Adventures in Househunting
Today we broke the news that we’re leaving Long Island and moving back to the Midwest later this year. Along with this move will, likely, be the return of us as homeowners. Having lived in a parsonage for the last 4 1/2 years has been very helpful and not nearly as difficult as I had always believed. That is due in large part to the congregation’s respect for boundaries, for which I will always be grateful.
But this post is about something else. Ad we are looking to buy a house, I wanted to share some of the fun, strange, confusing, outrageous, and bizarre things we come across. Today’s lesson includes some important advice. This is not legal advice. I am not your lawyer. But I believe it to be good advice. Let’s start, shall we?
Lesson One: Always Read The CCRs
If you’re buying a condo or townhome, you’re pretty much assured to be joining a housing association and have monthly dues. But these days, many single-family home subdivisions also have them. Something else they may have is covenants, conveyances, and restrictions, or CCRs. These run the gamut from don’t let your grass grow over 2” and no painting your door fuchsia to you must be 55 or older to live here. CCRs are designed to give and keep a particular feel to a neighborhood.
The thing about CCRs is that they “run with the land.” This is legal speak, but it means the restrictions are legally tied to the dirt and, if you buy the dirt, you are bound by those rules, whether you read about them or not. I have seen lots of litigation over stupid stuff, small stuff, and small, stupid stuff. But small, stupid stuff tends to be the domain of homeowners’ associations, and some neighbors like a little more control than others.
Here, I present a variety of CCRs [with annotations] all for a single neighborhood.
Only two pets. No pit bulls. [Sorry. Not getting rid of one of my three pets for your control needs.]
No fences (underground like invisible for pets okay). [What if I’m a nudist?]
No overnight parking on the street. [They get a lot of snow. This is not horribly unreasonable.]
Guests may not park overnight in your driveway. [Say what? Where exactly do you want them to park?]
YOU cannot park overnight in your driveway. [Why do I own said driveway exactly?]
Regardless of whether you finish your basement, you may not include any such square footage in the advertised size of your home. [Uh, what? Is this even allowed? Isn’t this standardized for appropriately listing homes for sale?]
Requirements for a specific mailbox, and light pole, and mandated use of a solar-powered light in the pole. [Picky, but not totally outside the range of reasonable demands.]
No temporary or permanent tents, tree houses, sheds, play houses, etc. in any yards. [Good thing we weren’t practicing for a Scouting trip or anything.]
A point system for the types of trees and bushes in the landscaping and requirements to maintain a certain point value for your yard. [Math was not supposed to be involved in plant and tree selection!]
Needless to say, we quickly crossed that home off our list. NOPE. Not paying for the privilege of inconveniencing my guests or not being able to get my kid a car because we only have a 2-car garage. But if we hadn’t paid attention to the listing where it gave a website to find the CCRs and then gone looking for them, we could have been in serious trouble once we tried to move in!
So, please, before looking at or falling in love with, but especially before buying a home, READ the CCRs and know to what you are agreeing!
This endeth today’s lesson.
I’m curious. How many of you would be willing to live in this neighborhood?