I live in a rural area, and it's standard practice to set up Covenants (a set of rules) for a new "neighborhood" whenever a large parcel of land is subdivided. The reasoning is that it will keep property values high. Yes, these contracts are long. Just ask your realtor to specifically point out any covenants attached to a property you are looking at. Many covenants become null and void after a set number of years; others are perpetual unless the lot owners get together and vote to eliminate them. The good thing about covenants is that it can give you some recourse if someone buys the lot next to you and turns it into a junk yard or decides to raise hogs.