Good chow, hot shower, fresh coffee....

[Mugwump]

....life is good..    so what's new gang?.....

[Ron Sower]

After returning we had a called HOA board meeting regarding the way the park manager is so inconsistent with enforcing the rules and regs here. We really don't have any authority to change things but we can be a pain in her patootie...and then she can be that way too. So we're going to ask to meet with her and be very respectful before we take it to the state level if we have too.

[BallAquatics]

You have my sympathies Ron.  I know why the HOA's got started, but you often hear of unfairness and excessive restrictions.....

That is one of the benefits of rural life here in Tremont.  Through some quirk in state regulations, we are immune to permits, building codes, and county inspections.  We are pretty much free to do as we please and surprisingly, we have very few problems.

I know when I was on the town council as finance chairman, the county auditor would just have a fit that we would not institute building permits.  That's a great source of income for the county, and it lets them keep a finger on your property for property tax increases.  Without the permits, our properties are surveyed for tax adjustments every 7 years.  LOL

Dennis

[Mugwump]

I hear some real horror stories about some HOA's......all garage doors kept shut, get permission to plant flowers in your own yard, flag regulations, yada yada.....I'm afraid that I wouldn't get along with a real strict bunch of folks playing God with my property... nope...we'd probably move after I got out of jail...

[wsantia1]

I've only been here for a year and I have already gotten into a couple of back and forth disputes with the HOA/Property Manager. Besides the HOA fees being ridiculous what you get for your money is a load of restrictions and little to nothing else.

The snow removal for our one little storm was crappy and when I complained about it some of my neighbors actually took offense to it. They don't know what real snow is here. They even had the nerve to complain about people hanging their Team Flags out front.

I am already looking for a new place to move to. The builder is sold out so I may be able to get a good deal while there are still a lot of people coming around looking for homes.

I guess I should be thanful that they can't tell you what to do inside the home.

[Ron Sower]

For clarity's sake, our HOA has no real governing function in the community. We don't own the land our homes are on and all of us rent the the spaces for our homes to sit on. The owners of the park make all the rules.  The rules serve to keep all the homes, and therefore the appearance of the community, in good condition, and foster good neighbor relationships. We receive and sign copies of that Good Neighbor Policy when we sign the lease for the space we rent. That part is okay. If we don't want the rules, then buy somewhere else. Since 95% of the homes I list and sell are in here, I here a lot of "What a nice looking & well-kept community!" from those to whom I show houses. So that part of this program is working.

However, the manager is supposed to enforce the Good Neighbor Policy equitably. It has a lot to do with that last word...equitably. I've been paying attention to what people say about what they've been told they can or cannot do. She has told some residents that we can only reserve the clubhouse for an event once every 3 months in order to give other residents an opportunity to use it.  Now she is going to allow another resident, who happens to be a close friend of hers and a member of her church congregation, to reserve it for every Sunday morning for a church service.

Our HOA is an organization with a state charter that serves to help and support the homeowners. The laws of the state governing tenant rights and landlord responsibilities are not as inclusive as I understand that those of some states are, but they do state that the landlord must enforce the rules and regulations and in a consistent matter.

Our HOA belongs to a state district of a national American Manufactured Homeowners Association. If we can't get things improved from our on efforts, we can move on to other avenues.

I'm told, that compared to other mfr home communities in the state, we have a good manager. As president of our HOA I tell them back that my concern is with MY community manager and MY neighbors' issues.  No reason we can't have improvement here.

Rant is over.....!

[LizStreithorst]

You have my sympathies Ron.  I know why the HOA's got started, but you often hear of unfairness and excessive restrictions.....

That is one of the benefits of rural life here in Tremont.  Through some quirk in state regulations, we are immune to permits, building codes, and county inspections.  We are pretty much free to do as we please and surprisingly, we have very few problems.

I know when I was on the town council as finance chairman, the county auditor would just have a fit that we would not institute building permits.  That's a great source of income for the county, and it lets them keep a finger on your property for property tax increases.  Without the permits, our properties are surveyed for tax adjustments every 7 years.  LOL

Dennis

There are no rules where I live either Dennis.  When I first  moved back home the assessors came around to check damage and declared my house to of no value.  Still, I lived in one room which I made presentable for 8 months while I found a carpenter had had my current house built.  I was basically camping out, but I did have a stove and a mini fridge that worked.  My heat came from a wood stove because the furnace didn't work.

There are no problems around here either.  One neighbor likes to hunt and she bitched to me that her sisters son would come home and work on his loud vroom vroom cars as she was sitting in the deer stand waiting for a dear to come along.  I just shugged my shoulders.  If she has a problem she should talk to him, not bitch to me.  My best neighbor bought 6 acres of my land to give to the vroom vroom guy. He has a couple of junk engines sitting on it and left over parts of trees that he had cut for fire wood.  It looks trashy but I would never complain.  It is his right.  Yet another son of her sister's  lives with his wife in the first house you see when you pull off the main highway and head to my house.  They are very poor.  They have 4 kids, chickens and a pig.   the size of a postage stamp.  He added another room to his little house which was built of one old lady.  The guy is no carpenter.  His house looks like shit, but the guy and his wife are nice and do their best.  They seem to be very happy.  They like me and I like them.

I don't need much, but I will never live where anyone has the right to tell me what to do.  That's why I live where I live.

Barb has told me about her HOA.  If branches or leaves fall down she is required to pick everything up and haul it to the curb.  I pick up stuff and haul it to the burn pile when I get around to it. 

Ron, I can't imagine owing a house and not owning the land that it is on.  Is this a commonplace thing?  What good is it owing a house if you don't also own the land it is on?

You have my sympathies Ron.  I know why the HOA's got started, but you often hear of unfairness and excessive restrictions.....

[Ron Sower]

I don't need much, but I will never live where anyone has the right to tell me what to do.  That's why I live where I live.

Barb has told me about her HOA.  If branches or leaves fall down she is required to pick everything up and haul it to the curb.  I pick up stuff and haul it to the burn pile when I get around to it. 

Ron, I can't imagine owing a house and not owning the land that it is on.  Is this a commonplace thing?  What good is it owing a house if you don't also own the land it is on?

Liz...Sometimes, enough $$$ or credit aren't there to afford a house with land attached. Some people don't need to feel like they own the dirt. Some like the close-knit community that a mfr home park provides. There are thousands of them all over the country. This lifestyle gives many people a choice of owning something inside which they can create their own little "heaven", or otherwise rent an apartment or house where they can't even paint it the interior colors they like. Plus have to listen to the couple next door arguing, or heavy footsteps above.

We bought our mfr home, considering the cash outlay as our investment in the lifestyle. Our space rent is the highest in the state. Our community is the nicest maintained one around here. We have 1848 sf of living space on one floor, a very small front yard to maintain, and a concrete back yard with no maintenance. That is part of the lifestyle we sought. Our former "stick-built" house on our lot was 2300 sf and our mortgage and utilities were 3X as much as we pay now, and we had a lot of house maintenance costs that we don't have now. My roof I just put on was $6200. For the old house it would have been at least $10,000. To rent a house close to this size around here will cost 2X what we pay in space rent here, and getting landlords anywhere to do repairs that are needed sometimes takes legal action. I get mine fixed when I choose.

We downsized. It works for us and a lot of other people. It saved our bacon.....

I've chosen to create my own little real estate sales niche here in my community. All the time I meet people coming here to see houses I have for sale and very few of them have the slightest clue of what this is all about. That's when my partner, Gary, and I explain that it's an investment in a lifestyle and simplicity. We tell them if that's not what they're looking for, they should not be looking in these types of communities. I do the listings for my neighbors and Gary works with the buyers that come in. Many come and like the community, especially after he or I tell them what's it's all about, but don't see a house they like. Gary has a long list of people waiting for the right house in here to come on the market. The last one we sold had an offer come in the first night from one of these people.

So they are out there and they are looking for homes on rented land, but they aren't breeding any more...! This is a 55+ community and no kids allowed to live here...!

[ilroost]

No rules here. Hell my closest neighbor is 2 1/2 miles away. I can sit on my back deck,in my BVD's and drink beer if I want

[Ron Sower]

No rules here. Hell my closest neighbor is 2 1/2 miles away. I can sit on my back deck,in my BVD's and drink beer if I want

I do that too in my back area. No rules against it so far as I've seen...!

[Mugwump]

I use those tie bottom patterned pant thingy's to sleep in...and any t-shirt I pull out.....so I walk outside like that, weather permitting, all the time....

[Ron Sower]

I use those tie bottom patterned pant thingy's to sleep in...

What are those? Photo or link please...!

[Mugwump]

I use those tie bottom patterned pant thingy's to sleep in...

What are those? Photo or link please...!

...something like these....

[Ron Sower]

I use those tie bottom patterned pant thingy's to sleep in...

What are those? Photo or link please...!

...something like these....

I probably ought to get some for our upcoming vacation in Hawaii with the kids!!!I especially like the Kermit pants!

[Mugwump]

I have the Corona and Capt'n Morgan, and a couple others......Target gets a decent selection once in a bit....comfortable as all hell too..