There goes the neighborhood, or are we just grouchy retired people?

[audreyh1]

Starter homes down this way start at the low $200's (thousands). People scrimp and save to get into these and all are financed. Builders are throwing up thousands of these little houses around my area. Think if it as an extension of a Texas/Mexico border town.

The Texas side of a border town doesn’t look like that anymore down here. Only the ancient neighborhoods.

 

[Teacher Terry]

I have owned 10 homes throughout my life and some had hoas. Only one hoa was awful. Now I own a condo and am the president of the hoa. We definitely want to have the community look nice without being militant about enforcement. Most of the time sending a nice letter works without having to fine people. We are lucky enough to have an excellent maintenance guy that is self motivated and has really gotten our property looking nice.

Before him we had a string of losers that wanted to sit in the office and do nothing. They were all young. This guy is older and from another country. Luckily he’s a citizen now and loves working here. I hope he never retires .

 

[imjustawarrior]

If you don't like your neighborhood, then change it. In 2020 we got our first dog. My DW and I walk him 3-4 times a day. We started meeting our neighbors. We also started waving to every car that drove by. Now, everyone waves to us as they drive by. I know just about everyone in our smallish sub-division.

I didn't know how many people, in particular single seniors, could really use help. I made an effort to get to know everyone and help those that I could. This has changed my attitude toward my neighbors and made it a better community to live in. My DW and I are always looking for opportunities to serve others.

I also started an annual block party with a couple of friends I made in the neighborhood. We smoke the meat, and everyone else brings a side. The neighborhood has become a very friendly place to live with people willing to help one another. It is not paradise and not everyone is involved, but it is a better place for those who choose to engage. When people move in, they frequently say they have heard about how friendly the people are.

 

[audreyh1]

Our subdivision is small with few commuters, and many walkers. That definitely helps.

 

[MarieIG]

Well, the only thing I am not crazy about with some of the new neighbors is their desire to rip out gardens and cut down trees. Not my business of course, but I felt some pangs at the removal of seemingly healthy, beautiful old trees.

 

[lrip]

We moved a lot being in the military. We've always had that one neighbor everywhere we lived, even on base. It's frustrating when you take pride in your property. Not much you can do about it, so try not to worry about it too much. Easier said than done.

 

[GBcycling]

I solved this problem. I bought 240 acres of farmland with a homestead. My grandparent's old place. Cost about $1.5 million. I paid appraised value to the estate...only way, no family discount.
The farmland brings in $60k rent and a place to live. Great neighbors, all half a mile away. No crime. We help people and get along great. Go to church nearby and look out for each other like family, only better. Big garden and a world class library 10 miles away. Can't beat it.

Jealous!! and congratulations. Our friends are preparing to do the same, moving back to live/purchase with her dad on the farm in..... Wisconsin. I am amazed at the number of cheeseheads out there. Good people

 

[Pointby2]

I feel like we dodged a bullet when we moved from Coon Rapids, Minnesota to Anaheim Hills. The old neighborhood has totally changed. All the open land around our CR home used to be peat farms, but are now subdivisions, the population has grown 40%. Traffic used to be intolerable, I can't imagine now. The value of our old home has increased by $200k in the 25 years since we sold, while our new home increased over a million dollars.

 

[Bestwifeever]

Despite my best efforts to drag down the neighborhood, it is even better than the day we moved in some 33 years ago. The neighbors are exceedingly nice, we look out for each other, and everyone maintains their property well. I love living here.

This is my neighborhood too. Now we have exceedingly nice young ‘uns moving in (like we did 40+ years ago) and maybe we’ll let some of them take over our little old house soon (but not too soon!)

 

[Turbo29]

Back in 2021 the HOA in my neighborhood decided that all the houses had to be repainted by January 2023 (unless they had been repainted earlier) as all the houses were now ~20yr old and the paint had deteriorated. Nothing wrong with this in my view. My house didn't look bad but many did (the amount of paint deterioration seemed to be dependent on the color of the paint). I complied, getting my house repainted in October of 2022. Now in March of 2025, over two years after the deadline, several houses are not repainted.

Out of curiosity I visited the assessors website. Almost all of the non-repainted houses are owned by private equity as rentals. As the HOA is quick to threaten for trash cans and weeds, I can only assume that they are terrified of the attorneys that the private equity companies have and so just let them go.

Just venting

 

[aja8888]

The Texas side of a border town doesn’t look like that anymore down here. Only the ancient neighborhoods.

These in Montgomery County are nice looking neighborhoods when new, but over time they start looking like the ancient ones you mentioned. However, the town leaders try to have them kept up, but are clearly struggling with that effort. I have lots of examples, but not suited for posting here.

The Woodlands, where I lived for 30 years is getting surrounded by these low end houses. Clearly, I am planning on moving to a newly built 55+ apartment within the next year or so. If my daughter didn't live in Spring (in a nice neighborhood), I would be out of Texas. Thinking about that, I will keep that open as another option, but going back to CT is not in the cards.

I'm also sick of the traffic around here and in a few more years after the additional thousands of low end houses are built, it will be absolute gridlock all day here. It's nearly like that now.

 

[ponyboy]

Keep in mind that in many places $350k homes are now considered starter homes and many may scrimp to get to that point of buying. Not much left over for improvements after that.

Agreed. A lot of people are just getting by. Those people are probably not frequenting financial forums. They're just trying to to feed their family and keep a roof over their heads. I feel for them.

 

[pacergal]

Our 65 year old neighborhood is next to an elementary school, so generally families move in with young kids, they grow up go to college, then the house is sold. No HOAs, but homes and yards are pretty well cared for. A few homes are now rentals, and those are the ones that seem to be more "worn down" looking and less cared for. Only a couple of the old Ranch homes have been torn down and new mega mansions built, they seem out of place.
Our immediate neighbors all around, except for one, are retirees, so the homes are neat and tidy, some so much so, I believe they are definite Type A+ personalities-- lol.
In general, it is a peaceful place to be, nice city overall, and we feel blessed.

 

[jollystomper]

Both DW and I grew up in crowded inner cities, then crowded single family house neighborhood, with very small yards and semi-detached houses, with lots of kids, street noises, sirens, etc. So we are not going to complain about living in a relatively quiet neighborhood where most houses are on 3/4 of an acre or more.

We have lived in this neighborhood for almost 35 years and raised a family in it. Other than not having sidewalks, we love it. DW says when we were looking at houses, this house and the neighborhood was were she dreamed of living when she was a young girl.

I could go into great detail about its benefits. But to keep it short, the reasons include:
- A house on 1+ acre of land
- The road in front of the house far enough away to not hear cars
- Nothing across the road but miles of farmland and a view of mountains on clear days
- Little noise from the neighbors gets into our house (even on our porch or patio we barely hear anything)
- Our noise (DW piano and organ playing, my loud music and movies) does not bother our neighbors
- Friendly neighbors when we moved in (especially as we were one of the first minority families to move into the neighborhood, and there still are not many)
- No racial incidents directed towards us from the neighborhood since moving here
- Still friendly people, including younger folks (who will at least wave or return your wave during our daily walks)
- Our kids made a lot of friends growing up here, and some of them when coming back to visit will look up us to say hello
- Pretty much the same neighbors bordering us since we moved in who look out for each other and respect each others properties
- Occasional "get to know your neighbors" parties
- Several neighbors have dogs that they allow us to give treats to, so the dogs are friendly to us, and will be very quiet after we give them the treats.

We are hoping that our health keeps us here for as long as possible. Nothing is guaranteed, and we have looked at senior communities, assisted livng places, single level houses to downsize to, etc. to understand what *might* be in our future. But any of those will not be as enjoyable as our current neighborhood.

One neighbor has a couple of old trucks in fist front driveway/yard he is working on, but that is their property, they are a nice young couple, so no issues (and I do see him working on the vehicles every weekend ). We have voluntarily cut back trees that we notice might be infringing on neighbors' properties, and that has been appreciated. In general, very little of what our neighbors do or have bother us, and we try to do little to bother them.

 

[Time2]

I can't take any credit, if it wasn't for my wife, I would be the one to let the grass get to long and there probably would be any flowers. So ya, she has flowers in the front yard and keeps the grass cut. As to my neighbors, I live in a 95 home sub division, 75% to 80% do a decent job of keeping there property up, but! I have a house on the side and one across the street, the one across the street had an older mamma and a drug abusing son and grandson, they took absolutely no care of the lawn or house. The city at one point brought in a crew to cleanup the junk and put a $3,700 lean on the property, ( a lot of junk). Finally mamma died the house was sold and the son overdosed on Fentanyl. House went through 3 builders before being rehabbed, everything, demolished right down to the studs and a new nice younger couple bought it. The other neighbor is less of a problem now that the sons got older and moved out or went to prison. It was just the dad living there, until some women and her teen daughter became friends thru prison mail. now she and the daughter are living with the dad. They aren't any trouble. However, I can't think of a better way to meet a man than thru prison mail. /s/ Just a little bit of my soap opera!

 

[aja8888]

I can't take any credit, if it wasn't for my wife, I would be the one to let the grass get to long and there probably would be any flowers. So ya, she has flowers in the front yard and keeps the grass cut. As to my neighbors, I live in a 95 home sub division, 75% to 80% do a decent job of keeping there property up, but! I have a house on the side and one across the street, the one across the street had an older mamma and a drug abusing son and grandson, they took absolutely no care of the lawn or house. The city at one point brought in a crew to cleanup the junk and put a $3,700 lean on the property, ( a lot of junk). Finally mamma died the house was sold and the son overdosed on Fentanyl. House went through 3 builders before being rehabbed, everything, demolished right down to the studs and a new nice younger couple bought it. The other neighbor is less of a problem now that the sons got older and moved out or went to prison. It was just the dad living there, until some women and her teen daughter became friends thru prison mail. now she and the daughter are living with the dad. They aren't any trouble. However, I can't think of a better way to meet a man than thru prison mail. /s/ Just a little bit of my soap opera!

Two things:

1. Nice that your wife does the grass cutting. I could never get my wife to do that!

2. Prison mail; Is there a website of lonely prison ladies (and men) for *future* dating? (asking for a friend)

 

[COcheesehead]

Starter homes down this way start at the low $200's (thousands). People scrimp and save to get into these and all are financed. Builders are throwing up thousands of these little houses around my area. Think if it as an extension of a Texas/Mexico border town.

Two things:

1. Nice that your wife does the grass cutting. I could never get my wife to do that!

2. Prison mail; Is there a website of lonely prison ladies (and men) for *future* dating?

Years back when we had a house with a lawn I asked my wife to help with the yard work. She said sure, how many bids should I get?

 

[Time2]

Two things:

1. Nice that your wife does the grass cutting. I could never get my wife to do that!

2. Prison mail; Is there a website of lonely prison ladies (and men) for *future* dating?

1. Yes, she took it over when we got a rider, many years ago. One evening I came home from work and she ask, "can you go out and help me with the lawn mower?" I ask, "what's wrong" just come out. So she had rode the lawn mower up the chain link fence. It was standing straight up against the fence.

2. List of prisoners needing mail at DuckDuckGo

That search page has more than you will ever need.

 

[aja8888]

1. Yes, she took it over when we got a rider, many years ago. One evening I came home from work and she ask, "can you go out and help me with the lawn mower?" I ask, "what's wrong" just come out. So she had rode the lawn more up the chain link fence. It was standing straight up against the fence.

2. List of prisoners needing mail at DuckDuckGo

That search page has more than you will ever need.

Thanks! You have a keeper! LOL!

Man, I never knew that prison mail stuff was available. Crazy stuff.

 

[Time2]

Thanks! You have a keeper! LOL!

Man, I never knew that prison mail stuff was available. Crazy stuff.

I'm not recommending this as a way to meet potential mates!

 

[Diogenes]

Interesting post. I cant relate to your neighborhood issues, but I can relate to loving your home and space.

In my mind, the neighborhood is part of the home, so if that has gone bad, then I would consider taking my equity and moving on. Sounds like renters have taken over and they don't think about property like owners. No offense to renters, but I have owned, rented, and been a landlord, so I think I can speak on this.

My first house was bought in 1997 (sold 2002), probably close to the year you bought. I would not want to live in that neighborhood now, even tho when we bought it was a great neighborhood. Even when we sold the neighborhood was great.

I was pondering on our equity recently and how that played into "net worth". What good is your home equity if you never realize it?

It's because "net worth" isn't an engine of spending. It's a statement of our accumulations, of our lifetime achievements. If my net worth is higher tomorrow than today, then it means, that today I accomplished something. One reason that I loathed and despised my former house, is that it refused to appreciate in price. It did nothing for my net worth... between the capital losses and the taxes, it only diminished my net worth. It was a horrid regret, over which I'm still traumatized, years later.

Cost about $1.5 million.
The farmland brings in $60k rent and a place to live.

Off topic, but how does one generate $60K in annual rent from a mere $1.5M farm? If the rate of return were that high, why not buy millions of acres, and forget about the stock market (or at least, the bond market)?

Wife and I comment all the time about how people will move into a home and never repair a single thing ever again. Spouting could be falling off house, siding blew off..it'll stay like that indefinitely. I don't get it. No one takes pride in anything they own anymore, especially the place they live. ...

I never took pride in former property... regretted buying it, about 15 minutes after receiving the front-door keys.... but wasn't willing/able to sell it, for 20 years. Eventually sold it at a loss.

Why "no pride"? I had distaste for the state, locale and neighborhood. It was a foolish purchase. I now realize that buying a house is an intimate statement, like pledging for a fraternity, or even getting married. It's NOT merely a financial transaction! It's a huge disservice by the housing and real-estate industry, to regard buying a house as merely (or even primarily) a financial decision.

 

[aja8888]

I'm not recommending this as a way to meet potential mates!

Naw, I was just curious. No lady in prison is as old as I am so the choices are null. Most my age are in "facilities" or still married to a live husband.

 

[Time2]

Naw, I was just curious. No lady in prison is as old as I am so the choices are null. Most my age are in "facilities" or still married to a live husband.

I have an older friend whose wife has warned him, that if she dies first, "don't fall for the first warm casserole that comes to the door!" For older man it is a buyers market. And don't take buyer wrong!

 

[aja8888]

I have an older friend whose wife has warned him, that if she dies first, "don't fall for the first warm casserole that comes to the door!" For older man it is a buyers market. And don't take buyer wrong!

I'm a 2 year widower and turning 82 soon. Plus, I am very healthy and active (lucky, I guess). I have looked "around" a bit, but my standards are more than just a casserole or two. I meet a woman my age once a week for breakfast at a local place, and she is a well off widow of two years, but she is in "not so good shape" health wise. And because of that, she just remains a friend.

Some guys just need to have a replacement when their wife dies, and will fall for the first one that meets their criteria, no matter how loose it is. I think I am destined to stay single as I don't want to become the caretaker for another person. I did that once already (for years).

This neighborhood I am in is a mix or retirees and young people. The single retirees here appear to be thinking like me.

 

[ponyboy]

It's because "net worth" isn't an engine of spending. It's a statement of our accumulations, of our lifetime achievements. If my net worth is higher tomorrow than today, then it means, that today I accomplished something. One reason that I loathed and despised my former house, is that it refused to appreciate in price. It did nothing for my net worth... between the capital losses and the taxes, it only diminished my net worth. It was a horrid regret, over which I'm still traumatized, years later.

Off topic, but how does one generate $60K in annual rent from a mere $1.5M farm? If the rate of return were that high, why not buy millions of acres, and forget about the stock market (or at least, the bond market)?

I never took pride in former property... regretted buying it, about 15 minutes after receiving the front-door keys.... but wasn't willing/able to sell it, for 20 years. Eventually sold it at a loss.

Why "no pride"? I had distaste for the state, locale and neighborhood. It was a foolish purchase. I now realize that buying a house is an intimate statement, like pledging for a fraternity, or even getting married. It's NOT merely a financial transaction! It's a huge disservice by the housing and real-estate industry, to regard buying a house as merely (or even primarily) a financial decision.

Farmers will pay a fee to plant crops on your farmland. My parents own 10 acres of land that is farmed, but they only get around $1500 for the season. The rental rate must be better wherever they are.

I agree about the financial decision in buying a house. When we purchased our home it wasnt because it was a good investment. Turns out it was, but we personally don't even factor our home value into our NW. We would never use our home as collateral so it's simply a house to us that we live in and build memories in.