HOA rules? (San Antonio, Austin, Anton: homes, neighborhoods, buyers)

[IrishMiss]

Hi,
I am considering a move to one of Austins master planned communities in the near future and I would love an idea of what sort rules are imposed by HOA's.
Coming from a place which hoa's dont exist I have no idea what to expect.

[Bo]

The HOA might require you get prior approval from them for any exterior improvements, including paint colors, that you want to make to your house.

The HOA might specify where you can and can't park your vehicles overnight, possibly requiring them to be in the garage or not on its private streets.

The HOA might limit the number of pets you keep in your household, below the number allowed by the city's code.

The HOA might not allow you to post signs disparaging the builder who built the homes in your neighborhood.

All of the above are in the deed restrictions for my neighborhood in San Antonio.

[10scoachrick]

Originally Posted by IrishMiss

Hi,
I am considering a move to one of Austins master planned communities in the near future and I would love an idea of what sort rules are imposed by HOA's.
Coming from a place which hoa's dont exist I have no idea what to expect.

If you are still looking at Steiner Ranch, it would be prudent to get a set of their covenants. Each HOA is different, but you can expect guidelines covering parking on the street, color of roofing material, condition of yards, access to amenities, addition of outbuildings, etc as the items most 'visible' under the HOA umbrella. It varies from place to place...some HOAs are strict, others not so much. You can get a 'fair' look at the attitudes folks take toward HOAs just by searching through the threads. Some have been closed since the discussions can get pretty heated on both sides, pro and con HOA.

[IrishMiss]

Yes Ive found it difficult to find an actual list (or something similar) of the hoa rules of Steiner Ranch. Any ideas where I might find one?

[owlman]

Deed/HOA restrictions are public record, so you can get them from the county clerk. A lot of them are available online. You can search for and view them here:

Browser Test - Travis County Public Access
Grantor: steiner ranch
Grantee: public
Type: RESTRICTION

e.g. Record 7015664 is probably the original set of restrictions which likely hasn't changed much since then.

[timfountain]

Ask your realtor to get you covenants of any home in an HOA that you are considering. I'd consider it a red flag if they won't allow you to inspect the covenant before you place an offer or close (and yes I have heard of situations where that is the case).

[Aquitaine]

I think Circle C's are posted publicly too. They're not too onerous. If you need those let me know and I'll see if I can dig them up.

[IrishMiss]

Originally Posted by owlman

Deed/HOA restrictions are public record, so you can get them from the county clerk. A lot of them are available online. You can search for and view them here:

Browser Test - Travis County Public Access
Grantor: steiner ranch
Grantee: public
Type: RESTRICTION

e.g. Record 7015664 is probably the original set of restrictions which likely hasn't changed much since then.

Thank You so much, that was very helpful. I can't see any rules in there I would have a problem with

[austin-steve]

Originally Posted by timfountain

Ask your realtor to get you covenants of any home in an HOA that you are considering. I'd consider it a red flag if they won't allow you to inspect the covenant before you place an offer or close (and yes I have heard of situations where that is the case).

That's not how it works. We don't obtain covenants prior to offer. that's not standard practie, for a lot of reasons I won't go into, but mainly, Realtors are not the authoritative source for the documents of record. We might know a bunch of information, but that's not the same as having the docs.

Docs are ordered and provided after a contract is accepted. Then the buyer can terminate the contract, for any reason, within 7 days of receiving the HOA docs and receive back the earnest money. (That's getting ready to be shortened to 3 days per new TREC rules by the way)

The HOA questions have been beaten to death on these forums in multiple threads. A search will reveal a trove of opinions and information about the pros and cons. If you want the benefits and amenities of a master planned community, then you have an HOA. If you want a more laid back set of rules, then you would avoid the HOA neighborhoods.

Steve

[TexasHorseLady]

While what Steve said is accurate to an extent, if you can get a copy of the HOA covenants online or from the seller (who should have their own copy), that is vastly preferable to getting them after you've gone to the trouble of writing an offer and having an inspection done (done during the option period, the first few days of the contract and before you would receive the documents while under contract). I do my best to acquire such before my clients write an offer, for that reason. Sometimes it's not possible, but with the advent of the internet, it's more and more possible these days. (I've even seen some agents upload them, along with the Seller's Disclosure, to the MLS agents-only section or provide a link to where they can be found online.)

In past, if I've had a listing that had them available online, if an agent contacted me inquiring about them, I've emailed them the url. Better to have their client read them and decide before submitting an offer that they can't live by those restrictions than to have my client get their hopes up because they have a contract only to have the deal fall through because of the restrictions.

It's almost a red flag these days if an HOA doesn't have those online to be examined by potential buyers before an offer is made. It's not like it's hard to do.

As for the "benefits and amenities of a master planned communities", it depends on what amenities you are talking about. I know of neighborhoods that have community pools (city pools, but in the neighborhood and no one would know they're not an HOA pool except they're larger than most), excellent schools right in the neighborhood, and such, with nicely kept homes and lawns, with new construction, that are not HOA neighborhoods.