us who like to live in a pretty neighborhood will move to HOA places.
This seems to imply that anyplace not in an HOA is not nice looking, i.e., all non-HOA places.
In reality there are very nice neighborhoods without an HOA and also bad neighborhoods with an HOA. You should check out the neighborhood to ensure it meets your standards.
I own my property. I am not responsible to your property values.
An HoA is counter to American freedoms.
That's easy to say till the guy next door paints his house florescent orange, parks his boat in the front yard and starts running a garage sell business out of his house every weekend.
You seemed to imply that. At least that was the impression I get from this statement:
"Because you can choose to live somewhere without an HOA. The rest of us who like to live in a pretty neighborhood will move to HOA places"
YES. If you absolutely INSIST on living somewhere that is maintained and pretty, you move to an HOA.
There might be other places that are pretty, but there's no system set up for it and no guarantee someone kooky won't move in next door in 2 years and uglify the place.
So I never said all places without an HOA are not pretty. Just that if you want a pretty place, you're better off with an HOA.
Maybe not yours, but every other HOA I'm aware of does.
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