Random Fail: First World Problems

[Pharaun]

Owning a home comes with responsibilities that are not the same as owning/renting an apartment/condo/city-size lot. It's like these people move into a home to escape the density of an urban life but refuse to take on the responsibilities of maintaining a home. In the previous abodes you had no modicum of responsibility when it came to maintenance except to call the landlord. You could afford to be a lazy sack of potatoes in your apartment because it was your private residence. When you own a home you have responsibilities not only to your own private dwelling but to the public domain (and in this instance we are talking about front yards). It might be your lawn but it is still part of the public.

Failure to take care of your own property shows a disrespect to your neighbors and a disservice to yourself. Property value is what most people tend towards when it comes to these issues because money, but I believe respect of your property and neighbors is more important than what your land is worth.

And to Ksandra's parents - hire a trustworthy local teen to mow the lawn/trim hedges/whatever twice a month in the summer.

I am not apologizing for HOA measures that have come up in this thread and previous posts with ridiculous statutes.

The main problem is that most cities/towns/townships/whatever already have laws on the books regarding home/property maintenance. This makes HOA's redundant and typically full of nosy busybodies who like having power over others. Many HOA's tend to become the domain of tiny tyrants as evidenced by Neph's story. If I want to renovate the kitchen inside my private home then the HOA/neighbors should not be able to say fuck all about it, but sadly in many places they can.

[Ksandra]

yes...? and my post would be directed at those neighbor's whose houses look like shit lol.

What's the point in posting it then? If you want to let your house look like shit, don't live in HOA = no shit shirlock.

And to Ksandra's parents - hire a trustworthy local teen to mow the lawn/trim hedges/whatever twice a month in the summer.

wat? They are perfectly capable of doing it on their own, why the fuck would they hire someone?

[Eurell]

What's the point in posting it then? If you want to let your house look like shit, don't live in HOA = no shit shirlock.

The last few pages have been people bitching about how they should be able to let their house look like shit while living in HOAs lol. Apparently this information that was so obvious to you, was not so obvious to everyone.

[Jaybar]

The main problem is that most cities/towns/townships/whatever already have laws on the books regarding home/property maintenance. This makes HOA's redundant and typically full of nosy busybodies who like having power over others. Many HOA's tend to become the domain of tiny tyrants as evidenced by Neph's story. If I want to renovate the kitchen inside my private home then the HOA/neighbors should not be able to say fuck all about it, but sadly in many places they can.

Sorry, the body of my argument was positioned towards those that feel they could neglect their property because they own it, not towards HOA laws.

Ksandra:
wat? They are perfectly capable of doing it on their own, why the fuck would they hire someone?

Ksandra:
My parents go on vacation during the summer for a few weeks. Would be pissed if someone flipped out over their unmowed lawn while they are gone.

Was in reply to the above.

[hey]

Noone should have to mow someone else yard because their neighbor is a lazy asshole.

No, they shouldn't. I don't think anyone has ever demanded their neighbors mow their lawn before. But if they want it mowed so badly, and the owner doesn't give a shit, then they always have that option. And if they don't care enough to do it themselves...then what's the problem?

No one should have to mow a lawn because someone else wants it done.

[Jaybar]

No, they shouldn't. I don't think anyone has ever demanded their neighbors mow their lawn before. But if they want it mowed so badly, and the owner doesn't give a shit, then they always have that option. And if they don't care enough to do it themselves...then what's the problem?

No one should have to mow a lawn because someone else wants it done.

And those people should not own a home because they are too lazy to maintain it.

[zoobernut]

The real answer is to move to a rural area where you don't have to look at your neighbors lawn. I don't want my neighbors to care about my yardwork and I don't want to have to care about theirs.

[Acevalefor]

The real answer is to move to a rural area where you don't have to look at your neighbors lawn. I don't want my neighbors to care about my yardwork and I don't want to have to care about theirs.

I just want to live somewhere that I can put 2 or 3 cars in my yard on cinder blocks and stack a bunch of tires out near the road. Just to show those nosy neighbors who's boss!

[Moss]

SO MANY STRAWMEN

Tough titties tbh.

My parents go on vacation during the summer for a few weeks. Would be pissed if someone flipped out over their unmowed lawn while they are gone.

If it's a short time period then no one gives a fuck anyway. If it's long enough that the yard looks overgrown then you need to get it taken care of. The property is still their responsibility even if they are gone.

The correct response to this situation is to politely ask if they would take better care of their place (some people don't realize it's a thing). Failing that, offer to help or do it yourself (particularly if they're ill or gone). Only then should you bitch about it to anyone else. This is known as "being a decent person."

"Politely ask first" is a brilliant solution, thank you. Something tells me if the person is ignorant/selfish/uncaring enough to let it happen in the first place then they aren't going to respond well to you asking. Besides that, it isn't any one neighbor's responsibility to go door to door reminding people to take care of their property. OBVIOUSLY, if it's something trivial it makes more sense to tell them first. Does that really need to be explicitly stated? The hypothetical people in question are the ones that have a garden of weeds for a lawn or want to paint their house neon green.

If it gets your panties in such a big bunch, then you can go mow their lawn yourself like my neighbor did to another house when he was selling his.

Or people could just be responsible for their own properties. Your neighbor sounds like a true hero though.

Owning a home comes with responsibilities that are not the same as owning/renting an apartment/condo/city-size lot. It's like these people move into a home to escape the density of an urban life but refuse to take on the responsibilities of maintaining a home. In the previous abodes you had no modicum of responsibility when it came to maintenance except to call the landlord. You could afford to be a lazy sack of potatoes in your apartment because it was your private residence. When you own a home you have responsibilities not only to your own private dwelling but to the public domain (and in this instance we are talking about front yards). It might be your lawn but it is still part of the public.

Failure to take care of your own property shows a disrespect to your neighbors and a disservice to yourself. Property value is what most people tend towards when it comes to these issues because money, but I believe respect of your property and neighbors is more important than what your land is worth.

And to Ksandra's parents - hire a trustworthy local teen to mow the lawn/trim hedges/whatever twice a month in the summer.

I am not apologizing for HOA measures that have come up in this thread and previous posts with ridiculous statutes.

Very eloquently stated.

[arus2001]

Neighbor lady of mine wound being taken to the hospital late spring/early summer. As is, she's pretty terrible about maintaining the hedges along the front/back of her yard and the few that linger in the border to ours. Now, the guy that lived there before he passed away spent a lot of time on the yard, and when you're retired and at the age he was, it's not exactly surprising. He kept the bushes around 3 feet high and the stuff at the border was never a hassle. New lady? 7 foot+ monsters reaching their leafy tentacles every which way. We can no longer see where we park one of our cars on the front street because of this. But as one might suspect, since she's been in the hospital like 6 months now, her shit got hella worse. I managed to strike up a conversation with one of my neighbors who does lawn work and he agreed to run his tractor over her yard every 2-3 weeks, so unmanageable grass was at least contained. However, sometime in September I just got pissed at one of those border bushes hanging so far into our yard that I had to literally push it up just to mow my grass. Given her history of neglect and not knowing when she'd even be back to bitch at her, I stepped in my garage, grabbed a pair of hedge clippers, and cut the whole damn thing down.

Guess the way I look at it, if she never comes back, any potential new residents really won't know about save the tiny stumps poking out of the ground that I honestly just intend to mow over once they've rotted over the winter. If she does come back and grumble at me, I'll certainly call her out on the times before where I'd trimmed that same hedge myself every year for the above reason of overgrowth. Honestly, I'm not anal about our yard. I maybe weed whack once a month and we've got dead spots where my dog likes to piss as is. I just got annoyed when her yard started overtaking mine. The front/back hedges are still an issue, too. So I'll agree there's some element of 'taking care of your shit' involved, or at least having some kind of backup plan if you personally can't. Seeing some of those asinine rules like the above, though, makes me wonder if people are more interested in actually living in their homes or just pawning them off later.

[Eurell]

No, they shouldn't. I don't think anyone has ever demanded their neighbors mow their lawn before. But if they want it mowed so badly, and the owner doesn't give a shit, then they always have that option. And if they don't care enough to do it themselves...then what's the problem?

No one should have to mow a lawn because someone else wants it done.

What's the point in posting it then? If you want to let your house look like shit, don't live in HOA = no shit shirlock.

This is why I posted lol. Obviously it =/= no shit sherlock

[hey]

And those people should not own a home because they are too lazy to maintain it.

Not cutting the grass outside of the house has no affect on the house lol.

[Aksannyi]

Cutting the grass is such an easy thing to fix, too. Now I know that unkempt grass is indicative of an unkempt house, but if high grass just happens to be the worst thing about a property, well, that's pretty damn good lol.

[Jaybar]

Not cutting the grass outside of the house has no affect on the house lol.

It goes deeper than mowing your lawn, but apparently it's not obvious enough. Too lazy to mow your lawn? God forbid you paint your house once every 5-10 years, remove mold/mildew, or clean out your gutters. Those basic maintenance responsibilities have noticeable and profound effects on your house. Not taking care of your lawn (whether mowing, raking leaves, or keeping the soil maintained) can affect water runoff into sewers, and depending on your location it could also be detrimental to the street and sidewalk.

[Moss]

Not cutting the grass outside of the house has no affect on the house lol.

...

it's still part of the property. why are you being so dense?

[hey]

God forbid you paint your house once every 5-10 years

Does making it look nice with no practical benefit really count as basic maintenance? Just because someone doesn't give a shit what the outside of their house looks like doesn't mean they don't take care of the thigns that actually matter.

[Ksandra]

The last few pages have been people bitching about how they should be able to let their house look like shit while living in HOAs lol.

Uhh no they are bitching that HOAs shouldn't exist because we should get to have our house look however we want.

Was in reply to the above.

Yes, but a few weeks out of the summer =/= the whole summer. Why would they pay someone when they will cut it as soon as they get back?

[Jaybar]

Does making it look nice with no practical benefit really count as basic maintenance? Just because someone doesn't give a shit what the outside of their house looks like doesn't mean they don't take care of the thigns that actually matter.

Paint is not only an aesthetic but a protective barrier against weather. It helps protect the substrate (whether brick, stucco, wood, or other various claddings) from deteriorating. Most materials don't need paint as much as others (like brick/masonry). Wood is the most susceptible to deterioration and gains the greatest benefit from paint or stain.

Yes, but a few weeks out of the summer =/= the whole summer. Why would they pay someone when they will cut it as soon as they get back?

It seemed like you meant more than two months. A well kept yard is another deterrent to possible burglary or vandalism.

[Ksandra]

It seemed like you meant more than two months. A well kept yard is another deterrent to possible burglary or vandalism.

few weeks = 2-3

And they have ADT as is.

[Jaybar]

few weeks = 2-3

And they have ADT as is.

Eh - would rather not have to replace a window/broken lock, but fair enough.