Community Storm Assessment (Vineyards: insurance, house, calculator)

[markjames68]

Originally Posted by relocatingtonaples

Most people spend more on one dinner out each month, than they will on the monthly HOA increases of $45 a month.

Not seniors in season, $14.95 early bird special

[Thundarr457]

I agree with Barb, we bought (not in Naples) in a large established community and we have manned gates and security patrols. There are many homes here and the damage from the hurricanes (a fair amount) did not affect our HOA fees.

[relocatingtonaples]

I do not believe fees at Riverstone will become too high in the future, which is the concern many homeowners have.

Irma damage was minimal in Riverstone. Less than $80,000 for a development with 804 houses. That was almost inconsequential when it came to the HOA fees. According to the finance committee chair, the normal cushion built into most HOA budgets would have covered that, had it not been for other items.

But I don't place nearly as much emphasis on the percent increase, given that the starting point was artificially low to begin with.

Would I rather pay $1214 or $1245 or $1450 a quarter like some communities, all the while pointing to their low YOY percentage increase?

No, I would much rather pay the $915 going to $1050 a quarter next year. Regardless of the percent increase. It's still a lot less than some other communities.

Now, what about the future? If you inquired into our budget, you'd see it is now - for the first time - based on one full year of actual operating experience (not the developer's artificially low numbers). Now that the Board has actual experience and knows what to expect, I feel confident we will not see large YOY increases for 2019. Not at all.

I am taking the time to express myself on this, because I am reacting to the concern that HOA fees at Riverstone will keep going up at the same rate in 2019 and beyond. There is no reason to think they will. The fees are and will remain reasonable, in my view.

[Thundarr457]

Originally Posted by relocatingtonaples

I do not believe fees at Riverstone will become too high in the future, which is the concern many homeowners have.

Irma damage was minimal in Riverstone. Less than $80,000 for a development with 804 houses. That was almost inconsequential when it came to the HOA fees. According to the finance committee chair, the normal cushion built into most HOA budgets would have covered that, had it not been for other items.

But I don't place nearly as much emphasis on the percent increase, given that the starting point was artificially low to begin with.

Would I rather pay $1214 or $1245 or $1450 a quarter like some communities, all the while pointing to their low YOY percentage increase?

No, I would much rather pay the $915 going to $1050 a quarter next year. Regardless of the percent increase. It's still a lot less than some other communities.

Now, what about the future? If you inquired into our budget, you'd see it is now - for the first time - based on one full year of actual operating experience (not the developer's artificially low numbers). Now that the Board has actual experience and knows what to expect, I feel confident we will not see large YOY increases for 2019. Not at all.

I am taking the time to express myself on this, because I am reacting to the concern that HOA fees at Riverstone will keep going up at the same rate in 2019 and beyond. There is no reason to think they will. The fees are and will remain reasonable, in my view.

As long as you are happy with the fees and you feel they represent good value for the services what difference does it make what anyone else thinks?

[Thundarr457]

Originally Posted by relocatingtonaples

I do not believe fees at Riverstone will become too high in the future, which is the concern many homeowners have.

Irma damage was minimal in Riverstone. Less than $80,000 for a development with 804 houses. That was almost inconsequential when it came to the HOA fees. According to the finance committee chair, the normal cushion built into most HOA budgets would have covered that, had it not been for other items.

But I don't place nearly as much emphasis on the percent increase, given that the starting point was artificially low to begin with.

Would I rather pay $1214 or $1245 or $1450 a quarter like some communities, all the while pointing to their low YOY percentage increase?

No, I would much rather pay the $915 going to $1050 a quarter next year. Regardless of the percent increase. It's still a lot less than some other communities.

Now, what about the future? If you inquired into our budget, you'd see it is now - for the first time - based on one full year of actual operating experience (not the developer's artificially low numbers). Now that the Board has actual experience and knows what to expect, I feel confident we will not see large YOY increases for 2019. Not at all.

I am taking the time to express myself on this, because I am reacting to the concern that HOA fees at Riverstone will keep going up at the same rate in 2019 and beyond. There is no reason to think they will. The fees are and will remain reasonable, in my view.

Are you on the board or hold any position with the Riverstone HOA?

[movin1]

Nicely stated points re: Riverstone by Relocating to Naples. I have recently spoken with some other folks who live here that agree with his opinions.

We have looked around at a lot of communities and agree, most have higher fees and are not as new or as nice. The homes are well built and survived Irma very well compared to some older construction.

My frustration is with GL re: the HOA fee increases. We asked specifically before buying if the initial HOA fees would go up and were told "GL has been in business along time, knows what they are doing and the fees normally go up some, but not a lot".

If things are in good shape now and we don't see big annual increases, that would be great.

[LeavingIllinos]

Originally Posted by movin1

Nicely stated points re: Riverstone by Relocating to Naples. I have recently spoken with some other folks who live here that agree with his opinions.

We have looked around at a lot of communities and agree, most have higher fees and are not as new or as nice. The homes are well built and survived Irma very well compared to some older construction.

My frustration is with GL re: the HOA fee increases. We asked specifically before buying if the initial HOA fees would go up and were told "GL has been in business along time, knows what they are doing and the fees normally go up some, but not a lot".

If things are in good shape now and we don't see big annual increases, that would be great.

LOL, sounds like GL’s sales training program is working. That is almost verbatim what we were told when we asked about HOA fees increasing before we bought in Stonecreek.

[bbtondo]

Movin1:

Riverstone is beautiful for sure. We've met a lot of people who bought a home in Naples when they first retired and after a few years moved to a different community in Naples that fit their lifestyle better. Do you feel that way? We are very happy in the Vineyards, but always wonder if we'll feel that way someday. So far so good!

[movin1]

We are retired, just the two of us (and two dogs). We think Riverstone is beautiful and a relatively good value. However, we have our own pool (our dogs love to swim with us) and don't use the clubhouse facilities. We have had some issues with the houses being too close together and some children in the neighborhood that have not been raised to respect others. Lots of screaming when outdoors playing and we had to put a stop to them running around our house.

5:00 comes and we'd like to be able to sit outside to enjoy a glass of wine, have dinner and enjoy the tranquility of the preserve behind our house. No chance of that when the kids next door are in their pool screaming like banshees.

This is our third year here full time and the heat and humidity in the seemingly endless summer months got to us. We escaped to a cooler climate for a while this year for a while and that helped. The hurricane hit while we were gone and caused us to think if there is a better place for us, but we're tired of moving.

So, in a nutshell, we think Riverstone is a good place for a lot folks, but maybe not for us.

We love Naples in the winter. Ideally we would do the snowbird thing, but that's a hassle and expensive. Having a place in Chicago for the city life and good weather half the year and a place down here somewhere that has more space between houses and no HOA would be great. We really don't need any of the stuff it provides. We can deal with our own lawn care for a lot less than $350/month. We're learning as we go....

[Kram71]

Originally Posted by movin1

We are retired, just the two of us (and two dogs). We think Riverstone is beautiful and a relatively good value. However, we have our own pool (our dogs love to swim with us) and don't use the clubhouse facilities. We have had some issues with the houses being too close together and some children in the neighborhood that have not been raised to respect others. Lots of screaming when outdoors playing and we had to put a stop to them running around our house.

5:00 comes and we'd like to be able to sit outside to enjoy a glass of wine, have dinner and enjoy the tranquility of the preserve behind our house. No chance of that when the kids next door are in their pool screaming like banshees.

This is our third year here full time and the heat and humidity in the seemingly endless summer months got to us. We escaped to a cooler climate for a while this year for a while and that helped. The hurricane hit while we were gone and caused us to think if there is a better place for us, but we're tired of moving.

So, in a nutshell, we think Riverstone is a good place for a lot folks, but maybe not for us.

We love Naples in the winter. Ideally we would do the snowbird thing, but that's a hassle and expensive. Having a place in Chicago for the city life and good weather half the year and a place down here somewhere that has more space between houses and no HOA would be great. We really don't need any of the stuff it provides. We can deal with our own lawn care for a lot less than $350/month. We're learning as we go....

I think Stonecreek and Riverstone are beautiful but they are more geared towards young families than what I personally was looking for in a community. I like some space and quiet as well. I do not mind a HOA though since I would like my community to stay looking very nice.