Home Owners Association Isn't Always a Bad Thing

Not a joke, but a true story of one mans war on property values.

I live in a small neighborhood out in the country. Small 3 bedroom 2 bath moderately priced homes on 1+ acres of land and no home owners association to tell you what you can and cannot do to your home and property. I've really enjoyed it out here and theres no telling what kind of animals you might see in your yard. There are farms nearby and I've gotten used to hearing horses, donkeys, roosters, etc.

And then, about a year ago, someone bought a house out here that was for sale. I can see the house and yard from my front door. After buying the house the guy starts to build brick columns on either side of his driveway. "Hm, a brick wall. That might be nice, but kinda out of place" I thought, as some back yards are fenced in but no one has their yard entirely fenced. Then he puts a wrought iron gate up on the brick columns. "Oh, a wrought iron fence. That might be nice" I thought. Then he starts putting up a chain-link fence across the front of the yard starting at the brick columns, with the aluminum poles securely anchored in concrete. "That's kinda ugly" I thought. But then, when he reaches the corner, the fencing changes to a large square mesh attached to wooden posts like you would find on a farm. EVERY SIDE IS DIFFERENT! Then he fences in a garden on the side and another fence around a shed in the back. Attached to the brick columns are REALLY bright lights.

We started to refer to this house as the concentration camp (the resemblance is undeniable) as we tried not to think about our plummeting home value. It's the exact opposite of a house-flip! It's even crossed our minds that maybe this guy moved in solely to drive the real estate prices down so someone could snatch the properties at a value when they went on the market. BUT WAIT, HE'S NOT DONE YET! After all, what good is a concentration camp without a guard tower? We know its actually a chicken-coop because he set out a sign advertising fresh eggs but its still a small tower about 6 feet off the ground looking over the multiply fenced in grounds with dual spotlights (if only he could get the spotlights to sweep the yard) to really show it off at night!

This past month, almost magically, there appears a "for sale" sign on the freedom side of the fence. The neighborhood breathed a collective sigh of relief. The big question now is: Who's going to buy it and when will the fence come down?