Tiny
Senior Associate
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Post by Tiny on Nov 2, 2015 12:37:14 GMT -5
There are great HOA's and lousy ones. It depends on whether or not you agree with the CC&R's. I think a lot of folks become unhappy with their HOA because they didn't pay attention to the CC&R's before they bought,and then they get upset when they can't do some of the things they want without violating the CC&R's. If you don't want to follow the rules, don't buy in a neighborhood with rules. and it seems that often times, folks who end up in conflict with their HOA are those who have no interest in helping to run their HOA. They seem to ignore it until they run afoul of the rules. Then they want to complain about the rules that they signed a contract to abide by. I totally agree with the advice to get and read thru the HOA documentation. I would not rely solely on 'hearsay' from neighbors and such.
The Slum in the Sun has an HOA (covering 80 or so units in the subdivision). I asked to have 5 days to review the 'rules' before I signed the contract <OR> something to that effect - basically a way for me to back out of the deal if the official "Declaration of Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) and bylaws" was too unimaginably stupid in my opinion. I received a 4 inch Binder with all the information AND the current state (and past 5 years) of the HOA's finances. It also had a section on yearly routine 'maintenance', upcoming non routine maintenance(within the next 12 months) and then projections for 2/3/and 5 years out. And yes, I read thru most of it - and I'm glad I did - it was a treasure trove of info about the subdivision I was thinking about "buying into". I did buy the condo. I suspect that smaller HOAs might not have quite the extensive Tome of HOA rules and such.
A friend bought a town house locally (about 40 units) and didn't bother to actually read the HOA CC&R and bylaws and whatnot... she took what her real estate agent told her AND what the HOA president told her (in a casual 'meeting') as 'gospel'. The first two years she was there were filled with all sorts of "surprises" and conflict with the HOA people. Since she never bother to READ or understand the 'rules'. She's still living there (the housing market crash kind of made it painful to move) and while she abides by the 'rules' - she absolutely HATES the 'rules' and is bitter about a few things she can not do to her unit/yard that she would like to do.
Again, I don't think HOAs are inherently evil - I think you need to choose your HOA carefully and you do that by reading and understanding the rules before you buy into one. You may also need to be active in your HOA.
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Deleted
Joined: Oct 7, 2024 4:25:05 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Nov 2, 2015 23:12:39 GMT -5
One factor to consider is whether or not the municipal jurisdiction in which you would live is active in enforcing ordinances regarding noise, appearance and other quality of life issues. I live in a city without zoning and with very little enforcement of anything, so the only thing between me and a living hell-hole next door is the HOA.
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imanangel
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Post by imanangel on Nov 3, 2015 7:04:46 GMT -5
One factor to consider is whether or not the municipal jurisdiction in which you would live is active in enforcing ordinances regarding noise, appearance and other quality of life issues. I live in a city without zoning and with very little enforcement of anything, so the only thing between me and a living hell-hole next door is the HOA. I will have to look that up. I live in a fairly large city, so I am thinking it may even vary by where I live in the city as well. Where I live now, the only thing between my family and a pretty bad ghetto area is a fence that they can only get in with an ID (I live on a military base). About 2 weeks ago we heard a drive by shooting on the other side of the fence. You could clearly hear the gun firing and the squeal of car tires. Scared the poop out of me. Yeah, I don't like living next to a living hell-hole.
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resolution
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Post by resolution on Nov 3, 2015 7:30:13 GMT -5
My rental is in a nice suburb with no HOA but the city enforces city code. We had a couple of neighbors get into a city code war and report a few violations on each other, and the city did come out and require them to update their properties to code. One of them came around with a petition that I signed for a variance to keep his rose trellis that was too close to the property line. The city also came out and made a different neighbor move a boat that they had parked in their front yard, which I really appreciated because who would park a boat in their front yard!
My parents and sister both live in active HOAs. My parents love all the amenities theirs provides, but it also comes with the retirees patrolling in golf carts. There is zero street parking allowed for residents and they had to appeal a ticket they received when a neighbor parked on the street in front of their house for a few hours to attend a party at a different neighbor's house down the road, but my parents were responsible for the ticket because that person's car was in front of their house.
My sister was on the board of her HOA and there was a massive division between the members with families and the childless members on where the money would be spent. She ended up quitting the board because the fighting because so personal, but she loves the community itself and the neighborhood is beautiful.
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zibazinski
Community Leader
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Post by zibazinski on Nov 3, 2015 8:47:19 GMT -5
Id vote, if possible, for a non HOA in an area that does enforce certain codes that you're good with. I'm not okay with a boat in plain view either. Or countless cars parked on the street. Forever.
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swamp
Community Leader
THEY’RE EATING THE DOGS!!!!!!!
Joined: Dec 19, 2010 16:03:22 GMT -5
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Post by swamp on Nov 3, 2015 9:55:31 GMT -5
I have no opinion on the HOA. But building is a PITA.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2015 13:35:47 GMT -5
Building is a pain if you have a builder who is a pain. It can be a good experience if you choose the right builder.
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Peace Of Mind
Senior Associate
[font color="#8f2520"]~ Drinks Well With Others ~[/font]
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 16:53:02 GMT -5
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Post by Peace Of Mind on Nov 3, 2015 13:42:52 GMT -5
Like everything in life, there are pros and cons. HOA's can be good like ours up north or shitty like most Florida ones. The best idea is to read documents carefully and talk to the people already living there. Also helps find out what it covers and assessments looming. Ours isn't shitty! We keep our yard and home up and have never received a complaint except when it's meant for somebody else and they confused house numbers. There was that one time when crazy neighbor tried to get us into trouble with our shrubs by lying but we won that argument since he was big ole fat liar and I had friends on the board. We've built custom and we've built in a set community where there are plans to choose and yes, it's a lot of work and can be a PITA but just be vigilant, do your research and due diligence, and make sure everything discussed on the plans are initialed if they aren't clear. Also be sure to hire your own inspector during the building process. We LOVE our home and community. LOVE it! Because we picked every single thing out ourselves including the lot and what side the garage was on. Our vacant land doesn't have an HOA, which is why we purchased there, so we could play and do stuff in the "grey" area without having a house built yet. The neighbors seem to like us and haven't reported us and appreciate that we keep the place clean, mowed and cleared so they can enjoy the lake view as they drive by. We are lot #1 in the community so everybody sees our business and drives by and so far so good. Crap. I shouldn't have mentioned anything because now we'll get a letter about something we shouldn't be doing. We had our boat here at the house for a week while I detailed it and got it registered. I was sure we'd get a letter before we took it out to the property but we didn't. Our cop neighbor said to DH "F&%$ them! I got a letter the first day I had mine out here". I asked DH "Did you tell him that's because he's such an ass to people and they all hate him?".
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Anne_in_VA
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Post by Anne_in_VA on Nov 3, 2015 14:02:48 GMT -5
My neighbor across the street let his son park his boat in his driveway all summer. It looks terrible but t I don't think the city will do anything about it. I guess I need to check the code.
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zibazinski
Community Leader
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Post by zibazinski on Nov 3, 2015 16:01:00 GMT -5
Hey, it's one thing to park the boat while getting it prepped. It's another because you don't want to pay for storage. I LOVE Pom's house btw, especially back yard.
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muttleynfelix
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Post by muttleynfelix on Nov 3, 2015 16:58:54 GMT -5
Building is a pain if you have a builder who is a pain. It can be a good experience if you choose the right builder. I had a good builder and it was still a PITA. We came in on budget, but remember with a knew home you are starting landscaping from scratch. Yes, you may get exactly what you want, but expect to pay for it. Also, you since you have high school students, you may find that your wants and needs change dramatically in the next 10 years. You may also think new and think, I won't have to do anything to it, not my experience. Part was the housing crash, but we did not make our money back in our custom built home that we lived in for 8 years. We had $180k (land was $30k, construction loan $150k, in it and it sold for $160k. We are in an older home this time (30 years old). But the roof and AC are new. It has some idosyncracies too, but overall, probably similar maintenance amounts we were looking at for our old home. You are probably going to compromise or make changes after the fact. We did the floor plan of our old house and while there were some awesome features, the dining room and second bathroom ended up too small. We had killer storage in every room of that house though. This house, storage comes in the form ofa basement. It is just a trade off.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 3, 2015 19:07:38 GMT -5
For those of you who built, how long does it take? I know that a lot of people in the construction trades disappeared when the housing market crashed and they're in short supply now- we've seen that with work we've had done. A couple in our church put their house on the market 6 months ago (beautiful, well-maintained McMansion) because they were building a new place. The old place just sold (originally $575k, last listed at $470k- ouch). They're moving into an apartment because the new place is still under construction. Is that normal?
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wvugurl26
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Post by wvugurl26 on Nov 3, 2015 19:53:17 GMT -5
For those of you who built, how long does it take? I know that a lot of people in the construction trades disappeared when the housing market crashed and they're in short supply now- we've seen that with work we've had done. A couple in our church put their house on the market 6 months ago (beautiful, well-maintained McMansion) because they were building a new place. The old place just sold (originally $575k, last listed at $470k- ouch). They're moving into an apartment because the new place is still under construction. Is that normal? My manager has been in her house two years now maybe? They spent much longer living with her parents than anticipated. It took forever. I'm not sure how much was the donkey builder and subs who screwed up everything and how much was a shortage of people. Oh and this is what I would consider rural, it's brand new construction, three houses so far and they were forced by the county to create a HOA. Something to consider. Not everyone is as crazy as Maryland but you never know. For the people I know that built it was a huge PIA. They had to be there practically every day to make sure things went right. I would maybe consider it one day but I know a lot of trades people. Pour the foundation, frame it and I could get the rest finished. And I would know it's right. I've seen so much shoddy work around here that I don't trust most of them.
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muttleynfelix
Junior Associate
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Post by muttleynfelix on Nov 3, 2015 21:34:57 GMT -5
For those of you who built, how long does it take? I know that a lot of people in the construction trades disappeared when the housing market crashed and they're in short supply now- we've seen that with work we've had done. A couple in our church put their house on the market 6 months ago (beautiful, well-maintained McMansion) because they were building a new place. The old place just sold (originally $575k, last listed at $470k- ouch). They're moving into an apartment because the new place is still under construction. Is that normal? My manager has been in her house two years now maybe? They spent much longer living with her parents than anticipated. It took forever. I'm not sure how much was the donkey builder and subs who screwed up everything and how much was a shortage of people. Oh and this is what I would consider rural, it's brand new construction, three houses so far and they were forced by the county to create a HOA. Something to consider. Not everyone is as crazy as Maryland but you never know. For the people I know that built it was a huge PIA. They had to be there practically every day to make sure things went right. I would maybe consider it one day but I know a lot of trades people. Pour the foundation, frame it and I could get the rest finished. And I would know it's right. I've seen so much shoddy work around here that I don't trust most of them. We broke ground in May and moved in the first weekend of December. It was supposed to be done in October. We were out there every single night to see what was done and clean up. That was the strain. A lot of nights DH went out there and I stayed home to take care of other stuff. It was a strain on our brand new marriage (we were married the October before we broke ground). This was precrash.
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CCL
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Post by CCL on Nov 3, 2015 23:32:46 GMT -5
For those of you who built, how long does it take? I know that a lot of people in the construction trades disappeared when the housing market crashed and they're in short supply now- we've seen that with work we've had done. A couple in our church put their house on the market 6 months ago (beautiful, well-maintained McMansion) because they were building a new place. The old place just sold (originally $575k, last listed at $470k- ouch). They're moving into an apartment because the new place is still under construction. Is that normal? Mine took 3 months. If you decide to build, be sure to get proof that all suppliers/subs have been paid in full and that all work is completed prior to closing. As far as an HOA goes, I like having one. We don't do anything that would violate the rules anyway and we like that they keep up the neighborhood.
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Deleted
Joined: Oct 7, 2024 4:25:05 GMT -5
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2015 7:06:31 GMT -5
Building is a pain if you have a builder who is a pain. It can be a good experience if you choose the right builder. I had a good builder and it was still a PITA. We came in on budget, but remember with a knew home you are starting landscaping from scratch. Yes, you may get exactly what you want, but expect to pay for it. Also, you since you have high school students, you may find that your wants and needs change dramatically in the next 10 years. You may also think new and think, I won't have to do anything to it, not my experience. Part was the housing crash, but we did not make our money back in our custom built home that we lived in for 8 years. We had $180k (land was $30k, construction loan $150k, in it and it sold for $160k. We are in an older home this time (30 years old). But the roof and AC are new. It has some idosyncracies too, but overall, probably similar maintenance amounts we were looking at for our old home. You are probably going to compromise or make changes after the fact. We did the floor plan of our old house and while there were some awesome features, the dining room and second bathroom ended up too small. We had killer storage in every room of that house though. This house, storage comes in the form ofa basement. It is just a trade off. I guess we had a better builder than you.
Getting a good return on a custom built home has a lot more to do with the housing market than anything. About your wants and needs changing in time, that is true no matter what kind of house you get. Good point about the landscaping though, it will cost and it is very important to keep a landscaping budget in mind when choosing the new home path.
I'm not saying that building is easy because it isn't. However, if you stay on top of things and have a great builder, it can be a very positive experience.
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zibazinski
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 24, 2010 16:12:50 GMT -5
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Post by zibazinski on Nov 4, 2015 15:27:46 GMT -5
For those of you who built, how long does it take? I know that a lot of people in the construction trades disappeared when the housing market crashed and they're in short supply now- we've seen that with work we've had done. A couple in our church put their house on the market 6 months ago (beautiful, well-maintained McMansion) because they were building a new place. The old place just sold (originally $575k, last listed at $470k- ouch). They're moving into an apartment because the new place is still under construction. Is that normal? My manager has been in her house two years now maybe? They spent much longer living with her parents than anticipated. It took forever. I'm not sure how much was the donkey builder and subs who screwed up everything and how much was a shortage of people. Oh and this is what I would consider rural, it's brand new construction, three houses so far and they were forced by the county to create a HOA. Something to consider. Not everyone is as crazy as Maryland but you never know. For the people I know that built it was a huge PIA. They had to be there practically every day to make sure things went right. I would maybe consider it one day but I know a lot of trades people. Pour the foundation, frame it and I could get the rest finished. And I would know it's right. I've seen so much shoddy work around here that I don't trust most of them. Also? Who the freak signs off on this shoddy work? Unreal.
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