Property Owners Association Architectural Approval Form: Fill & Download for Free

We live in a 1957 neighborhood, so our HOA is 100% voluntary. Several years ago our close in suburbs became prime redevelopment property and the president (the realtor that represented the seller in our home purchase) drew up Deed Restrictions and set them to all the members demanding we sign them. These restriction created an all powerful architectural control committee. They had to approve any and all exterior modifications. I refused to sign, and told her that there was NO WAY that a group of novices were going to dictate anything about how I renovated my house. Others objected as they wanted to capitalize on their lot value and retire after selling their lot to a developer.After she was rebuffed by virtually everyone she attempted to create a Historical District. As I had a long professional history with my city, and knew the planner, I joined in on the meeting simple to witness the insanity. She was told that 66% of the homes in a district had to vote the district into being, and there was no minimum number of lots, but that the age of the homes had to be within 10 or so years from one another. The problem was that the street she wanted to control literally had homes from 1890 to 1990. Once again she was rebuffed.She was pissed, and went home to figure out how to gerrymander a district that would screw over no more than 33% of the neighbors.Thankfully she gave up as I would have led the law suite to prevent the district from being formed.

Real estate agents play a huge role in one of the most important financial decisions of our lives. When it comes to buying, selling, leasing, or renting, they’re the ones who shepherd us through a process that can only be described as overwhelming. We talked to a handful of agents across the country to learn more about the tricks of their trade—and in the process, picked up a few tips for you.1. CRIMINALS ARE BAD. KIDS ARE WORSE.It isn’t just an urban legend that criminals will visit open houses to case them for a burglary. Colorado realtor Crip Erickson said these incidents happen in waves, and sometimes the crime has a super-specific target, such as prescription drugs in a medicine cabinet. Still, he said criminals aren’t the only ones to worry about during an open house. “By far the biggest problem are couples with young kids who don’t watch them,” Erickson says. “There’s been major damage done.”2. WHEN IT COMES TO STAGING, THEY HAVE PLENTY OF TRICKS.Chocolate chip cookie spray may be the cliché, but the realtors we spoke with emphasized music and interior design when getting a property ready to show. In addition to a little freshly popped popcorn, Erickson says he plays low key tunes that visitors won’t know (to avoid any bad associations with a certain song). Monica Webster, who works in New York City and Greenwich, Conn., says her musical accompaniment depends on the property: “If I have a 6 million dollar beautiful brand new build that's very cosmopolitan and metropolitan, I’m going to play different music than if I have an 1875 Old Greenwich house. It all depends.”Webster says she also advises fellow agents to get dogs out of the house, turn the lights on ahead of time, make sure people walk through the front door instead of the garage, and depersonalize when necessary so prospective buyers can envision themselves in the space.3. THEY CAN’T TELL YOU IF A PROPERTY IS HAUNTED.An agent or broker isn't allowed to “stigmatize” a property, which can include suggesting a house is haunted. Sellers and their agents must disclose material defects, but spooky happenings can be kept quiet. If you’re truly curious, neighbors are often a great resource. Erickson says he tells prospective buyers to Google a property and check the county sheriff's website for any news stories, criminal activity, or building permits associated with the address.4. THEY’RE ON CALL 24/7.In the wee hours, agents’ jobs are equal parts salesperson and therapist. “I’ve had lots of midnight phone calls with someone sobbing on the other end of the line,” Erickson says. Webster agrees: "I call myself a psychologist,” she says. “We’re in people's bedrooms!” Every agent talked about the difficulty of making people happy in the high-stress environment of finding a home. The word “compromise” came up a lot, and it applies to both the agent-buyer/seller relationship and among the buyers/sellers themselves. Erickson says that when dealing with a couple, he has them separately write down what they’re looking for in a home. “Sometimes they’re on the same page, and sometimes they’re not,” he says.5. TINY SLIPS CAN COST THEM THEIR GIGS.Webster detailed the process of finding out what buyers and sellers want and managing their expectations, which she says is the hardest part of the job. Keeping a seller happy can be just as important as perfecting a listing. Once, after a showing of a $10 million listing, Webster was fired for not calling the owner with an immediate report. “Our job is very intense,” she says. “We’re always on the front lines. Always.”6. THEY SEE THE EXTREMES OF HUMAN EMOTION.Paul MacMahon, a realtor in Dallas, wrote to us, “We work with people in all stages of life, good and bad … Selling and buying homes is almost always an emotional roller coaster and we are there with our clients every step of the way. We talk to people when they're ecstatic, infuriated, excited, and defeated.”7. THEY SPEAK THEIR OWN LANGUAGE.Agents generally write the descriptions for their listings (although sometimes assistants or other members on the team will take on the task), and there’s a skill to crafting the perfect, limited-character sell. Erickson says a few things to look out for are “charming” (a.k.a. “small”), “cozy” (“a shack that’s about to fall down”) or “mature landscaping,” which often means there are dead trees that will need to be dealt with. Virginia agent Sarah Marcheseadds that “potential” means it’s old and falling apart, “won’t last long” means it’s already been on the market too long, and “motivated seller” means it’s overpriced and any offer is good.8. THEY NEED SALES.Most agents are independent contractors working under brokers and are paid solely on commissions, which means they only make money when a transaction closes. Agents generally make between 5 and 7 percent, and depending on the state, that amount goes to the listing agent’s broker or can be split between the buyer and seller’s agent brokers. Lease commissions vary, but they're usually between 40 and 100 percent of one month's rent.9. THEY REALLY DO HAVE TO ALWAYS BE CLOSING.Given this financial structure, it’s no wonder agents will go to great lengths to secure a sale. Agents have seen it all, and done it all. MacMahon has one story of going the distance: “I once hiked down a mountain in Canada while trying to keep a deal from falling apart on the phone. It was getting dark so I had to use the phone's flashlight while I was talking. While I was talking to the other agent I heard my sister-in-law tell my wife not to worry, but there were bears on the mountain. I've had more relaxing vacation days.”10. THEY WANT YOU TO BE PREPARED.It helps if clients have done their homework. At the very start of the process, Webster gives clients a form outlining every step of the process to prepare them for what’s to come. Letting them know that it's important to get finances in order, determine a budget, and get pre-approved for a mortgage helps to set realistic expectations. (Most sellers won’t consider an offer without a pre-approval letter anyway.)They also want you to know your limits. Both Marchese and Erickson say that one of the biggest real estate mistakes people make is trying to handle buying or selling on their own. Sellers often don’t know how to properly price their home and don’t anticipate the work involved in dealing with lenders, appraisers, attorneys, inspectors, and buyers.11. ASKING PRICES AREN’T ARBITRARY.Agents price a home based on comparable properties around the neighborhood and predictions about where the market is headed both on a grand scale and with the seasons. An agent will run a “comparative market analysis” which collects active listings as well as those pending or under contract and then evaluates things such as the age of the structure, renovations, lot size, views, and neighborhood.Seasonal trends also affect sellers’ prospects. For example, Erickson told us things slow down after the Fourth of July when people begin to think about school starting up again and aren’t necessarily looking to move.According to MacMahon, it’s about finding a sweet spot that maximizes the seller's profit. A property has to pass an appraisal report to get a mortgage approved. Banks won’t extend mortgages for sale prices that wildly deviate from appraisals, a policy that dooms many sales. Appraisals also help protect buyers from paying too much for a home only to discover they're deep underwater on their mortgage.12. IF YOU’VE FOUND A PROPERTY YOU LOVE, HANDWRITTEN LETTERS HELP.If a seller is fielding competing offers, letters, photos, or videos can sway their decision. These tokens of your affection for the property can distinguish your offer from the pack or simply allay sellers’ fears about what’s going to happen to the property once they’ve moved on. “The smartest thing I could do would be to tell a buyer: ‘Write a letter and say you’re not going to tear this house down,’’’ Webster says. Marchese wrote that she’s known sellers who have taken an offer based on a heartfelt note, even if it wasn't the best move financially. “Never underestimate the power of emotional attachment,” she wrote. “It raises its head in so many ways.”13. BUT DIVINE INTERVENTION CAN HELP, TOO.Those aren’t the only tactics buyers can use to secure a property. Erickson says buyers sometimes contact the sellers directly—he doesn’t advise that path, but admits it can work out. Webster tells us there’s also a relatively recent superstition that sees buyers and sellers burying a statue of St. Joseph to help the process along.Marchese wrote that she’s seen buyers “stalk” certain areas for listings, contact homeowners out of the blue to ask if they’d be interested in selling, and even submit backup offers in case a deal with another buyer falls through.A few states away, MacMahon says the seller’s market in Dallas—mirroring many areas of the country—means that buyers are putting offers on homes, sight unseen, before they’re even available to the public. St. Joseph might have trouble overcoming those odds.14. THEY’RE NOT JUST SELLING HOUSES.Agents also have to sell themselves, and large portions of an agent’s business come from referrals and repeat clients. Many come to be known as neighborhood experts by moving a large quantity of homes in a given area, and that perception alone can be enough to get hired. Agents can also "farm" areas, meaning they choose a specific geographical area and target their marketing efforts there. When asked about the ever-present nicknames on “For Sale” signs (a la “Theresa ‘Terry’ Griffin”), Marchese wrote that it’s a way for agents to give off the air of a long-lost friend. Aside from investing in professional architectural photographers, sending out postcards, and networking, MacMahon says he’s also strategic about his online presence because he knows potential clients will do their research: “We're all small business owners and we have to be aware that we're our own PR firms.”15. THEY DON’T WANT YOU TO BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ ON THE INTERNET.When Erickson meets prospective clients, he says his goal “is to try to establish a rapport so you don't come off as a salesman.” He believes that big real estate sites like Zillow and Trulia make people wary of agents because listings aren’t always accurate, and a simple inquiry can result in multiple realtors—often not local—contacting someone. “That process doesn’t work,” Erickson says. Marchese addresses the way the Internet has changed real estate with a slightly different perspective: “I think there is a big concern among agents today that, with the internet, our profession will become obsolete. But I think it’s only helping to strengthen the industry. The more informed people are the better we have to be at our job!”

What's true in all cases is that acquiring an installation art piece really means acquiring the intellectual property. In art world terms, the IP translates to the right to exhibit the piece and all information needed to (re)build it on or transfer it to a location of the new owner's choice, provided both the installation and site meet the artist's specifications. Those rights and specifications are memorialized in a set of official documents from the artist's studio. A signed certificate of authenticity/ownership will always be a part of this document package, as will some sanctioned sketch(es) or architectural drawing(s) that help to explain installation requirements. The collector will receive these documents once payment in full has been rendered to the artist or her gallery. For a relatively simple manifestation of this idea, see these certificates for Sol LeWitt's Wall Drawing #49:However, the ownership and installation certificates are about the point on this journey where any universal path to the answers gets swallowed by a dense fog. A whole range of other materials could be included along with those two documents; their exact identity is dependent on the specifics of each piece. To address what form the different alternatives might take, the two most important questions to ask are: first, whether or not the artist has authorized the scaling of the installation, and second, whether or not the equipment/materials needed to actually construct the installation are included with the acquisition of the IP.Let's cover the scale issue first. If scaling of the piece has been sanctioned by the artist, then the other documents in the package will include instructions on the scalability requirements. For instance, are there minimum or maximum dimensions for the room where the piece will be installed? If scaled, is the piece meant to be proportional to that of the "standard" installation? If so, how is the appropriate proportionality determined? If not, what alternative standard is to be used as a guideline? On the other hand, if the piece must be recreated to a single size, then the other documents in the certificate package will break down all the necessities of the room that must be built to accommodate the piece. It's not always easy to conclude which of the two options is a more complicated process.Once the room itself has been addressed, the other major issue is the materials needed to create the installation it holds. Contrary to what may seem like common sense, serious installation art often requires the collector to purchase the materials separately from the IP. How potentially offensive this condition may be depends on the nature of the materials. I can tell you from personal experience that it's not unheard of for a client to spend mid-six figures on the IP and another $50,000 - $100,000 on the associated equipment and/or labor needed to make it a reality. (This most commonly happens in the case of an installation piece that's heavily based in technology.) But in other cases, no exorbitant specialty equipment or highly skilled labor is needed to manifest the IP. The LeWitt wall drawing is a great example; it demands nothing more than four everyday colored pencils, a white-painted wall, and one literate person with a straight edge and a ladder. Consider the above as the two extremes on this issue. Many different points lie on the continuum stretching between them.Beyond those two major questions, there are a whole host of others that could arise. It all comes down to the artist's conceptual intent, meticulousness, and/or paranoia. For instance, must an approved representative from the artist's studio or estate be involved in the piece's re-creation or transfer, either as a part of the installation team or as an evaluator with veto power of the finished product? Are there specific lighting requirements? What type of flooring is needed in the room? Is there a specific manufacturer and shade of paint required for the walls? Must the entrance(s) to the room be in a certain position or offer a certain amount of "runway" before the piece itself begins? I could keep pounding out examples until my keyboard disintegrated.This last point leads us to another consistent truth in this process - or at least what should be one. The artist or her gallery will almost always assign some relatively high-ranking staff member to shepherd a collector through the entire installation process for their new acquisition. Usually, though not always, the costs of this management service are included with the purchase of the IP. Despite appearances, this practice is less a generous courtesy than a means of protecting everyone involved. Leaving the project management of a major installation piece to a novice in the fine arts can result in disaster for the collector's building, the artist's work, and the gallery's (and/or studio's) reputation. The bigger and more complicated the installation, the higher the stakes become. Every entity who plays a role in the transaction has a vested interest in making sure it's executed right. Better for all parties concerned to slog through an arduous installation process the right way than to speed through the various turns along the course and slam into a retaining wall for all their peers to see. Nothing in the art world travels faster or does more long-lasting damage than negative gossip.