CCR'S restrictions

It all depends, I guess. Fancier, newer neighborhoods may be more picky. My first home in the bay area, no one really cared. Do pretty much whatever you want within respectable reason. I think local law enforcement pays more attention than the actual neighborhood. I had to move my car around when I found police marking the tires after only two days on the street. They started to pass laws outlawing boats/campers on the driveway without getting them grandfathered, but it was all city related, not HOA/CCR related. Most folks were "live and let live", so if you kept most of your "stuff" behind open or closed garage doors, no one really cared.

Agree with Carol. Talk to neighbors. Another thought is to go to a couple of grocery stores in the area and see who the clientele is. That is probably the best indicator of the neighborhood you are going to move to. Polite, respectful folks? Someone who will hold the door for you? Rowdy teen-agers? They all need groceries at some point.

And yes, I like living the hermit life on my 68 acres surrounded by 200+ additional acres of uninhabited land, complete with my junky 46' Chevy, 87' Pathfinder and various other desert relics that no one has complained about so far (except me)

william watts said:

My wife and I found a place in Sacramento, a neighborhood called the "pocket", a very friendly neighborhood. We are just getting moved in and and we have already met our neighbors and several people from the neighborhood. We still have many boxes to unpack and a garage shop to get set up and organized. I will need to get a electrician to have 220 volt installed in the garage and I need to install the lighting. I can do that myself. Its looking like it will be some time before I am back to woodworking. This neighborhood does have ccr's, but very limited and nobody pays any attention to them as far as I can tell.

I used Carols advice and talked to both adjacent neighbors before we bought and they seem to be fine folks and very friendly. Jason's advice on the areas around the city was much appreciated, and in fact we did end up in The Pocket area he mentioned. Checking the google, there is a woodworking club in this area and I will look into that when we get settled some. Thanks to all.

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Welcome to the neighborhood!!!

Yep, there's S.A.W. - the local club. It'll get you the basics as far as clubs go. Lots of good people there. I was on the board for a good number of years but kind of outgrew the club and don't go anymore. There's also a guild up in Auburn who meets on the same night each month - I go up for that, now. A bit more aligned with my woodworking goals.

Let me know if you need any help setting up shop - or if you wanna swing by for a tour of mine! I'm down in tahoe park, just off 50 ... Welcome, neighbor!

Jason I've sent you a PM. Thanks to all for a most excellent discussion.

Bill

I heard of one neighborhood in New Jersey where one had to get pruning permits before trimming a bush. You had to state the species and how much you were going to cut off. Plus pay a fee. sheeeeeesh. On the other hand a friend of mine who bought some property in Wyoming asked about a building permit and was told "do whatever you want it's a free country, 2x4's and plywood are good, and you might want to get some nails" Yahooo.

I would be in serious trouble given I call our family "the local hillbillies" I gave up a long time ago trying to get the kids to put bikes and toys away, quit scaring the cows, etc. It's rather nice living in farm country. The only gunfire I hear now is someone shooting at varmints or targets. Sometimes I get a start when one of the kids breaks out a shotgun without me noticing. I worried a little when I put in an outdoor wood stove. The smoke with the prevailing wind went right toward my neighbors house. So I asked if it bothered him. His reply "I like it, it covers up the cow manure smell".

I have thought about bring a jar of jelly and some feathers to those neighborhood association meetings.....

My instructions to realtors are very clear; no HOA, no Mello-Roos, I am looking for a garage/workshop that happens to have somewhere to sleep on the same lot. This doesn't stop them from trying to show me a 5 bedroom house with a 2 car garage but, after the second or third "reminder" they start showing me things I might be interested in.

I prefer to work things out with sensible neighbors rather than have an HOA or other body tell me what bush I can plant in the front yard. If I find a place I am interested in I will go hang out around supper time. This is when people seem to be getting home from work, are getting their mail or taking out the trash. I will engage them in conversation stating that I am thinking about buying in the neighborhood. It is an extra effort but, at least this increases my chances of discovering if there is a "Neighbor from Hell" lurking nearby. Sure its some work but, I don't want to find out AFTER I move in that I will be spending half my shop time talking to the cops and the other half talking to the city.

When I lived in the Sac area I had a shade-tree mechanic on one side and a weekend metal worker on the other. We were all happy I moved in ;-)

CCnRs

OK. I only read the first few replies. The big rule is, "READ THE DARNED CC&Rs" carefully. I have read a few. They were pretty straight forward and simple. They read a bit "legal" but not enough to cause a person trouble. If you still have questions, for gosh sakes have an attorney read and translate them for you. A few bucks spent here could save you a heck of a lot of trouble. A few bucks spent here could cost you a few bucks and give you nothing but peace of mind.

Enjoy your move.
JimB

Myrna and I read the CC&Rs carefully. We had wonderful experiences. We did not have really loud music. We did not have cars torn apart on the driveway or street. We did have a roof repaired at no charge. We and the parents did find out that we had a sweet 16 year old hooker at one of the townhouses.

As I said the restrictions are one thing the local government getting crazy is another. they may decide your pick up is a truck and can't be parked in a residential area. May decide if you sell a pen you are running a cottage industry and violating zoning laws.
Thankfully it doesn't happen often but too often.
Garry

"looking for a garage/workshop that happens to have somewhere to sleep on the same lot"

I wish you luck but fear the areas where that might be possible are deemed non-residential due to fire regulations. IKR? And why I am building. The living space is only slightly larger than the shop space in the new house. Yea!

Paul Downes said:

The only gunfire I hear now is someone shooting at varmints or targets.

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not out here on li, when and if we hear gunfire, and youre not at a gun range, its usually one neighbor letting the other neighbor know just how unhappy he is.

don't ever move to LI, NY, you cant breathe without the local municipalities telling you its ok. we pay the highest taxes on earth, highest electric bills in the country, and more fees than anywhere in the world.