Living with low expectations?

[Bullgrit]

My current home and my previous home were located in neighborhoods with rather extensive home owners association rules. We knew these rules before we bought our homes, and we could have not bought if we disagreed or found them too restrictive.

In both neighborhoods, we and others rarely bothered with getting stuff approved before just doing whatever we wanted/needed. But we (everyone) didn't do anything do anything wild or strange or asshatish. Often we'd just ask our immediate neighbors, "Hey, we're going to do X. Will that be a problem?" So long as nobody is a jerk or an idiot, most rule enforcement isn't needed. But it's when someone gets a hair up their butt to do something over the top that association rules have to be enforced.

Some friends of ours lived in a neighborhood where one family painted their house a bright weird blue. It really did stand out as an oddball. That situation had to go to some kind of arbitration with the association to get resolved. The family pointed out that others painted their houses without permission beforehand, and everyone else pointed out that they didn't paint their houses colors outside the written rules. It's one thing to want a unique home, but it's more when force that uniqueness on everyone else -- the neighbors are the ones who have to look at your uniqueness all day.

I know of another instance in a different neighborhood where a family put an above-ground pool in their backyard. Their next-door neighbor's house was directly down hill. They worried that if that pool ever got a hole or burst, the water could seriously damage their home. The down-hill neighbor had a legimate worry, and the pool was against the rules as written, but the pool family pitched a fit and everything had to be handled by lawyers. The pool was removed, and the neighbors came to hate each other until one of them moved.

Bullgrit

 

[Zombie_Babies]

Homeowners' associations suck. You spend an awful lot of money for the privilege of having someone there to tell you what you can't do. F that noise.

 

[Bullgrit]

As to the OP:

My brother was, at one time, a maintenance guy for an apartment complex. He's told me stories that make me shake my head. Like a dart board set up in front of a window. Spoiler: the window got broken.

My step-father did some maintenance at an appartment complex we lived in for a while. As a child, I went with him to several calls in the apartments, but I don't remember seeing anything really bad. But that was in the 70s, so I wonder if times have changed some things.

I lived in a one bedroom apartment when I was in college. When I finished and moved out, some weeks later I got a letter from the apartment manager saying that I wasn't getting my security deposit back because the refrigerator and kitchen counter were damaged and had to be replaced. This was a ridiculous charge, so my dad and I went there to see what they were talking about.

The damage was a couple of minor dents that you had to view from the right angle to even find, and a few scratches that you could only barely feel with focused attention. I don't remember making those dents and scratches, and I had no way of proving I didn't make them -- no record of them when I moved in. I was highly pissed, but there was no ground for me to fight it from.

But when I visited the apartment when they were replacing the fridge and counter, I saw the current state of the place. There were three college kids living there, (remember: one bedroom apartment). The place was a mess, and stunk, (smokers and a cat). I was/am naturally very neat and clean, but compared to those kids, I was damn fastidious.

Bullgrit

 

[Janx]

I know a lot of people that have rental properties and that's why I'm interested - there's some real nice perks. Thing is, I also hear a lot of awful stories about stuff people do to these rental properties and how terribly difficult it is to evict them. I just don't think I wanna get into all that.

I've also seen - and fixed - the results of the nasty renter a couple of times. I don't want that sort of thing happening to something that's mine. It can be devastating. My one friend's house took tens of thousands to set right after the renters left and before he could move his family in. Insane.

There's probably a % ratio of good to bad tenants over the long term. I've got a friend who's family owns multiple rental properties. They get some bad ones, but they aren't overwhelmed with constant issues.

I imagine it's something you'd want a certain amount of self-handymanishness, or a cheap guy to fix things that come up. And some serious effort in screening applicants. Background checks or references.

being in the right neighborhood and charging a premium may also help in that it filters out riffraff who see the whole area as a slum, and thus treat your property like the surroundings.

Oddly, right before this topic surfaced, I was just talking to somebody about how in TV shows, Hollywood shows us some NYC apartment that is just terrible, and I wondered why the occupants didn't spend $50 in paint, a brush and tape to spruce it up.

 

[Janx]

Homeowners' associations suck. You spend an awful lot of money for the privilege of having someone there to tell you what you can't do. F that noise.

$235 a year in my neighborhood. Pays for things like park maintenance and off-duty cop patrolling

As I said, it varies by neighborhood. Like BG, my neighborhood is pretty laid back. Somebody would have to be pretty blatant (apparently more blatant than parking a huge arse trailer on the lawn).

Other neighborhoods, if you simply buy the same paint you already have, you may get yelled at because they changed the colors and expect everybody to comply when they re-paint.

Or you'll get a nastygram if you leave out your can 3 hours past the truck going by.

Those are the places we all hate.

 

[Elf Witch]

It is not just homeowner associations in Coral Springs were I used to llive you had to file a permit to paint your house it was free but it had to conform to one of the approved city colors. And not keeping your lawn up or your property garbage free or number of other offenses got code enforcement out the first time a warning the second time a fine that hit you daily. And they would put liens on your property which were a pain if you tried to sell. On the upside Coral Springs is a pretty mice city to live in. Their goal is to keep it looking nice to stop what causes other neighborhoods to go down hill. When property values plummet people move out and neighborhoods become slums.

Renting like any business has its ups and downs. You need good security deposits, background checks and do maintenance checks to make sure the property is being taken of.

It is not always tenants who are bad I have had my share of bad landlords who dragged their feet about repairs, tried to steal the security deposit when I moved out , tried to break Florida law.

 

[Janx]

It may also be worth noting, that in the land of Texas, there's no such thing as Zoning (at least most of texas).

As such, I can't do a damn thing to stop somebody from buying the undeveloped property behind my house and bulldozing it to make way for a mega-church. Good bye nature, hello flood insurance as the y alter the natural drainage in the area.

So yeah, I'm not a big fan of homeowners associations as a whole.

But I see the problem they are trying to solve. If only they'd have bought up the land back there...

 

[sabrinathecat]

Basic advice: always take pictures of everything before you move in, and right before you hand the keys back. Landlords sometimes do a "final walk-through inspection" with the tenant, but usually not. Likewise, a landlord should always take pictures of everything before handing the keys to a tenant, and right when (s)he gets them back.

There is a renter's culture. There is also, I'm ashamed to say, a Landlord culture. "It's good enough for tenants." UG. I can't tell you how many times one realtor told me that when I was looking at one property and was alarmed at the state of it and asking questions. If it wasn't something the current owners had just done to try to push up the price (and done badly BTW), that was his answer. I didn't buy the place. And I told my agent I never wanted to see that realtor again.

I have spent $35K on clean-up jobs. I have spend $2k on clean-up. One time I got away with only $750, but that was because the guy was a full time contractor and bored, so he fixed things up and made improvements--he got his whole deposit back.

Yeah, that's the other thing I run into a lot--"pppfft I paid a deposit. I'm never gonna see it. So F-them." sad.

I thought the same thing watching "Fast and Furious" or some such street-racing movie. "If those Dumb-shots would spend half the $ they put into that car fixing up their houses, it would be a pretty great neighborhood. Nope: Phallic crutch wins out over brains."

Being a landlord isn't bad if you stay on top of stuff. In fact, it can be very secure and helpful. And you learn a lot. I would never have tackled some of the basic carpentry when I started that I now do out of habit. And this is one thing technology has improved. Used to be I had to fax an application to the agency, then wait a couple hours to get a reply, and hope the toner and paper didn't run out. Now I log onto a web site (sometimes I have to wake up my account if it has been dormant too long), and get a reply within about 5-10 minutes. So if I'm running more than a couple applications, by the time I enter the next one, the first one is ready.

TSP is wonderful stuff. That and a scouring sponge have done wonders. Have mopped down the bedrooms and put a primer coat in one. Carpets ripped out. Should have all three painted tomorrow. After that, the hallway, bathroom, and living room. Kitchen dining room is going to be last because I'm remodeling and upgrading the cabinets and counter tops.
Hired someone to replace the front door--some things you want done by professionals. A lot of stuff needs to be done, but it already looks way better.

 

[sabrinathecat]

End of Day Three:
Bedrooms are painted.
Carpet is pulled out.
Contractors have been by to put together a plan for the kitchen remodel.
New oven arrived. Fridge and Dishwasher due Friday.
I need to look at flooring for kitchen and bathroom.
Walls in dining room and bathroom have been cleaned and sanitized (Bleach and TSP)

Guy did come back to clean out the junk he left in the garage and back yard.

I've put together a basic parts shopping list so i can get a sizable batch of the next stage done over the next 3 days.

Then I am at the mercy of others.

Three more people came by today wanting to rent the place, and I haven't even put a sign up. $2500/month didn't even phase them.

 

[Scott DeWar]

One of my tenants just returned custody of an apartment to me.
Wow.
I have cleaned up worse, but never from a tenant I chose.
Even allowing for the fact that small children were there, they treated my place like a slum. They made me look like a slum-lord.
Atrocious, Disgusting, and disgraceful. I had to ask him how he could live like this. He blamed his wife. Damn, you've got two hands. You've got a bucket and sponge.
Carpet that is supposed to last 10-15 they wrecked in 5. Never replaced a light-bulb. (only about 6 of 20 bulbs work). They've destroyed the garbage disposal. The refrigerator has had all the handles and internal pieces broken (and thrown away). Oh, all the batteries are gone from the smoke detectors, of course. And they managed to break a window. "Oh, it was like that when we moved in. See, it's on the outside." I have pictures of everything from when they moved it. I pointed that out. "Oh no, it was there. I thought you knew." Oh, the front door is broken (there's nothing for the dead-bolt and knob to anchor to). The wife said he broke it one night when he was mad. He said the wood was already split when they moved in. Yeah. Right.

Well, this is going to take a few weeks.
Not touching anything there in the dark (one light switch was covered in grime and grease--yuck I can still feel it on my fingers, and I've used soap and dish soap)

Now, the topic I propose to discuss: How could someone live like that? If you move into a place, and everything is nice, freshly painted, new flooring, new light fixtures, clean, shiny, clean, refurbished, clean... How do you let it get this bad? You saw what it was like. You lived in it. You know what it can be... How, and more importantly WHY, would you let it devolve that far. This was nothing like what I saw last spring when I made an annual inspection, so most of this is from the last 6-9 months.
What is the mindset?
Is is: "I don't care; it's not my property=it's not my problem; I just live here"?
Is it "This is what I'm used to, so that's what I expect, even if someone shows me better"?
Is it "I'm not happy unless I can see cooking grease on all the walls"?
Is it "I don't value my self, so I deserve to live in muck"?
Is it "I don't have a problem with this."?

Something else?

Thoughts?
Opinions?

Wow, where do I start . . . . .

First I would like to mention that My boss from my electrician work owns some rentals and this:

"I don't care; it's not my property=it's not my problem; I just live here"

is the prevalent mindset from what I have experienced.

some of the grimiest things simply have to be simply replaced. like those switch plates. if they are metal, then try running them through the dishwasher.

I am sorry you have to go through this. Many time I would go and do a repair for him and the occupant would expect something to be repaired that they broke with the attitude of "Well he is making ALL this money off me" when first of all the occupant was on section 8 and not paying any more then 50 dollars per month, second he was actually barely making any profit off the venture after all the repairs he has to do.