I looked for a thread that dealt specifically with Homeowner Association stuff but didn't see one, if there is one I apologize. There was also enough flowing out of the short sale thread that it seemed might be an interesting topic.

What are your experiences with HoAs? Most of the homes where I live are second homes, and I think the HoAs can sometimes serve a more useful purpose than those of primary dwelling developments. Since I really haven't had any experience with HoAs in the Raleigh area, I'd be interested to hear your perspective(s).

9/26/2010 1:58:17 AM

I've never had a problem with mine. It's $130 a year and they pretty much just keep up the common ground. It's nice knowing my neighbor can't put up a chain link fence or anything not listed in the covenant. Even if you can't prove these things lower home values as mentioned in the short sale thread, a lot of these things are just an eyesore and I'd prefer to not have to look at them. Every spring they usually send out a piece of mail about mowing grass, but other than that I never really hear from them. The neighbors are pretty lax so I don't think anyone would raise a fuss unless someone did something extreme to their property.

9/26/2010 11:13:23 AM

I would never live in a place with a HOA/covenant that was significantly restrictive (also wouldn't live anywhere with a gate or speedbumps. that shit is annoying).

Like I said in the other thread, my "neighborhood" is a single street with maybe a dozen houses. The covenant basically says that you can't fence in your front yard, no chain link fences, and a few other things that no right-minded person would ever do, anyway. There is no HOA, but there is a provision in the covenant to establish one if it ever became necessary.

9/26/2010 1:35:14 PM

Quote :

"also wouldn't live anywhere with a gate or speedbumps. that shit is annoying"

Yeah, the residents wanted fucking speedbumps, but luckily they are not allowed b/c it would restrict access for emergency vehicles. Probably helps that the roads are owned by Durham and not the community.

9/26/2010 1:53:49 PM

My dad lived in a golf community in Durham that had big speedbumps. They're a pain in the ass in general, and even more so when you drive a low-to-the-ground sports car. If I lived somewhere and they installed speedbumps, I would no-kidding sell my house and move.

9/26/2010 2:02:15 PM

when the wife and I were looking around this past spring we tried pretty hard to find a house that wasn't under an HOA but we soon realized we were really restricting ourselves. It was even an initial stipulation to our buyer's agent that she not show us any houses under an HOA.

However, it became pretty clear pretty quick that we were going to have to forget that. A lot of stuff we were looking at was older than we wanted, much farther out than we wanted, just not the type of house we wanted etc. After awhile we decided that if we were going to actually buy a house and spend all this money, it wasn't worth the limitations on the actual house itself + location because they were ultimately much, much more important overall than whether something had an HOA or not. Taking that restriction away we immediately found tons of homes that we absolutely loved and I am very glad we did not stick to our No-HOA policy. We have had no HOA problems so far and we would have missed out on the awesome house we got.

That being said, we did read up online for the neighborhoods that had their information out there for the public while deciding on a house and also feel free to talk to the previous owners or heck even try to talk to someone in the neighborhood or on the board if you have any questions about their covenants. So far we haven't had any problem with ours. They helped us out/backed us up in one situation actually where an idiotic neighbor almost wanted to take us to court. Luckily she went to the HOA first who basically told her she was wrong and she would be stupid to take it further.

Everyone's situations are different and every HOA is different.

[Edited on September 26, 2010 at 2:18 PM. Reason : ]

9/26/2010 2:16:07 PM

^^ I hate speedbumps too, but sometimes you have too many dumbasses in a development and speedbumps become a necessity. What else can you do when people are going 40+ past the playground?

Even in my little townhome development we have some dumbasses that think its cool to go 30+ in the alley behind the townhomes where kids are often playing and popping out from behind the privacy walls.

9/26/2010 5:04:33 PM

I don't like our HoA. Mainly because the person who supposedly inspects our neighborhood doesn't have the first damned clue about gardening and house maintenance. Things like "gee, maybe we shouldn't demand that residents powerwash their houses during January" are common sense items which Talis seems incapable of grasping.

Although, my opinion of them isn't entirely their fault. I had to some irritating neighbors who didn't like the "country garden" look and instead preferred square-cut green bushes that looked like they were plotted in AutoCAD. Ever since they moved out the amount I and my neighbors have heard from Talis has dropped dramatically.

9/26/2010 5:29:50 PM

My HOA was fine and kind of a necessary evil in a condo complex. the fee is around $100 a month, which sucks, but includes garbage, water, exterior maintenance, all of the landscaping etc, and they regulate (and fine) people who leave shit in the common areas which was the most annoying part of living there. for the most part my condo was young professionals/grad students/some elderly people but there were a couple of families and the kids would leave bikes and scooters and toys all over the courtyard and in the common areas of buildings. it was super annoying.

but again, in a condo complex i feel like it is more necessary than in a neighborhood. the complex wouldn't really function without and HOA.

plus they were pretty laid back. the biggest issue we ever had was whether to put a code on the gate that surrounded the courtyard. i didn't really care either way, but they ended up locking the gates from 6pm - 8am. we got a code and FABs. and i think that actually helps with the appeal of the place because everyone likes a little security and it wasn't super restrictive.

i guess also with a condo (and this was my first place so this is all based on my experience there) you don't run into AS many restriction issues since its not like i could build a fence or have a lawn or a garden or anything.

9/26/2010 6:48:45 PM

lots of people bitch about HOAs and do nothing about it - you guys get what you deserve for the most part

i moved into a new construction neighborhood and once the HOA was handed over to the residents i joined and have been on it for 3 years now - not a single ridiculous thing has occurred because some level headed people joined the board however we get the most ridiculous things suggested all the time and if those people ran things we'd be in trouble

the biggest problem we had at the beginning was enforcement of people paying because we had no power based on the rules handed over to us by the builder - our late fee was 1% (it cost more to pay online with the service charge) - we also couldn't turn off someone's water even though the HOA fee covered water - once we passed the amendment to cut off someone's water if they were 3+ months behind we haven't had a single person run behind more than 2 months - before then we had thousands of oustanding money owed

73 townhomes - $170/mo - covers water/pool/private roads and sewers/landscaping/termite bond

9/26/2010 8:07:06 PM

I'm currently the president of an HOA, where I just moved from.

I moved to a new house with an overactive HOA. It is still run by the builder and won't be turned over to the residents till the neighborhood is more complete.

I have mixed feelings.

9/26/2010 9:04:48 PM

"lots of people bitch about HOAs and do nothing about it "

I've solved that problem by not buying buying property with an HOA. Seriously, here most HOA fees are around $300/month. I really can't see how the HOA could give you $3600 of value year after year. They certainly aren't a hedge against loss of property value in these parts.

9/26/2010 9:15:58 PM

where the hell are you living?

i pay about $400/year and I think that's outrageous.

9/26/2010 9:18:22 PM

^^ $300/month for an HOA for a house? wth. I pay $350 a year.

9/26/2010 9:25:29 PM

It's not uncommon for townhome developments where the roofs and other exterior things are covered by the hoa.

9/26/2010 9:49:32 PM

We pay $140/month which includes landscaping, pool maintenance, roof, siding and existing porch/deck structures repair/replacement, and security (townhome community...you know that though).

The most recent addition to our neighborhood which is now being reported to HOA is our crime watch program. Unfortunately we have a lot of break-ins (3 this past month on our street alone). We're having more meetings focused on that, and the president & block captains will report to HOA in hopes we can get better lighting, boundary fences, etc.

But the newsletters they send out tend to be reminders of "pick up your animals' excrement" and "take your trash containers in by nightfall of trash pick-up day".

9/27/2010 1:33:59 PM

I live in a condo, and as stated by khcadwal, it's pretty much a necessity as someone has to maintain the halls, common areas, and the overall structure of the building. I only have two beefs with them: one is that they eliminated front desk service in the evenings which threw our building's entire package system into confusion (an ill-advised cost cutting measure that the board snuck by which in the end left us with stolen packages) and the refusal to put in security cameras into the garage after multiple vehicle thefts because "their cost effectiveness is not proven."

9/27/2010 2:41:16 PM

I live in the SF Bay Area.

There are a load of 350-400k townhouses in our downtown that have a $300/month HOA on top of a 1% property tax. Even if you bought one of these with cash your cost of housing still is 600-700 a month. Doesn't seem like you ever really own the place. Tons of them are foreclosed, too.

9/29/2010 12:26:25 AM

1% property tax is pretty low

9/29/2010 7:57:40 AM

As others have said, if you live in a condo/townhome then it's kind of a necessary evil. If you live in a house though, thats another story. I wouldn't live in a neighborhood that had an overally strict HOA (i.e. you have to check with them for anything you want to do to your house). I don't think it's anyone else's business what color you want to paint your shudders or if you want to keep your garbage can in front by the garage rather than around back. But they should keep up any common grounds and enforce things that should be common sense (i.e. don't build a shed in the backyard thats 20ft tall and takes up half the yard).
There is currently an issue in the neighborhood that I wish our HOA would address. Our neighborhood is fairly new (last house was built/sold just over a year ago) and there is a rule that you have to have an actual yard (or the makings of one if you choose to seed vs sod) within 60 days of moving in. Unless it's the dead of winter, then you have until spring. The people that bought that last house have not made a good effort to have a lawn. They moved in last August (2009) and still don't have anything. They didn't try to do anything before winter. This past spring, they threw down some seed, but didn't bother to water/take care of it. So now what little vegetation there is, is mostly weeds. But the yard is still 80% dirt. And it wouldn't be so bad but it's a corner lot and he doesn't have a fence so you can see every part of his yard.
But I guess I would rather have an HOA that was on the weak side vs one that came knocking on the 8th day when you didn't mow your grass on the 7th.

9/29/2010 9:50:12 AM

That sucks. The builder sodded all of our corner lots.

9/29/2010 11:19:58 AM

I pay $180/month for my HOA. It covers the usual - exterior maintenance, landscaping, pool, plus water/sewer/trash. Every other year I have to pay an extra $130 one month to cover the cost of the chimney cleaning and dryer vent inspection. It's kind of annoying but it's required for my unit since it's older and it's a condo. I don't particularly like who runs our HOA but there's not much I can do.

9/29/2010 8:27:55 PM

There is no such thing as property value any more. Your homes aren't worth half of what you paid, and the market still hasn't corrected yet. Why do you care what the neighbors do?

9/29/2010 8:55:35 PM

You're right. My home is worth more than half of what I paid and I care about what my neighbors b/c they could impact the price at which I sell my home in the future.

9/29/2010 8:59:25 PM

If I can't have chickens are add stuff to my house, I don't want it.

9/29/2010 9:15:01 PM

Cass: Are you not able to get on the HoA? Either to mitigate some of the dumber shit (Omar has a great post) or even advocate ideas you favor?

9/29/2010 10:45:20 PM

I like living in a neighborhood without an HOA. I picked a random spot in my yard for my vinyl shed and started digging. I've also got an area in mind for a two car garage some years down the road. Might start by pouring a driveway that goes behind the house and planning the garage in more detail after that (one big investment at a time, ya know?). Until the shed is up and running I can't really do a great deal of investing in lawncare tools, so the grass looks a little shaggy in the front (it's patchy and sucks anyway, this yard was dirt and sticks before my family bought it and started fiddling with it). Once I buy this place, there won't be any monthly investments in a nanny organization that would mostly just be a pain in the ass and I don't have to put up with the ambitions of my nosy neighbors (who are inconsiderate and rude anyway, I wouldn't want people who think it's OK to fell trees outside my bedroom window at 6am without notifying their neighbors to be in charge of anything more than a bake sale).

It might be a nicer neighborhood if we had an HOA, but then it wouldn't be as accessible to some folks and I'd have to put up with the politics of that organization. I bloody hate politics, especially when it comes to petty shit like the color of your house or whether you keep your cars inside a garage instead of on the driveway.

10/3/2010 8:55:52 PM

I thought my old HOA was strict until i visited my friend in San Diego last October.

She got a $100 find because a roommate left a towel over the back balcony.

They got another $100 fine the same week because their trashcan did not have a lid, because it is TOTALLY THEIR FAULT that the trashmen rough handled the trash can and broke the lid duh!

Lastly, their land lord plopped an old mattress in teh car port, for which they were also fined.

My current house, that i am leasing, has no HOA. Which is nice for being a tenant. I would not be happy though if i were the owner, see some of the shit people do around my street without a HOA to enforce rules. Such as nuisance aggresive dogs. Trashed backyards. Non maintained lawns. People storing broken cars on the street etc

[Edited on November 16, 2010 at 1:12 PM. Reason : aa]

11/16/2010 1:09:55 PM