Poll: HOAs

[AKLRULZ]

Do you live in a community with a HOA? If so, how strict are the covenants?

 

[wendy46001]

yes...ugh....we have a rule that our trash cans have to be in by sundown on trash day...I dont leave work till its dark so needless to say i get a letter every other month...but while i complain about them i'll never move into a development without one...i'd rather get a letter then live next to a flamingo pink house

 

[Galahad]

Don't know how strict this is, but we are doing (or rather trying to do) a solarium addition. Code in our area is no structure within 10 feet of the property line. The covenant says 20 feet. Our builder drew up plans we like that put us at 17 feet. So we have to go through a variance hearing etc. that will delay the project by 2 month. Even though the deck that the solarium is replacing is in exactly the same place the solarium will be. It seems a deck is part of the landscaping and has different rules. Live and learn............

 

[debbi801]

Our previous neighborhood had an HOA and it was obscene. They sent obnoxious letters all the time for the tiniest thing--weeds growing in your lawn (dandilions), hedges not trimmed to the exact measurements, etc. When we bought our current house 6 years ago, we were very specific about not wanting a neighborhood with an HOA.

Now, I would do anything to have one. We have a crazy next-door neighbor who has singlehandedly ruined property values on our street. They've lived there a little over a year. In that year, they started painting their house and stopped a quarter way through it, they added an addition and stopped before it was complete, they have an in ground pool that they drained and use to throw junk in. They have car parts all over their front and side yard for 2 cars they are rebuilding. They have a ton of people coming and going all the time, it is just a total disaster. This was our dream home, and we can't even sell our house because who would want to live next to this?

 

[AKLRULZ]

They are kind of a double edged sword, but I'd rather have than have not.

 

[Bob Slydell]

Yes, we have one. It's not too bad -- at least I've never had a problem with them to this point.

 

[aprilgail2]

We don't have one where I live, in fact I never heard of them until I came to the DIS....but from everything I read about them I will do my darnest to never move to a place that has them...I can't imagine having a group of people in the neighborhood being able to dictate what you can and can not do on your own property!

 

[claudia]

I moved out of my community because of my HOA....NEVER, NEVER AGAIN

 

[pansmermaidzlagoon]

yes. HOA's are a mixed blessing. Overall, I am glad for ours.

Thankfully, ours are not too restrictive - mainly just the common sense stufff that keeps everything nice. The problem comes when someone gets petty, power hungry, or uneven/unfair in the enforcement.

I don't think I would ever choose to live without one again - but, then again. I could not live with an HOA that is overly restrictive either.

 

[juligrl]

Just the basics like no rusty cars propped up on cement blocks in your yard for X number of days. No foot tall grass. The only one that irks me a bit is that the HOA doesn't allow above ground pools but it does allow partially above ground, partially inground pools. I personally don't have a problem with either of them, but the neighbors that have them don't have them partially inground so they're essentially above ground pools which technically aren't allowed.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I was a Trustee for my last neighborhood....I love HOA's and wish they were more strict.

Now, I would prefer to have land but need some more $$$$.