Home Owners Association

[Addled Platypus]

trying to educate myself on the wonderful(?) concept

considering moving into a gated community (87 homes)


who all here has experience with this

good and/or bad......do tell


I will ask them to ratify the banana at the first meeting, if we do move

[Provost Harrison]

Homo-ners association?

[Ming]

If you have the time, you should do everything you can to get on the board for the association. At least then you will have some say on what happens in your community. When we lived in a townhouse community many years ago, there were a couple of home owners who had been on the board for years (which is usually the case)... and they made decisions that usually ending up beniffiting them.

After a year of that, a few neighboors got together to elect one of our own on the board. Things changed for the better after that.

[Japher]

I've had good and bad experiences with the Homos

Bad - lived in a condo which had a leash law for pets, and while we kept our pet on a leash other people did not and did not pick up after their dogs. Homos kept blaming us even though it wasn't us.

Good - Currently live in a community with a Homos and it keeps the local flavors from leaving their non-working cars on the front lawns. Still, can't have out buildings (which is good, since where I live they'd probably be used to make moonshine). Besides that it doesn't bother me. My neighbors are pretty cool, and we generally do whatever we want.

[PLATO]

Homeowner's Associations can be a great benefit in protecting and promoting the value of your property. A well run organization can keep your neighborhood viable and increasing in value for years to come.

A poorly run homeowner's association can be a represive tool used by a few to control a myopic view of the neighborhood and promote the individual benefit of their own property.

When selecting a community I would suggest:

1.) Attend a meeting of the Homeowner's association. Meet with and discuss with the board members their view for the neighborhood.

2.) Carefully review any covenants for the neighborhood that you are considering. Make sure that you can live with what is in there.

3.) Plan on becoming involved! Your input into he association can help put the association on the path to the type neighborhood that you want. Nobody will protect your interest better than you.

[Zkribbler]

Originally posted by PLATO
Homeowner's Associations can be a great benefit in protecting and promoting the value of your property. A well run organization can keep your neighborhood viable and increasing in value for years to come.

A poorly run homeowner's association can be a represive tool used by a few to control a myopic view of the neighborhood and promote the individual benefit of their own property.

QFT...We actually had a case come through our courthouse where the association board was seeking to postpone elections until the voters could be "properly educated on this issues."

[Dinner]

It has its ups and its downs. The common areas are maintained really nice and all the houses are in good repair but you end up having someone else telling you what you can or cannot do in your own house. If I could I'd buy a single family house (instead of a town house) which didn't have a HOA just so I wouldn't have to deal with the HOA.

[Dinner]

Not to mention the extra $250 per month the HOA charges kind of sucks. It is nice to have the pool, hot tube, BBQ area, private basketball court, etc... And when I needed a new fence the HOA had a brand new fence installed in just 2 days. They're currently reroofing and painting all the units so they do invest a lot of money in keeping the place up. To bad it costs so much and the HOA wants EVERYTHING done its way.

[General Ludd]

I have a hot tube, and I don't even have a house.

[Addled Platypus]

Tell me about the double taxing...gesh

HOA -$175
then there is the school bonds $100-200
Lighting landscape zone-$50-100

then insurance
-house
-flood

other outcomes
moratage
utilites


where is the money for food


the few pluses so far

1 mile farther down the road
0 lot line (limit or no pets)
no fence line/ share the so called back yard
narrow streets- no speeding

me thinks about staying right where we are
no need to start another 30 year mortage
about 20 left on the current one

[Ogie Oglethorpe]

In theory

HOA's - suppose dto be a community set of rules enacted to ensure highest property value of homes

In reality -

HOA's - typically a bunch of power tripping nobody's looking to relive their glory days as the high school hallway monitors achieving nothing but pissing the owners off.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Oerdin
Not to mention the extra $250 per month the HOA charges kind of sucks. It is nice to have the pool, hot tube, BBQ area, private basketball court, etc... And when I needed a new fence the HOA had a brand new fence installed in just 2 days. They're currently reroofing and painting all the units so they do invest a lot of money in keeping the place up. To bad it costs so much and the HOA wants EVERYTHING done its way.

This is why you read the covenants before you buy. Everything is pretty well spelled out in them. Typically they come up for renewal or modification once every 15-20 years.

If a HOA is not for you, it is likely that there are competing properties that do not have an HOA...nor the supposed "value" proection and amenities.

[PLATO]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
HOA's - typically a bunch of power tripping nobody's looking to relive their glory days as the high school hallway monitors achieving nothing but pissing the owners off.

Generally one call from a good attorney removes the delusion of granduer.

[Odin]

Originally posted by Ogie Oglethorpe
HOA's - typically a bunch of power tripping nobody's looking to relive their glory days as the high school hallway monitors achieving nothing but pissing the owners off.