Another Case Against Pitbulls

I'm sure some people in Jacksonville have already written me off as that guy who hates pitbulls for no reason. Even my own kids weren't really believers because "So-and-so has a nice Pitbull" or "Their dog is only part pit bull." But when one of these monsters comes charging out of a house in your own neighborhood and attacks your leashed dog on the sidewalk, that's when even the kids believe what I've been telling them.

Is Regulation The Problem With Jacksonville?

I got into an interesting conversation with a gentleman about why Jacksonville has not yet attained the stature that it should have as a metropolis of one million residents. We kind of went back and forth for a time, both of us mentioning what might be wrong, when he came up with government regulation. He claimed government regulation was the number one worst thing with living here, even though I often look around and wonder whether there's any regulation at all in the city. 

Does HOA collect police reports for crimes in my neighborhood?

Someone on Nextdoor was asking this question, and I was tempted to respond that the only thing HOAs collect is money. The real responses to the question ranged from, "It depends on your HOA" to "That's not part of what an HOA does." While I can understand that crime is separate from house paint and green lawns, since crime is the #1 factor in property values, HOAs probably need to DO something when it comes to crime.

I-Selling in Jax: OpenDoor and Zillow

Zillow is going to join open door in Jacksonville as companies that will buy your house fast. I assume we've also had the We Buy Ugly Homes folks in Jax for a while, too. Flippers, and those types. But Zillow and Opendoor are supposed to be more mainstream, and I assume the business model is just to buy low and sell high.

The Worst Real Estate Client Ever

The title of this article was from a query I got from Help a Writer Out. The author wanted stories from realtors. I figured that since I couldn't send in my story because I'm not a licensed agent, I'd write about that worst client ever here. Me.

Jacksonville's 630 City Online Guide - Now MyJAX

I wrote an article about using JAx 630City before, and it worked for me. A year later, my neighbor still has a broken recycling bin, and I am tempted to just fill out the form for him, but I'd rather teach local Jacksonville neighbors to fish than hand them a fish. In the spirit of trying to get you to do your own part in requesting services for which you pay (and help keep the city looking nice), here's a quick guide to what services you can ask for from the city of Jacksonville.

Orange Park Wants to Limit Cars in Driveways?

When I was driving around Jacksonville to find a place to live, I always crossed off the neighborhoods with several cars parked in the front lawn. In my mind, front lawns are not made for parking cars in a civilized society. But Orange Park, at least according to the news, wants to pass a law that kicks cars out of front lawns AND driveways. That would be going a bit too far, especially around here. That said, there should be some accepted rules about parking cars that should help property values, though I don't see much hope in enforcing most of the rules, even in hoods with an HOA.

The Hidden Cost of a Hidden Hills Upgrade

I took my daughter to a party in Hidden Hills. Nice neighborhood and homes, along with a security guard. So what does the convenience of being in a fancy hood near the Beaches and downtown cost? And what are the hidden costs of Hidden Hills? Just in case we decide to move on up, I decided to do some research.

I Did Not Know My AC is Obsolete

As I walk around my Jacksonville neighborhood filled with homes built in 2003 and 2004, I see that most of the AC (heat pump) units are original. They look like mine, complete with rust on the top. But it's more than the rust that makes these obsolete, and you probably better save up for the upcoming expense yourself if you have an AC unit that is over ten years old.

I Hate to Disappoint Home Invaders, But...

A home invasion down in Eagle Landing (Oak Leaf Plantation) netted $140,000 that the owner had hidden in the attic. Three home invaders and a gun. Scary stuff.  I'm here to tell anyone planning a home invasion not to bother with my home. Apparently, the man whose home was invaded flaunted money on social media. Maybe he was one of those make money fast gurus. I'm not, so no money here, home invaders.

Non-lol Moment: Sewer Main Line

I was reading through the posts in my Nextdoor app, and I saw this one that seemed to use an odd lol moment:

I need a plumber to re-pipe from the street to my house. Someone who does a good job and reasonably priced (inexpensive) lol.

I cannot, for the life of me, figure out how lol fits into this request for a recommendation. Maybe we have to dig deeper into the text. To me, it's a TSS (total sh!t storm, not that's so sweet) or WTF situation.

How Long Does Google Take To Update Streetview After Taking Photos?

Just under three months.

We've all used Google Maps, and most of us have used the little yellow guy to access Google Streetview. In this mode, Google tells you when the images were taken. I'd never really questioned how long Google takes to get that new image onto the Google Maps website. Luckily, I have the data I need in order to figure it out for my own neighborhood.

Mistletoe on my Only Tree

Boo from church told me mistletoe might be pretty at Christmas, but it'll ruin your trees. He also said that I'd have to trim back to the fork in the branch before the mistletoe, and after trimming my only tree down to nearly nothing, I'd have maybe a fifty-fifty chance of it surviving. It's kind of depressing moving from a house with 20+ mature trees to one with a single, sick tree, but I guess that's what I have. 

Arlington Renewal: Reality Check

I'm all for reviving and renewing Arlington, as long as it's not going to wake up all cranky on us. I have enough experience in urban planning (as a college student and connoisseur) to be able to predict a few major concerns with renewing Arlington, whether or not some hot-shot Miami developer says it's going to happen. And I don't have millions of dollars or years of experience in the neighborhood. Just sense.

Best Kitchen Purchase This Year is a Garbage Can

More than likely, the kitchen garbage is one of the last upgrades you're thinking about right now. I only had to go there because ours stopped working. We like the motion sensor automatic garbage cans, and they do tend to fail after some use. We'd also got into the habit of owning two full-sized garbage cans for our kitchen, one for garbage and the other for recycling. Since my wife thinks it's kind of gross (and a waste of valuable cabinet space) to mount the garbage inside our island, it was time to shop for another garbage can. This time, however, I wanted to eliminate the two-can system in favor of a two-in-one garbage/recycling can. After a few months, I feel I can safely say I made the right choice with this stainless steel, two sided garbage can from Amazon.

Can Safe Touch Help Me Be Safe?

Technically, I'm not looking for a security system right this minute. Maybe in a bit, once and if I get a job where I'm away from home. No, I need to find a way for my family to be safe with the currently unused alarm. Basically, we still can't test our smoke detectors because the realtor who lives one block away has not made it a priority to get the passcode for the alarm system from the previous owner. That means that I have to have an unhooked alarm that screams at me if I give it a current. Problem is that if I test the smoke alarms, then those also bother me until I plug the house alarm back in.

A Porsche Cayenne For My HOA

I'm still debating how I feel about this one. A few weeks back, I saw a Porsche Cayenne with my HOA advertising written all over it. Kingdom Management. I don't have anything too bad to say about the company, unlike those who have rated it on Google. More than likely, those folks ran into the wrath of not paying HOA fees or getting caught parking an RV in the side yard. Then I got my yearly HOA bill, and I thought about that Cayenne again, wondering about the purpose of it and how Kingdom Management manages its own budget.

Kernan Forest DR Horton Stucco Problems

I typed the above search phrase into Google and didn't come up with much. I did this for two reasons: our house has a couple of replacement windows, and a house down the block just had a window replaced. That doesn't seem too odd on the surface, but stucco problems are below the surface. They're also, when you find them, probably beyond the time frame for litigation. So do homes in Kernan Forest / Jacksonville have problems that are the result of shoddy construction back in 2003-2005 (and before), or is this all just normal wear and tear? And if there are problems, should previous owners and inspectors be expected to know?

PO Problems - Heat Pump MIA

I've talked about the fact that the previous owners of my house never had their dishwasher hooked up to drain, meaning it never worked for their 13 years in this house. I also wrote about the neighbor's weird air conditioner that ran in the winter, eventually concluding it was a heat pump. But I would have never imagined that I also have a heat pump, one that I believed was possibly never connected by the original installer. After talking to McGowan's Heating & Air (original installer), I've got it figured out. Read the whole article to see how that worked.

Keeping Kids Safe: Home and Road

Maybe you're new to Jacksonville, new to parenting, or new to watching someone else's kids. There are some rules, but I don't think many people stress these rules until something bad happens and you get blamed. Or you don't get blamed because you're the victim. I'm going to throw a few scenarios out there to illustrate how keeping your kids safe might be easier than you think.