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I'd never even consider any sort of property with an HOA. I don't need a bunch of losers and miserable old people telling me what I can and cannot do and have on my property. Some of the governments around here are bad enough.
I live in a very relaxed, laid-back HOA townhouse complex, and all I have to do is take an early morning walk to an adjacent free-style, non-HOA single family neighborhood and hear a rooster crowing and the dogs barking, and I'm so happy I live where I live!
You also need to look at the quality of the construction. There's concrete cinder-block walls separating the units in my complex, and one time a unit burned out, and it didn't effect the units next door. I'm also a nightshift worker, sleep 9a-5p everyday, so peace and quiet, even during the daytime, is ultra-important to me!
Last edited by tijlover; 03-26-2014 at 01:40 AM..
Reason: Add lines
And you'll probably CONTINUE to be happy - until some fascist takes over the HOA board and you're hit with a huge assessment for nonsense-work that you must pay in an unreasonable amount of time or be sued. Or, it turns out your current laid-back HOA board wasn't taking care of bizness and you are hit with a large assessment for badly needed repairs that the HOA was ignoring because they didn't want to raise fees $50 a year to build up an emergency repair cushion. Or you need to make some adaptive modifications to your property but they won't allow it because its against HOA rules (such as putting a gate in to an area closer to your home so you don't have to walk as far).
HOAs are a crapshoot, and you have no protection against abuse or misconduct. Most of them aren't even monitored or regulated in most states.
Ever-increasing HOA fees are a prime factor in a lot of elderly people ending up in foreclosure. One "55+ community" I looked at (oh-so-briefly) in Florida was charging $230 a month ON TOP OF THE MORTGAGE AND INSURANCE etc - and that was 2 years ago. When you're on a limited income that amount of money can quickly put you over the top of your budget. The HOA fees were MUCH lower when many long-term residents initially bought their homes 20 years ago. I lived in an area where the HOA fees were $35 a year - same area now has HOA fees of over $1000 a year now, and they're way more intrusive than they were at first. I swore never to buy into a HOA again.
Why would anyone buy into a situation where (1) you don't own the land (which is the case in some HOAs) and you must pay a "lease" fee for the land your house sits on top of, which can increase every year and/or (2) your HOA fees and assessments keep going up. I had a friend who bought a condo in the 80s and right after she bought it she got hit with an assessment for $10,000 cash for repairs to roofing and siding. And yes, there was an inspection. I'd have sued the so-called inspectors. I'm pretty sure there was also failure to disclose on the part of the former owner as well - but who knows, maybe he/she really had no idea what was going on.
And if you think $10,000 wasn't THAT bad, that'd be about $30k cash in today's money. With no chance of financing it as part of the house loan, and right after purchasing a property, when people are usually the most cash-strapped. I believe it was half again the "value" of the condo back then.
Read the housing forum for many many sad stories of sudden huge assessments, half the time for nonsense cosmetic work, and huge increases over time in HOA fees, as well as intrusive interference over minor issues or sudden changes in rules that are clearly designed to get rid of whatever group of people is designated as "riff-raff" this week. Not to mention the creation of excessive unnecessary rules that are clearly the work of control freaks with nothing better to do with their time.
EDIT: Roosters crowing and dogs barking don't bother me. If you can hear that inside your house at midnight, I'd suggest there's something wrong with the construction of your house. Buildings with shared walls are often insufficiently soundproofed, its just another reason I would never buy into a condo/"townhome"/HOA type situation.
If you want more laws in your life (we don't have enough right) go for a townhouse with a HOA. I personally would never buy a townhouse. I don't want to have strangers that close to me and hear them through the wall. The building code requires walls to block out a certain amount of sound but it's never enough. I also like to relax in my yard without my neighbors right there. Then when you want to do something on your house you have to get it approved by the HOA? screw that noise
If you want more laws in your life (we don't have enough right) go for a townhouse with a HOA. I personally would never buy a townhouse. I don't want to have strangers that close to me and hear them through the wall. The building code requires walls to block out a certain amount of sound but it's never enough.
And? You could get the noisy neighbor from hell moving in next door to you, and cry yourself to sleep every night with your ears packed with 33 decibel earplugs!
And you'll probably CONTINUE to be happy - until some fascist takes over the HOA board and you're hit with a huge assessment for nonsense-work that you must pay in an unreasonable amount of time or be sued. Or, it turns out your current laid-back HOA board wasn't taking care of bizness and you are hit with a large assessment for badly needed repairs that the HOA was ignoring because they didn't want to raise fees $50 a year to build up an emergency repair cushion. Or you need to make some adaptive modifications to your property but they won't allow it because its against HOA rules (such as putting a gate in to an area closer to your home so you don't have to walk as far).
HOAs are a crapshoot, and you have no protection against abuse or misconduct. Most of them aren't even monitored or regulated in most states.
Ever-increasing HOA fees are a prime factor in a lot of elderly people ending up in foreclosure. One "55+ community" I looked at (oh-so-briefly) in Florida was charging $230 a month ON TOP OF THE MORTGAGE AND INSURANCE etc - and that was 2 years ago. When you're on a limited income that amount of money can quickly put you over the top of your budget. The HOA fees were MUCH lower when many long-term residents initially bought their homes 20 years ago. I lived in an area where the HOA fees were $35 a year - same area now has HOA fees of over $1000 a year now, and they're way more intrusive than they were at first. I swore never to buy into a HOA again.
Why would anyone buy into a situation where (1) you don't own the land (which is the case in some HOAs) and you must pay a "lease" fee for the land your house sits on top of, which can increase every year and/or (2) your HOA fees and assessments keep going up. I had a friend who bought a condo in the 80s and right after she bought it she got hit with an assessment for $10,000 cash for repairs to roofing and siding. And yes, there was an inspection. I'd have sued the so-called inspectors. I'm pretty sure there was also failure to disclose on the part of the former owner as well - but who knows, maybe he/she really had no idea what was going on.
And if you think $10,000 wasn't THAT bad, that'd be about $30k cash in today's money. With no chance of financing it as part of the house loan, and right after purchasing a property, when people are usually the most cash-strapped. I believe it was half again the "value" of the condo back then.
Read the housing forum for many many sad stories of sudden huge assessments, half the time for nonsense cosmetic work, and huge increases over time in HOA fees, as well as intrusive interference over minor issues or sudden changes in rules that are clearly designed to get rid of whatever group of people is designated as "riff-raff" this week. Not to mention the creation of excessive unnecessary rules that are clearly the work of control freaks with nothing better to do with their time.
EDIT: Roosters crowing and dogs barking don't bother me. If you can hear that inside your house at midnight, I'd suggest there's something wrong with the construction of your house. Buildings with shared walls are often insufficiently soundproofed, its just another reason I would never buy into a condo/"townhome"/HOA type situation.
Amen to that! The only HOA I ever lived in charged something like $35.00 a year... not a bad price but it also had no services, no enforcement of the covenants and not a single HOA meeting or a lick of organization. So essentially, we were writing a check to god know who every year for no reason whatsoever.
When it comes to single family homes, HOAs are a scam.. just a way for someone to make more money.
And? You could get the noisy neighbor from hell moving in next door to you, and cry yourself to sleep every night with your ears packed with 33 decibel earplugs!
What is the HOA gonna do to the noisy folks? Warn them -- the next day? Take them to court if they persist, I suppose. In the meantime, you're stuck with them and their noise.
OTOH, without an HOA, you simply call the police or the sheriff or the state police.
I'd say keep looking. Look for a single family detached home without an HOA, and hire someone to mow your lawn and clean your gutters. You'll spend less money in the long run.
What is the HOA gonna do to the noisy folks? Warn them -- the next day? Take them to court if they persist, I suppose. In the meantime, you're stuck with them and their noise.
OTOH, without an HOA, you simply call the police or the sheriff or the state police.
A co-worker had to forfeit her dog from a townhouse complex, 2 complaints of a dog barking, and the dog goes!
Where I live, there's $90 fines for noise violations. Some immigrants rented a townhouse 3 houses a way, and were attempting to use the garage to run a business, making custom windows, I had the Pres. of the Assn go over there, saw the stack of windows, and that put an end to that! More than likely, they moved to a free-style single family home division and are terrorizing their neighbors there with all that racket!
A co-worker had to forfeit her dog from a townhouse complex, 2 complaints of a dog barking, and the dog goes!
Where I live, there's $90 fines for noise violations. Some immigrants rented a townhouse 3 houses a way, and were attempting to use the garage to run a business, making custom windows, I had the Pres. of the Assn go over there, saw the stack of windows, and that put an end to that! More than likely, they moved to a free-style single family home division and are terrorizing their neighbors there with all that racket!
Meanwhile you have to ask to put up decorations on your house and what color to paint your front door. Some people like dictatorships others don't...whatever floats your boat What time is lights out at your boot camp? lol
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