Homeowner Assoc's: love 'em or hate 'em

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LoneRanger

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Live in a newer sub, still a few lots to be built out, fast growing desirable area of the county. Developer handed HOA over to residents for this yr at mtg in Dec. Only three residents showed up, yours truly amongst. Needed Pres, Sec, and Treasurer, I got tagged for Pres (ROFLMAO). So right out of the starting gate we have a problem child. Sent letter last week. Basically developer sold remaining lots to another outfit, who then sold that lot to a large mass production home builder who runs promos like move in for a penny and we'll pay your bills for a year, etc., and the buyer apparently so strapped that instead of having builder put in the yard and landscaping the buyer took an allowance to DIY it. Months ago. Meanwhile, bare dirt and a few weeds 18" tall. Lot of silt going into storm sewers every rain. Unsightly. Picture this nestled amongst the usual well trimmed lawns regularly fertilized either by a lawn service or the owner, and looking like golf course turf. Oh well, hopefully they get with the program. Nothing wrong with marching to your own tune but don't buy a home in a new sub with a HOA, covenants, and then thumb your nose at it from day one. HOA is healthy and we have an attorney available so we'll get this done, but why do folks have to be difficult?
 
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I was involved in a cottage association and on the board of directors of a condo corporation for many years.

A thankless job.
Saved many people thousands of dollars.
Paid nothing.
Accused of everything.

This is where you find out what your neighbor is really like. Not a pretty picture.
 
Originally Posted By: WobblyElvis
I was involved in a cottage association and on the board of directors of a condo corporation for many years.

A thankless job.
Saved many people thousands of dollars.
Paid nothing.
Accused of everything.

This is where you find out what your neighbor is really like. Not a pretty picture.


+1
 
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
but why do folks have to be difficult?

A lot of people feel the rules should apply to others, but not them. Other people just don't care.
 
I dislike Hoa, we actually have Poa here and its good for nothing. We even have our own "Rent a cop" thing for many years where all they legally could do was "ask" you to stop or "ask" you to pull over.

They had no legal authority and most didn't live in the community (granted this is a very high end community).

They only seemed to be there to harass people and they would try and stop you then call the cops on you if you where speeding...

It was pointless.

Then later on when we became a town they started double dipping. Taxing on Poa and the Police department. A lot of people started to move and within a month property value went down.

About two years ago they added a large trailer park on the back side of town (public assitent low rent) property value took another hit.

I'm all for places to live but in a community where the average income is near 80k a year why do we have to have such a large trailer park on the nicest part of town.

The place had its advantages tho, had a large gulf course. Many full sized pulls spread out threw out the town. Just a nice place to live.

Shortly after it became a town tho they started making some really stupid rules along with all the tax hikes people sold their homes.

Actually started fining people for the "for sale by owner" signs.

This is a town tho of many wealth people. Everyone took pride in ownership and it worked well for many many years. No one wants to be told what they can or can't do.

Besides that the only thing the police do is sit at stop signs waiting to ticket people. Seems like there only use is for revenue.
 
We had a third house for a while that had a homeowners association. Put a pretty bad taste in my mouth. Essentially if you were in the club or somehow in the scheme of things where you are friends with the people in charge you could do more things and take more liberties. Otherwise you just had a set of do-gooders who were trying to make things cookie-cutter which is okay if you live amongst a bunch of slobs, but pretty ridiculous if youre fairly self responsible and courteous.
 
While I understand why they exist, if I was looking at a house, and an HOA is mentioned, end of tour, show me another place, one without some lame bord telling me what I CAN'T do on my own property.
 
I firmly believe in keeping our home and property well maintained. However, the very thought of living in an area where I was forced to do anything is repulsive. Especially with some of the exorbitant "fees" they charge just to be a member. It's one of many reasons why we live in a rural area and will continue to do so.
 
HOA's are fine. Sometimes you get those problem homeowners who think they own the land to the street when they really only own the land that encompasses the footprint of their dwelling.
 
Originally Posted By: LoneRanger
Live in a newer sub, still a few lots to be built out, fast growing desirable area of the county. Developer handed HOA over to residents for this yr at mtg in Dec. Only three residents showed up, yours truly amongst. Needed Pres, Sec, and Treasurer, I got tagged for Pres (ROFLMAO). So right out of the starting gate we have a problem child. Sent letter last week. Basically developer sold remaining lots to another outfit, who then sold that lot to a large mass production home builder who runs promos like move in for a penny and we'll pay your bills for a year, etc., and the buyer apparently so strapped that instead of having builder put in the yard and landscaping the buyer took an allowance to DIY it. Months ago. Meanwhile, bare dirt and a few weeds 18" tall. Lot of silt going into storm sewers every rain. Unsightly. Picture this nestled amongst the usual well trimmed lawns regularly fertilized either by a lawn service or the owner, and looking like golf course turf. Oh well, hopefully they get with the program. Nothing wrong with marching to your own tune but don't buy a home in a new sub with a HOA, covenants, and then thumb your nose at it from day one. HOA is healthy and we have an attorney available so we'll get this done, but why do folks have to be difficult?


I live in the country and cannot see my neighbor from my wooded lot. So no HOA for me. And I married an attorney.
 
I used to own a condo with a HOA in Indy. My ex-wife still lives there.

They cover a lot of expenses that she has incurred, which really surprises me. These include all exterior maintenance!! All the units are cedar sided, and were recently replaced. WOW!!! All the decks on the front and back of the units were replaced!!! Even the roofs were re-shingled and some needed re-sheeted!! All gutter repairs are also covered.

It sure did remove a lot of surprise major expenses for this woman.
 
I refuse to live anywhere where I have to pay a fee for someone else to tell me what I can or can't do with MY property...
 
Originally Posted By: grampi
I refuse to live anywhere where I have to pay a fee for someone else to tell me what I can or can't do with MY property...


This.

An HOA is a little fiefdom, where someone with a little bit of power will feel compelled to wield that power.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
No way would would I live where I can't have a truck or antenna on my roof. Pure communist imo


I am an AR (Ham Radio) operator as well and when we moved into our neighborhood 7 years ago, I was delighted to find that one could have an antenna structure that could rise to a maximum of eight feet over the roof level.

I even had my attorney verify it, because I knew there was one neighbor who stuck their nose into everyone's business.

I put up a slim, almost camoflaged 43' vertical antenna, not a tower.

The neighbor commented that is was awfully tall and wasn't sure the antenna met the NA code. I promptly produced the NA document and my attorney's business card and ask her to call him if she had any questions. End of nosy neighbor's comments.

The problem around here is that each development parcel has a different NA.

If I ever move again, it will be into a rural area with no HOA's, NA's, etc.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
No way would would I live where I can't have a truck or antenna on my roof. Pure communist imo
Ham radio and HOAs don't exist well together, although I am aware of several incidents where the radio license holder got himself on the board before making anyone aware he was an amateur.
I get a kick out of the typical Condo Association tactic in Florida to hold meetings in the summer when most of the folks who pay the bills are not around.
 
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