I know we do not always agree (that’s what makes stuff interesting), but you my friend have hit the nail right on the head with that statement. Bravo.
Not in my area. Single family homes whose property is controlled by a homeowners or property owners association are called condos. Owned townhouses are also called condos.
Granted, some of the houses are nice, but I personally don’t want my house’s outside controlled by some association, even if they DO mow the lawn and plow the driveway for me. I like to be able to do whatever I want with my property subject only to building codes.
Not all HOAs are bad. The house we lived in for 8 years in WA state was in a development with a HOA. It was not particularly intrusive and didn’t cost much, I think it was less than $40/month. And that money went to maintenance of the neighborhood parks, fences around the development, street maintenance, and street lights. We were responsible for our own home and yard maintenance.
There were regulations about what kind of pets you could have, what kind of vehicles could be parked in the street, what kind of work you could do in your driveway, etc. but unless someone reported you it was never an issue. And as far as I know no one ever reported the pig the neighbor had, or the landscaper across the street who cleaned his equipment in the driveway, or anything else.
Can’t speak to the waste disposal/eco-friendly issue, but here in Silicon Valley automatic dishwashers are – or at least used to be – used all the time to clean circuit boards and components during their manufacture. The manufacturing engineers would buy different versions and everyone had a theory of which make and model was the best for doing the job and reliability, Maytag vs Whirlpool was a common topic in that area of the office, just like Chevy vs Ford used to be a common topic of discussion in high school parking lots.
The first time I ever saw a dishwasher used to clean PC boards was in the early '80s, and it surprised me. Sine then, I’ve seen it many times, and have come to realize it’s common and works well. However, off-the-shelf detergents aren’t used, only special cleaning solutions.
I’ve never seen one used for car parts. It’s not something I’d recommend.
Septic vs sewer, city water vs well…they each have their pros and cons.
I’ve only had city water at one house in my life. It was the only time I ever was deprived of a source of water when a main broke and we were without water for a WEEK. Try that sometime.
Then there was the couple of months the city water was contaminated with crytosporidium and people had to buy bottled water but my well was fine.
The electricity needed to run my well is a fraction of the cost of a monthly city water bill. And I am in control of the quality…
Similar comparisons with sewer vs septic. The key there is a REAL inspection. At my most current home in NH, inspections are not state mandated. But I paid for the most comprehensive you can get. They dug up the leach field to inspect it as well as all of the main components…
$20k for a brandy new septic field…sure…how much was that sewer lateral and the incessant monthly bills??
Not in Southern NH. Their called covenants. There are many developments in Windham that have these covenants. First one being you have to build a home at least 6,000 sq/ft.
I pay about $40 a month for combination sewer and water. In the summer it can go up to double depending on how much I water the grass. I’ve only watered once this year though. So that would be about a 40 year payback or more. You only do septic and wells if you don’t have access to city or rural water or septic systems.
The house I bought (seacoast NH) a few years back has a covenant from the time it was built. It has a clause that after 10 years, the owners can form an HOA and take control of the governing covenant. It’s been roughly 11 years since and I see no intentions of doing so. Many people, myself included, are willfully violating some of the provisions so I doubt anyone will be anxious to convert…
Well, around here, that would be a fantastic deal. Water can be very expensive and so is sewer. Especially if they want to install a new one. Blasting through granite gets expensive real quick…
I know a guy who lives in Salem that has these covenants. When his wife put up a clothes line he got a nice certified letter from the developments lawyer telling them they have one week to remove the clothes line.
“Covenant” is the legal term for restrictions to the deed.
Covenants are common to many deeds, including those for houses deemed “historic preservation” or in areas deemed the same. Covenant also apply to condo units in multiunit buildings. I haven’t heard the term used to describe a single family unattached condo.
In our single family development they are referred to as covenants. They run for 25 years but can be changed before that if 80% or so of the owners agree to a change. We were the first owners and actually had the covenant changed to not exclude swimming pools. We were the only owners so we were 100%. The developer didn’t like the noise and commotion of a pool from experience in his adjacent developments and since we had a pool before, thought we would want one again-NO. Funny but the place is filled now and only one guy had a pool, next door. When he sold, the new owners filled it in. The 25 years are up though but everyone gets along.
Than all I can say is I’ve learned a new use for the term “covenant”. Live & learn. 
Not to keep going off track (we do drive there) but the lawyer that is developing lots across the road from our cabin calls them restrictions or something. Thing is the deed calls for cutting the grass every two weeks along with the buildings need to be living quarters, not a garage. Pretty nutty in my book to have that in the deed and he hasn’t sold much. He doesn’t seem to get his own grass cut that often either.
It’s been my experience that the opposite is true, that the quality and flow of water from your well is anything but under your control.
I spent my summers growing up in Eastern Montana. The well at the farmhouse was drilled in the 20’s and was clean sweet water, but over the course of decades became more and more alkaline, to the point that by the 70’s and 80’s we might still drink it but wouldn’t use it in the trucks or farm equipment. The water quality and flow became rapidly worse when the next farm over started irrigating heavily.
I lived in a house in WA for some time that was just outside city limits and had well water and septic. But the local municipality had sunk a well nearby years earlier and over 5 years the quality of the water at the house deteriorated.
It’s in my control because I can easily treat it for certain issues whereas the city water is what it is. And I don’t necessarily trust them to do the right things like testing and disclosure.
My brother had to put in a pH correction system on his well. Water was eating the pipes. But no issues since. What about Detroit, how’s that situation coming along?
In this area, we now have a PFC issue from an old landfill. There’s actually a pediatric cancer cluster not far from the site that many people are attributing to it. So far, only the city water is affected but…
Another difference around here is that a lot of the city water supplies are from surface aquifers. I would rather have my water coming from an underground aquifer even though there can be issues with either source.
Generally its like this, if you want to live in the boonies, a well and septic are usually part of it. I know down south there are some fairly rural areas with county water, but I believe this is the exception.
What I do not get around here is there are older subdivisions with houses fairly close to each other that are on well and septics. I doubt they could get away with the spacing now a days but back then thats the way they did things.
If I am going to be on a well and septic I am going to have space between my neighbors and myself.
There are days I want to sell this whole deal and buy a house in a nice subdivision with water,sewer, natural gas, high speed internet, paved driveway and within 15 minutes of almost any store.
But I am a moody wishy washy cuss and some days the country life is worth it, as I get older I am closer to giving it up though.
“I am a moody wishy washy cuss”
Your words exactly
And for once, I wholeheartedly agree with you
Younger me lived in a more rural location w/well and septic. Older me lives in an urban area with city-utilities. I think that’s a good way to move through life. Having the problems that come w/well and septic would be more than annoying now, but I could deal w/it ok then in exchange for more open space.