Is there such a thing as a NICE neighborhood withOUT an HOA or a relaxed HOA? (Jacksonville: real estate, house prices)

[grsPAFL]

Going by all the posts, everything goes to hell without rules and aggressive inforcement. Does anyone live in a NICE neighborhood without the invisible police force? Have you heard of one? What county?

[grsPAFL]

NICE can mean ...
the neighbors brought over a casserole when I had surgery,
it meets my (minimum) landscaping standards, or
the gas powered toys aren't too conspicuous.

[riveree]

There are tons of nice neighborhoods with no HOAs. It really just depends on what you're looking for.

This forum might have a high percentage of members who live in HOAs, but that's just the demographics of a forum, it's not representative of all of NorthEast Florida.

There are nice-looking neighborhoods with no HOA, some of which even surpass the HOA neighborhoods in appearance, upkeep, etc. It all depends on what you're looking for, where you want to look, and what you want to spend.

I would start by focusing in on an area first. It sounds like you have not yet determined which county you want to live in? I'd narrow it down to a county, and then a region of that county, and then using your budget as a guide, see what non-HOA neighborhoods are in that area.

[jsimms3]

Well to start you off, old money established neighborhood of Jax is Ortega and that spills in to Avondale next door. Avondale feels more walkable and compact, and the riverfront areas are some of the most prestigious in town and within walking distance of shops. Riverside has nice pockets, but from reading your post it seems you might enjoy those neighborhoods more, the only "problem" is they are on the Westside of town, so malls and beaches are farther away. It is all boutique shopping and restaurants in there. Also another fabulous neighborhood is San Marco, near the southbank of downtown, I love this neighborhood, it is the closest thing we have to south florida, and has some old money as well as new as well as the mayor. San Marco square is where you would eat and shop there, and it is closer to the southside of town which is where the malls and many businesses are located. No bridges to cross. Lakewood, San Jose, and Mandarin south of there sure have plenty of nice places as well, they are just not nearly as walkable. In fact I think San Jose Blvd is the prettiest thoroughfare in town. And you cannot forget the beaches, If you want that lifestyle. I prefer Ponte Vedra, but Atlantic Beach is a close second. Both are upkept and very wealthy, especially PVB. Nuff said.

The 2 "ritziest" neighborhoods in Jax IMO and in others i'm sure, are Ponte Vedra and Ortega, they are certainly the richest, Wealth apparently ranked Ortega 46th wealthiest neighborhood in the U.S., although I don't buy it (lots of old money), and PVB is definitely one of the wealthiest whole areas in the country, and neither neighborhood is gated, so any number of criminal elements could conceivable come through, but yes the houses are very well kept up (for the most part...you will see some seedier looking houses in each, especially towards the middle of Ortega).

There are some gated communities in town that IMO feel less like gated communities than others, i.e. Deerwood, older, established, mature landscaping, differing architecture and very often good architecture, very upscale so of course very well maintained. Also, apparently Pablo Creek Reserve on the intracoastal is very nice, but be forewarned I believe house prices there start at around $3 mil, or so I have heard for the ones built. The problem with Jacksonville is not that there are not nice areas and neighborhoods and good variety to choose from, there is PLENTY of variety btw, it is all very spread out, so the location of the neighborhood and what is around that neighborhood to fit your needs is something that definitely needs to be taken into consideration.

[mawipafl]

To quote your post's subject line "Is there such a thing as a NICE neighborhood withOUT an HOA or a relaxed HOA?", yes indeed there is such a thing.

It was our choice to choose a community with an HOA -- HOAs are not for everyone, but it's what we wanted so that we would know that our neighbors could never rip out their grass and install rocks nor park their commercial dump trucks in the street nor ruin every blissful Sunday afternoon by revving a hotrod motor (this is not to offend xeroscapers nor dirt haulers nor backyard mechanics - these things just aren't my thing.)

But we did our research first. Once we zeroed in on a few houses, we got copies of the HOA covenants and read them, and compared the rules to reality by driving around and observing the community. If a neighborhood looked as if each and every lawn had been manicured with tweezers, handclippers, and combs, then it was obvious that wasn't for us. If 99.99% of the yards looked well-tended and people were out and about in a recreational way (walking, biking, chatting, etc), then that told us that the residents were interested in keeping things looking nice, but that it wasn't their top priority - living was.

In my opinion HOAs get a bad rap. They are, after all, governed by the homeowners -- thus, a HOA is good (or bad) based on the reflection of those who own a home there.

[grsPAFL]

My question comes out of the 'HOA pickup truck parking' thread.

Since Apvguy was bagging on people who lived in HOA's and hated the rules - I wondered if any non-HOA neighborhoods even existed. And if they do, is no-HOA a euphemism for trailer park. (Not talking about million dollar homes. Half or less).

I live in Julington Creek/NW St. Johns County. Here, May Management rules the world.

So, if any of you live in a 'relaxed' neighborhood - what is it like it?

[mawipafl]

Originally Posted by grsPAFL

So, if any of you live in a 'relaxed' neighborhood - what is it like it?

Eagle Harbor is relaxed. Unless a homeowner flagrantly defies a part of the covenant in a big way, no one minds. Things that warrant letters of warning and/or further mediation would be letting grass grow knee-high or parking a boat on the street for days upon days, etc. The HOA board receives many complaints, but they handle them very well with communication. They use the covenants as a guide, but they take each case individually since they really understand there can be extenuating circumstances. It's not zero-tolerance around here. Board meetings are open and inviting and, in my experience, none of the board members carry a holier-than-thou attitude whatsoever.

As I said in my previous post, a HOA is a reflection of the people who own homes in the community. Generally speaking, Eagle Harbor residents are quite neighborly with one another - they meet up on the sidewalk or in backyards, socialize together, and so forth; thus homeowners here want to keep their yards looking nice not only for themselves and for the community in general, but also for their next-door-neighbors who are their friends.

Up until this year our HOA fee was $0 because the income had been derived from the developers and builders. However, now that Eagle Harbor is basically completely built-out, the need for income has arrived and our annual HOA fee will be a 'whopping' $50.

[grsPAFL]

I never considered that the community probably does influence the character of a property management company.

Yes there are lots of families here, lots of kids, good schools, etc. --- however, there are also lots of anxious people who really want the neighborhood to look just so. Landscaping over friendliness.

Having moved from an older and larger city, you do get used to lots of wacky homes - that ones that have been grandfathered in. But when folks move here they want perfection.

[riveree]

Originally Posted by grsPAFL

My question comes out of the 'HOA pickup truck parking' thread.

Since Apvguy was bagging on people who lived in HOA's and hated the rules - I wondered if any non-HOA neighborhoods even existed. And if they do, is no-HOA a euphemism for trailer park. (Not talking about million dollar homes. Half or less).

I live in Julington Creek/NW St. Johns County. Here, May Management rules the world.

So, if any of you live in a 'relaxed' neighborhood - what is it like it?

When I read your original post, I thought you were looking to buy in a non-HOA neighborhood and you were wondering, based on the threads in this forum, if there were some nice ones to consider.

But it sounds like you're not looking to buy, you already live in JCP - an HOA neighborhood, and you're just wondering what's around you, maybe?

Every neighborhood has it's own flavor, HOA or non-HOA. There can be a lot that makes a neighborhood, some of it is overt and some of it is subtle.

With an HOA, much of a neighborhood is transparent. There is a cohesive look to an HOA neighborhood, there are rules and boundaries set in place, what you see is what you get for the most part.

In a traditional, non-HOA neighborhood, I think there are more layers. In a traditional neighborhood you'll find character. For good or bad, you won't find character in an HOA neighborhood. I think we all know what traditional neighborhoods are like, I doubt any of us have grown up as adults and lived exclusively in HOA neighborhoods, right? So there's no great mystery.

You question about whether non-HOA is a euphemism for a trailer park, no, not in the least - see Jsimms post above. The true "old money" Jacksonville neighborhoods are non-HOA. The historic Jacksonville neighborhoods are non-HOA. The "hot", "artsy", etc., neighborhoods of Jacksonville are non-HOA. The true walkable neighborhoods of Jacksonville are non-HOA. You can get into many of these for less than $500k, especially at this current time in real estate history.

Are you looking to move out of your HOA neighborhood?

[tallrick]

All nice neighborhoods do not have an HOA.