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[TexasHusker]

I do not begrudge anyone anything. I am just curious as to how a private organization can police, coerce or force people to behave without there being financial consequences for both parties. What is wrong with reporting people for code violations ? What is the need to absolutely control another family and their right to enjoy their property as long as their rights do not intrude on mine ?
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Look at an HOA as a country club. You join, you agree to the rules. You don't follow the rules, you've got problems.

HOAs have become popular because cities do not have the will to enforce the codes that are on the books, such as my block. The HOA is there to protect the integrity of the neighborhood - the aesthetics and quiet enjoyment, and ultimately the values of the homes. If you don't care for the HOA, it's best not to buy a house where there is one.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I have 2050 sq ft with 3 bd/3ba open layout with entire basement bonus room. It's nice but we need around 600 more sq ft to be truly happy. 600-1000 sq ft. 1 more bedroom or office space and a full bath for the girls and leave their current bath for guests. That's it. So it actually could be as small as 2400 sq ft. I know this because I saw the IDEAL house 4/3 bath with an office and playspace in one of the houses we considered. The location was not for us though but after that house we realized we needed 2400 at a minimum. We also realized more than 3000 I would hate to clean.

I have no idea been in a HOA or area with HOA. I guess I'm okay with it. At least it's hard to crummy homes next door that looks like unkempt shacks. I mean look at Rand Paul. Didn't his neighbor attack him because he kept on putting his debris on their shared space????

[breathemusic]

My current home is one that I'm really happy with, and fairly close to my ideal home. Maybe a *bit* bigger than necessary, but I'd rather have a house that feels too big than too small. I also have more unconventional living arrangements/wants/needs. My partner and I currently own a 5 bedroom 4,000 sq/ft home. We don't have kids and don't plan to, but we also have a close friend that rents 2 of our rooms for himself and his young daughter that he has custody of every other weekend. He has no desire to ever get married again so I imagine that he'll probably be living with us for a long time. We also knew that having a dedicated office was important to us since all 3 of us have the ability to work from home sometimes. In addition to that, we enjoy entertaining and having friends and family come to visit and having a guest room. To make things more complicated, my partner and I have a polyamorous relationship, so we have other significant others as well, so having guest space that came with a bit of separation (i.e. a finished or partially finished basement) was something we wanted to basically be able to have separate living room type spaces in case different adults in the house want to watch different movies, have quiet space vs social space, etc. all at the same time. So while technically we DO have a 5th bedroom on our main floor that isn't really being used, we have 4 bedrooms on the second story, lots of entertaining space on the main floor, and basement with lots of storage while still being mostly finished and having a living space, bed, and full bath which is great for when we have folks visit or stay with us.

When we get old and stairs get hard? Meh, I'll have one of those horrible looking stairway chair elevators installed.

I will say that no HOA was definitely a strongly desired element. I have heard way too many horror stories. If I DID have to have an HOA, I would be actively working to get on the board so that I could play a role in keeping mellow and only managing the basics like snow removal or making sure people don't have abandoned cars in their yards and they don't let the grass turn into a weed field. All the rules about nit-picking paint colors and being fined if your front door paint is slightly faded would drive me crazy!

[rob62521]

I was going to say that around where we live, 2 bedrooms are a hard sell, but 3 bedrooms seem to be OK. We have a ranch and it is around 1500 square feet. I don't know who designed the layout of the house, but they used the space well as far as placement of bathrooms and closets. Of course I'd love more storage space, but perhaps it would behoove me to declutter more. We don't have HOA. So far our neighborhood is good. The only drawback is our steep driveway.

[corn18]

OP update:

We have been in our new house a little over 2 months and have some observations. Well, actually, one big observation: single level living is FANTASTIC!!!! Having everything we need on the main floor is just dreamy. Master bedroom, family room, kitchen, dining room and office is all good. But having the laundry room and exercise room on the main floor is also great. I never go upstairs except to put something in the storage room. Wife loves it, too. So at least we have something decided for our retirement home: single level for all living activities. Basement is fine for workshop and storage but not any daily functions. If this house were in an are we would consider retiring, we might just stay here for a long while.

[disneysteve]

OP update:

We have been in our new house a little over 2 months and have some observations. Well, actually, one big observation: single level living is FANTASTIC!!!! Having everything we need on the main floor is just dreamy. Master bedroom, family room, kitchen, dining room and office is all good. But having the laundry room and exercise room on the main floor is also great. I never go upstairs except to put something in the storage room. Wife loves it, too. So at least we have something decided for our retirement home: single level for all living activities. Basement is fine for workshop and storage but not any daily functions. If this house were in an are we would consider retiring, we might just stay here for a long while.

Glad you're enjoying it. When we vacation in Florida, we often rent a 1-story home, either a 3-bedroom condo or a ranch house and it is really nice not to constantly have to be going up and down stairs because you left something on the kitchen counter or need to change your socks or put in a load of laundry or want a drink out of the fridge. If/when we buy a place in Florida, we definitely want a single floor.