----- Original Message ----- From: "Kevin Tarr" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Brin-L" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, April 21, 2002 1:22 AM Subject: Re: Homeowners Associations - Dictatorships in the US?
> > Actually this has a wider point: you don't own ANY property, you are just > renting it from the government. Even if you follow the route of the > unibomber, a one room shack that has nothing to do with the outside world, > try and go five years without paying property taxes. > > Before I got my house I was offered nice deals on rowhomes in a community, > but backed out because of the rules. My one friend lives in a community. We > borrowed his brother's RV for a trip. The small RV was parked in front of > his house Thursday night, we went away for two nights, and again Sunday > night before he returned it. He got a letter from the HA 'informing' him > about the rules for owning and storing RVs. Actually his wife got the letter > and hid it from him. She showed it to me, but we knew he would go to a > meeting with a head full of steam if he ever saw it. > Let me give the flip side of this. I live around Houston Texas, where zoning is considered to be the third step on the road to Communism: the first two are fluoride in the water and mass transit. We still don't have any zoning. When we lived in Houston itself, the juniors and seniors at the high school my daughter's grade school fed into were able to work at a strip club, within a block of the school. As far as the law was concerned, one could open up a scrap metal yard in the midst of a neighborhood. I think there were actually health laws that prohibited having one's entire yard function as a pig style. The place where we first lived (Westheimer strip) was ugly ugly ugly. It was all apartment complexes and strip centers. We were laughed at when Teri said, before we moved down, that we wanted to live close to a park. The developers were in control of city government and the golden rule of Texas predominated: he who hath the gold makes the rules. There was a reaction to that. Neighborhoods with strong deed restrictions and homeowners associations were built. We now live in the Woodlands, which has extremely strict rules. We need permission to cut down any tree on our yard greater than 6" in diameter. No home businesses are allowed (although they do look the other way for piano teachers). Garage sales are prohibited. We need permission to paint our house a different color. As a result of these restrictions, and other strict zoning rules, houses in the Woodlands sell for a considerable premium: at least 20%. The neighborhoods are much more pleasant places to live and people pay for that privilege. IMHO, one should read the deed restrictions and covenants before buying a house. If you don't like them, there are other houses to buy. But, such deed restrictions are extremely helpful in enhancing the quality of living...especially in areas with no zoning. Dan M.
