OV9

My house is a 150 year old tenement. Chock full of souls

Rich B wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:05 pm I'd love to see the houses of all the people whinging about how soulless it is...

I'd love to have that much sqft in and out - there's way more soul in having enough space to indulge your hobbies/activities than there'll ever be in a tiny British period house. (And don't get me wrong, I love a Victorian house, but I love a huge garden and garage too...)

Victorian houses tend to have quite a decent internal area for the price and location - the compromise being that they're often semi-detached or terraced, and mostly won't have a drive or parking because they were built before people owned cars.

I don't mind Hoovie's old house, though it's a bit unremittingly grey and standard US refurb. $1.3m for somewhere in the sticks seems pricey now but the US simply is pricier; we've had a few years since Brexit to become uncompetitive against the rest of the world and it's becoming quite apparent. Of course, even Hoovie himself has moved to an older property for less money; around $900k I believe.

Biggest issue with Hoovie's old house is that it's HOA, and that's as bad as a leasehold house in my opinion.

Mito Man wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:37 pm Biggest issue with Hoovie's old house is that it's HOA, and that's as bad as a leasehold house in my opinion.

yeah, that does seem to be a major issue from the horror stories I've seen.

Assuming that the $1.3m value is dreaming and it's more like the $1m mark the estimate graph had. That's basically what my 3 1/2 bed 1930s semi is worth...

Thats depressing.

Mito Man wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:37 pm Biggest issue with Hoovie's old house is that it's HOA, and that's as bad as a leasehold house in my opinion.

I'm not aware of +/- of this system in the US - feel free to elaborate

They run their neighbourhoods like fiefdoms and can enforce all kinds of rules about what you can do on your own land that don't seem very American . You also have to join if you want to live there.

mik wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:44 pm

Mito Man wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:37 pm Biggest issue with Hoovie's old house is that it's HOA, and that's as bad as a leasehold house in my opinion.

I'm not aware of +/- of this system in the US - feel free to elaborate

It's basically just a set of rules for keeping the community looking tidy like the day it was made but they can overreach quite extensively. On the low end it's silly stuff like getting the whole house pressure washed each year, grass cut once a week, only 2 cars on the drive etc. Then they have stuff like curfews for when your kids can be out, how many and what kind of pets you can own, no working on cars on your driveway, needing permits if you want a friend or family member to stay at your home overnight etc etc And then the neighbours all rat on each other so the association fines the person violating the rules.

@ZedLeg @Mito Man Ah - sounds sub-optimal indeed.

Rich B wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:41 pm

Mito Man wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:37 pm Biggest issue with Hoovie's old house is that it's HOA, and that's as bad as a leasehold house in my opinion.

yeah, that does seem to be a major issue from the horror stories I've seen.

Assuming that the $1.3m value is dreaming and it's more like the $1m mark the estimate graph had. That's basically what my 3 1/2 bed 1930s semi is worth...

Thats depressing.

Also this reminds me of another peculiarity of US homes. The council tax equivalent is based on the valuation of the house and that includes non habitable areas. The valuation is primarily based on square footage. The jump in valuation is probably about when Hoovie registered the garage extension - it will have increased the property price and property tax.

He had that garage for years though, didn't he? So a bit late to register it, unless he forgot - as he went through publicising the whole build and install process

ZedLeg wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:49 pm They run their neighbourhoods like fiefdoms and can enforce all kinds of rules about what you can do on your own land that don't seem very American . You also have to join if you want to live there.

I read about a lad who had a square body truck, with a supercharged 2 stroke diesel and he worked on it during the week and put it away each night.

At one point the garage was filled so it was outside his garage, on his drive, so they towed it and it was crushed. A very rare set up, utter evil nimbys.

Dave!

Beany wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 4:50 pm He had that garage for years though, didn't he? So a bit late to register it, unless he forgot - as he went through publicising the whole build and install process

Could also be the delay in getting through to the system the estate agents use. If there’s one thing I’ve learned about America through being on various forestry Facebook groups is that it’s a bloody weird place. They build outbuildings without walls (basically pergolas) so they don’t pay this additional tax. Want to mill something? Need a licence. Want to use wood you’ve milled yourself on a shed? Need to get someone from the government to grade it. The bureaucracy seems nuts and they still bleat on about it being the land of the free. The only free thing you can do is walk about with a gun…

Some friends of ours lived in a gated HOA "estate" when they were in the US and said it was awful

Stepford Wives etc

Rich B wrote: Tue Jan 09, 2024 2:05 pm I'd love to see the houses of all the people whinging about how soulless it is...

I'd love to have that much sqft in and out - there's way more soul in having enough space to indulge your hobbies/activities than there'll ever be in a tiny British period house. (And don't get me wrong, I love a Victorian house, but I love a huge garden and garage too...)

I'm with Rich on this. Surely it's not being sold furnished anyway?

Also I'm surprised how much nicer it is inside than out, as it looks a touch awkward from the outside.

Anyway, I'd kill for that much square footage for such relatively small money.