problems with HOA? - Page 9

chiclet · ‎03-19-2010

It is a double edge sword. When it keeps your neighbor from painting his house orange with purple trim you love it. When it keeps your neighbor from starting a rock band in their garage you love it. When they tell you you cannot have a bush in a certain spot or whatever you deem perfectly normal and without harm you don't like it. From what I have seen in my life an HOA keeps the property values up and the neighborhood cleaner and safer. Without an HOA or with one that is there just to collect the money the neighborhood just goes downhill. I rode through a neighborhood that I left 13 years ago and the homes were about 4 or 5 years old then. OMG...it was so depressing.

proudlyfromNJ · ‎05-01-2010

I've lived in this town over 40 years. The town has rules like when garbage is put out for collection, no junk is ever in anyone's yard, there is a noise rule, animal control etc. We are lucky there are no 'run down' areas. It is a nice town with no HOA. Are there towns in the county I would not live in? Yes.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

When we'd go home to Pa , we frequently visit friends in our old plan. There was no HOA there. While I see that many of the homes are lovely still , I also see that about 10% are getting very run down. There is nothing anyone can do about them. The plan is about 40 years old and i that amount of time all homes start to need some rehab. It's a shame because the trees & landscape are now mature and if it weren't for those few homes it would be a lovely neighborhood.

nyc1 · ‎03-19-2010

Sometimes HOAs are not a bad thing. When I lived in a beautiful townhouse in NJ, there was a couple about a block away who decorated their yard, front & back, and it looked like a miniature golf course. OVER THE TOP ridiculous front to back. It was a newly built townhouse complex with rolling hills and a good amount of privacy, and we all had recently moved in. It took about 2 weeks, and one day driving home past their house, it was all gone. SO MUCH NICER. They let them keep minimal things, but most of the overly decorated yard had been cleared.

I've driven into neighborhoods without an association and seen things, thinking, I'm so glad I don't live next to THEM!

So... good and bad on the HOA.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@GingerPeach wrote:
So many are talking about fees.
Many, if not most, HOA fees also include insurance, not to mention items you'd have to pay for on your own. Just sayin'.

I've never heard of an HOA including insurance except they insure the public places like the pool and clubhouse.

Financialgrl · ‎03-13-2010

@lovesrecess wrote:
We saw the rule book but have not looked through it yet..it is about four inches thick.....yikes.

I moved to an over 55 a year and a half ago having an HOA. They were still building new homes and I too was given a 4" thick book but here the sales office had taken the book and clipped together what they said was "the main rules and portion that dealt with homeowners". Rest of the book was mostly a lot of legalese about acquiring the tract of land, county permits, etc.

So far here it has not been a problem but a friend of mine lived in another retirement community and said most violations there were about mowing lawns and shoveling your snow. Here snow removal is included to our individual homes' driveways and sidewalks as part of the HOA fee As for yards, we have the option of paying extra and using the HOAs landscaping which most here do. If we use their landscaper you can't get a violation bc it's their people.

lovesrecess · ‎03-14-2010

Well, we drove back to the community and spent time with the agent and a couple of residents. We won't be buying the home. The HOA fees for the 2400 sq ft home we were considering is the same as for the 5,000 sq ft homes on the street a block away....we don't want to pay for their exterior maintence and lawn when we would require much less....we also talked to a couple of people who were asked by the HOA to speak to us and answer questions. DH thought they were ringers....everything they said made the place sound like heaven on earth. HOA meetings have required attendance for every resident? Required? We are gong to keep looking.....elsewhere. Wheels on the garbage cans must be kept clean at all times and will be inspected on garbage pickup days, etc.....life is too short! The book of rules and regulations would take an inordinate amount of time to even follow them.

Lynnster67 · ‎08-18-2015

I live in suburban DC. Our HOA covers ~1,300 single-family and townhomes; the neighboring condos add another ~700 units for a total of almost 2K households. Our HOA fees are $65.50/mo and cover things like trash removal, snow removal, landscaping of common areas, security patrol, rec facilities (clubhouse, pool, tennis courts, tot lots). The condos' fees are much higher b/c they also cover a lot of maintenance.

My County has rules over how HOAs/condo boards/co-ops can operate. For example, the HOA can't raise fees > 10% in a given yr or levy special assessments w/o resident approval. Things like: parking commerical vehicles/campers/boats, grass height, noise, animal control, etc. are controlled by County ordinance.

My main issue w/the HOA is that the mgmt company basically controls everything. If they think it's a good idea to jump off the Brooklyn Bridge, the Board will agree. They are obsessed over keeping the fees low but IMO it's about the QUALITY of the services provided, not just price.

When I first moved there, I attended the meetings and quickly learned that it's the same stuff every month - ppl complaining about parking, not picking up pet waste, letting dog run off leash, feral animals. They spend so much time obsessing over immaterial things (eg: what color the kiddie pool mushroom should be). I have better things to do w/my evenings when I get home.

About a decade ago, they sent everyone the covenants, maintenance stds, etc. on CD; now all the needed dox are on website. Once you're $150 in arrears, they can slap a lien on you. They can't fine you for violations of the covenants, but instead they revoke your reserved parking spaces and pool passes.

Do I want a neighbor to paint their shutters chartreuse or electric purple? Of course not. But to have only 3 approved deck colors is a bit OCD.

151949 · ‎03-09-2010

@Lynnster67 You laugh that people may paint their house chartreuse ... the people who bought our home in Pa have painted all the trim this color. They have also hung gargoyles all over the house and in the landscaping, and put those mirrored balls that light up at night all around the yard. Our old next door neighbor says she's pretty sure they think they are the "charmed ones" & are trying to keep evil away.

missy1 · ‎03-10-2010

@151949 wrote:
@Lynnster67 You laugh that people may paint their house chartreuse ... the people who bought our home in Pa have painted all the trim this color. They have also hung gargoyles all over the house and in the landscaping, and put those mirrored balls that light up at night all around the yard. Our old next door neighbor says she's pretty sure they think they are the "charmed ones" & are trying to keep evil away.

Things like that don't bother me. (paint color, yard art) Only if there there's tons of trash in the yard. (because of critters/fire hazard)