[HIF]

Your (hopefully "ex") Realtor is not telling the truth. Hope you are checking the realtor website for listings. Will give you a good idea of what properites are out there. When there are fees, that info is incuded in the listing information.

[mbmouse]

Another thought is your Realtor doesn't know the difference between HOI and HOA???? (Which if this is the case, RUN AWAY!!!!) hahahhahaha

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by ITChick

I am shocked and frustrated at hearing this! She said that all properties have HOA fees and I will never find any without. I'm living in Chicago, and although it's usually older established neighborhoods that don't have HOA's, they are easily findable.

All I want to know is: Is this true?

I'm thinking seriously about Florida, mainly the Central area and would like to find a small property to purchase such as a 2/2, in an older established (but safe) neighborhood.

There are plenty of them-lol.

HOA's will be in all the new cookie-cutter developments. We were in Palm Beach Cty. However, in north and central, you should be able to find plenty of areas without HOA's. We looked at properties in Ocala, and alot did NOT have HOA's. You may want to just Google different areas you are interested in. That realtor doesn't sound too sharp!.

sunny

[Racelady88]

Perhaps your agent was referring to her own listings.

[RedWingsFan]

Personally I wouldn't consider buying in a neighborhood without an HOA. You need it, they will help keep your property value up. It prevents your neighbor from painting a big skull and crossbones on the front of his garage! It keeps order, keeps things looking uniform, clean, etc. They are a necessary evil. :-)

[firemed]

Originally Posted by mbmouse

Another thought is your Realtor doesn't know the difference between HOI and HOA???? (Which if this is the case, RUN AWAY!!!!) hahahhahaha

Now that would be the funny

[Shores9]

This is a really good question and deserves an appropriate answer (as best as I can explain)

Homeowner Associations are and have for many years been extremely popular in Florida but by no means are all homes a part of or governed by a HOA

Before we get to HOA’s I know personally that there are significant numbers of homes and parcels of land that do not have any sort of restrictive covenants or deed restrictions.

HOA’s became popular as a means of keeping neighborhoods homogeneous in nature both in terms of style and upkeep. For example some communities govern the type of fence or color of house or mandate tile roofs while at the same time requiring a certain level of maintenance – green lawn etc. HOA’s also provide the mechanism by which dues are assessed to maintain common elements and amenities. The more common elements and amenities the more it will cost to maintain and the higher the dues

Before there can even be a HOA there must be recorded deed restrictions or covenants that each parcel owner must agree to abide by and uphold. These covenants are legal documents recorded with the local jurisdiction and are a matter of civil law. They are typically setup at the beginning of a build process by the developer or builder and the obligation to abide by them passes to each new owner as part of the title documents.

The fact that there are deed restrictions does not **yet** mean that there has to be… or even can be a HOA. I live in a deed restricted community and there is a HOA however the original deed restrictions did not have a provision that required each parcel owner to belong to the HOA. Therefore I live in a community where I am obligated by civil law to adhere to the restrictions I agreed to at closing but I do not have to belong to an association and therefore do not have to pay any association dues. This is a voluntary HOA.

Once the appropriate covenants and restrictions are filed and if they include the creation of and mandatory membership to a HOA then Florida Statue Chapter 720 comes into play and this kind of HOA is governed by specific state law. It must be a mandatory HOA for it to be valid under FS chapter 720

In short property ownership can be
Unencumbered – no restrictions (in terms of the deed)
Deed restricted – a restriction to the deed of any kind (so long as it’s legal)
Deed restrictions that require a HOA mandatory or otherwise

If you have a mandatory HOA it still does not mean that you will be required to pay HOA dues (although that is highly unlikely)

Google CHAPTER 720 - HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS for the actual Florida law on mandatory HOA’s

You can also look into
The Condominium Act, FS Chapter 718 if you are considering a Condo

The Cooperative Act, Ch. 719, F.S., for a co-op

The Florida Mobile Home Act, Ch. 723, F.S., for a mobile home

And as the other posters said Get rid of that realtor

[tallrick]

Originally Posted by RedWingsFan

Personally I wouldn't consider buying in a neighborhood without an HOA. You need it, they will help keep your property value up. It prevents your neighbor from painting a big skull and crossbones on the front of his garage! It keeps order, keeps things looking uniform, clean, etc. They are a necessary evil. :-)

This is the saddest thing I have ever read. Why in the world do people today want to be controlled? In Miami-Dade County there is a homeowner's association for the entire county called team Metro. They fine you if you paint anything like that on your home. Why do people actually WANT high property values and the taxes that go with it? Seeing things uniforn is creepy, in a "desperate housewives" or stepford wives kind of way. Even worse because everything built in the last 20 years is incredibly ugly. Just buy something built before the 1970's and you won't have a HOA ....period. Now I am going to go and throw up.

[macguy]

Originally Posted by Shores9

This is a really good question and deserves an appropriate answer (as best as I can explain)

Homeowner Associations are and have for many years been extremely popular in Florida but by no means are all homes a part of or governed by a HOA

Before we get to HOA’s I know personally that there are significant numbers of homes and parcels of land that do not have any sort of restrictive covenants or deed restrictions.

HOA’s became popular as a means of keeping neighborhoods homogeneous in nature both in terms of style and upkeep. For example some communities govern the type of fence or color of house or mandate tile roofs while at the same time requiring a certain level of maintenance – green lawn etc. HOA’s also provide the mechanism by which dues are assessed to maintain common elements and amenities. The more common elements and amenities the more it will cost to maintain and the higher the dues

Before there can even be a HOA there must be recorded deed restrictions or covenants that each parcel owner must agree to abide by and uphold. These covenants are legal documents recorded with the local jurisdiction and are a matter of civil law. They are typically setup at the beginning of a build process by the developer or builder and the obligation to abide by them passes to each new owner as part of the title documents.

The fact that there are deed restrictions does not **yet** mean that there has to be… or even can be a HOA. I live in a deed restricted community and there is a HOA however the original deed restrictions did not have a provision that required each parcel owner to belong to the HOA. Therefore I live in a community where I am obligated by civil law to adhere to the restrictions I agreed to at closing but I do not have to belong to an association and therefore do not have to pay any association dues. This is a voluntary HOA.

Once the appropriate covenants and restrictions are filed and if they include the creation of and mandatory membership to a HOA then Florida Statue Chapter 720 comes into play and this kind of HOA is governed by specific state law. It must be a mandatory HOA for it to be valid under FS chapter 720

In short property ownership can be
Unencumbered – no restrictions (in terms of the deed)
Deed restricted – a restriction to the deed of any kind (so long as it’s legal)
Deed restrictions that require a HOA mandatory or otherwise

If you have a mandatory HOA it still does not mean that you will be required to pay HOA dues (although that is highly unlikely)

Google CHAPTER 720 - HOMEOWNERS' ASSOCIATIONS for the actual Florida law on mandatory HOA’s

You can also look into
The Condominium Act, FS Chapter 718 if you are considering a Condo

The Cooperative Act, Ch. 719, F.S., for a co-op

The Florida Mobile Home Act, Ch. 723, F.S., for a mobile home

And as the other posters said Get rid of that realtor

People really need to be versed in those things if they live in one of those places. We had a friend an old woman who lived in a gated community. My wife was visiting and someone had put a note in her door about her mail box leaning and needing to be fixed. They said someone would come by and take care of it the cost will be $75.00. I went over there to fix it and was approached by some guy asking if I had a permit to work in the place. I said no and I was fixing the mail box for my friend.

He tried to intimidate me into leaving but that doesn't work to good with me and I finished fixing the box. She never heard any more about it but told us before she had gotten a note saying her facial boards needed painting and they came around and did it charging her $450.00. I think in some of these places they actually strong arm some of these old people. Our friend, a widow actually seemed afraid of them and I am sure would pay what ever they demanded for anything.

I also heard they did the same thing to her with her driveway saying it needed resurfacing and charged her a ridiculous price. I would not live in one of those places if you gave me the house. Then again, my sister lives in a place like that and love it, although anyone screws with her wouldn't like it, she doesn't take any s##t from anybody.

[dreamofmonterey]

lol- good posts. Re: the mailbox issue- in Boca Raton everyone had to have an IDENTICAL mailbox which the HOA sold for the lovely price of 350.00~~nice little set-up they had there. That mailbox is probably 500.00 now.