sam_gordon
DIS Legend
- Joined
- Jun 26, 2010
- Messages
- 27,703
This. Our HOA (and we've been in the home for almost 20 years) takes care of maintenance for the common areas, including street lights. They also keep up with general appearances (can't let lawns get out of control, outbuilding exterior need to be similar to the homes, etc. No long term on street parking.I think it all depends on your HOA, the powers of your HOA, and the responsibilities of your HOA.
I would never buy into one that is responsible to upkeep any part of my house structure. I would buy one (and did) which has to upkeep common grounds and roads - private snow removal and road upkeep is WAY faster and better than the public version here.
I would not buy into one with an unwatched pool. I would buy into one with a pool company managed, life guard watched pool with summer potlucks and pool parties for only $300/year. I did that, too.
I would not buy into one that allows unfettered annual increases to my fee. I would buy one (and did) that links the max increase to the CPI.
Like others said, what matters is read those docs and know what they do and can't do. And if the HOA starts going off the rails, be ready to serve on the board yourself.
I've got nothing to prove it, but I'm guessing 90%+ of HOAs across the country are simple and have no controversy. It's a small number of them that make the news and give "HOA" a bad connotation.