Florida HOA help!

[tvguy]

You missed the point.

The rules are everywhere. Not just with HOAs. An informed home buyer needs to check local ordinances as well as HOA covenants.

I agree. But HOA rules have a MUCH greater chance of being enforced incorrectly by a wacko board of directors. Such as the one here last month that required that garage doors be left open during the day.

 

[cabanafrau]

Please be sure to read my post...I never said I live in a strict HOA. In fact, I made a clear point to say that they're more lenient than others I've come across. Again, I give them credit, as HOAs go, they're OK, relatively speaking. Frankly, I'm not even sure what all the different rules are because I don't particularly care.

This isn't my first rodeo with HOAs either, so it's not "limited experience". I've owned a lot of houses of the years, we've moved a lot. DW was even one of the founding board members of an HOA (we were the second family to have a house built in the community). That ended in disaster, just not our thing. For me, even having a limit on fences, outbuildings or pools is unacceptable. For me, it's my property, my decision on what to put on it. YMMV, but for me, all HOAs are

FYI, insurance agencies don't have anything to do with paying...they just sell the policies, but I know what you're saying. And sure, trust me, I know there are a lot of people who feel that way, and that's their decision.

What about local ordinances that govern fences, outbuildings and pools, do you think your decisions override those as well? Some of those same things may be of interest to your insurance company as well -- and they for sure won't take kindly to being told to pound sand.

 

[VandVsmama]

We’re in the process of attempting to relocate to Florida. I’ve been skimming through MLS listings for months trying to get an idea of what’s out there. It seems everything is in a stinking HOA! I’ve never lived in one and the stories I hear from friends who do live in them make me want to tear my eyes out. The petty ridiculous bickering and nit picking between neighbors about every little detail would drive me insane. Please tell me what you can about most Florida HOA’s. I’m terrified of the possibility of becoming entangled in some HOA squabble. Are they as bad as they seem?

There are HOAs that are ok/fine and there are HOAs which are total nightmares.

I live in Arizona and it's the land of the HOA. Pretty much any housing development built since the 90s has an HOA. Sometimes the fees are low (ours, for example are like $60 every 3 months) and others are higher. Usually the HOA fees around here are higher if there's stuff like:

• gated community
• community pool
• lots of green space with plantings and grass that's maintained by a landscaper
• club house

My best advice to you would be to actually READ the CC&R's before you put in an offer. If there's a house you really really like, ask the buyer for a copy of the CC&Rs and read it. That will clue you in as to how restrictive (or not) the HOA is. For example....

• Our HOA requires you to submit landscaping plans, but none of that is enforced. As long as you plant stuff that's native desert landscaping and it looks nice, you're fine. But if you want to put in grass, fruit trees, or palm trees in the front yard, forget it.
• My MIL's neighborhood polices the front yard landscaping and they do actually check that you've submitted plans before you actually put a new plant in the ground.
• Our HOA says no parking on the street after 10 pm. It isn't enforced. In my sister's neighborhood (same rule), it is enforced and the HOA will assume that if a car is parked in front of your house, it means that the car belongs to you. My MIL's development says no cars on the street at all, even though they are the widest streets ever. Nobody follows that rule during the day because it's impractical.
• My MIL's HOA says you can't have your garage door open unless you are actually IN the garage or you are in the front yard. And they will fine you if you break that rule. Apparently there are some retirees living around there with nothing better to do than count open garage doors. LOL
• Some HOAs dictate what sorts of decorative items you can have in your front yard or the front of your house whereas others give you leeway with that. It's all in the fine print in the CC&Rs.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Even my appliances were regulated, oh and no modern updates everything had to be within historical parameters.

Yeah not when you live around the corner of a Heinz/Kerry - Louisburg Square . Reason we moved.

Surely you realize that your area is abnormal in the world of HOAs at least to what you are speaking about.

HOAs don't typically care what is inside your home as far as furnishings and updates to your inside of your house are typically a city/county/state concern not an HOA concern unless you are significantly altering your home like adding a sun room, etc.

You say appliances, modern updates, historical parameters...yeah that's very much in order to maintain the integrity of the area these places are. Now looking up Louisburg Square it's in Boston and they are row/townhomes. Was yours a detached home or does it look more like this which is Beacon Hill:


Apologies if I'm completely off the mark on the location but if I am not I totally understand why there are strict rules regarding appliances, regarding historical parameters. Without knowing any rules just looking at a picture like above I can guess that there are conformity rules designed to maintain a level of integrity of the area.

 

[Marchand63]

It was. No more though.

 

[EMom]

I would not live in a neighborhood that didn't have a strong HOA. They tend to make certain people keep up their property and this maintains home values. I've seen too many areas where there are no HOAs and anything goes, and it only takes one crappy neighborhood to cause the value of your home to plummet. No thanks.

People who dislike HOAs are often the people who bought without bothering to read the rules first. If you don't like the rules, don't buy in that neighborhood. But if you do buy, follow the rules. It's that simple.

 

[MillauFr]

I would not live in a neighborhood that didn't have a strong HOA. They tend to make certain people keep up their property and this maintains home values. I've seen too many areas where there are no HOAs and anything goes, and it only takes one crappy neighborhood to cause the value of your home to plummet. No thanks.

People who dislike HOAs are often the people who bought without bothering to read the rules first. If you don't like the rules, don't buy in that neighborhood. But if you do buy, follow the rules. It's that simple.

It would be a complete disaster if we had strong HOAs in Seattle. You would have all of the busy bodies sticking their nose into my business. It is none of their concern if I waste water by keeping my grass green during the Summer. They shouldn't concern themselves if I have a hot tub and use too much electricity. They shouldn't be able to tell me that I drive a car to work and burn too many fossil fuels. It is none of their business. There is no way they can contend that I am bringing down property values when residential land is selling for $10m to $40m an acre.

 

[tvguy]

I would not live in a neighborhood that didn't have a strong HOA. They tend to make certain people keep up their property and this maintains home values. I've seen too many areas where there are no HOAs and anything goes, and it only takes one crappy neighborhood to cause the value of your home to plummet. No thanks.

People who dislike HOAs are often the people who bought without bothering to read the rules first. If you don't like the rules, don't buy in that neighborhood. But if you do buy, follow the rules. It's that simple.

I think an HOA on paper is great. You are correct, everything is spelled out before you make a purchase offer. HOWEVER, the crazy spins some HOA boards put on their rules seem to be a frequent problem. And the reality is, an HOA board can be 100% in the wrong, but the cost of challenging them in court is prohibitive. Unless you are like the HOA board here that ordered all garage doors left open during the day to make sure no people were living in the garages. That got worldwide media attention, and when the board realized how foolish they looked, they reversed themselves.

 

[sam_gordon]

I think an HOA on paper is great. You are correct, everything is spelled out before you make a purchase offer. HOWEVER, the crazy spins some HOA boards put on their rules seem to be a frequent problem. And the reality is, an HOA board can be 100% in the wrong, but the cost of challenging them in court is prohibitive. Unless you are like the HOA board here that ordered all garage doors left open during the day to make sure no people were living in the garages. That got worldwide media attention, and when the board realized how foolish they looked, they reversed themselves.

How many HOAs are there in the country? How many are "bothersome" or "unreasonable"? Granted, that decision is in the eye of the beholder, but my point is there are probably tens of thousands HOAs across the country. There are probably a handful (relative to the total number) that go to extremes. BUT, those are the ones you hear about.

 

[tvguy]

How many HOAs are there in the country? How many are "bothersome" or "unreasonable"? Granted, that decision is in the eye of the beholder, but my point is there are probably tens of thousands HOAs across the country. There are probably a handful (relative to the total number) that go to extremes. BUT, those are the ones you hear about.

Of course. Like I said, nothing wrong with HOAs.......when there are issues it is with the people who run them.

 

[DopeyDame]

We lived in a community with an HOA once, and I will absolutely never do it again. As HOAs go they were probably fine and reasonable, but I find their power and intrusiveness unacceptable for my life.
My advice:

1. Read the covenant before you put an offer on the home. Are those restrictions that you can live with?
2. Understand how the rules of the covenant can change. We got screwed because they chose to change the "acceptable" deck paint color. The covenants just say something like "standard acceptable colors" or some vague language about deck color, and the board sent out a list every year of the acceptable colors. And the list changed. Just because.
3. Decide for yourself what your priorities are in your neighborhood. I would much rather live in a neighborhood with a car on blocks and a purple house than in a neighborhood where someone else decides what color I need to paint my door and how long I need to keep my grass. Other people are willing to put up with specific rules and regulations because they like the assurance that the houses in their neighborhood will always meet [someone's] ideal of a perfect standard.

Neither is wrong, but know yourself and know your own values.

 

[Patch'sD]

I find HOA's are a great benefit. Houses are maintained and eyesores are eliminated. Landscaping is trimmed, grass is cut, sidewalks cleaned, No boats or RV's in the Driveway or Derelict cars on the side of the house. I find the small fee well worth it.

 

[Buckeye218]

We moved into a town home community in FL in 2015. We've had no problems with our HOA and in fact they are an important part of the development. Town homes historically have higher turnover than SFH's and our board helps keep some owners in line before small issues become big problems.

This is a lower middle class development, not a high-end community and most people move in without ever looking at the CC&R's. Most later claim they didn't even know there were any rules in the community. There are complaints at every single meeting that the dues are too high and the next question is what do our dues pay for anyway? How can they state the dues are too high without even having an understanding of what the dues cover??

HOA board members are volunteers and our Board has definitely helped keep our property values increasing.

 

[tvguy]

I find HOA's are a great benefit. Houses are maintained and eyesores are eliminated. Landscaping is trimmed, grass is cut, sidewalks cleaned, No boats or RV's in the Driveway or Derelict cars on the side of the house. I find the small fee well worth it.

My daughter is house hunting and has been shocked by what some of the HOA fees are. $250 a month in some cases for a $200,000 property. Would that be within your definition of small fee? I guess what I am asking is, what is the range of normal fees most folks expect with an HOA?

 

[Christine]

My daughter is house hunting and has been shocked by what some of the HOA fees are. $250 a month in some cases for a $200,000 property. Would that be within your definition of small fee? I guess what I am asking is, what is the range of normal fees most folks expect with an HOA?

My HOA fee is $90 per quarter. I live in a smaller neighborhood, all single family homes, with no pool, golf course, or parks.

My $90 per quarter pays for our trash and recycling pick up twice a week.
Cleaning of the neighborhood drain "pond" annually.
Maintenance of the common areas which is the flowers/grass around the entrance of the neighborhood and the grass around the "pond." Upkeep of the entryway signage.
Legal representation
Management company that collects the dues.

 

[soccerdad72]

I can only speak to our HOA (I've never checked around with others), but we pay around $400 a year, most of that goes towards maintenance and staffing of our neighborhood pool, plus basic landscaping around the common areas.

 

[luvavacation]

I moved to Central FL after living up North. We moved from a medium sized subdivision with an HOA to a very small (15 homes) HOA subdivision. We are a family that detests HOAs, but when we bought our homes, we looked at the Covenants and Restrictions, knew what we could and could not live with, and decided from there.

Our HOA up North was reasonable. The HOA in the neighbourhood next to ours was crazy strict! We liked a house in there, but when we realized we would need permission to breathe more air than the neighbor breathes, we did not buy there (just kidding with the breathing, but it felt that strict!).

When we moved here to FL, our realtor showed us homes without HOAs. We saw some beautiful homes. We wanted acreage, so a tight subdivision with house upon house was out of the question. But then we saw what happens when you have some land and no HOA here in FL. Though the houses we looked at were gorgeous, right next door, or across the street, were the eyesores (Meth homes, former Meth homes, gunrange homes, homes where the dirt bikes were in better shape than the trailer home, etc). While we did not want an HOA, we also realized that, at least here in FL, the eyesores are right next to the nice homes, there is no "neighbourhood boundary", so to speak. It was very different from what we were used to, where neighbourhoods were separated from other neighbourhoods.

We ended up buying a home, with land, in an HOA. But, the HOA has very few rules. One is, no pig farms. You can have a pig or two, but not 50. Chickens ok, a few cows, but no slaughterhouses. No outhouses (as in toilets! didn't even know people still had those!). RVs can't be parked in the front yard. Rules we can live with. We do have what I consider expensive dues ($500 per year), but I guess in rural FL HOAs maintain their own roads? Every few years, the road is redone and the HOA pays for it.

So, while my family still detests HOAs, I do see the purpose for them here in rural FL, at least. You have beautiful homes right next to broken down trailers with garbage pits nearby and yards full of sand and weeds, and this will affect the resale value of the beautiful home. And perhaps the comfort level of the homeowner! If you do your research, it is possible to come up with a happy medium, but for here in FL, I recommend some sort of HOA (unless you do want to live in the house with the shooting range out back, selling meth from the side shed, running the dirt bikes at all hours, and making huge fires from your garbage, in which case, have at it, enjoy!). Good luck on your search!

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

My daughter is house hunting and has been shocked by what some of the HOA fees are. $250 a month in some cases for a $200,000 property. Would that be within your definition of small fee? I guess what I am asking is, what is the range of normal fees most folks expect with an HOA?

Condos seem to have higher HOA fees. I know there are some condos downtown here that have HOA fees $1,000+ per month.

Our HOA is $475 per year. In-laws is $600+ per year however theirs includes trash but doesn't include as many neighborhood activities.

I don't think there's a good steady correlation with HOA fees and housing prices. Places just have different housing markets. For instance since our house was built in 2014 the appraised value has increased over $62,500--our HOA has only increased $50 (in 2014 it was $425 and from 2015 and on it's been $475).

Things cost money though. The 2018 budget for mowing the common property and vacant lots is over $33,000 for instance.