article: why HOAs continue to be popular

[Owen Lucas]

People who complain about HOA are the people you wouldn't want as a next door neighbor in a non HOA neighborhood

When I win the lottery, I will move these people into @alarmguy 's HOA.

I wash my car in the driveway and work on my car in the garage. I have no issues with this.

Have you tried displaying a decorative fire hydrant?

https://www.foxbusiness.com/lifesty...argeted-front-yard-hydrant-display-last-straw

 

[SC Maintenance]

When I win the lottery, I will move these people into @alarmguy 's HOA.

Better him than me

Have you tried displaying a decorative fire hydrant?

This is a perfect example of those trying to bash HOA's - find some obscure example with some sympathetic defendant. This is why you need to read your covenants and decide if you can live with them before moving in. My HOA has a full page on "yard art" You get 6 total. American flags don't count towards your 6 - special rules for it - like it has to be the highest flag and in good condition. It lists the different things that are permitted, and Fire Hydrants are outside of that - so this would apply:

"other yard art/ornaments which do not fall within these standards require DRB approval"

DRB = design review board.

My guess - they would allow him to display them for a month around veterans day and Memorial day. Its a military city in a military state. However even if they didn't - whatever the rules were he should have paid attention to before buying.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Better him than me

Oh I won't forget you either. You're going to get the "Minnesota Special".

I'll have @Zee09 personally bus in 3 generations of your new neighbors.

This is why you need to read your covenants and decide if you can live with them before moving in. My HOA has a full page on "yard art" You get 6 total. American flags don't count towards your 6 - special rules for it - like it has to be the highest flag and in good condition. It lists the different things that are permitted, and Fire Hydrants are outside of that - so this would apply:

"other yard art/ornaments which do not fall within these standards require DRB approval"

See that's the issue.

I don't want any covenants, limit on my art, or whatever. I don't want to live in the Greater American Reich with insane rules.

If I want a fire hydrant shooting lasers out of it, awesome. I do not want some perimenopausal Karen charging at my front door to complain about it.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Oh I won't forget you either. You're going to get the "Minnesota Special".

I'll have @Zee09 personally bus in 3 generations of your new neighbors.

I assume you will be setting up a trust to pay all there fines, which will be perfect, we will have enough money for that second pool in no time.

See that's the issue.

I don't want any covenants, and limit on my art, or whatever. I don't want to live in the Greater American Reich with insane rules.

If I want a fire hydrant shooting lasers out of it, awesome. I do not want some perimenopausal Karen charging at my front door to complain about it.

Yes, and you should not live here, and no one said you should. But that is the point - you want to blame it on the HOA but the rules existed before you moved in and everyone else likes them. But you want to end there quiet enjoyment and call the HOA Karen so you can have your laser fire hydrant. I agree with @alarmguy that if you did live here your the Karen, because you want everyone else to change rules they like for you.

An HOA is not for you clearly. Don't live in one.

In large HOA's the rules are firm. There difficult to change. They usually have a professional property management company that takes care of it. Its completely business for them - no emotion at all - its just there day job. No Karen.

 

[Owen Lucas]

An HOA is not for you clearly. Don't live in one.

Certainly, I wouldn't live in one.

I'm just explaining why. It's like moving next to an airport and complaining about jet engine noise.

But for many, when every neighborhood is an HOA, where else are you going to live? They'll just deal with it I guess.

I'd rather have more freedom.

 

[Trav]

Glad you folks who like HOA's enjoy living in a totalitarian micro state. I like the freedom of owning my own property and doing as I please, I don't bother anyone and they don't bother me.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Certainly, I wouldn't live in one.

I'm just explaining why. It's like moving next to an airport and complaining about jet engine noise.

But for many, when every neighborhood is an HOA, where else are you going to live? They'll just deal with it I guess.

I'd rather have more freedom.

I didn't think you did and I completely understand what your saying. HOA is not your cup of tea.

If you have a city that will enforce code then you may not need an HOA. Here they will not. So no one wants to dump a large amount of money into a home where there property value is not protected. Hence HOA's are quite popular.

 

[SC Maintenance]

Glad you folks who like HOA's enjoy living in a totalitarian micro state. I like the freedom of owning my own property and doing as I please, I don't bother anyone and they don't bother me.

If you don't bother anyone you would likely fit fine in an HOA. Of course I understand why you don't want to live in one.

If all neighbors were like you we likely wouldn't need any HOA's to begin with. Unfortunately many people are not. There is always one, and it only takes one.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Glad you folks who like HOA's enjoy living in a totalitarian micro state. I like the freedom of owning my own property and doing as I please, I don't bother anyone and they don't bother me.

I like the mailman delivering mail to my house, not going to a communal gang-box.

I didn't think you did and I completely understand what your saying. HOA is not your cup of tea.

If you have a city that will enforce code then you may not need an HOA. Here they will not. So no one wants to dump a large amount of money into a home where there property value is not protected. Hence HOA's are quite popular.

In a city or a non HOA area, the 1st amendment allows you to decorate your house as you wish. Political signs etx. You can change the siding to whatever color you want, add another driveway, as long as you get permits.

The police should enforce trouble makers, loud music, etc. No one gets in trouble for changing the color of their siding or having too many decorative fire hydrants in their front lawn. Could doing an engine swap in your driveway be a zoning or city issue? Maybe, I've done it and never been bothered though.

Not for me, we both agree. Some are fine not rocking the boat and living a cookie cutter lifestyle like The Truman Show. I have my own pool, I wouldn't want to share with "community members" anyway. Community is not for me lol.

 

[SC Maintenance]

The police should enforce trouble makers, loud music, etc. No one gets in trouble for changing the color of their siding or having too many decorative fire hydrants in their front lawn. Could doing an engine swap in your driveway be a zoning or city issue? Maybe, I've done it and never been bothered though.

Code enforcement, not police, enforce city ordinances - like not mowing your lawn or abandoned vehicles. It usually starts with a letter. Unfortunately, they have no teeth often. So if they send a letter saying mow your lawn, many people just toss it in the trash.

An HOA has much stronger abilities to enforce the rules. That of course can be good or bad depending on how you view the rules.

I grew up on land where my nearest neighbor was 1/4 mile or more away. Yes I preferred that. However in a city setting I am happy with my HOA situation.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Code enforcement, not police, enforce city ordinances - like not mowing your lawn or abandoned vehicles. It usually starts with a letter. Unfortunately, they have no teeth often. So if they send a letter saying mow your lawn, many people just toss it in the trash.

I guess it depends on the local, some cities will fine you and even mow your lawn for you, at a nice price too. Makes sense as it might be a health issue? Usually happens in bad parts of town, which is kind of the point of moving-on-up, so you don't deal with these conditions.

To each his own. I'm glad you like your situation.

This is my lawn now, haven't cut it for a while and probably won't for a few more weeks since it's soggy and I'm lazy.

 

[nickaluch]

Glad you folks who like HOA's enjoy living in a totalitarian micro state. I like the freedom of owning my own property and doing as I please, I don't bother anyone and they don't bother me.

As long as you pay your property tax to the government. Don't pay it you lose it. My feelings are you never actually own the property. First it's the banks then the government

 

[PandaBear]

There's a space issue and there's an HOA issue. Remember guys the reason you likely need to be in an HOA is the development shared some of your space with your neighbor, so you get to buy a home slightly cheaper. If you buy a bigger lot and build your own home you won't need to deal with HOA, but of course you will have to pay more as a result.

So, now you have less space you have to share it with your neighbors, like having standard behaviors so we all not have to be upset at each other all the time, and we can't depend on each other to take turn running leave blowers and clean the pool.

About paying HOA to reserve money for maintenance and hire gardeners, pay for insurance, etc. You likely have to do that if you hire someone for your SFH as well. Sure you need more overhead for accounting etc but that's not the major part of it. The insurance, maintenance, reserve fund, etc are the major part. You have those expense on a SFH as well if you don't DIY or cut corner.

As mention earlier, you also can have neighbor issues in non HOA area. You can't guarantee people don't sell their SFH to a Karen 10 years down the road either.

 

[PandaBear]

I guess it depends on the local, some cities will fine you and even mow your lawn for you, at a nice price too. Makes sense as it might be a health issue? Usually happens in bad parts of town, which is kind of the point of moving-on-up, so you don't deal with these conditions.

To each his own. I'm glad you like your situation.

This is my lawn now, haven't cut it for a while and probably won't for a few more weeks since it's soggy and I'm lazy.

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I just dealt with a neighbor I hate, who would not do any of her maintenance and her trees block 1/2 of our common area driveway, in a non HOA area, and her trees matured fruit into my gutter.

I trimmed all the overgrown after she didn't respond for 6 months. Then she got upset. Her husband died and he was ok and would keep things under control on that vacant home that's next to my house. She was upset and yelled at me saying I may hurt myself and sue her, and my trim is ugly (yeah that's the main reason I highly doubt she's worried about me getting hurt based on her tone).

So in the end she had to hire a trimmer team of 3 with a utility "bucket truck" to trim everything overgrown. I only trimmed enough to unblock the driveway and the overgrown into my gutter. She waited and waited and ended up yelling at her neighbor and still had to do it.

I wish we had an HOA to fine her into doing the right thing or everyone just paid to not deal with this Karen. I missed her husband, he was ok. Now I have to deal with Karen instead, with no HOA to back me up. Maybe I can start using prepaid legal to communicate with her from now on.