S/O HOA Communities

[RangerPooh]

We've looked at a few homes in HOAs but found them too over bearing. What plants you can/can't have, limited paint colors, no fences or specific fence types, cars MUST be in garages, no cars on street, etc.

Our neighborhood was built between 79-84 and it's aging. It was the original subdivision in the city, but it is way less snooty and has fewer 'Karen's.

 

[Christine]

We've looked at a few homes in HOAs but found them too over bearing. What plants you can/can't have, limited paint colors, no fences or specific fence types, cars MUST be in garages, no cars on street, etc.

Our neighborhood was built between 79-84 and it's aging. It was the original subdivision in the city, but it is way less snooty and has fewer 'Karen's.

My home was built in 1994. Our HOA is not picky at all. We can have any type, style, height, wood face. We can also have the white "weatherproof" type fence. The only type restricted is chain link.

We have no restrictions on plants at all. That's a new one on me. Most of the original homes were built with Cedar siding and the neighborhood definitely has a "wooded, rustic" look due to that feature so the HOA conventants generally state that color schemes should be common sense colors that have a "nature" look. I guess people could interpret that any way. But they don't get down into specifics like door color or what color your window frames must be, etc. It's pretty loose and easy.

 

[MillauFr]

We've looked at a few homes in HOAs but found them too over bearing. What plants you can/can't have, limited paint colors, no fences or specific fence types, cars MUST be in garages, no cars on street, etc.

Our neighborhood was built between 79-84 and it's aging. It was the original subdivision in the city, but it is way less snooty and has fewer 'Karen's.

So in other words it reminds you of Pullman?

 

[DopeyDame]

Who is that?
I know there are HOAs that are built to accommodate RVs and pleasure crafts most definitely.

Oh goodness now I feel SUPER old. Track down some episodes of Bewitched - she was the nosy neighbor.

https://bewitched.fandom.com/wiki/Gladys_Kravitz

 

[lovemygoofy]

My guess is your experience is more the norm than the stories of all the crazy HOAs that supposedly exist.

Go to your cold, no fun, nosey people HOA and don't pass Go or collect $200. I have to go kick the puppies and water cannon the kids playing in the street per the HOA regulations since it's Wed.

 

[NYCgrrl]

Oh goodness now I feel SUPER old. Track down some episodes of Bewitched - she was the nosy neighbor.

https://bewitched.fandom.com/wiki/Gladys_Kravitz

Not SUPER old- just SUPER wise.
I should have known who ya meant :yup:

 

[kirstenb1]

I've never seen a neighborhood that the houses are not identical.

As I said before, we have an HOA. There are 90 homes in our neighborhood. There are a few spec homes, but all the rest were custom built. There were probably 20 different builders, maybe more. A couple of the homes are similar, but the rest are not. All different architectural styles.

 

[bdcp]

We've only lived in HOA's since we were married. Our first was in VA Beach ('82-'85) in a community called Green Run in our brand new townhouse. Since then we've lived in two other towns in HOA's. Three houses we've owned. Most were large HOA's. Our current one is 73 homes on 100 acres and we've been here 16 years, built new. We have the largest lot in the neighborhood at about 2/3 acre (.64 exactly). We have never had any issues. Ours isn't super picky either, but we also know most of our neighbors and have know the last two HOA President's fairly well. Restrictions are few and far between. Mainly about paint (door and shutters) since we're brick front and vinyl sided, type of external light fixtures, things like that. We all are on wooded lots. The last thing we were cited for was the siding needed to be power washed on one side of the house because of algae growth (north side so it's very common) because ours can be seen from the street due to the direction our garage faces. We just hadn't gotten around to it so it was hardly a hardship. We can park on the street, cars don't have to be in garages although we do-our driveways are also long, fences vary-no chain link and we can plant anything we want. We've never been told no when we've put in plans for a patio, landscaping, path from driveway to back patio, brick steps in front of house, storm doors, etc. We have neighbors with pools, large decks, patios, screened porches and gazebos. There are 5 different floor plans with several different elevations and multiple brick colors and some have stone on a few for each so no two houses look exactly alike. Most are 3 car garages, probably 40% are 2. Ours is a three car.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I've never seen a neighborhood that the houses are not identical.

There are certainly homes within associations that all look the same; it's a scale of economy "thingie" that makes the cost of the overall development less expensive. Price up and you'll also find other choices as PP noted.

 

[mrodgers]

You must not get around much. Even our "starter" home neighborhood had ~5 house designs to choose from. In fact, I think the only place I've gone where the houses look the same is a mobile home park.

That's what I mean. Neighborhoods of 100 homes and only 5 different styles? My mother's neighborhood has late 60's split levels, split entries, 2 stories like my mothers, and a ranch style. All the same 5 styles.

There are certainly homes within associations that all look the same; it's a scale of economy "thingie" that makes the cost of the overall development less expensive. Price up and you'll also find other choices as PP noted.

Price up? Like $400-500k? That's doctor's and lawyer's houses, not quite so easy to price up to that as a factory worker. The non-neighborhood houses are still $100k, old farm houses and the like which are not the same. $150-200 gets you a nice normal size house in a neighborhood, but they'll all be just a handful of differences. Above $200 gets into the cookie cutter McMansions and at $400k gets you into the rich folk, which they are the ones that are not identical.

 

[shh]

It really depends on the particular HOA. Some are picky to the point that they're going to tell you how tall your grass should be and analyze it to make sure you are killing off the weeds. Others just really want to approve any addition you do so they can be sure you're not going to violate set-backs or have an ongoing multi-year construction project that never ends.

exactly - HOAs range from extremely reasonable to utterly ridiculous. The biggest risk? When your most psychotic, power-hungry neighbor joins the board, or worse - assumes a leadership role. (I'm talking about THAT guy or gal that the rest of the homeowners avoid or eye roll...someone who just thrives on creating drama and trouble for others.)

We had one lunatic who was on SS disability and didn't work with way too much time on his hands. His favorite pastime was calling his buddy - a city employee - to file official complaints and reports on other homeowners - (almost all of which were bogus and quickly dismissed by the city.) When THAT guys becomes HOA president, life can become miserable.

 

[sam_gordon]

That's what I mean. Neighborhoods of 100 homes and only 5 different styles? My mother's neighborhood has late 60's split levels, split entries, 2 stories like my mothers, and a ranch style. All the same 5 styles.

Well, that was a "starter home" neighborhood. Now we're in a "custom built" neighborhood and I think the only two identical houses are ours and the one we looked at about 4 months before we were ready to buy (there's 3 houses separating us). I think you'd have to be looking VERY close to see they're the same. I would expect "builder developments" (one builder did the entire neighborhood) to repeat the same look as opposed to a neighborhood where people bought the land and built what they wanted. Yes, they do exist, and in pretty large numbers. To say you've never seen one means (to me) you don't get out much.

 

[NYCgrrl]

That's what I mean. Neighborhoods of 100 homes and only 5 different styles? My mother's neighborhood has late 60's split levels, split entries, 2 stories like my mothers, and a ranch style. All the same 5 styles.


Price up? Like $400-500k? That's doctor's and lawyer's houses, not quite so easy to price up to that as a factory worker. The non-neighborhood houses are still $100k, old farm houses and the like which are not the same. $150-200 gets you a nice normal size house in a neighborhood, but they'll all be just a handful of differences. Above $200 gets into the cookie cutter McMansions and at $400k gets you into the rich folk, which they are the ones that are not identical.

A higher price is variable in accordance to the r/e market you are in. 400-500K would probably be a starter residence in my area.

 

[tvguy]

We can have any type, style, height, wood face. We can also have the white "weatherproof" type fence. The only type restricted is chain link.

We have no restrictions on plants at all. That's a new one on me. Most of the original homes were built with Cedar siding and the neighborhood definitely has a "wooded, rustic" look due to that feature so the HOA conventants generally state that color schemes should be common sense colors that have a "nature" look. I guess people could interpret that any way. But they don't get down into specifics like door color or what color your window frames must be, etc. It's pretty loose and easy.

At least around here, fencing, plants, exterior construction AND paint colors seem to be the most common HOA restrictions. I guess NOT having those restrictions in an HOA would be a new one on me.

 

[mjkacmom]

That's what I mean. Neighborhoods of 100 homes and only 5 different styles? My mother's neighborhood has late 60's split levels, split entries, 2 stories like my mothers, and a ranch style. All the same 5 styles.


Price up? Like $400-500k? That's doctor's and lawyer's houses, not quite so easy to price up to that as a factory worker. The non-neighborhood houses are still $100k, old farm houses and the like which are not the same. $150-200 gets you a nice normal size house in a neighborhood, but they'll all be just a handful of differences. Above $200 gets into the cookie cutter McMansions and at $400k gets you into the rich folk, which they are the ones that are not identical.

My house was in a development from 100+ years ago, I do have twin houses in the neighborhood. A starter home here is $400,000. We have have McMansions that are $800,000+, but very few, since they require tear downs

 

[Boopuff]

Our first home was in an unincorporated township. Any goes! We had neighbors with chickens, people parking huge trucks on the lawn, unmowed, unkept yards, it was terrible. Moved to a "village" even though it was a town of 300000, there were a lot of rules. Front yard had to be mowed (if you didn't mow and it got too tall they'd mow for you and bill you) No pick up trucks in the driveway (so if you had a family vehicle that was a Ford F150 it had to go in the garage (this rule changed so it couldn't be there if it was a work vehicle) Now we live a an HOA subdivision (hard pressed to find a non-HOA in my area) We're fine with it. It's nice not having messy neighbors and I have no problem being in compliance with the rules.

 

[luvsJack]

so we have gone from a work truck being an issue to a family vehicle that happens to be a pick up truck can’t be seen??? Wooooowww.

 

[luvflorida]

...No pick up trucks in the driveway (so if you had a family vehicle that was a Ford F150 it had to go in the garage (this rule changed so it couldn't be there if it was a work vehicle) Now we live a an HOA subdivision (hard pressed to find a non-HOA in my area) We're fine with it. It's nice not having messy neighbors and I have no problem being in compliance with the rules.

And this is all well and good, until someone living in the community DOESN'T comply with the rules. I won't go into detail here, since it's all on another thread about HOAs, but we've always liked living in neighborhoods with an HOA. Never had an issue until the one we're in now. It is extremely frustrating when some people think it's okay to disregard the HOA rules, even after being told over and over by the Board, that they are in violation of the rules. What's the point of living in an HOA community if it is so darn difficult to enforce the rules? I am quickly becoming disillusioned with HOAs!

 

[Boopuff]

I'll never understand why people who live in HOA communities complain and don't follow the rules. Why did you buy into an HOA! You knew what you were buying into! One issue our HOA has is with rental units. In several cases the owner is out of state and the renters let the property go to heck. Such a mess.

 

[RangerPooh]

So in other words it reminds you of Pullman?

My current neighborhood? Kind of, but flat and no ice or snow, a bit eclectic at times, but more consistency in design. But then we lived in older neighborhoods there so I can’t vouch for any of the newer ones. I know there’s plenty of snooty people there too.