So I joined Nextdoor last night

[Exterous]

And man are my neighbors clueless when it comes to maintaining their home. People were looking to pay someone to:
-Paint a 10'x11' room with 8' ceilings (no fancy crown molding\trim etc to deal with. Just a simple paint job)
-hooking up a washing machine that is already in place
-an electrician to reset a breaker

Not to mention a lot of inaccurate information about networking, water powered backup sump pumps, fertilizer etc

 

[stargazr]

Nextdoor is great, but be prepared for a few paranoid people alerting everyone about someone walking down the street, or driving slowly etc.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

meh, I don't blame them necessarily.

I accidentally busted the trim of my door and I'm in all honesty too lazy to think I can do it myself. The older I get and the more money I make (through more work hours as well) the more I'm willing to just say "fuck it I'll pay someone to fix it"

 

[highland145]

Looks like a "rape your neighbor"....er, job opportunity for the OP.

 

[luv2liv]

i see people using their real names there. isnt that a big no no???
whatever. i like it. got a really nice 49 inches LG TV for free. owner said sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. went on YT and found an easy fix for it by baking the motherboard in an oven for 10 mins.

 

[highland145]

i see people using their real names there. isnt that a big no no???

I do and don't really care. Anyone can look up the property records and find out what they want anyway.

 

[kn51]

Nextdoor is great, but be prepared for a few paranoid people alerting everyone about someone walking down the street, or driving slowly etc.

lol. Also be prepared for daily "lost dog" or "found cat" messages.

 

[DietDrThunder]

A lady that lives to my left has a camera that points toward my driveway. I usually leave the house between 5:15 and 5:30AM, and she's always reporting that someone is trying to, or has broken in to "the car next door". I've gone talked to her at her house and told her it was me, and I've repeatedly gone on Nextdoor and said, "No break in, just me leaving for work, and stop reporting it." After the twentieth time, I had to get in touch with the moderators to have them remove those posts. She is also one that just loves to stir the pot and riling people up about the HOA board. "What is the HOA doing about this?" "What are they doing about that?", and I always respond with "Why don't you attend the HOA board meeting, which is the 3rd Thursday of every month and find out?". She doesn't respond and she never attends (I know because I'm on the HOA board). I also point her to the HOA's website where all agendas, meeting minutes, schedule of events, and the progress of repairs and maintenance are posted, but she is too freakin' lazy to go look herself.

Then you have ones on Nextdoor that owe back HOA dues of over $2K (our dues are $370 a year, 1/2 paid every 6 months), and they are bitching and moaning about not getting Architectural Control Committee approval of something they want done, and the CC&Rs, etc. explicitly state that no approval will be granted until the homeowner is in good standing. But by state law, as a board member we are not allowed to "out" people for never paying their HOA dues.

There are some legitimately good stuff on Nextdoor, but I find it for the most part a total waste of time.

 

[Charmonium]

i see people using their real names there. isnt that a big no no???
whatever. i like it. got a really nice 49 inches LG TV for free. owner said sometimes it works, sometimes it doesnt. went on YT and found an easy fix for it by baking the motherboard in an oven for 10 mins.

Nextdoor is good for getting references. In many cases it's probably self-promotion, but sometimes other online resources don't cut it especially if what you want is a first hand recommendation so you can ask questions.

I did opt out after a few months though. I really didn't like having my name published. I use aliases for everything where I can get away with it, which surprisingly, is probably >90% of things where people want a name. Having authorized users on my credit card who are fictitious helps immensely with that.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

A lady that lives to my left has a camera that points toward my driveway. I usually leave the house between 5:15 and 5:30AM, and she's always reporting that someone is trying to, or has broken in to "the car next door". I've gone talked to her at her house and told her it was me, and I've repeatedly gone on Nextdoor and said, "No break in, just me leaving for work, and stop reporting it." After the twentieth time, I had to get in touch with the moderators to have them remove those posts. She is also one that just loves to stir the pot and riling people up about the HOA board. "What is the HOA doing about this?" "What are they doing about that?", and I always respond with "Why don't you attend the HOA board meeting, which is the 3rd Thursday of every month and find out?". She doesn't respond and she never attends (I know because I'm on the HOA board). I also point her to the HOA's website where all agendas, meeting minutes, schedule of events, and the progress of repairs and maintenance are posted, but she is too freakin' lazy to go look herself.

Then you have ones on Nextdoor that owe back HOA dues of over $2K (our dues are $370 a year, 1/2 paid every 6 months), and they are bitching and moaning about not getting Architectural Control Committee approval of something they want done, and the CC&Rs, etc. explicitly state that no approval will be granted until the homeowner is in good standing. But by state law, as a board member we are not allowed to "out" people for never paying their HOA dues.

There are some legitimately good stuff on Nextdoor, but I find it for the most part a total waste of time.

she knows you're in the hoa board and is screwing with you because the hoa is the problem not the solution. If the architectural control committee really is holding up approvals due solely to back dues not being paid they are bottom feeding, scum sucking, petty bureaucrats who deserve to be slapped around at every opportunity.

 

[nakedfrog]

I can understand paying someone to paint a room, but the other two seem absurdly simple.

 

[DietDrThunder]

she knows you're in the hoa board and is screwing with you because the hoa is the problem not the solution. If the architectural control committee really is holding up approvals due solely to back dues not being paid they are bottom feeding, scum sucking, petty bureaucrats who deserve to be slapped around at every opportunity.

Regardless of whether you like or hate HOAs, it is required by law that people be informed that they are moving into a neighborhood with an HOA. Also, it is in the documentation how much the HOA dues currently are when they go to close on a home, so it is still their choice whether they proceed with the purchase or not. They are signing a contract acknowledging that they accept the terms of the HOA at closing. I don't make up the rules, nor do I enforce the rules, the HOA management company does the enforcement and the rules were put in place by the neighborhood developer long before anyone moved into the neighborhood.

The largest expenditure within the HOA is the oversized olympic style swimming pool with one giant, one medium, and one small water slide, plus a smaller kiddie pool. I would say that more than 60% of the HOA dues goes into maintaining this pool. It is what people want and it is what draws people to buy into our neighborhood.

I personally would have liked to move into a neighborhood without an HOA, but I didn't want a 45 minute to an hour commute to work, so I made the choice to buy here.

With regards to people paying HOA dues, there are services provided by the HOA that have to be paid for somehow (like repairs to the perimeter brick wall surrounding the neighborhood). Is it fair that a few people don't pay and everyone else has to? Not in my opinion.

By the way, the two example people I described are different individuals. The one that lives next door to me is in good standing with paying her dues and no HOA violations.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

A lady that lives to my left has a camera that points toward my driveway. I usually leave the house between 5:15 and 5:30AM, and she's always reporting that someone is trying to, or has broken in to "the car next door". I've gone talked to her at her house and told her it was me, and I've repeatedly gone on Nextdoor and said, "No break in, just me leaving for work, and stop reporting it." After the twentieth time, I had to get in touch with the moderators to have them remove those posts. She is also one that just loves to stir the pot and riling people up about the HOA board. "What is the HOA doing about this?" "What are they doing about that?", and I always respond with "Why don't you attend the HOA board meeting, which is the 3rd Thursday of every month and find out?". She doesn't respond and she never attends (I know because I'm on the HOA board). I also point her to the HOA's website where all agendas, meeting minutes, schedule of events, and the progress of repairs and maintenance are posted, but she is too freakin' lazy to go look herself.

Then you have ones on Nextdoor that owe back HOA dues of over $2K (our dues are $370 a year, 1/2 paid every 6 months), and they are bitching and moaning about not getting Architectural Control Committee approval of something they want done, and the CC&Rs, etc. explicitly state that no approval will be granted until the homeowner is in good standing. But by state law, as a board member we are not allowed to "out" people for never paying their HOA dues.

There are some legitimately good stuff on Nextdoor, but I find it for the most part a total waste of time.

$2k in back due HOA fees and it's only $350/year? The fuck, why haven't you put their house up for lien and/or evicted the fucks?

 

[DietDrThunder]

$2k in back due HOA fees and it's only $350/year? The fuck, why haven't you put their house up for lien and/or evicted the fucks?

There is a lien on their home. The rules state that we have a right to foreclose on the homeowner. I've only been on the HOA board for 18 months, so I'm still new to a lot of how to run an HOA, but I personally didn't want to vote to put someone out of their home. It will get collected if/when they go to sell their home. But who knows, I may change my mind.

 

[s0me0nesmind1]

There is a lien on their home. The rules state that we have a right to foreclose on the homeowner, but I personally don't want to vote to put someone out of their home. It will get collected if/when they go to sell their home.

Even if it is foreclosed by the bank?

 

[DietDrThunder]

Even if it is foreclosed by the bank?

No, you are right, if it is foreclosed by the bank, we won't get a dime. Like I said above, I'm still new with regards to working on an HOA board, and depending on what the lawyers advise us, I may change my mind.

 

[highland145]

@Cepak tell the neighbor that the HOA is doing crap just to piss her off and foreclose on teh other deadbeat. Not fair to the rest of the community.

 

[Schfifty Five]

A lady that lives to my left has a camera that points toward my driveway. I usually leave the house between 5:15 and 5:30AM, and she's always reporting that someone is trying to, or has broken in to "the car next door". I've gone talked to her at her house and told her it was me, and I've repeatedly gone on Nextdoor and said, "No break in, just me leaving for work, and stop reporting it." After the twentieth time, I had to get in touch with the moderators to have them remove those posts. She is also one that just loves to stir the pot and riling people up about the HOA board. "What is the HOA doing about this?" "What are they doing about that?", and I always respond with "Why don't you attend the HOA board meeting, which is the 3rd Thursday of every month and find out?". She doesn't respond and she never attends (I know because I'm on the HOA board). I also point her to the HOA's website where all agendas, meeting minutes, schedule of events, and the progress of repairs and maintenance are posted, but she is too freakin' lazy to go look herself.

Then you have ones on Nextdoor that owe back HOA dues of over $2K (our dues are $370 a year, 1/2 paid every 6 months), and they are bitching and moaning about not getting Architectural Control Committee approval of something they want done, and the CC&Rs, etc. explicitly state that no approval will be granted until the homeowner is in good standing. But by state law, as a board member we are not allowed to "out" people for never paying their HOA dues.

There are some legitimately good stuff on Nextdoor, but I find it for the most part a total waste of time.

Wow, that would be super annoying to live nextdoor to someone like that. Sorry man.

I'm on a neighborhood distribution list and for the most part, it's used pretty responsibly. We'll have the occasional "i saw this girl walking by herself, thought it was interesting and suspicious, just FYI neighbors", but overall it's not too bad thank God.

 

[DietDrThunder]

Wow, that would be super annoying to live nextdoor to someone like that. Sorry man.

I'm on a neighborhood distribution list and for the most part, it's used pretty responsibly. We'll have the occasional "i saw this girl walking by herself, thought it was interesting and suspicious, just FYI neighbors", but overall it's not too bad thank God.

The posts that get to be funny is when an African American neighbor reports that they saw an African American male/men wondering the streets at 2AM. Then someone calls them a racist and all hell breaks loose, and the person says that it isn't racist because they are African American. Then the moderators step in and start removing posts/threads.

 

[kn51]

The posts that get to be funny is when an African American neighbor reports that they saw an African American male/men wondering the streets at 2AM. Then someone calls them a racist and all hell breaks loose, and the person says that it isn't racist because they are African American. Then the moderators step in and start removing posts/threads.

Last month I 'ran' for election and joined our board. We aren't a 'strict' HOA (like we don't care if you have a flag pole or don't put your trash cans away ten minutes after being emptied). Basically means we aren't looking for issues until someone brings them up. Our subdivision was started around 40 years ago and is separated in 3 different plots. Which is kind of interesting, older parts have different bylaws which allow say erecting an outdoor shed for example when the newer properties don't have that option.

It really is amazing some of the stuff that goes on or gets talked about. Our dues are around $675 a year. There are around 1,100 homes that we oversee. A few tennis courts, racquetball court, a 9 hole golf course (not included in fees, but it is cheap since it is a par 3), playgrounds, clubhouse, ponds and a lake and 15 miles of sidewalks/trails to maintain. We have our own newspaper. We also are a voting center which is nice because I can walk to it and cast my vote for most elections.

So anyways, on this long-winded post...how I got elected was basically because no one else bothered to throw their hat in the ring. Granted, I'm not assigned treasurer or secretary but before the vote they told me I was in. In short, apathy. You'd think that hey, probably a few thousand adults live here you would have maybe more expressing an interest. Nope. Just complain.

Sounds like you and I are in good company. Feel like the outsider from hell on this board. Only been a month but you know the feeling I'm sure.

 

[DietDrThunder]

Last month I 'ran' for election and joined our board. We aren't a 'strict' HOA (like we don't care if you have a flag pole or don't put your trash cans away ten minutes after being emptied). Basically means we aren't looking for issues until someone brings them up. Our subdivision was started around 40 years ago and is separated in 3 different plots. Which is kind of interesting, older parts have different bylaws which allow say erecting an outdoor shed for example when the newer properties don't have that option.

It really is amazing some of the stuff that goes on or gets talked about. Our dues are around $675 a year. There are around 1,100 homes that we oversee. A few tennis courts, racquetball court, a 9 hole golf course (not included in fees, but it is cheap since it is a par 3), playgrounds, clubhouse, ponds and a lake and 15 miles of sidewalks/trails to maintain. We have our own newspaper. We also are a voting center which is nice because I can walk to it and cast my vote for most elections.

So anyways, on this long-winded post...how I got elected was basically because no one else bothered to throw their hat in the ring. Granted, I'm not assigned treasurer or secretary but before the vote they told me I was in. In short, apathy. You'd think that hey, probably a few thousand adults live here you would have maybe more expressing an interest. Nope. Just complain.

Sounds like you and I are in good company. Feel like the outsider from hell on this board. Only been a month but you know the feeling I'm sure.

I got onto the board basically the same way. It was always the same people on the board every year. 20 months ago one of the board members had a stroke and was moved into a nursing home. They left the position open until the annual meeting. At the annual meeting the HOA board was present along with 60ish homeowners (out of 550 homes). There is some strange rule that if there isn't at least 50% of the homeowners present, they cancel the meeting, and reconvene 10 minutes later where a quorum is considered viable if at least 10% of the homeowners are present during the second meeting. They said they needed to fill the position and asked for volunteers to run. I was the only one to raise my hand, and I got voted in by the members present. Also, there were two other board positions up for re-election, but they faced no challengers and were re-elected to the board again.


I really expected more participation, but people really don't want on the board.

 

[zinfamous]

A lady that lives to my left has a camera that points toward my driveway. I usually leave the house between 5:15 and 5:30AM, and she's always reporting that someone is trying to, or has broken in to "the car next door". I've gone talked to her at her house and told her it was me, and I've repeatedly gone on Nextdoor and said, "No break in, just me leaving for work, and stop reporting it." After the twentieth time, I had to get in touch with the moderators to have them remove those posts. She is also one that just loves to stir the pot and riling people up about the HOA board. "What is the HOA doing about this?" "What are they doing about that?", and I always respond with "Why don't you attend the HOA board meeting, which is the 3rd Thursday of every month and find out?". She doesn't respond and she never attends (I know because I'm on the HOA board). I also point her to the HOA's website where all agendas, meeting minutes, schedule of events, and the progress of repairs and maintenance are posted, but she is too freakin' lazy to go look herself.

Then you have ones on Nextdoor that owe back HOA dues of over $2K (our dues are $370 a year, 1/2 paid every 6 months), and they are bitching and moaning about not getting Architectural Control Committee approval of something they want done, and the CC&Rs, etc. explicitly state that no approval will be granted until the homeowner is in good standing. But by state law, as a board member we are not allowed to "out" people for never paying their HOA dues.

There are some legitimately good stuff on Nextdoor, but I find it for the most part a total waste of time.

I find that this is the type of person that NextDoor really attracts. I signed up two years ago, within a week tagged all of the email updates as spam, and let my account expire...actually I'm sure if I actually signed up because it wanted real information. So I was getting constant emails about threads with old lady complaining and "wont' someone please do something about the feral cats!"....that I couldn't read because I wouldn't sign up.

 

[kn51]

I got onto the board basically the same way. It was always the same people on the board every year. 20 months ago one of the board members had a stroke and was moved into a nursing home. They left the position open until the annual meeting. At the annual meeting the HOA board was present along with 60ish homeowners (out of 550 homes). There is some strange rule that if there isn't at least 50% of the homeowners present, they cancel the meeting, and reconvene 10 minutes later where a quorum is considered viable if at least 10% of the homeowners are present during the second meeting. They said they needed to fill the position and asked for volunteers to run. I was the only one to raise my hand, and I got voted in by the members present. Also, there were two other board positions up for re-election, but they faced no challengers and were re-elected to the board again.


I really expected more participation, but people really don't want on the board.

lol, we had zero public members at my first board meeting. Election night we had one who just recently moved in.

 

[pcgeek11]

And man are my neighbors clueless when it comes to maintaining their home. People were looking to pay someone to:
-Paint a 10'x11' room with 8' ceilings (no fancy crown molding\trim etc to deal with. Just a simple paint job)
-hooking up a washing machine that is already in place
-an electrician to reset a breaker

Not to mention a lot of inaccurate information about networking, water powered backup sump pumps, fertilizer etc

Wow, Your neighbors are retarded.

 

[[DHT]Osiris]

Wow, Your neighbors are retarded.

You'd be surprised, I spent about an hour talking my SIL through how antennae's work for TVs (despite the fact she should remember from growing up in the 80's) and my BIL tore a 7" gash in his arm trying to install a window AC unit.

Some people are just bad at some things, that includes flipping switches and plugging things in.