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I'd recommend my neighborhood, but I don't want to hear the motorcycles and ATVs.
lol
If it were me, I'd find a place in the country with more land. I'm not one for close neighbors. I need space and I bet the dogs and ATVs would appreciate it too.
I owned a house in an HOA neighborhood and never again.
That was my point. It looked like they may have been looking for an HOA that is loose with their enforcement of their covenants. I didn't have any problems going by the rules in the HOA neighborhood I lived in. I didn't even have any issues with the HOA until the residents took over the administration of it from the builder. That was when enforcement began to be based on the residents relationship with members of the leadership team as opposed to an impartial board with no personal bias. BTW, I was also a member of the leadership team.
The builder is interested in doing one thing. Selling homes. Builders are notorious for violating their own Covenants to get the sale. Once the owners take over, they tend (hopefully) to enforce the Covenants.
I do agree that owners can shift one way or another so one never knows what might could happen when you "go outside" the Covenants. The best course of action is to learn/understand the Covenants and if acceptable, live with in them. If not acceptable, look on down the road.
The builder is interested in doing one thing. Selling homes. Builders are notorious for violating their own Covenants to get the sale. Once the owners take over, they tend (hopefully) to enforce the Covenants.
I do agree that owners can shift one way or another so one never knows what might could happen when you "go outside" the Covenants. The best course of action is to learn/understand the Covenants and if acceptable, live with in them. If not acceptable, look on down the road.
I think you got that backwards. It’s usually the builder who wants the neighborhood looking pristine so they can sell homes. When the homeowners take over things slide a little because the HOA board is usually not trying to sell their homes and impress a bunch of buyers.
Speaking from experience I would never live in a neighborhood with an HOA again. Some people are OK with it but it's just not for me. As someone else stated, even though some may not strictly enforce their rules, that could change if the leadership of the association changes.
I can completely understand your mindset. I live in an HOA neighborhood, and while I like the idea of it, I could see it becoming a complete nightmare.
Case in point:
I was considering building a shed in my backyard. Common rules in most middle to upper-middle class HOA are that the shed has to match the house - similar building materials, similar color, etc etc. HOA has other rules, such as it can't be a complete eyesore to your neighbors. That's not the actual verbage in the covenants, but you get the idea.
I'm fortunate that I have an "L-shaped" set of tall brush in the corner of my property. It would block most of my shed from my neighbors. I think it would meet the HOA rules. However, before I got approval for the shed, HOA leadership changed... and my neighbor is on the board. And she's totally a "Not in my Backyard" type person. She's complained to me before about a few things. And I find her complaints somewhat reasonable. And for the most part, we work them out between us. But now that she wields "power" she's getting a bit more picky about things. Another neighbor mentioned to her that I was thinking of putting in a shed - and it has been hinted to me that she won't let it happen.
I'm not losing sleep over it just yet. She might be assuming that I'm planning on putting up a pre-fab or something. And I could see her trepidation then.
Eh. HOA neighborhoods are the equivalent of big government. You get some regulation that's good (no transmission swaps in the street) but you also get some BS (your grass is 1/8" too short). I like our neighborhood. The price point excludes the riff raff and I don't have anybody policing the length of my zoysia or sending me passive aggressive notices about my newspaper staying in the driveway for an extra day. We figure it out.
We must be doing something right. The old free market has the OV at one of the highest prices per square foot in Charleston with the exception of downtown.
I think you got that backwards. It’s usually the builder who wants the neighborhood looking pristine so they can sell homes. When the homeowners take over things slide a little because the HOA board is usually not trying to sell their homes and impress a bunch of buyers.
I was referring to the builder granting variances to architectural standards to get the sale that a later BOD will not grant. I hear it all the time: But SO and SO has it, why can't I have it?
I was referring to the builder granting variances to architectural standards to get the sale that a later BOD will not grant. I hear it all the time: But SO and SO has it, why can't I have it?
When still under declarant/builder control, they can blatantly disregard any architectural guidelines. They can also renege on promised amenities, include lesser models (lower the neighborhood standard), etc. My last two buys were while the declarant was still in control but I waited until over 80% built and being close to turning the association over to the owners.
Yes there is the old saying get in early as prices will only rise. Not always. Be very careful in the early stages of development.
When still under declarant/builder control, they can blatantly disregard any architectural guidelines. They can also renege on promised amenities, include lesser models (lower the neighborhood standard), etc. My last two buys were while the declarant was still in control but I waited until over 80% built and being close to turning the association over to the owners.
Yes there is the old saying get in early as prices will only rise. Not always. Be very careful in the early stages of development.
I'm well aware that you got burned on your last deal and I remember you gave me the same warning when I moved to CP 3 years ago. But so far so good. Amenities are on schedule, the builder is holding up their end of the bargain in architectural guidelines, and in retrospect I ended up getting in here at a pretty good discount (I wouldn't be able to afford this place if I moved in now).
I have lived in neighborhoods where it was apparent the builder got caught with their pants down during the housing downturn and dumped some cheap houses in with nicer ones to try and get out from under the properties while they were crashing in value. I think that's the exception though and not necessarily the norm as I'm pretty sure that was just tied to a fluke of a downturn that hopefully doesn't happen every 10 years. I do know that a lot of builders were sued for violating their own ARB guidelines (which is a legal document).
When we were looking for a new house I specifically tried to avoid anything built in the mid 2000s because my experience with homes from those days was the build quality in general was terrible.
I did not get burned in my last few purchases (all in HOA'S, last two in SC). I did get burned on one in Chicago some years back (amenities not delivered, cheaper homes in the 2nd phase) which taught me what to be careful off.
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