Disillusioned with HOA and thinking of moving

[Z3Dreamer]

There you are: split between those who hate POAs/HOAs because "They can't tell me what to do!" and those who hate them because "They need to stop my neighbor from....". Sometimes, well, maybe many times, those in the first group later become those in the second group.

DW has served on the Architectural Review Committee and the Board. Currently President. What a thankless job. I don't remember anyone who noticed how nice the place looked, how safe the development is and how much more properties in our development are worth than nearby properties.

Just a rant. Thank you.

 

[REWahoo]

DW has served on the Architectural Review Committee and the Board. Currently President. What a thankless job.

Been there, done that, and agree 100%. Not something I would consider doing again - ever.

 

[bobandsherry]

DW has served on the Architectural Review Committee and the Board. Currently President. What a thankless job. I don't remember anyone who noticed how nice the place looked, how safe the development is and how much more properties in our development are worth than nearby properties.

But they sure let you know when the common area has a few blades of grass out of place, the retention ponds don't look like those on the golf course and that their neighbor has done something wrong (all while they have violations of their own they haven't cured). And then you have those who come in and feel they can everyone what rules they don't agree with and must be changed IMMEDIATELY.

 

[Oakster]

No HOA in my neighborhood, no cars in people's yards. Only complaints are noisy mowers and that some people have dogs that will bark occasionally. A "no dogs allowed" neighborhood would be nice.

I would hate to live in a no dogs allowed neighborhood. I love my labradors and bird hunting.

 

[Trailwalker]

I would hate to live in a no dogs allowed neighborhood. I love my labradors and bird hunting.

It's the chronically barking dogs that are a problem. We have an animal control officer in our town who deals with those issues.

 

[AmieVA]

Home maintenance

It sounds like you are considering moving into an older home that needs some work. If you enjoy that and have those skills, fine. My experience with older homes is that there is one project after another, and at some point in your retirement you will not be able to keep doing that yourself. Also older homes tend to have accessibility issues for the elderly. You may not be there yet but the time is coming.

 

[Montclairbobbyb]

HOA woes

An HOA is only as.good as the people running it. I've lived in communities with outstanding people on the HOA board, and one with controlling Nazis running the show. (and hated it). I personally prefer no HOA, but I get why they can be necessary.

My wife and i own a property in a nice rural community with a HOA. The basic by-laws and covenants aren't too restrictive, and ensure you will be as proud of your neighbors' properties as your own. So in this case we're generally OK with our HOA. (And there are no Nazis that we know of...yet)

Do your due diligence and talk to potential neighbors in a HOA community about the state of the HOA. And if it leaves you feeling uneasy, follow your gut and move on.

 

[Sanbenito1]

I would move into your aunt’s home in a heartbeat! It’s so nice to have relatives nearby, especially as we get older (this assumes relatives are sane). Use the money you would have spent on HOA dues to get yourself a gardener. I once owned a condo and got tired of the HOA association micromanaging, even though I understand and can appreciate what they do

 

[Global Wizzo]

HOAs +/-

I'll start by saying I'm in an HOA. Second one and would prefer to have 5 acres without the HOA, but my wife owned her home when we got married so we stayed.

In Florida, the Developer owns the HOA until he sells out most of the lots or homes. The developer generally doesn't pay any dues on his property. During this time, the "advisory" board of residents really has no influence.

What I have seen is the Developers hold control for about 10 years. They don't fund the reserves and at the turnover, the reserves are underfunded. Like others mentioned, HOAs can be good or bad. With a good team and a decent management company, it works pretty well. If you get a board that has a bunch of individual agendas, then the result is pretty obvious and not good.

For those considering a move into an HOA or a Condo, you need to do a little research. Ask to see the latest reserve study. It should not be more than five years old and regularly updated. See if the reserve funding matches the targets in the study. NO study, minimal reserves, RUN!

Some of the Florida Condo owners are about to see six figure special assessments because the dues were kept low, reserves funded at the minimum, etc. The Condo that collapsed in South Florida suffered from some of this. If you are a condo owner, then you as a member of the association are responsible for the buildings condition.

HOAs can be good. I'd like a 50' tower for a amateur radio antenna. Not going to happen where I am, but it is an ok neighborhood. There are some folks that cause the board and management company 90% of the problems, but they would be bad neighbors anywhere.

 

[troutnut1]

When I was a young man I was on the board of a 454 unit HOA. It was big job even with that many units it was hard to get 5 volunteers. My lawyer finally convinced me not to get involved in anything with a “job title” or anything involving money. I developed a dislike for HOA’s and moved to rural Montana where they are rare. But now all my neighbors seem to be making their places into Airbnb with all the problems that come with that. And I have no recourse other than to move and do the same with our home. It brings in HUGE money so this is happening everywhere. And the really bad part is that you can’t tell these are your neighbors by looking. They are nicely kept up. No junk cars. But you might find out whose who at 3-4am like we do when the parties really get going. I don’t know what I’ll do if there is a next time. I’m considering a 55+ community but they might have more drunks than my Airbnb neighbors. At least with Airbnb, if you don’t like your neighbor, you’ll get a new one in three days anyway. Our other bad neighbors are the Yellowstone filming crew and Kevin Costner. In a HOA I could put a ban on them, but Montana gives them tax breaks.

 

[msanniee]

I feel your pain.
I wish I would have never bought into an HOA.

Seems moving would be a win-win.

 

[COcheesehead]

Having served on two HOA boards, here is the lesson I have learned: problems happen when people don’t read the rules or they feel the rules do not apply to them.

 

[Lazybyrd]

Sounds like a great move to me.
Just try to think of any reasons that may make you regret the move. No rivalry?

 

[Delawaredave5]

HOA's are all very different. I'd bet over 55 communities, along with condos, townhouses, and "golf properties" are going to more restrictive than single family home neighborhoods.

Our neighborhood restrictions are perfect for us - no permanently parked cars or boats or trailers, only split rail fences in backyard, minimal sheds, dog limit, etc.

And it costs us $60 per year (including snow removal). I'm on board - so I keep it cheap and there's been minimal "drama".

The neighborhood next to us has less restrictions - and a lot more boats and trailers - which is annoying to me.....

Guess important to read deed restrictions before buying a property - I get calls from prospective buyers in our neighborhood asking for copies - and the "spirit" of the association.

 

[kongmen]

Just a word about HOA'S.


My wife and I have lived in HOA communities off and on over the years and we have come to the conclusion that they are not a good option.



I believe the original intent was noble, home value etc. But just like any other time when people are given power over other people it's just a matter of time before they abuse it.

 

[kongmen]

I've been here 33 years in a "free" development and have had no problems. One guy in the "hood" painted his house blue with white trim, looked like a fish restaurant.

Didn't mind that either, I like fish restaurants -

Love this!! ^



There are many options when one makes a judgment call on one's neighbor and one of those is to move. I have the same concerns as anyone else such as not wanting Gilligan to let his boat rot in his front yard but freedom comes with risks.

It is not an HOA that is the problem.... it is the people who run them that is...




I disagree...the very concept of an HOA is the problem.

 

[Z3Dreamer]

In our development, my row of lots/house is unique in that if houses across the street were built more than maybe 6 feet above the height of the street, we would lose our beautiful mountain views. The restrictions enforce this height limitation and protect our views. They must build further down the slope of their property. A prior HOA board (obviously none of them would be affected) said that they were not going to enforce this restriction because it was too subjective. Individual owners were free to build and fight, depending on which side of the street they lived on.

So, I joined the board after swearing I would never be on a POA board again.

Another issue is that many of our roads were not built up to state standard so they will always be private.

What do these have in common? If the developer didn't want too charge so much for the inner lots and the developer didn't mind spending more money on wider, better roads, we would not need a POA. Oh, and he didn't deed the shared wells properly so sometimes the POA needs to step in when well members don't pay their portion of the costs.

 

[SheitlQueen]

I'd stay where you are and get on the board. This statement is one of the problems: "Unfortunately the HOA has become a small dictatorship. The same people are the only ones who run for election every 2-3 years. The board creates conflict and is known for enforcing the rules impartially.
Neither one of us is interested in being on the board".

I was on our condo board for many years until I recently moved. It was always a hassle trying to get people to run and trying to get residents involved. Yet they were always the first to complain about decisions we made. People need to step up and get on the board to make changes and if they don't like the direction the board is taking.

 

[Cerys]

An HOA is only as.good as the people running it. I've lived in communities with outstanding people on the HOA board, and one with controlling Nazis running the show. (and hated it). I personally prefer no HOA, but I get why they can be necessary.

My wife and i own a property in a nice rural community with a HOA. The basic by-laws and covenants aren't too restrictive, and ensure you will be as proud of your neighbors' properties as your own. So in this case we're generally OK with our HOA. (And there are no Nazis that we know of...yet)

Do your due diligence and talk to potential neighbors in a HOA community about the state of the HOA. And if it leaves you feeling uneasy, follow your gut and move on.

This is the absolute truth. It’s not just your board. Your board is one layer, your management company is a second layer. Management companies make or break an HOA.

My late husband and I owned a janitorial company that worked exclusively at HOA’s. An ineffectual management company will not be able to deal with the people that move in and say they aren’t the boss of me.

Those are the ones who have the consistent violations, do things that are incredibly stupid (my favorite was the moron putting a fire pit on his wooden balcony that was one of a 4 level stacked wooden balcony unit set. He not only set his wooden balcony on fire he set the one on top of him on fire and part of his own unit) And also do things like store utter crap and garbage on their balconies in full view of everybody else. Not to mention the hoarders. 164 unit building and I had about eight of them.

All they ever did was fine them, and they never paid their fines. The management company has to be tough, and if they have to go to the foreclosure route and they have to do that. And the board has to be tough. Hard to do when all those people know where you live.

And the management company also has to not be greedy. That’s the really hard one now. A lot of management companies are “full service“. Which means they do everything. They have an electrician, they have a janitorial staff, they have pool service, landscaping… And they find reasons for those people to be out doing things and soaking up all your money.

One of the places I worked one of the residents called me not quite a year after I left and told me that apparently the “fire department“ demanded that tge building switch to LED lights everywhere.

I was there when the fire department did their inspection. I saw the report — that was not part of it. The management company lied to soak them out of money. Because guess who did the work? Guess where they got the supplies? And in a year and a half, the management company had managed to eat up almost all of their reserves. And they got fired. This is after they got rid of a great management company who had been there for 30 some years. But they put in a really bad manager. Talk about throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I always swore I’d never move into an HOA, and the place I moved doesn’t have a mandated strict bylaws sort of HOA. We have a small common area that needs taken care of and one of the residents collects 20 bucks a year to pay to have somebody mow it. I’ll take that offset.

 

[Teacher Terry]

One of the things we are strict about is only outdoor furniture on balcony and no junk. Nothing worse than seeing balconies full of junk.

 

[indiajust]

I like purple. I would love to have my own beer can house, as an ADU or granny apt. Lived in neighborhood with wild mix of houses... 500 sf bungalows next to 5000+ sf mansions, all with about 20 ft separation, including all kinds of local businesses. I loved the mix, wealth and poverty thrown together. Complexity and variety is my spice. Conformity is social death. I am fine with billybobs and old cars as well. An HOA in an income restricted color coordinated suburb is my perfect hell.

 

[Calico]

I like purple. I would love to have my own beer can house, as an ADU or granny apt. Lived in neighborhood with wild mix of houses... 500 sf bungalows next to 5000+ sf mansions, all with about 20 ft separation, including all kinds of local businesses. I loved the mix, wealth and poverty thrown together. Complexity and variety is my spice. Conformity is social death. I am fine with billybobs and old cars as well. An HOA in an income restricted color coordinated suburb is my perfect hell.

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes

 

[MC Rider]

Pete Seeger - Little Boxes

Love it.

And I agree with Indiajust too.

 

[SecondAttempt]

I always swore I’d never move into an HOA, and the place I moved doesn’t have a mandated strict bylaws sort of HOA. We have a small common area that needs taken care of and one of the residents collects 20 bucks a year to pay to have somebody mow it. I’ll take that offset.

I could only laugh at a recent newpaper story in Kona. An elderly woman who owned a condo that she legally rented to long term rentals had written into her lease agreement that the tenants were required to feed the feral cats. Now, I can understand why this could be a problem.

But, the manager is trying to fine her over $70,000 for violating the bylaws. He quoted the bylaws in a threat letter to her that was published in the newspaper. The bylaws prohibit "feeding wild turkeys and mongoose." Keeping pets is also not allowed.

But this guy is an utter moron. Under Hawaii law, feral animals including cats are considered wildlife. It is actually a crime to STOP feeding wildlife if you have been doing so in the past. And I guess he thinks cats are a species of mongoose or turkey because those are the only animals the bylaws address. Plus by ordering her to stop he is not only ordering her to commit a crime, he is himself commiting the crime of conspiracy, a felony. He is also committing tortious interference with her lease contract.

Clearly he is trying to intimidate her. But he will be lucky if she does not end up owning the entire complex and he stays out of jail for his criminal conspiracy. Again, there is a management company and lawyer advising.

 

[pb4uski]

I live in A HOA to protect myself from people like me. I sit on the board as the old regime is dying off. I don’t want any overreach power hungry bored retiree to come in and dictate. I also don’t want a large setting pool of cash setting there earning nothing during periods of high inflation.

Our condo declarations state "Principal of association funds, whether reserves or operating funds, may not be placed at risk for investment purposes" which pretty much limits us to FDIC insured accounts and U.S.Treasuries. I think this is a pretty common constraint.

We have a rather odd prolem in our association in that most of the condo owners are formerly single family home owners and don't undertand how condos work and that once they get outside the boundaries of their unit that they are now on communal property so they can't change the landscaping adjacent to their entryway just because they don't like it or change the mulch to something different that they prefer or put equipment on common property, etc.