I'm finding this thread quite amazing in that most of the replies are negative.
We don't live in a covenant neighborhood but had been considering it. Now I'm beginning to rethink.
I wonder if it's the sort of thing where "Oh, it's old Mrs Jones who's son left his boat here...she's ok (or part of the in crowd), so we're not going to enforce the rule on her" and then things go down from there.
DW is against moving to such a neighborhood because she knows I'd be out there at 3AM every night with a camera and notebook writing down violations.
+1
Glad I don't live in an HOA neighborhood. I would have been cited for many violations by now.
I frequently allow the grass to grow in excess of 6", sometimes bordering 9" to 10" range, with weeds eclipsing a foot at times.
I've been procrastinating on the paint job for my shed (which would definitely violate HOA covenants itself by virtue of it's proximity to the house, the architectural detail and finish materials used, not to mention the plain white color scheme).
We park cars in the driveway because we don't own a garage. Sometimes we park on the street when we have guests. We plant different varieties of trees, flowers, and bushes when we want. We once left a 6' tall pile of mulch in our front driveway as we deployed it around the yard over the course of a month.
So glad not to have an HOA and instead have nice neighbors, some of which have cheap sheds, and there might be an above ground pool somewhere (though there aren't many pools at all). The houses are a mix of nice and well kept, moderately nice, and some run down. Mostly owner occupied but some renters too. This results in a nice blend of people of all ages, socioeconomic classes, nationality, occupations, and interests.
Across the street is a retired couple that love to shag dance and sunbathe in the driveway (their yard is immaculate though!).
Next door is a 70 year old hairdresser who built a behemoth carport and just had a satellite dish installed (but she's the nicest neighbor ever!).
The other way, I've got a college professor and cardiac nurse couple (he's from Africa and she's white - ooooh controversy if this were the 60's!!).
A couple doors down are the migrant family from Mexico (probably illegals, at least the parents, but that's okay, they work hard as hell; there's probably 11 of them in the house and they park a few old cars and work vans in the back yard; their back porch is enclosed with plastic wrap which is quite unsightly when viewed through binoculars; our kids love playing with their son who is in one of their classes, and we feed him dinner 1-2x per week; nice folks!).
Next door to them is the classic millionaire next door. He's an architect by trade and small time real estate mogul by acquisition. Rarely works, and stops me frequently when we pass by while out walking to talk business, stocks, investments, etc. Recently offered to lend me a book on tape (literally on tape).
Other neighbors include a real estate developer, construction sales guy who sucks at keeping vegetative life alive and a lady pushing 90 but still spry.
I can't imagine life in an HOA neighborhood being this interesting. Yeah, there's a few mismatched shingles on my roof and I STILL haven't finished painting my shed (nor my mailbox!), but life is pretty good.
To the OP, if the niggling changes in your neighborhood disturb you, then I'd say you are doomed! It probably won't get better because people just don't care that much because, hey, life. I'd say move to a new subdivision where the HOA is a lot stronger if perfection is what you seek.
, but it takes as long, or longer, to trim around the house, the sidewalks, the driveway, and the fence. Definitely a back killer...
