Article Courtesy of Bradenton Herald

By MELISSA FOLLOWELL

Published January 6, 2007

EAST MANATEE - When a job opportunity led Heritage Harbour homeowner Richard Brody to move across the country, he knew selling his house would be rough.

"By the time I listed my home, the market had already gone sour," Brody said.

Now, a new regulation is further challenging how long it will take for Brody to sell his home.

The Heritage Harbour Master Association sent a letter to Brody last month telling him the small For Sale sign he had in his yard is no longer allowed.

While the community has always had restrictions on what For Sale signs in the neighborhood should look like, the homeowner's association decided to take it a step further.

"We were flooded with complaints from homeowners because the neighborhood looked awful. We're trying to get some kind of control of the whole process," said Rob Allegra, Lennar division president for Sarasota/Manatee.

Lennar, the developer and sole builder within Heritage Harbour, still maintains majority control in the homeowner's association because the neighborhood has not reached 90 percent completion. That control has raised some eyebrows as the developer itself is busy trying to sell its inventory of new homes.

"Developers will take every advantage they possibly can," said Peter Evans of Coldwell Banker, who along with wife Pat, listed Brody's home. "In the case of Heritage Harbour, they're going to continue doing things for their benefit."

Allegra said the company was considering the wishes of full-time residents when amending the deed restrictions to outlaw the signs.

"You can't make everyone happy, we're trying to do the best for the community as a whole," Allegra said.

The signs had been called eyesores by homeowners but Allegra also cited safety as an issue.

"If you drive down the street and there are half a dozen homes available, it might make neighboring homes look like an easier target," Allegra said.

Brody thinks that is a weak argument.

"If you were a criminal, it's not exactly hard to tell which homes are lived in and which ones aren't," he said.

Whether it be the absence of cars or lights or a lockbox on the door, criminals can seek out ways to identify vacant homes, Brody said.

Heritage Harbour is not the only community with sign restrictions, but the other neighborhoods had them in place when the homes were originally marketed.

According to Evans, similar restrictions are in place at GreyHawk Landing, a Sam Rodgers development where Lennar is also the builder. Like Heritage Harbour, the community is not completed.

In East Manatee's adult community, The Cascades, laws about signs were spelled out for homeowners when they purchased their homes.

The addendum was a way to weed out the investors that had been infiltrating the market, said Reine Jesel, sales manager at the Levitt and Sons community.

"They (Heritage Harbour) encouraged the investor and now they are irritated with them because they are cutting into their business," Jesel said.

For the most part, it is the investors who have flooded the development with signs.

"I was really planning on staying there forever," Brody said. "It was a nice place to live and it wasn't their fault the market went sour but to pick on the little people, come on."

Allegra said there are plenty of ways to advertise that don't require a sign in the front yard.

"A lot of homeowners are trying to sell homes themselves and they don't know where to start," Allegra said. "The Internet has turned out to be a great resource."

Brody said it isn't just the banning of signs that is holding back the sale of his house. Priced at a point where he won't make a profit on the home, he still can't compete with the discounts of the developer.

"Several people who looked at my house in the last couple months have bought new houses because they're giving them away," Brody said.

Earlier this month, Lennar, the biggest U.S. builder, warned that it expects to post a loss in the fourth quarter and its chief executive said he see no signs of a recovery in the housing market.

Evans and his client said they don't feel Lennar's misfortune should allow it to change regulations on a whim.

"In my opinion, what happens is everyone who owns a piece of property has the right to sell their own home," Evans said.

His client added, "We didn't complain when they put up their huge sale signs down every main street in the community."

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