Sometimes, and only sometimes does it make for a nicer neighborhood.

One big advantage of a HOA/POA occurs when you are in a gated community. The HOA maintains the gates, security cameras, and roads inside the gates. We have the ability to restrict who can come into the neighborhood and at what hours they can come in because we maintain the roads. A regular neighborhood has public roads and has no ability to restrict access in any manner. We have a sophisticated access system that allows us to track who comes in, who authorized them to come in, what hours they are allowed to come in etc. Yeah we give up some privacy in the process but the security is worth it for the folks that choose to live here. I have lived here for 6 years, I have been on the board for 5 years and the president for 3 and we have had zero robberies, thefts, break-in or even vandalism of any kind (that I am aware of) in the 85 home neighborhood during that time. Talking to other residents that have been here longer that extends even further back in time. AND we are able to keep ALMOST all solicitors out. A very few slip in each year but generally get run out pretty quickly.

Basically-
If you’re living in a small community/small neighborhood situation, I see there’s some benefits. Especially gated communities.

Wouldn’t the city provide lighting/sewer to that area?
Cable & internet- I can see if there’s a group discount or something- ie 50 homes and you’re all at $100 per month vs $150 for individual homes.

The “pink fence”… hmmm. I get it. Some shit is an eye sore, and no, I wouldn’t want to be living next to the house with a bunch of broken cars, 32 different sheds and nothing but weeds all in the front lawn.
But Im not really one to tell another what to do with their property.

This leads into overbearing HOA’s. Maybe it’s just me, and whatever Im picking up on the internet, and stories here on Sig Forum.
Are there really that many HOA “nazis” out there? Or is it my limited exposure.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m ALL FOR making my property and communal spaces look nice, but to a point.
I don’t want someone telling me how many or what type of flowers I should have in my yard. Then again, I don’t want to be living next to a jungle. (I already have that lady 2 doors down, but that’s a different story).

I like a pool, but on the other hand, I wouldn’t want to be forking over an extra $2000 for a community pool. Then there’s the situation where if I said “hell no” to paying the $, the “dick move” of me using it a year later.

I don’t know, I just see way too much in the negative category than the positive.
Unless I’m wrong.

My Florida house is in a HOA.

5000 homes in a gated community.

I have only had to deal with them a couple of times.

They barked at me when my pavers turned dark and needed to be power-washed.

I have to paint every 7 years, whether I need it or not. I needed permission to upgrade my landscaping.

So far, pretty painless.

Rule #1 when we bought our house of 10 years was no HOA. We live on a dead end street in a rural area with 9 houses on lots 3-4 acres each. Everyone maintains their property pretty well except for 2, and one of them you wouldn’t know it from the street. That house has a couple hippies and their backyard is their personal farm. No one can see it but them and the neighbor on either side. The other “problem” is next door to the hippies, and across the street from me. He is of a different demographic than the rest of us, and fits the stereotypes. There are a few jags, BMW’s, and a Land Rover on 22”+ wheels in his driveway/always open garage that are in varying states of drivability, but if I weren’t a mechanic, I might not know that. He cuts his grass a few times a year.

That said, my 27 foot center console sits in my (very large) driveway from January to April, and I have a couple car trailers tucked away in my back corner of my lot. No one is in my business about what I’m doing on my own property, like the 20x30 paver patio I’m currently installing out back. We love where we live, and are overall very happy we do not have the HOA.

To me, none whatsoever.

I can’t stand having an HOA and never would have bought my home here if I had realized what they were. That said, our dues are very low because we have no pool or parks by the HOA so they basically do nothing but send nasty letters for leaving your trash can out a day late.

The only thing I would say that is good, is they saved us from having a nasty pink Pepto Bismol house in our neighborhood. There is a kid, now grown adult, who lived on the street behind my house. The family was involved in a motor vehicle accident and the kid was badly injured and wheelchair bound for the rest of his life and the family got A TON of money. They all got expensive cars with super loud stereo systems, boats, RVs, etc. I had to call the local PD every week because they would hang out blasting their music from the boat with the directional speakers aimed right at my house for hours and pictures would literally fall off my walls. FINALLY, the kids grew up and they moved out. The disabled one then bought a house one street away from me, but it was in a different neighborhood with no HOA. He painted absolutely everything about the house pink. It is the ugliest thing ever but of course weird Austin people see it as art and wonderful despite him ruining home values around him. At least the HOA here would have prevented that from happening.

Here is the house and it is still this way:

Ours is about $80 per month, and is gated. Our community has nice landscaping, nice amenities like a pool, an elaborate splash pad, a lazy river, sand volleyball, pickle ball, a really nice common/park area for events like movie night, food trucks, live music, etc, a nice foresty playground,2 huge elaborate dog parks, a nice weight room, and a nice meeting room.

We are restricted on the plants we can have, fence type, house colors, trash can and recycle can can’t be left out, and they have to be hidden from street view when not out on the street. Cars can only be temporarily left in the street, the landscaping has to be maintained, and a bunch more similar rules.

So far, we haven’t been singled out for anything, and if/when that happens, I will be turned off since I do what I can to play by th3 rules.

So, I am ending a six week vacation tomorrow. I rented a small home in a very nice large neighborhood. With an HOA.

The dues per month are based on the home values, I think. On one Zillow example, I think it was $400 per month.

What does the homeowner receive for $5K per year? Peace. Standards of behavior. Owners who maintain homes in accordance with standards, including landscaping, tree pruning, etc. Grounds maintenance of extensive common areas. Architecturally-pleasing street lights. Street speed humps to reduce speeds. Zero junk in the yard, driveway, or street. No car maintenance at the home. No trash cans left out. Dog walkers who pick up after their dog, no matter where it poops. Owners who let dogs poop on their yard, because they know the poop will be picked up. No audible music outdoors.

The place is amazing. One can wonder if the $5K per year is a ticket to what everyone should enjoy? Some of the funds go to common area maintenance, and some for reserve funds to maintain an incredible sound wall, some 12 feet high, creating a visual and audible barrier to traffic noise on Highway 17. But, if I am ever privileged to live here, I will gladly pay for an HOA that truly works to keep property values high, and standards met.

And yes, I live in a weak HOA neighborhood now. I've been a president of that HOA. The HOA rules have benefited our little subdivision of 72 homes. Only $500 per year. We did have to threaten to sue one elderly man for non-payment. We did have to work on standards for yards, and write nasty letters to a couple. We did have to require owners to keep their mailboxes in good repair, and uniform in appearance. Not fun. But, we have a nice area, in part due to 26 years of HOA actions.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:
I can’t stand having an HOA and never would have bought my home here if I had realized what they were. That said, our dues are very low because we have no pool or parks by the HOA so they basically do nothing but send nasty letters for leaving your trash can out a day late.

The only thing I would say that is good, is they saved us from having a nasty pink Pepto Bismol house in our neighborhood. There is a kid, now grown adult, who lived on the street behind my house. The family was involved in a motor vehicle accident and the kid was badly injured and wheelchair bound for the rest of his life and the family got A TON of money. They all got expensive cars with super loud stereo systems, boats, RVs, etc. I had to call the local PD every week because they would hang out blasting their music from the boat with the directional speakers aimed right at my house for hours and pictures would literally fall off my walls. FINALLY, the kids grew up and they moved out. The disabled one then bought a house one street away from me, but it was in a different neighborhood with no HOA. He painted absolutely everything about the house pink. It is the ugliest thing ever but of course weird Austin people see it as art and wonderful despite him ruining home values around him. At least the HOA here would have prevented that from happening.

Here is the house and it is still this way:

Good gawd...

I was going to refrain from posting here and probably still should, but...

There's a REASON I live in the boonies. The thought of living in a cheek-by-jowl development with somebody controlling every little detail of what I can and cannot do with my own property is abhorrent.

I'm not THAT far out, I do have neighbors on both sides and across the street, and yes there are occasional annoyances and even a couple of pretty trashy places in the general area, but I'd much rather put up with that than get micro-managed by a bunch of prissy karens.

And (other than how it impacts my property taxes) I don't give a rat's ass about property values. I'll leave this property in a body bag and my kids can deal with it.

I lived in the northeast most of my life before moving to Arizona. I never understood HOA’s as none really existed in my area in The east.
They are Very prevalent here with the design of housing/ developments. Almost all housing in my area are in subdivisions with HOA of some sort.

Both my initial rental house and now the one I own are HOA communities. Currently my dues are about $1500 annual nothing brutal.
Maintenance of common areas, utilities infrastructure,nice pool athletic activity areas like tennis courts and gym are supported by the dues.
My wife especially makes good use of the supported amenities so we get our money’s worth.

Only time I got a warning letter was when I had family visiting and parked one of our cars on the yard off the driveway.

We do have some rules like only approved colors for paint
Overall for me it has not been a negative. Based on our location and life circumstances it would be near impossible to have a house not in an HOA community

quote:

I cannot even imagine what the inside looks like. Bunch of smug, entitled bitches that have absolutely no concern for their neighbors. I'm surprised they didn't paint the trees.

Can somebody please quote the pink house picture again?

^^^

I've been in shit ones (California) that charged a couple of hundred bucks a month and bitched about beach towels on your enclosed patio that could be seen from the second floor only, and I currently belong to a good one at 130 bucks a year that keep the common areas mowed, get the snow plowed off the streets, and don't bother you unless you're extreme. Had a neighbor with grass about 4 feet tall who refused to mow it, and threatened the HOA contract mowers with a gun. He's gone, the property is mowed (and restored, he did a lot of damage) and sold to a friend of mine. Of course, our C&Rs are very limiting as to what the HOA can do.

I have never lived in a HOA, although a former neighborhood was starting to organize one around the time we were moving out.

Generally, the concept of a HOA is good, but so many variable factors can make them be good or bad for members.

The problem we have here in Alabama is no specific state regulation of HOAs. So, the HOAs operate differently from one another many times, especially on offerings / responsibilities to members. Some are very strict, some very lax. And a problem that pops up regularly within Alabama is mismanagement of the HOA funds, either by individuals or management companies. More often it is the individuals, and quite a few people have gone to jail for embezzlement of HOA funds.

My daughter and family live in a large development with HOA in northern VA. They had to get approval when they had a new roof installed and to put a fence up. The lots are only maybe 1/3 acre and when they took down a tree between the road and front of their house (branches were rubbing against the house) the HOA told them they had to plant another tree. They appealed it because of the sewer and water lines running through and won their challenge. They've received a couple notices about their garbage cans being out at the road too early or too long past pick up. The development has a pool the kids use, nice sidewalks, and playgrounds throughout. All in all I'd say the HOA is beneficial for them.

My situation is quite different, I have no HOA or municipality to deal with. There is no zoning of any kind and no building permits required or any regulations so I can do pretty much whatever I want. The gravel road is one lane wide for the 3 miles in WV becoming 2 lane tar and chip in PA. The state (WV) puts down a little stone on it once sometimes twice a year. LOL obviously no sidewalk.

quote:

Originally posted by StorminNormin:

Now I can't get the John Mellancamp song out of my head!!
Little pink Houses..

There we go...

Anyone else?