Post here when the HOA/building management handles shit you dont have to worry about so you can concentrate your time on shit you REALLY actually like doing...


our pool opened this week, woot!

5/19/2013 1:42:39 AM

Our pool opens tomorrow. They do all our lawn care and landscaping. We noticed a spot that holds water when it rains and the spot is up against the foundation. HOA is fixing our landscaping.

5/19/2013 10:35:46 AM

thread should be titled "stuff for which you pay too much to have done for you"

[Edited on May 19, 2013 at 3:38 PM. Reason : fd]

5/19/2013 3:37:38 PM

FUCK

AN

HOA

5/19/2013 5:22:09 PM

HOA...lulz

^ this

[Edited on May 19, 2013 at 5:36 PM. Reason : .]

5/19/2013 5:36:15 PM

hoas that actually provide the services aren't so bad

hoas that don't do anything other than take your money suck

5/19/2013 5:38:39 PM

HOAs are for people that don't know how to act civilized.

[Edited on May 19, 2013 at 6:23 PM. Reason : .]

5/19/2013 6:23:09 PM

5/19/2013 6:57:19 PM

The townhouse neighborhood I live in (I just rent, not own) the HOA takes care of the landscaping. But whoever was the genius that designed/approved everything, didn't include an irrigation system. And no one wants to go buy a hose and water their 10ft of yard so the neighborhood lawns look like crap. And the people don't seem to understand why.

Last year they decided to put down new sod in several places but still did not put in an irrigation system. I don't think they have any clue why the grass set a speed record for dying

But boy they sure do re-pave the parking lots, re-paint the front door and power wash all the units on the regular.

5/19/2013 8:24:52 PM

Mine is definitely worth every penny. It's basically an on call personal assistant that also let's you have access to a pool, gym, and a theater. Plus, with our building being newer, and mostly glass and concrete, there is very little upkeep so the majority of it goes to amenities and related upgrades

5/19/2013 8:57:28 PM

Apartment HOA's are very different creatures, usually.

5/20/2013 3:24:55 AM

I forgot. We also don't pay for water.

I really want a nice big yard with no HOA one day but for now this is very convenient.

5/20/2013 9:02:38 AM

after being gone for 2 years i'm joining my board again on june 1 - mostly the same people on it from when i left

5/20/2013 9:36:20 AM

My GF works for an HOA management company. She has about 20 communities that she currently manages. I can definitely see the value of an HOA when it comes to condos or townhouses, but not communities with all SFHs (unless they have a pool).

In the SFH communities, pretty much all the HOA does is maintain the common areas and write tickets for shit like trashcans being visible from the road and grass being too high.

5/20/2013 9:40:44 AM

shit, my HOA isn't even maintaining the common areas. The grass weeds are about 2' tall.

Of course, we're not paying HOA dues yet because the real estate company manager is "too busy" to worry about the HOA.

fine by me, but cut the damn weeds, they're right at the neighborhood entrance! looks like shit to potential buyers (new/developing neighborhood)

[Edited on May 20, 2013 at 10:51 AM. Reason : .]

5/20/2013 10:51:34 AM

You should e-mail the board president and ask to know the details of the contract with the landscaper. If need be, ask that they take bids from other landscapers.

5/20/2013 12:47:52 PM

I got hoas in in different area coads

I'm Krallum and I approved this message.

5/20/2013 1:10:34 PM

^this is not chit chat, bro

5/20/2013 1:45:12 PM

my HOA is pretty cool (for an HOA). instead of paying astronomical HOA dues so we can pay some rickies to come mow the common areas, we just take turns. the folks who cut their own grass cut it and the folks who pay other folks just pay them a little extra when it's their turn. there are only ~8 howeowners in the development, though. we also got together and painted the fences in the common areas instead of paying $texas to get them painted. everyone showed up, so we were done by lunch.

i hate a HOA as much as the next guy, but when you have common areas to maintain, i don't really see a way around them. i feel like mine is proof that it's not the HOA that's the problem, it's the nosy busy-bodies that run them. with sensible leadership, they aren't too bad.

5/20/2013 2:06:09 PM

my HOA is like 150 a year

we have no pool and no common areas ... i have yet to really figure out what its for. we have a meeting tonight and im not going. im out of town. we were supposed to mail in a proxy for some voting shit but i dont know my neighbors well enough to have them proxy my votes.

i said fuck it. :shrug:

5/20/2013 2:08:51 PM

Mine is about $280 a month but includes insurance, maintenance of common areas of course, pool, gym, cardio room, theater, use of the club room overlooking the city, water, sewer, business center, concierge services

[Edited on May 20, 2013 at 2:26 PM. Reason : S]

5/20/2013 2:23:36 PM

lets see

no pool
no common area
street is maintained by DOT
no lights
no fitness room
no jacked mgmt company
county water
no sewer

I think Im happy not having an HOA. Then again I specifically bought a place that didnt have one.

5/20/2013 2:36:08 PM

Quote :

"it's not the HOA that's the problem, it's the nosy busy-bodies that run them. with sensible leadership, they aren't too bad."

This is definitely accurate. The problem is that most of the people that get involved in the leadership of an HOA (President, board, etc.) do so because they have nothing better to do. They are either retired or work from home, so they can spend all day watching how you park your car and measuring your grass.

My GF has several board presidents that she loves and works well with. Then there are several that e-mail/call her several times a day regarding petty little violations.

5/21/2013 9:44:50 AM

I think it also has a lot to do with the type of development as you stated earlier. Dont really have any of those problems in ours (condo) but did when I lived in a SFH development in Raleigh.

5/21/2013 10:05:25 AM

And a lot of it depends on the bylaws of the HOA. Before you buy a house in an HOA community, you should definitely review the bylaws. Some of them are strict as shit, right down to how many cars can be parked in YOUR driveway, if you are allowed to park a boat in your driveway, if you can have a satellite dish, etc etc. Some let you do pretty much whatever you want as long as your house doesn't look like pure shit.

I can't tell you how many homeowners come to meetings all pissed off and complaining about citations they received, when their violations are clearly outlined in the HOA bylaws. It's not the HOA Management Company's fault that you didn't read the bylaws before you bought your house. And if you are that fired up about it, elect a new board and amend the bylaws.

5/21/2013 10:18:40 AM

No HOA and couldn't be happier. It helps that I'm in a nice neighborhood surrounded by other suckers than have HOAs.

5/21/2013 10:33:05 AM

Yep some HOAs are fine. If they are only there to "enforce" really big-picture stuff, it just helps keep the few homeowners who may be inconsiderate or irresponsible in line. (cars or appliances in the yard, grass 2ft tall all summer, always parking multiple cars in the street etc.).

When they start dictating door colors, mulch colors, grass-types, door-types, etc...well I just couldn't handle that. Especially since half the people that make those decisions are just busy-bodies who think they know what "looks good" for the neighborhood, when normally they have terrible taste and want everybody's house to look the exact same for some reason.

Luckily, so far, our HOA has been been very hands-off except for the one time we actually needed them to get involved. They did and reviewed in our favor so it worked out and prevented the neighbor from pursuing unfounded legal action.

5/21/2013 1:02:46 PM

Quote :

"I'm too lazy to join my HOA so instead I just bitch on TWW"

5/22/2013 8:49:03 PM

getting all our windows cleaned this week... thank god, I dont own a ladder tall enough anyways.

5/31/2013 10:55:26 AM

I like being able to clean my windows when they need cleaning...not having to wait for someone else to do it...

5/31/2013 10:56:53 AM

My HOA is $150/year and goes to maintaining our common areas. My neighborhood is new and there is still a lot of new construction so the HOA is not under the control of the homeowners yet. Does anyone know the rules of when the homeowners of a neighborhood can take control of an HOA. My understanding is that the builders who owned all the lots controlled the HOA and then they farmed it out to a HOA management company.

Our nieghborhood is pretty pricey and a couple of the homeowners are starting to let their yards go to shit so I am all about an HOA stepping in and fining these lazy fuckers. Also our home is on a lake and one of the dumbass nieghbors put up a fence on the lake (like a 6' wooden privacy fence) - who the hell does that on a lake? These are the types of things I want the HOA to control if I am going to have to be part of an HOA.

5/31/2013 3:58:37 PM

^^ I like not having to clean my windows and let someone else do it. But I guess it's cool you like to clean windows. Maybe you can get a job doing it.

5/31/2013 7:35:06 PM

you pay someone else to do it

5/31/2013 9:00:16 PM

well, the entire building pays... so my portion is probably 1/10th of what it would take for it to be worth it for me to not do it myself, so Im good.

5/31/2013 10:48:40 PM

I don't have to hand money over to busy bodies and have them constantly bother me. Neighbors 2 houses down are a little trashy, but not bad enough that a HOA could really make it better.

5/31/2013 11:23:40 PM

I'm a member of the Architectural Control Committee and we are meeting with designers Saturday for their presentation to redo the lobby, club room, theater, and other common areas. I'm excited, we have a solid budget (~$500K), should be able to get a bit done.

6/3/2013 11:42:10 PM

Pool, lawn service, exercise room, utilities and gated boat storage/ ramp are all included in a community here for $200 month

thinking about checking it out

6/11/2013 2:07:47 PM

thats a fucking steal. Go for it.


it cant cover ALL utilities does it? That alone would be close to $200 depending on the size of the place

6/11/2013 2:13:01 PM

I don't have to mow the grass. Wish I realized that before I bought a lawn mower and starting mowing it. Neighbor saw me and was like "what, you don't like the way they did it?" Fail.

6/11/2013 2:23:22 PM

Oops!

6/11/2013 3:26:29 PM

worked from home today, had to go meet a client at 1pm. Noticed at 11 that the shirt I wanted to wear had a button missing. Concierge ran that shit to the tailor (which is in our building too, so not a long haul) and got that shit fixed before I even got out of the shower.

6/24/2013 7:03:19 PM

Storm blew shingles off our roofs a couple weeks ago. HOA took care of that shit.

6/24/2013 11:52:24 PM

nice!

6/25/2013 4:05:12 PM

^Yup! I guess it's normal for a townhouse, but I don't see an HOA doing that for you if you have a standalone home.

6/27/2013 12:50:11 AM

Well yea, that's a reason to avoid SFHs

6/28/2013 11:30:22 PM

Got new pool furniture and the lights in the entrance foyer/tower were switched out. Lights up blue now, looks sweet.

7/8/2013 1:04:39 PM