HOA fun...our first TWO violations...yay!

[Tina]

I hate HOAs too. I could never live in one. Townhomes might be the only exception because they generally take care of the property around the buildings and the exterior.

Not where I live they don't. That's only the case here in our area with Condos and apartments.

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

Inot putting up metal fences

not painting your house neon purple

and the huge skating half pipe in the front yard of the house full of teenagers.

the huge rack of canoes on the side of the house

I don't see a problem with any of this! It's their house! They paid for it. Who cares???

 

[LuvCuteBoys]

I don't think I'd ever find an association that would allow me to have my pink flamingo lawn ornaments

Cheektowaga, NY is where you want to live. They're required here

 

[happygirl]

I will NEVER live in a HOA area. I refuse to let someone tell me how to live

 

[jodifla]

Ugh. Good luck with your HOA. They sound obnoxious.

We'd never live in a place with an HOA. Our town ordinances cover the important stuff.

 

[Feralpeg]

Holy smokes. I had no idea HOAs could be so overbearing! We live in a semi-rural neighborhood without one, but everyone is really good about maintaining their own space. Sorry some of you have to deal with micro-management in your own home!

They are not all overbearing. Mine is not. Yes, they do get on people who never mow their lawns or have weeds higher than their house, but they don't nitpick little things.

HOA's, usually, consist of elected homeowner from the neighborhood. I don't feel sorry for people who have a problem with their HOA. If you don't like how it is being run, get involved. Become a member of the association. I am not a member of the board, yet I go to the meetings for my neighborhood each month. It is sad because the majority of the homeowners do not attend. We wanted to take a vote at one meeting to fix a problem at the neighborhood pool. There wasn't a quorum, so a vote could not be held. Thus, the problem still exits. My HOA sends out announcements of the meetings and the issues to be discussed well in advance. People don't attend, yet they complain about what has been decided. They announce the outstanding problems at each meeting. Those that complain never seem to attend the meetings.

There is a rule in my neighborhood against short term rentals. I love this! I live very close to WDW and I don't want my neighborhood to become a tourist rental area. Yet, one homeowner decided to ignore the rule and rent his home out for a week at a time. The noise level and trash picked up terribly. Fortunately, the HOA stepped in and this is no longer happening.

HOAs are not all evil.

 

[MushyMushy]

I don't see a problem with any of this! It's their house! They paid for it. Who cares???

I agree. Plus, I hate homogeneous neighborhoods.

I love where I live! We have a bunch of old victorians in our neighborhood. One of them is painted pink, but looks good. The people across the street have painted theirs plum. It's an out and out showplace with what they've done to it. You'd never be allowed to do that in most HOAs. I really enjoy driving through older neighborhoods where all the houses are something different... different styles, colors, textures.

 

[bicker]

We love living in a condo. We've had universally fantastic experiences with the association boards we've had, and we're very grateful for how their efforts have consistently provided us a clean, attractive neighborhood to live in.

 

[Christine]

I lucked out with my HOA. We are all pretty laid back here so we get no rampant HOA police patrols or anything like that. The HOA only steps in when somebody does something outrageous.

For instance, one of our neighbors had a cemented in basketball net. Those are not allowed; however, no one complained so they HOA looked the other way. Well, the owners decided to take it down one day. They did, laid it in the yard and proceeded to leave it there for a year. Finally the HOA stepped in and asked them to get rid of it or they would and then charge the owners the fee.

Another neighbor had a car up on blocks. It's tags had expired and weeds were growing around it. The HOA put up with it for a few months in case it was a temporary situation. It wasn't and they were told to remove it or the HOA would have it removed and the owners would be billed.

Our houses are made of cedar or cedar-like siding and stone, therefore, only natural type colors of trip and doors are suited and it states so in the by laws. We don't have to ask permission on colors as long as we keep to the scheme of things. So far everyone has done so but it someone decides to paint their trim pink or orange, they will be told to repaint.

HOAs serve a purpose and that is to keep ALL properties looking nice and well maintained. This keeps the value of surrounding homes up and easier to sell if you are in the position. I mean NO ONE wants to move next door to the house with 2 abandoned cars, a falling down fence, and a mural of a rainbow spray painted on the side of the house! Yes, we have a non-HOA neighborhood near us and someone has done that.

 

[Feralpeg]

I don't see a problem with any of this! It's their house! They paid for it. Who cares???

I would. I paid a lot of money for my home. I chose the neighborhood I live in because it is well maintained. I would hate it if someone came into the nieghborhood and put up a lot of really ugly things.

Yes, they paid for it, but they don't have the right to ruin my property value.

I believe in minding my own business and I generally turn the other cheek, but there is a limit. People need to think about others who live in the area before they decide to do something that the majority of people would find offensive.

 

[battricia]

I paid a lot of money for my home.

So basically, you don't care about what anyone else wants for the things THEY paid a lot of money for, you only care about the things YOU want. And BTW, the majority of the things PP listed are not things that would drive down the value of a neighborhood.

 

[natenapril]

omg...no way could I ever live anywhere like that. I lived in military housing for years and I'm done with it! I keep my yard nice because I want too..not because the yard police will give me a ticket.

I agree. 14 years in military housing so far and I am so over it! I DO keep my yard nice but I am tired of someone inspecting every week.

 

[ilovejack02]

I don't see a problem with any of this! It's their house! They paid for it. Who cares???

The next door neighbor cares when their house does not sell as quickly as the rest of the neighborhood , because they live next door to a home that looks like a frat house.

The rest of the neighborhood cares when their property values drop because the neighbor had to take a loss just to get the house sold.

The people that are affected by a messy looking house care. The people that make the big mess and don't take care of the property are that ones that don't care.

Thank goodness there are lots of different places to choose from when buying a home.

 

[minniecarousel]

My sis lives in a townhome and is in an end unit. She got cited because the wire for her cable TV was not the color of the building. She called the cable company and they came out and painted the wire with the paint provided by the HOA.

Yet, people leave their garbage cans out all week. They're supposed to be placed out of site once they've been serviced for the week.

I have never lived in a neighborhood with HOAs and hope we never will, but the chances are greater that we will when we move next.

 

[MomofKatie]

Sometimes an HOA is a good thing!

I agree. Our HOA giving out the "one weed in your driveway" notice was a bit over the top, IMO, but for the most part, they are just trying to keep the neighborhood looking nice so we can keep the resale value in our homes. Some of our neighbors would let their property get pretty run down/tacky looking if there wasn't that backup of the HOA to enforce the rules.

 

[Feralpeg]

So basically, you don't care about what anyone else wants for the things THEY paid a lot of money for, you only care about the things YOU want. And BTW, the majority of the things PP listed are not things that would drive down the value of a neighborhood.

I have no problem with people spending money on anything they want for their homes as long as it doesn't affect the property value of everyone else in the neighborhood. You'd be suprised at what can lower the value of homes in a neighborhood.

For instance, when I lived in Missouri, there was a house on the street next to mine. The owner decided to bury an old iron bed in the middle of his front yard. He planted flowers over the bedframe between the headboard and foot that stuck out of the ground. He thought it was hysterical because it was a flower bed. It was an eyesore. Everyone in the area hated it. When it came time to list my home, my real estate agent told me that the value of my home would be less because I lived so near that home. Should I not have been upset that the value of my home dropped because of his bizarre sense of humor? Sorry. I guess it's all about me!

I don't think people have the right to do just anything because they can. I would never do anything that would drop the value of my neighbors' homes.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well, I bought some aluminum dowells and semi-assembled the playhouse. It looks like a playhouse and is no longer a visual nuisance. But if that HOA plays big bad wolf---we are busted.

but it will work until my husband can help me secure everything.

As for "I would never move into an HOA" type statements. It does work for some people and for our needs---an HOA fit the bill this time. But I will be sure to see if anyone of y'all want to contribute to a future home purchase so that we can get in a safe area without an HOA---the LLP donation fund.


I kid!


Our HOA includes snow removal and a community pool and mowing of commons areas. It isn't all that bad. The perks is what we care about for the HOA. I lived in a non-HOA community for over a decade and would have been quite content with that if we could find something. But the homes that fit our budget were budget breakers on repair. And the stuff not needing repair exceeded our budget.

I just had a beef about the fence we don't own. I refused to be held responsible for other people's stuff.

 

[Christine]

I just had a beef about the fence we don't own. I refused to be held responsible for other people's stuff.

It will be interesting to hear what they have to say about that.

 

[Magpie]

I'd never heard of HOAs before this thread!

We have no HOA in our area and everyone manages to keep the neighbourhood looking nice, without anyone threatening anything. It's a very old part of town so there's a nice mix of houses. Some are landscaped, others are very plain. Weeds are everywhere, but that's because sprays were banned in this city awhile back. In any case, as long as a lawn is neatly trimmed, the weeds really don't look bad. I like the look of my area - it's not boring, or homogenous, it's lived in and cozy.

I appreciate the fact that when we were leveling the back yard we could leave a pile of dirt in the driveway over the winter and no one complained. The only person I had to get permission from to raise the house and build a new floor beneath was the city. I like that I can paint murals in my windows and my neighbour can hang Buddhist prayer flags outside. I like my freedom!

And this area's HOT as far as housing prices go!

FWIW - if a house really falls apart and there's meter high weeds and rats in the undergrowth, the city will come (assuming a neighbour calls them) and mow the place and then send a bill to the homeowner. It happens very rarely. And now the city's even drafting new rules to determine what's a "naturalized garden" so that you can feel free to let your whole yard go to wildflowers and weeds... I mean, native flora.

Hopefully backyard chickens are next!

 

[MarkBarbieri]

So basically, you don't care about what anyone else wants for the things THEY paid a lot of money for, you only care about the things YOU want. And BTW, the majority of the things PP listed are not things that would drive down the value of a neighborhood.

The beauty of HOAs is that you get to choose them. You can choose to live in a neighborhood without one, with a strict one, or with a lenient one. I love living in a neighborhood that is fairly strict about making sure that everything is well maintained and looks nice. If you prefer a neighborhood where you can do what you please, just choose one without an HOA.