Home buying thread

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Haus

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Around the Dallas area, north TX they have shrink swell clay soils. Summer it dries out real bad and you get large cracks in the sooil that look like that first concrete pic. Then when it rains a lot they swell back up and close. They used to have a lot of foundation issues. Not sure if they changed how they do the foundation on homes there eventually. I know 20-25+ years ago it was a common thing to have issues.
In the 50's it was common to do "pier and beam" Where you'd have rectangles of piers set deep into the soil (preferrably to bedrock) and then beams of concrete over them making rectangles. Then you'd do wood joists across and floor on top, a little like this :
1668829731577.png

My grandparents house, built in 56, is this way. Plus is that it's easier to repair/reseat when the ground shifts (which happens in Texas with the clay soils). Downside, it creates airspace under the house which can become problematic, and can result in creaky wood floors on top of it.

Starting in the mid 60's in N. Texas most homes shifted to slabs as it was considered more modern. Plus is that it's supposed to be more stable, no more creaky floors. Downsides include that lovely clay soil. It dries around the edges which cause them to sink, then rain comes and they rise, all the while the soil in the middle not exposed to as much moisture variation stays the same. Causing the slab to need to flex and then in some cases break, or cause the house to literally "warp". Suddenly doors and windows won't shut right, or a gap appears between the top of a wall and a ceiling, or cracks radiating from around door and window frames, etc... My house (built in 65) is a slab house.

Nothing like a good foundation derail. ;)

When I have a final house built for Mrs. Haus Mrs. Haus and I , I have still not decided exactly the foundation method I want. Depending on how much I have to spend, and how much I want to be "Crazy Militia Haus" I was debating going down to bedrock, at least 10' or so. Then concrete base, drop in shipping containers, fortify and concrete surround those as the basement/foundation with steel piers on all the corners/perimeters to the bedrock. Build on top of that.
 
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Sanrith Descartes

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Kithani

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"I didnt know" I had to pay my HOA dues. The reason is laughable. Oh, all those legal notices? I threw them out. Fuck her.
May be an unpopular take here but I don't feel like we should live in a world where you can have your $400k home forcibly sold over a $1419 debt.

Just garnish their wages, and/or their tax returns, and/or their Obamabucks instead IMO
 
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Sanrith Descartes

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May be an unpopular take here but I don't feel like we should live in a world where you can have your $400k home forcibly sold over a $1419 debt.

Just garnish their wages, and/or their tax returns, and/or their Obamabucks instead IMO
I hear what you are saying. She had a decade to resolve it. This wasnt some scam that happened in a moment. Why would you think that after a decade she would change her course and pay the debt?
 

Haus

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May be an unpopular take here but I don't feel like we should live in a world where you can have your $400k home forcibly sold over a $1419 debt.

Just garnish their wages, and/or their tax returns, and/or their Obamabucks instead IMO
And in a nutshell you have just encapsulated one of the myriad of reasons that no matter how much it's "just how things work now" I plan on NEVER living anywhere where an HOA has any dominion over my home, let alone I "owe" it dues for the privledge of them bossing me around.
 
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Sanrith Descartes

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And in a nutshell you have just encapsulated one of the myriad of reasons that no matter how much it's "just how things work now" I plan on NEVER living anywhere where an HOA has any dominion over my home, let alone I "owe" it dues for the privledge of them bossing me around.
Totslly get it snd I agree. But... If one CHOOSES to live in an HOA, they are choosing to accept the rules. Even when the board changes over time and they may institute rules you dont like.
 

Kithani

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I hear what you are saying. She had a decade to resolve it. This wasnt some scam that happened in a moment. Why would you think that after a decade she would change her course and pay the debt?
Oh I definitely don't think she would, which is why I offered multiple ways I would support forcibly taking the money from her. I just think it's horse shit you can foreclose a $400k home on <$2k of debt... because it is horse shit.
 
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Lanx

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May be an unpopular take here but I don't feel like we should live in a world where you can have your $400k home forcibly sold over a $1419 debt.

Just garnish their wages, and/or their tax returns, and/or their Obamabucks instead IMO
7368d644d554bf5670d39419b6d18beb.png
 
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TJT

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She's completely full of shit. Luckily I am sure the HOA attorneys keep records on their end and I 100% guarantee you she was sent certified mail on this matter she had to sign for. Probably a dozens of times.
 

TJT

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Totslly get it snd I agree. But... If one CHOOSES to live in an HOA, they are choosing to accept the rules. Even when the board changes over time and they may institute rules you dont like.
I want my next place to be HOA free. My current house and old house had them but they were mostly okay.

I received hate mail over grass being too tall before and they tried to fine me for a satellite dish (that I never used) that was on the property when I purchased it.
 
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Sanrith Descartes

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I want my next place to be HOA free. My current house and old house had them but they were mostly okay.

I received hate mail over grass being too tall before and they tried to fine me for a satellite dish (that I never used) that was on the property when I purchased it.
Like 99% of things in life, HOAs get bad reps because of people. The concept is good. Like our very own Congress. If you have ever had "someone" buy a house on your block and then try to paint it a garish purple color, you appreciate an HOA and its "approved paint colors for exterior walls". Ever had a neighbor never take care of their property and it looks like a crackhouse, you appreciate an HOA getting someone to mow the lawn and then billing the homeowner. Same if a neighbor wants to park 8 broken down vehicles in their front lawn, you appreciate an HOA when they say move the vehicles or be fined.

The purpose is to prevent individuals from fucking up the overall community by setting standards. Yes some HOAs have asshats in charge and become over zealous. I never had an issue living in an HOA because I lived in ones that had rules I agreed with and I didnt break those rules. At the end of the day, the HOA is an elected body that any owner can run for. 99% dont give a shit about running or going to meetings or voting for members. They then complain when shit happens they "didnt know about" because they never vote or go to meetings. Ygwyfd.
 
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fris

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if you're in a neighborhood where your 'yard' touches your neighbor's 'yard', then you'll want at least a small HoA. you want something so neighbors can't put cars on blocks in the yard. if you have a $1m home, you want the rest of the homes in the neighborhood to have the same curb appeal for when you want to move/sell. it's a necessary evil 99% of the time. mid level, you might get an annoying karen that tells you to paint your trim for no good reason.

i think most neighborhoods now use a service to patrol and take picks of 'violations'. so it's less likely the karen in your neighborhood, but some new guy on the job thinking finding more problems will get him a raise.
 
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Burnem Wizfyre

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Neighbors to the left and right of me are older and scalp their front yard, I mow weekly and like it thick, it’s all carpet grass. Promised to mow it for them once a week when I do it and they were both happy to let me do it. They can scalp the shit out of their back yards I don’t have to see it, but it really did bother me just how low they cut that beautiful grass because they didn’t want to maintain it weekly.
 

Creslin

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Hoa is so foreign to me. Literally almost unheard of here. Don’t get you people who think you need them either. Maybe if you live in one of those god awful developments where everything looks the same and the houses are two feet apart?

Personally never minded some houses being interesting colors and not all looking the same. my parents live in an old folks community and every house is grey or beige and you can only have soft white Christmas lights and tons of bullshit.
 

Lanx

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Hoa is so foreign to me. Literally almost unheard of here. Don’t get you people who think you need them either. Maybe if you live in one of those god awful developments where everything looks the same and the houses are two feet apart?

Personally never minded some houses being interesting colors and not all looking the same. my parents live in an old folks community and every house is grey or beige and you can only have soft white Christmas lights and tons of bullshit.
hoa really keeps everyones house looking decent

look at these two houses
f7ee703ece33390cfc572187b977c85f.jpg


the one on the right is even being sold, and who is going to walk in the house and miss the neighbor w/ a terrible lawn?, no one wants to buy a house and move in next to that shitty neighbor

(actually looks like terrible lawn neighbor is spreading disease to good house)
 
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Jysin

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Neighbors to the left and right of me are older and scalp their front yard, I mow weekly and like it thick, it’s all carpet grass. Promised to mow it for them once a week when I do it and they were both happy to let me do it. They can scalp the shit out of their back yards I don’t have to see it, but it really did bother me just how low they cut that beautiful grass because they didn’t want to maintain it weekly.
Visited my mother in Florida last summer and she was perplexed why her lawn had spotty brown dying patches. She had bought a new mower and set the height to Gillette setting figuring she would mow less frequently. After a few discussions, bordering on arguments, I convinced her to grow it out a bit and move the mower height up significantly.

Been a deep green and lush lawn since.

You especially can’t close shave the lawn in Florida, as it will burn down to the roots pretty darn quickly.
 
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Burnem Wizfyre

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Visited my mother in Florida last summer and she was perplexed why her lawn had spotty brown dying patches. She had bought a new mower and set the height to Gillette setting figuring she would mow less frequently. After a few discussions, bordering on arguments, I convinced her to grow it out a bit and move the mower height up significantly.

Been a deep green and lush lawn since.

You especially can’t close shave the lawn in Florida, as it will burn down to the roots pretty darn quickly.
Same for here in Texas, the heat and sun will kill what would normally be beautiful grass if you cut it to low.