Category Archives: Realtor

Enter the Bulldozer!

      1 Comment on Enter the Bulldozer!

Neighbor disputes get incredibly nasty. But when one of the parties in a dispute is a bulldozer owner who’s a little mentally unbalanced, that’s when things get really bizarre.

I don’t know the background of this dispute. But a Port Angeles, Washington homeowner was so furious with neighbors that he used a bulldozer to raze their homes.

It’s not the first time a bulldozer has been used to settle a neighbor dispute, either. The last time this happened was in Granby, Colorado in 2006. Linked below are the stories on the Port Angeles, Washington bulldozer. The second linked is the 2006 Colorado bulldozer.

Someday, neighbors might learn to be neighbors.

On second thought, naw that’ll never happen. The first neighborhood dispute involved a couple of guys named Cain and Abel. Christians and Jews will know those two names. For the rest of you, look it up.

 http://tinyurl.com/cfhpv2p

original source:

http://www.dreamindemon.com/2013/05/11/barry-alan-swegle-redecorated-neighborhood-bulldozer/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=barry-alan-swegle-redecorated-neighborhood-bulldozer

Colorado bulldozer case:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZbG9i1oGPA

Cain and Abel reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel

 

 

 

 

Crazy, Crazy Dixy

      No Comments on Crazy, Crazy Dixy

Since Dixy Lee Ray’s name was brought up on my FaceBook page, I thought I’d share a fun memory of her. I knew her while I was working as a reporter and news anchor on KIRO-TV in Seattle.

Dixy, who was then running for office as Washington State Governor, was actually kind of a wild lady. She did an occasional TV show on KIRO, always wearing the same faded canary-yellow jacket. One day just moments before the show went live, a floor director suggested that she put on a different colored jacket which he had in his hands.

No problem. Right on camera with seconds to go, she stripped off the yellow jacket (wearing absolutely nothing underneath!), and put on the green one. Jaws dropped in the studio, the director’s booth, and around all the TV monitors in the newsroom. The future Governor of Washington State just didn’t have inhibitions. She wouldn’t have hesitated for a second, even if she was actually on the air at the time. She was much wilder than her staid reputation as a scientist ever hinted at. She was also a good person.

Miss you, Dixy!

What? A Dishonest HOA? Nawww!

      No Comments on What? A Dishonest HOA? Nawww!

The story linked below is more than confusing. But I’ll try to boil it down.

A dishonest developer (imagine that!) creates a planned community with all its customary HOA rules, doesn’t provide the promised amenities, goes bankrupt the day before going to court; now the community is stuck with HOA regulations and dues created by this creepy developer.

Welcome to HOA Amerika.

Kenneth and Linda Anderson developed the Arcadian Springs Village Property Owners Association in Andersonville, Kentucky. Now dozens of homeowners are whining that they got duped. They didn’t get the Utopian neighborhood they dreamed of.

Yup. You got duped from the second you heard the phrase “Homeowners Association.” You should have run away from the Realtor. You should have demanded that the Realtor only show you homes OUTSIDE of Homeowners Associations. Now you’re stuck with covenants, controls and restrictions, created by a dishonest developer, that will be there forever. And you’ll be paying dues forever on amenities that will never exist.

That’s the way it works, folks. Utopia was a fictional paradise in the mind of Sir Thomas More in his 1516 book about a magical paradise on a gorgeous island in the middle of the ocean. His dream of the ultimate future society was just that. A dream. You can’t have a Utopian society unless every member of the community is brain-dead.

Then again, to buy into a Homeowners Association with all the negative stories out there… you’ve gotta be brain-dead.

I’m just sayin’.

http://tinyurl.com/cw9tsqn

original source:

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/may/10/lawsuit-filed-over-association-fees/

 

A Powerful Interview!

      No Comments on A Powerful Interview!

One of the best and most powerful interviews I’ve heard by someone on the national HOA mess just aired on Shu Bartholomew’s internet radio show. Dr. Karin Huffer is from Colorado, but that’s not why I love  her. In fact, I’ve never met her or spoken with her. But she is an articulate advocate for homeowners against HOA scams. If you haven’t heard her interview, it’s your loss.

Shu does a wonderful job interviewing anti-HOA experts. But Shu is a star for discovering Dr. Huffer’s work. Do yourself a favor and listen to Dr. Huffer. Nice to know that our movement is growing!

http://onthecommons.net/

 

 

 

On Hiring the Cops to be Cops

      No Comments on On Hiring the Cops to be Cops

Houston’s Oak Forest Homeowners Association is discussing hiring off-duty sheriff’s deputies to patrol their neighborhood.

There’s an obvious and historic conflict-of-interest in hiring off-duty cops to perform the exact same duties in the exact same neighborhoods that they patrol during on-duty hours. And over the years there’ve been plenty of scandals involving off-duty police work.

Additionally, hiring police officers will not give the Oak Forest HOA immunity from any lawsuits in lawsuit-happy Texas. In fact, it may even be even more tempting for the litigious to sue for excessive force or other alleged ‘bad cop’ behavior. They get to sue the cop, AND the police department, AND city/county government, AND the HOA. Each entity has insurance to ‘buy off’ the lawsuit. Nice!

That being said, it would sure be comforting to know that someone providing neighborhood security was a real professional and not a private HOA security guard who suddenly finds himself being given police powers. The Illinois Supreme Court ruled recently that private HOA guards have the power to ‘arrest’ motorists. In other parts of the country, private security guards pull over speeding motorists and order them to write a check to the local HOA. How absolutely scary! In one Colorado HOA, security guards even use a police radar gun to ‘arrest’ and ‘fine’ speeders.

Given a choice, I’d sure be tempted to hire the professionals.

http://www.theleadernews.com/?p=9124