o/t Living in a community with HOA's??

I live in a small condo community (63 units in a cul-de-sac) and we have a HOA. I've lived here 21 years, so I've seen a lot of issues crop up.

My dues are almost $400 a month. The fee covers:

Exterior insurance

Landscaping

Pool maintenance

Water

Sewer

Trash

Basic cable

Major repairs and maintenance, such as roof replacement and exterior painting, are budgeted. Only twice have we had special assessments to cover these costs.

In my community, all our units are painted the same. We are expected to coordinate our front door paint with our brick colors. If someone paints a door a weird color, the HOA Board will make the resident repaint the door. I saw it happen recently when a new neighbor moved in.

If you are considering a move to a neighborhood with a HOA, ask to see what the yearly increases have been over the last few years. In my case, the HOA didn't have any increases for several years, which has wound up being a mistake. So, for the past two years, our dues have gone up 5% a year. It would have been better had the dues gone up 1 or 2% a year.

I think to exist peacefully with a HOA, you have to be a good neighbor. Respect your property and that of others. Use common courtesy, which so many are lacking these days.

HOA's can vary greatly--some are very strict while others are very lenient. Same goes with HOA dues--they can go from being a big expense every month to a minimal amount every year. I suggest going through all their rules and expenses with a fine tooth comb before you even consider buying a house with an HOA. My parents moved into a gated senior community 10 years ago and when they moved in, their dues were fairly reasonable. They knew they would go up 4% every year, but didn't realize how much that adds up to over time. Their dues have almost doubled in 10 years.

We live in a gated community. Our fees are about 375.00 every 6 months. That is to keep up our streets, front lawn maintenance, security that drives thru every day...several times a day. When we started they also covered mulching once a year and flowers 2x a year. They no longer do those duties. Just remember the fees can go up with little notice.

eta: Oops I forgot it covers community pool and tennis courts.

I have lived in a single family home in a community with a HOA for several years. The monthly fee is under $100 and includes all front yard landscape maintenance, public area maintenance, community pool and clubhouse, etc. Although our front yards are slightly "cookie cutter", they are maintained well and keep the community standards high. Without this I know several neighbors that would have über exceptional landscaping, and unfortunately a few others that could care less and would allow theirs to grow unsightly.

Our HOA is governed by the homeowners. There are bimonthly meetings where proposals are discussed and voted on. You can be as involved as you would like to be.

I don't mind them in principle, but it depends on who's running them. Where we live now, they're pretty tolerant and easy going; they don't want people selling crack out of a taco truck on their driveway, but otherwise you can do pretty much what you want with your property. Dues are very inexpensive.

Our previous HOA was run by petty bureaucrats who were obsessed with the letter of the law. They had two copies of the "approval for exterior painting" form on their website; I downloaded one and filled it in, and they rejected it because it was "the wrong form". It differed from "the right form" only in that one had page numbers and the other didn't. Why did they even have "the wrong form" on their website?? I was glad to put them behind us. They were also three times more expensive than the HOA we have now.

We've lived in several communities with HOAs. There are good and bad points to them all.

My only advice is READ THE CCR'S BEFORE YOU MAKE YOUR DECISION. And then re-read them--every word. And I wouldn't even rule out having an attorney read them over for you. Make sure you know EXACTLY what you're getting into before you buy.

I lived in a HOA and didn't mind it at all. If it keeps the yards and homes looking nice and not junky it's a good thing. Sure some things can be a bit silly, but that depends on each HOA. Just read over the everything first, but certainly don't just say no you don't want to live in one. There are lots of good things about being in one.