" American dream "

[TBoneTX 46,276]

1 minute ago, dentsflogged said:

Thankfully, there's no HOA where my Fiance and I are buying.

Lucky you.  It does vary; Dallas/Fort Worth have areas of freedom, whereas Houston + suburbs are only HOA-dominated.

2 minutes ago, dentsflogged said:

Or start issuing fines & legal proceedings. 

These come before seizure of your property.

[dentsflogged 352]

3 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Lucky you.  It does vary; Dallas/Fort Worth have areas of freedom, whereas Houston + suburbs are only HOA-dominated.

These come before seizure of your property.

I've heard that they're MUCH more prevalent in the South.  We're up in north close to the WI/MN border where they're not so common thankfully. 

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

46 minutes ago, TBoneTX said:

Lucky you.  It does vary; Dallas/Fort Worth have areas of freedom, whereas Houston + suburbs are only HOA-dominated.

Well, why would anyone choose to live there, eh?  

 

We've got no HOAs.  My purple garage is testament to that.  I can feel the freedom of being a property owner.

[SusieQQQ 11,587]

lol apparently I got off very lightly with our HOA, all they seem to do is bring cookies to new homeowners, maintain street lights in a town that doesn’t have them in most residential areas, and throw a neighborhood party once a year 😂

 

[usmsbow 802]

8 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

Lucky you.  It does vary; Dallas/Fort Worth have areas of freedom, whereas Houston + suburbs are only HOA-dominated.

These come before seizure of your property.

 

Yes, TX has a reputation of being a libertarian paradise, but many outside the state aren't aware of a) the ubiquitous HOAs that are hard to avoid in some places and b) the relatively high property tax rate. Double whammy for a home owner! At least you all don't have a state income tax, which mitigates the high property tax. 

 

 

[Paul & Mallory 1,398]

As for the HOA deal, as it can be super intimidating and scary to someone who has never dealt with that before and is reading the comments here - HOA is NOT EVERYWHERE. It's for subdivisions/housing developments. If you own the land in which your house is upon and are not moving into said subdivision or development, you do not deal with HOA. Buying a home in a subdivision means agreeing to their terms of use, so to speak. I don't want people to think no matter where or how you buy a house, you have to deal with HOA, as it is not always the case.  

[N-o-l-a 7,168]

27 minutes ago, Paul & Mallory said:

As for the HOA deal, as it can be super intimidating and scary to someone who has never dealt with that before and is reading the comments here - HOA is NOT EVERYWHERE. It's for subdivisions/housing developments. If you own the land in which your house is upon and are not moving into said subdivision or development, you do not deal with HOA. Buying a home in a subdivision means agreeing to their terms of use, so to speak. I don't want people to think no matter where or how you buy a house, you have to deal with HOA, as it is not always the case.  

 

We can all be honest, this is what living in Texas is like:

 

 

but with AK-47s thrown in.

[TBoneTX 46,276]

9 hours ago, N-o-l-a said:

Well, why would anyone choose to live there, eh?

To avoid snow that plasters other places for 10.5 months/year, si ma'am.

29 minutes ago, N-o-l-a said:

We can all be honest, this is what living in Texas is like:

Don't Mess with Texas, no ma'am.

[ZA_US 27]

I came to the US for love, not to live in a dream world. That being said, it has been difficult to adjust in my case. I no longer work in my profession and have had to take jobs I would never have taken back in South Africa given my education and experience back there. I guess it is what you make of it. I have only been here less than 3 years so I cannot say my future will always be as it is now. My advice for anyone thinking of immigrating is - do your homework and don't expect to step off the plane and jump straight into the same career. I know some people do have that experience but many do not. You have to do what it takes to make it work. Just like a marriage

[Blue Bianchi 77]

There is no such thing, really. I didn't have the American Dream. I moved here only because the academic program that I liked was in a certain university here. But I know that many people in my country think that everyone is rich in the U.S., and that life is happier here. To be honest, my friends who lived in cinder block houses in Manila seem happier and more fulfilled even though they live fairly simple lives. I find that a lot of Americans are lonely and don't have strong support systems. Materialism is strong and there is so much financial debt.

[Blue Bianchi 77]

On 3/28/2018 at 7:10 PM, doggieandsam said:

Canada, Australia, New Zealand are a few examples.

Netherlands! And Sweden

[Blue Bianchi 77]

On 3/28/2018 at 1:44 PM, Orangesapples said:

Pros - husband, California weather, diversity in California (many immigrant communities - so many opportunities for international shopping and dining), polite people, good customer service, variety of products and services (mostly due to population size here), higher salaries if you're privileged enough to have had good education 

 

Cons - mass shootings, homeless people, religious wackos (not as many in California but still), inequality, poor kids going to school 

hungry, ridiculous Healthcare system, terrible political climate, basic women's rights are still being debated, you need a credit score for everything, people insisting that owning guns is a right, kids not really having equal opportunities, no worker's rights. 

Nailed it! Except I sometimes think of the customer service as "fake happy." I always find it strange when the grocery cashier wants to know if I'm doing anything fun this weekend when I know he isn't truly interested. I know it's considered polite American chitchat. And I don't mind talking about the weather. But sometimes the questions border on being invasive.

[Orangesapples 1,954]

11 hours ago, Blue Bianchi said:

Nailed it! Except I sometimes think of the customer service as "fake happy." I always find it strange when the grocery cashier wants to know if I'm doing anything fun this weekend when I know he isn't truly interested. I know it's considered polite American chitchat. And I don't mind talking about the weather. But sometimes the questions border on being invasive.

Yeah, I don't like everyone asking me how I am and that I'm supposed to ask them back when nobody really cares. But I don't like grumpy employees either, so I appreciate how kind they are even if it's fake. 

 

Americans don't ask invasive questions compared to other cultures in countries I've visited and they don't really care what you answer to questions about your day or your weekend. It's a long and annoying formality but it's not that bad. 

[acidrain 325]

Our situation was different in that my spouse and I had been together for 13 years before we jointly decided to move to Vegas. We came here on holidays and thought it would be great to move here. When I think back to our plan to sell everything to come to a place where we didn't have jobs or didn't know anybody it was pretty crazy. But honestly it's worked out. My spouse got a way better job then he had in Canada and our house is only 2 years old. We've made friends and so far the move has turned out better than either one of us imagined.

 

We live in one of those pesky HOA's which astounds me because Americans will carry on about "rights". But they will give up all their rights to live in these HOA's that make Canadian regulations look tame. Most of Vegas is run by HOA's so if you want to live in a newer or safer neighborhood you are stuck with them. We have a clubhouse with 3 pools, hot tub, gym. Since someone pooped in the pool (don't know the details) everyone is obligated to get out every hour to go to the bathroom. We are left scratching our heads as to how our neighborhood is overwhelmingly Republican?

 

There are pros and cons to anywhere you live and for our Canadian friends they don't understand why we'd come here. The health care system blows so bad. I was not a big fan of Canadian healthcare but having to deal with this system is surprisingly bad. My elderly father in law came with us on our move as he's a US citizen. I'm not sure if we will stick around past 65 because the cost of care is high. If you are Canadian and have any ongoing health problems I don't suggest moving here. Dealing with insurance companies is like hitting your head against a wall.

 

The weather is fabulous and there is so much to do in Vegas. I've felt overwhelmed with options. I'm a firm believer everyone has their own "happy place". I grew up in Vancouver, BC where everyone I know swears it's the best place to live. While I'd go back if I could, I moved due to the lack of affordability. I was tired of being broke so I moved around Canada and could never find my happy place. The culture of guns was a bit of a surprise. Again the whole argument over rights contradicts itself. I walked away from our neighborhood July 4th celebrations because I didn't want to wait a half hour to get in. It was weird to think we were supposed to be celebrating freedom but had to worry about another mass shooter taking over the event.

 

I knew the politics would be a shift but so far we've connected with people. It's a great community and my son plays outside with all the other kids. I have to admit I don't miss all the favors I felt obligated to do for others in Canada. People keep to themselves and rarely ask for anything. In fact we've offered to help other people in Vegas and people are surprised at how generous we are. It's nice to feel appreciated.

 

I think the American dream has changed radically. Back in the 50's it was to get a good job and to be able to support your family. Now people aspire to be billionaires. If you want a good middle class life Vegas still has that. But the price of housing is going up very quickly so I doubt it will last much longer.