Why do people put up with HOA's? (mortgage, rent)

[janeannwho]

We have a homeowner's association that ensures that if you leave your garbage can out overnight you get a fine, but my house is on a lake and apparently trash in the lake is fine, just don't dare leave a black plastic bin in your driveway over night. Trucks can be driven on lawns, but by God do not paint your front door a different color! Honestly, dealing with people trashing the lake, killing ducks because they are messy (we live on a lake!!!!!!) etc bothers me much more than a bright orange door or a garbage can. And that is why the HOAs are silly, because they can only address the fringes and the major stuff goes away. Five kids damage the gym, so close the gym for 200 families instead of making the parents of the damagers pay? All kinds of crazy stuff, and power makes them silly and so as soon as we can manage it, we will move to a town with no HOA. I know how to call the police myself for the major things if it comes to that.

[normie]

Originally Posted by janeannwho

We have a homeowner's association that ensures that if you leave your garbage can out overnight you get a fine, but my house is on a lake and apparently trash in the lake is fine, just don't dare leave a black plastic bin in your driveway over night. Trucks can be driven on lawns, but by God do not paint your front door a different color! Honestly, dealing with people trashing the lake, killing ducks because they are messy (we live on a lake!!!!!!) etc bothers me much more than a bright orange door or a garbage can. And that is why the HOAs are silly, because they can only address the fringes and the major stuff goes away. Five kids damage the gym, so close the gym for 200 families instead of making the parents of the damagers pay? All kinds of crazy stuff, and power makes them silly and so as soon as we can manage it, we will move to a town with no HOA. I know how to call the police myself for the major things if it comes to that.

OK, we have a contender for our "Bad" HOA list. Let's get a name of the HOA and the location.

[msjack]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

Why would you worry about how your neighbor decorates their lawn? They may find your tastes just as bad as you find theirs, you understand? You may find the tables turned on you with HOA's someday. People shouldn't be so quick to try to control others. Freedom is a valuable thing, more so than having all the houses look the same.

Hmmm.....Let's see why I care how my neighbor decorates his lawn?? Well maybe because it can bring MY property VALUE down, steer potential buyers away, and just look awful. Now, I'm not talking about a statue here or a fountain there. What I'm talking about is people who have flamingos, multiple statues, ornaments, cars on blocks, untrimmed bushes, furniture on lawn, garbage etc., etc. It just looks bad. I guarantee you no one will have a problem with my lawn, because I don't have anything on it except bushes and flowers and one 18 in statue by my door. But if they did, I would be more than happy to talk to them about it. And if it really bothered them I would think of removing it, because I have respect for my neighbors.

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

The only limits to rights are when actions physically hurt another. At least, that was the intention of our founders. A neighbor with cars on blocks, tall grass (or no grass at all), peeling paint, etc., in no way hurts me and I could care less about it. If their place bothers me I'd put up a fence or plant some fast growing trees and hide them from view if I didn't already have them. People would their lives far more free of stress if they didn't get so concerned about such unimportant things. Now, a person trying to control what I do, OTOH, would receive a less than pleasant response from me, as in, run off my property. I'm just waiting to see if some control freak buys land near mine and tries something, it'd be an interesting experience for them, but I suspect such people won't move near the area, given the wildness/freedom of the area (and they couldn't do anything anyways given that my land is patented with no restrictions ).

I'm glad to hear none of the blocks, peeling paint, length of grass doesn't bother you. But I'm sorry but I CARE about my property value AND I just don't want to look at that. Who wants to sit on their front porch and look at trash. If you are in some dream world where you think this kind of stuff doesn't hurt your house then you need to wake up. It's one thing where someone is on 1-acre lots, but I live in a townhouse so our yards and homes are VERY close together.

Someone else said it's my home not an investment blah, blah so I don't care. Yes it's a home, but I believe if you spend that much money on something it kind of TURNS into an investment automatically, unless you like to flush your money down the toilet. I didn't spend all this money to flush it down the toilet. My house IS my home and an INVESTMENT.

[vanyali]

Originally Posted by arctichomesteader

The only limits to rights are when actions physically hurt another. At least, that was the intention of our founders. A neighbor with cars on blocks, tall grass (or no grass at all), peeling paint, etc., in no way hurts me and I could care less about it. If their place bothers me I'd put up a fence or plant some fast growing trees and hide them from view if I didn't already have them. People would their lives far more free of stress if they didn't get so concerned about such unimportant things. Now, a person trying to control what I do, OTOH, would receive a less than pleasant response from me, as in, run off my property. I'm just waiting to see if some control freak buys land near mine and tries something, it'd be an interesting experience for them, but I suspect such people won't move near the area, given the wildness/freedom of the area (and they couldn't do anything anyways given that my land is patented with no restrictions ).

Overgrown lawn + trash (cars on blocks, etc) = habitat for vermin and snakes. Good for owls, but you can see how some of the neighbors in a suburban development might argue that such a condition does affect their physical safety.

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by normie

OK, we have a contender for our "Bad" HOA list. Let's get a name of the HOA and the location.

Before we bought a townhome north of Hwy 7 in Sterling we rented a townhome in a complex called Pembroke of Loudoun in Sterling Park. The HOA there was pretty strict with parking regulations and disposal of trash and recyclables. They have their work cut out for them.

To their credit they did a decent job keeping after people who did not abide by the rules. I know; one time my wife put out trash earlier in the evening than we were supposed to and we got a friendly letter a few days later reminding us about the times to put out trash to the curb. If we did it again we would have to pay a fine.

I don't know much about our the HOA in our new place. They seem to keep the place up very well. When we first looked at the townhome we did notice a few parking spots throughout the complex that had those concrete parking bumpers, except these were set so no one could park in the stalls. Our realtor said the HOA put them there because the current owners did not pay their monthly association fees.

[Margery]

Originally Posted by scimitar12

Before we bought a townhome north of Hwy 7 in Sterling we rented a townhome in a complex called Pembroke of Loudoun in Sterling Park. The HOA there was pretty strict with parking regulations and disposal of trash and recyclables. They have their work cut out for them.

To their credit they did a decent job keeping after people who did not abide by the rules. I know; one time my wife put out trash earlier in the evening than we were supposed to and we got a friendly letter a few days later reminding us about the times to put out trash to the curb. If we did it again we would have to pay a fine.

I don't know much about our the HOA in our new place. They seem to keep the place up very well. When we first looked at the townhome we did notice a few parking spots throughout the complex that had those concrete parking bumpers, except these were set so no one could park in the stalls. Our realtor said the HOA put them there because the current owners did not pay their monthly association fees.

You must live in Mirror Ridge, I saw those parking bumpers over the weekend while showing homes there and I wondered about them. It is a very well kept area and an attractive community, close to everything. I love those end units with the garage at the side instead of taking up room in the lower level.

[arctichomesteader]

Originally Posted by msjack

Hmmm.....Let's see why I care how my neighbor decorates his lawn?? Well maybe because it can bring MY property VALUE down, steer potential buyers away, and just look awful. Now, I'm not talking about a statue here or a fountain there. What I'm talking about is people who have flamingos, multiple statues, ornaments, cars on blocks, untrimmed bushes, furniture on lawn, garbage etc., etc. It just looks bad. I guarantee you no one will have a problem with my lawn, because I don't have anything on it except bushes and flowers and one 18 in statue by my door. But if they did, I would be more than happy to talk to them about it. And if it really bothered them I would think of removing it, because I have respect for my neighbors.

I'm glad to hear none of the blocks, peeling paint, length of grass doesn't bother you. But I'm sorry but I CARE about my property value AND I just don't want to look at that. Who wants to sit on their front porch and look at trash. If you are in some dream world where you think this kind of stuff doesn't hurt your house then you need to wake up. It's one thing where someone is on 1-acre lots, but I live in a townhouse so our yards and homes are VERY close together.

Someone else said it's my home not an investment blah, blah so I don't care. Yes it's a home, but I believe if you spend that much money on something it kind of TURNS into an investment automatically, unless you like to flush your money down the toilet. I didn't spend all this money to flush it down the toilet. My house IS my home and an INVESTMENT.

If others didn't share your views on worrying about yoyr neighbors it wouldn't affect property values at all. Get what I'm saying? It's a self-fulfiling prophecy of sorts, people think their neighbor's property makes theirs less valuable, and so it becomes reality because of people thinking like that. And really, flamingoes, statues, etc., can look quite nice. Your lawn, not to attack you but this is just my opinion you see, strikes me as quite bland and uninteresting. If you had a person like me on the HOA, you'd be in trouble.

Homes are poor investments, if you add up the taxes you spend in most areas and include inflation, you get behind not ahead unless you sell during a bubble. If I decide to buy a property it is because I like it and want to enjoy it as long as I can, not because I want to get any money out of it. There are far better ways to invest and get money.

Overgrown lawn + trash (cars on blocks, etc) = habitat for vermin and snakes. Good for owls, but you can see how some of the neighbors in a suburban development might argue that such a condition does affect their physical safety.

Nature isn't dangerous. Snakes in fact control mice and rats and such and are beneficial. Just learn to live with them and give them their space. This is my property (well my 20 acres is actually about a mile back through the trees, this photo was taken on the nearest road looking in the direction of my land, but it gives a feel for it anyways) and I can assure you I'm not going to be hurt because of the brush and wildlife (sorry it's small it won't resize well):



Puts all the bland lawns in the world to shame.

[vanyali]

There's no giving a snake it's space on a 0.2-acre lot with a house in the middle of it.

[arctichomesteader]

Sure there is, it'll likely move along sooner or later.

[scimitar12]

Originally Posted by Margery

You must live in Mirror Ridge, I saw those parking bumpers over the weekend while showing homes there and I wondered about them. It is a very well kept area and an attractive community, close to everything. I love those end units with the garage at the side instead of taking up room in the lower level.

Yep, that's the place. We bought an end unit with the attached one car garage off to the side. It frees up the entire finished lower level, and the garage is a full sized garage. Most if not all the one car garage THs we looked at had them built into the lower level making both the living space and garage small and not usable. The place gives us the feeling of living in a SFH rather than a typical TH.