Paying someone for their yard space for Bandit Signs?

Question

With bandit signs being illegal and likely to be taken up in a lot of places, It crossed my mind to just pay someone to allow me to put my "we buy houses" sign in their yard. I would go to one of my target neighborhoods and find the corner house closest to the entrance which would get the most traffic obviously and offer to pay them monthly and place my sign in the most strategic spot of the yard. I imagine $10-$20. In tern my signs last longer and are seen by exactly who I want to see them. Has anyone tried this?

Dev Horn · Answer

Here's the language from the ordinance in our city:

"Any sign in the road right-of-way, on a utility pole, or in a median, which has not been specifically placed there for traffic directional purposes is illegal."

Here's their PDF: http://www.arlingtontx.gov/codecompliance/pdf/wbi_...

No mention of private property or yard signs.  So.... again, please provide evidence of your claims.

Dev Horn · Answer

I've actually done this before, as a test.  Paid a guy $20 to let me out a sign on the fence in front of his house which was right in the middle of a "T intersection" for the weekend (Fri-Sun).  Got a few calls so it worked pretty well.  But as a homeowner he really didn't want the sign there all the time, so I think most people will not like a sign in their yard for weeks or months at a time for a small sum of money.

Here's an idea.  Tell them you will put a unique phone number on each sign and that if you buy a house from someone that calls from that sign, you'll pay them $500 or whatever.  That might get people more excited and willing to leave the sign out.

Adam C. · Answer

Omari,

I've never done this but it sounds like an idea worth trying. Now you might want to consider that people who see your sign at a residence might go knock on the door thinking you live there. Be prepared for that. Also, if it was me collecting the monthly fee, I'd want more than $10-20/mo. You'll also want to see if there are any HOA rules or other city/municpality ordinances that would be in violation.

I've also seen where people place signs where fast-food drive thrus are. That might work depending on the adjacent building. Good luck.

Bill Gulley · Answer

Springfield, Mo. sign ordinance, it's probably on-line. No commercial signs of any kind, garage sale signs are allowed without a sign permit for three days, twice a year, if you register the sale dates. Realtor signs are exempt. FSBO signs register at no cost. Exemptions like a car for sale where the sign is on the car. Sizes are limited too. No advertising signs. They do get a fine, $100 plus court costs of $35, first time and it goes up. We also have sign police, citizens having a part time job, paid a "bounty", you'll be paying the fine, the bounty if one, plus court costs. If a regular cop writes the ticket or a building regs guy, there is no "bounty" fee.

Keep searching Austin's sign ordinances, I bet dollars to doughnuts being the Capital they have similar regulations. Might check on commercial signs instead of right of way signs. :)

Edited: I googled commercial signs Austin, Tx. got three sites from the city, the first is:

http://austintexas.gov/department/permits

You can get a variance and permit for right of way signs as well. What they want is the money and don't want trashy signs all over the place...... sign, signs, everywhere are signs, blocking out the scenery and blocking my mind, do this, don't do that,.............hey, what gives you the right,

Just tuck your hair up under your hat and yell that to the judge.... (LOL) :)

Andy Collins · Answer

a license is required to allow a person/business to promote a business (for a business there are rules for promoting its own business, and seperate rules for promoting a business not on the property.

Yes, the property owner can be fined,,,if you have any experience with billboards you know that they have very large legal teams for a reason

Bill Gulley · Answer

Jon is correct, you can't contract for an illegal act. $20 bucks won't cover the property owner's fine or yours.

Dev Horn · Answer

I have NEVER heard of a city fining a person for putting a 24"x18" sign in their own yard.

Please provide evidence for this claim that most cities regulate small signs in people's yards.  thanks

Jon Holdman · Answer

Getting someone to let you put signs on their property for a fee doesn't make them legal.  Check your local sign ordinances.  There seems to be a common misconception that as long as they're on private property they're OK.  That's unlikely to be the case, if your city bans them.  Cities can and do regulate signs on private property.

Omari Brown · Answer

I didn't even consider HOA! I like the idea of fast food drive thru's also. Thanks for the feedback Adam.

Paying someone for their yard space for Bandit Signs?

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