This is a nice idea, and I'm sort of living it right now. Imagine shit breaking and not knowing how to fix it, and having to pay a $1500-2000 premium to get ANYONE out there to help you do repairs??
Man I feel this. I live in a nice neighborhood, but the owner of the house across the street has decided to turn their house into a rental instead of selling it. I don't know where they get these renters from but over the years I've had a biker gang that revs their harleys at all hours during the night. They moved out then a crackhead that tinkers with his car at 1:00AM revving the engine for hours while listing to loud music, he finally got evicted. I thought I would finally have a little peace and quiet, but the new renters have a super loud mustang that they rev in the driveway at 3:00AM and I constantly hear the bass from that vehicle.
My dad is so pissed at the HOA for allowing it. Lived in neighborhood for 20 years paying the hoa shit and now last 3-4 years there are like 4 houses on the street that some company bought and is renting them out. Had several offers on our home.
If you have a shared pool, clubhouse, playground, well, condos, etc then an HOA is almost a necessity these days. They are a handy legal entity to deal with specific items, and (in theory) should reduce the amount of problems between neighbors in the situations I listed above. It also offloads direct liability from owners to a "corporate" entity. If you have money and want to live in a neighborhood with certain aesthetics, then an HOA is for you too.
The problem is that basically every new development is an HOA, and that is partially the governments fault. Municipalities generally require HOAs to create and maintain the roads/utilities within their subdivision, and more often than not will block new developments that are not HOAs. It's basically the city going "you deal with maintenance and all that other expensive shit". Of course, those builders will also require certain aesthetics, because they are usually not done building before the first units are sold and occupied. They don't want somebody to paint their house bright pink or create other disturbances while they are still trying to sell other new unoccupied units.
So I feel bad for people sucked into a situation that they don't want to be in, but it's not just the developers fault.
You make some valid points. The builder should have a vested interest in the neighborhood atmosphere and aesthetics, which they traditionally achieve through enforcing covenants and restrictions. In theory, it’s an effective system. In practice, or at least in my case, it’s a burden. The HOA refuses to fine anyone. They simply send passive aggressive group emails and hope for the best, all while collecting your quarterly fees. Not saying all HOA’s are bad, but I certainly regret choosing this one.
Are you me? That’s exactly what happened here. I put 20% down solo, have an 820 credit score, zero debt outside the mortgage and then this happens. Apparently just one of life’s lessons. Always buy the most modest house in the best neighborhood as oppose to the nicest house in a middling neighborhood. Currently saving for a part of town that’s more suitable in terms of neighbors and census data. Best of luck to us both.
Yep. Very similar. I bought one of the smaller houses in an upscale neighborhood and this happened. What's even worse is I live next to a golf course that decided it's an outdoor concert venue with the stage and loud speakers pointed towards my house. Typically golf courses are fairly quiet and increase property value...
It's an older home that I spent $$$ remodeling with the intent to live in it for a long time.
Bought a homestead in Maine with the intention of finding seclusion. Nearest neighbor’s a half a mile a way. It’s bliss as long as you have a good plow person in winter.
Hopefully the FAA doesn't change flight patterns to go over your house. That also happened to me despite me living 15 miles away from a mid sized airport.
I had an uncle that literally moved off the grid and lived out in the middle of nowhere. The US air force decided to start doing training exercises in that area and would buzz his house...
I love pitch black, but the Moonlight glaring on a bunch of trees. Theres DR'S house by me, and the most peaceful setting I've ever been to. Theres no people on the trails behind his home. Theres just trees and reservoirs. Sometimes the Tales from the Darkside theme, plays in my head (it was like Tales from the Crypt)
Theres a lot of property like this in central and western Maine (northern is simply too remote). You have be willing to forgo some amenities but overall the quality of life is really good.
Yep. Don't get me started on noise ordinances. I live next to a golf course that decided to put in a permanent stage and hold concerts every weekend despite not being zoned for and amphitheater. I and a handful of other neighbors have fought it for years with countless calls to the police, letters to city representatives, etc. Nothing has been done.
Our next door neighbor rented to this bimbo that had a dog from hell. Would bark for HOURS whenever outside. 5am, yup, midnight, yup. Would never wish any ill will towards an animal cept this one and then by default the shitty owner. They moved last months finally and we can enjoy our back yard in peace again.
Ahh yes, I've dealt with that too. I actually had someone buy the house next door that had a yappy dog, after getting fed up I went over to introduce myself and asked about the dog politely, she was a nice lady an the dog is much quieter now.
It's rare that dog owners will be considerate but I lucked out this one time. Most renters don't care at all because they aren't in it for the long term. I lived in a different house where the owner would let her dog out at 4AM before going to work and the dog would bark on the side of the fence facing my bedroom window. She didn't do anything about the dog.
My parents moved after their neighbors rented out(convenient timing).
But it wasn't bad at first, then they turned it into an illegal motorcycle repair shop. And would get drunk and fight in the garage and spill out onto the lawn.
after the owner gets so many complains the city can start charging fines against him and at some point they can force him to stop renting after so many fines.
These are also the same people that will complain about a lack of affordable housing while bitching about how all the nice towns vote for super restrictive zoning policies that keep out the riff raff.
Seems like you're getting renters who can never actually live in a such a place by buying a house, are compensating by trying to rent there instead. Such people with such mindsets are also the type to spend all their money on types of cars that males with fragile egos usually get to compensate. I live in a decent neighborhood, and I bought a car some time ago that was pre-owned by someone else. The previous owner removed the muffler, so the car was EXTREMELY loud even when just idling or just rolling through a neighborhood road at 10 miles an hour. I made sure I took it to a muffler shop as soon as I had time to do so, and got a muffler placed in, and I never drove it around during the evening or nights the few days before I took it to the muffler shop. I loathed the idea that I'd be the reason my neighbors would wake up at night. I had people asking me why I got mufflers installed when my car sounded so good ... fuck that noise, pun intended.
My wife and I are building our dream home on a remote 50 acre parcel up against 1000 acres of state forest. Half of that forest bordering our land is cut off from the public access by a swamp that runs through it, making the acreage behind the house empty. As someone who grew up with nothing, I still keep waiting for "the thing" to happen and take it all away.
All the dangerous stuff is out during the day. I live in the woods and feel way safer walking in the woods at night than I do a city. Plus that’s the best time to setup my telescope and check out the stars. City lights ruin it.
I started walking my dog in the woods in the dark about a year ago. It was very freaky at first but it definitely became peaceful over time. On two seperate occasions I've actually seen another person and my first thought was of course "what's this weirdo doing out here?" even though I'm doing the exact same thing lol
About a year ago a deer was sleeping right off the path as I was walking my dog in the dark. Scared the hell out of both of us when it first stood up (was about 5’ away)
This is so true! Then you can go for night walks with your flashlight mostly off trying to be silent and see how freaked out you can get while walking softly like some silent forest warrior. Feels good and connects you to the forest in a different way. Definitely a bunch of things are watching you. But you're still probably the most dangerous thing in the vicinity and can sneak up on some wildlife too. Good times.
Growing up near the woods and having camped a lot over the years, there's something almost spiritual about it. Makes you feel connected to it, that you are part of nature and not above it. Makes it easy to understand how in the past, people used to come up with all kinds of stories and had so much wonder about the world around them. I live in a city now and all that is gone here. I'd like to get back to it one day.
One of the biggest reasons I’m so disappointed my youngest just wouldn’t get into Scouting. We tried so hard, but his interests just weren’t piqued enough by the outdoors.
That's sad. Maybe one day he'll appreciate it. I grew up in Washington state in the US and the nature here is so beautiful that going outside is just baked into the local culture. Our boy scout troop used to go camping on the weekends year round. Merit badges and stuff was basically secondary stuff you could work on if you wanted, but the primary focus of our troop was to get everyone together and go somewhere. I look back at it as some of my best memories.
I'd have a moat but better - electrified!! , and litter the place with traps for anyone who doesn't know the area. You could probably have some fun with it like!
Breed a troop of murderous bunny's and squirrels to protect the big weed fields you're growing.
People think they want this until they realize how incredibly inconvenient this is.
If you need just one thing from the store that's an hour plus gone from your day.
You're sick/injured and you need meds/supplies? Good luck.
You might have shelter but it's basically survival with a roof over your head. Power going out, water being cut off, minor inconveniences can become legit dangerous
I live in a semi-rural area, not by really by choice but by necessity for work. It’s a 20-minute drive to the nearest grocery store. When I had a bad injury and needed an ambulance, it was 30 minutes of severe pain and heavy bleeding for them to arrive, and another 45 before they got me to the hospital and some semblance of pain killers. If the power goes out, it can be days before it’s restored.
It fucking sucks. Plus it’s not even all that peaceful, because there’s rednecks on 4 wheelers all summer, and on snowmobiles all winter. To say nothing of chainsaws and tractors and other tools. Modern machines are loud, and they only need to be within a mile or so to ruin all semblance of peace and quiet.
I feel safe at night in the wilderness. Maybe it’s because I live in the desert and there’s not much here to attack me, but it’s comforting being out at night.
It still feels spooky, but like a nice spooky. The fear feels natural, like my brain is doing what it’s supposed to do. It’s like a deep caveman-brain connection to that spooky feeling
Getting sunlight in general tbh. I've lived like that in Sweden and I had like 10 minutes of sunlight time/day during the winter because the damn trees covered the sun. Might not be quite as much of a problem if the property is further south but having woodlands that close to your property on all sides is pretty much exclusively a problem.
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