In many cases, ther argument in favor of an HOA and the citations they give is that it ultimately increases property values. Even if they don’t lower property values, just break even, then why have them in the first place? Why stress everyone out about how many cars are in the driveway or the color of the door if it…

The missile traveled a thousand miles before streaking down on an uninhabited island in the middle of the Pacific

They approached someone holding a chainsaw to give him a citation for a fallen tree? I have to admit that takes guts. 

I should have mentioned that, based on my understanding, while some portion of the buyers avoid HOAs very few ask to see only houses within an HOA. That is why less people will end up looking at an house in an HOA. I admit 40% is the upper value of the range I was referencing.

I guess this is why I was looking for more of a wide-ranging study. I felt like no one had done the study because: a. it is really not that interesting; and b. if they did prove HOAs lowered property values, suddenly half of the houses in the US lose value, making a big mess of the market/economy.

I guess the question is whether the HOA houses were less to begin with, then the rate of decline would not be predictive. I know in my area, a nice house with an HOA tends to go for less than a run down house without one, but it is antidotal. It is hard to find the exact same house, lot size and etc with/without HOA.…

Yes. Yes they did. 

I don’t disagree, but I bought a house in a neighborhood that everyone said was unobtrusive. Unbenounced to me, and everyone else in the neighborhood, the HOA had just finished drawing up new guidelines and hiring a company to enforce them. A few months after we bought the place, they started sending out letters based…

I tried talking to them in person, but never got a clear answer. Almost like part of their income depended on people thinking HOAs were a good thing, or something. 

I’ve tried looking into whether HOAs actually increase property values before but could not find any studies (in the first couple of pages of a google search). The only thing I found is that they actually lower property values because up to 40% of potential buyers refuse to look at houses in an HOA, thereby lowering…

With an ebay auction, it is up to the buyers. Yes you can set a price, but if you don’t set a price you are still not an employee.

The thing is the taxi model doesn’t work for ‘most of America’ because they only cover certain small areas with high traffic and avoid many neighborhoods. Trying to get a taxi even a couple miles outside of Boston is like pulling teeth. Even if you call them for a pickup, they may or may not show up. In addition to…

I know, what’s next? People selling on ebay are employees of ebay? 

Uber is ebay for rides. People selling stuff on ebay are not employees. Get over it.

Wait, how many warning lights does it currently have on? I thought you just had the ignition turned on to show the milage, but according to the tach, the car is running. At least clear the codes before taking a pic to advertise the car.

The best upgrade I ever got was when they gave us the cards to a room that was already occupied. It was at a Sheraton in China. We basically walked in on a family watching TV. We left and called the manager. He said they had overstayed and were supposed to have left already. (I assumed there were safeguards in place…

The best upgrade I ever got was when they gave us the cards to a room that was already occupied. It was at a Sheraton in China. We basically walked in on a family watching TV. We left and called the manager. He said they had overstayed and were supposed to have left already. (I assumed there were safeguards in place…

unlike Uber and Lyft, they aren’t reliant on an army of contract labor that, if classified as actual employees, would make the business model untenable.

Sounds like it is time for someone to sue the state.

I wonder if I should sign up for all of these gigs, not really do them, but sign up to be a scooter charger, Uber/Lyft driver and whatever and wait to see if any of them have a class action payment. Or start my own lawsuit. At this point, it is like suing because the company did exactly as they said they would and…