"Frank Dresser" wrote in message
...

My brother and I practically rebuilt his 64 T-Bird right in the
driveway. If I was bothering anybody, nobody spoke up.

But if you were selling your home and I had a 1980 rusted Honda on blocks
plus a used beer keg as a 'bird bath', do you honestly think that everyone
that looked at your home wouldn't mind me as your neighbor? That is the
whole point of covenants. Something that protects me when I want to sell.
I could careless about my property value going up, as long as I could break
even it would be better than renting. However, even if your price is
low...having the wrong neighbor could mean 3 people that would have bought
will change their mind. Now I am running out of time, dipping into my cash
reserve, etc. trying to keep my old home and pay for a 6 month lease in my
new city where I work. I personally will not live with covenants. City
ordinances are bad enough!!! My goal is to live in the city I work and get
a home for $90K. Save, save, and save some more until I can get a home not
in a neighborhood that won't be annexed for a while. If it's annexed, I
think it will be time to move even further north. I would rather have to
buy Hondas that will last 200K miles if it means living free.

"Midwest Kid" wrote:

But if you were selling your home and I had a 1980 rusted Honda on blocks
plus a used beer keg as a 'bird bath', do you honestly think that everyone
that looked at your home wouldn't mind me as your neighbor?

Ah yes, the "but if he paints his house orange and puts a giant
unicorn on the front lawn, the resale value of the properties in the
area will drop!" nonsense. Let us suppose this would in fact occur.
The neighbours gang together and nail an invoice to his door, and this
is the "right" thing to do. What about the converse? Suppose someone
instead made their property into a gorgeous work of art that _raised_
the value of the neighbouring properties? Surely this means he can
issue invoices to all the neighbours he has "helped", right?

That is the whole point of covenants. Something that protects me
when I want to sell.

_YOU_ protect your own property. It is why it is yours and not
someone elses. These HOA's and similar entities are the analog of
labour unions for property owners. Complete idiocy, with _ALL_ of the
hideous bad effects of such things. Why have two bosses when one is
bad enough? The protection you refer to is as illusory as the
thousands of unionized workers who lose their jobs every year: "It's
in the contract. So sorry."