Why do people put up with HOA's? (Charlottesville, Winchester: sale, house)

[HOF]

This is my most hated issue with living here in NoVA...the HOAs....

That is the main reason we have not purchased a house here yet... the freaking HOAs...
Not only would i be paying up-the-ying-yang for an over-priced cardboard-house, I also need to pay the HOA to tell me what I can and can't do on my house???? bullocks!!!

I think HOAs are bad ideas they are just another way of people making $$$ off of us.

Don't you think that the more properties on a HOA the lower the monthly dues should be... but NO thats not the case...and i do understand that it also matters the size of the properties and total size of the area that the HOA is "taking care of" but it still seems like its always overpriced.

(let the flaming begin...)

[VRE332]

Originally Posted by HOF

I also need to pay the HOA to tell me what I can and can't do on my house???? bullocks!!!

Answer this question, What do you want to do to your house?

[Fairfax Mom]

I dont like HOA's either. Hard to imagine that NJ is getting more and more of them - add the HOA fee to sky high taxes.

Anyway - we just put up a huge privacy fence and I bet if we had an HOA they would not allow it. We also have two very large dogs (Cane Corsos) that are probably a breed that some HOA's would not allow. We can also do anything we want in our back yard - we can put up a clothesline (not that we would) - we can put in any type of pool we want - we can put in any type of swingset we want, etc, etc. - I love the freedom!

[EuroExpat]

We're also looking for houses in non-HOA neighborhoods which is seems to be really difficult. We have our eyes set on one that we love, it is older, safe and very well maintained but there aren't many houses on the market. Needless to say, our house hunting has taken three years.

I like having a clothes line in the backyard. We currently rent in a neighborhood with HOA and while my mother was visiting, she forgot to take the line down ONE night. Two days later our landlord calls us very, very embarrassed and tells us he received a call about a clothesline. WTH?

Seriously, the two HOAs we've had to deal with are very an.. um silly. The one we are with currently even specifies the color tone of the mailboxes. While living in NoVa I have never heard anything positive about HOAs from people so I wonder why do we put up with them.. I understand that people like to keep their neighborhood clean but how on earth can someone tell a homeowner what color their front door should be.

[normie]

Originally Posted by EuroExpat

We're also looking for houses in non-HOA neighborhoods which is seems to be really difficult. We have our eyes set on one that we love, it is older, safe and very well maintained but there aren't many houses on the market. Needless to say, our house hunting has taken three years.

I know of a great place! Ask your realtor to take you to the property on Youngs Cliff Road. It's not that far from Ashburn. Great neighborhood, right on the Potomac River, nice piece of property and no HOA. The house is older (20+ years) and would benefit from some TLC, but actually the maintenance needed is only cosmetic. And there's a separate artist studio in the back yard that is in excellent shape and it's big enough that you can live in that and rent out the main house. Wish I could buy it myself, but since we just got a place in December it's time to give my bank account a good long rest for awhile.

[EuroExpat]

Originally Posted by normie

I know of a great place! Ask your realtor to take you to the property on Youngs Cliff Road. It's not that far from Ashburn. Great neighborhood, right on the Potomac River, nice piece of property and no HOA. The house is older (20+ years) and would benefit from some TLC, but actually the maintenance needed is only cosmetic. And there's a separate artist studio in the back yard that is in excellent shape and it's big enough that you can live in that and rent out the main house. Wish I could buy it myself, but since we just got a place in December it's time to give my bank account a good long rest for awhile.

Sounds like a dream!! But with a budget of around $350K I doubt it is in our price range. Thanks though!

[slim04]

Originally Posted by Fairfax Mom

I live in a neighborhood of 1970's era homes - we have no HOA but almost everyone keeps up their homes and they look great!

I notice most people in VA have HOAs and I was wondering why. Where I come from in NJ - there are never any HOAs and everyone is fine with it.

Is this just a Virginia thing or do other parts of the country have HOA's also?

The prevalance of HOAs in NoVA is because developers built subdivisions on mostly open land with no amenities. To attract buyers they built nice parks, lakes, and common green space. Outside of NoVa, the developers could just deed the common areas to the local government, who would be responsonsible for their maintenance. However, in NoVA, you can't really do that, and most local jurisdictions would refuse to accept them. So the developers had to create HOAs to maintain them after the development sold out.

For some of these developments, the local governments even refuse to supply some services like garbage or snow removal. Sometimes the HOA takes care of it for the whole subdivision and supposedly gets quantity discounts (which like a previous posters says might be dubious). Others let the individual homeowner make those arrangements for garbage, not snow.

Hence, the prevalence of HOAs. Some are strict, others are not. Generally, the more upscale and homogenous the architecture, the more restrictions. I know quite a bit of HOAs that basically just maintain the common areas and have pretty much an "anything goes" attitude on anything else.

[Fairfax Mom]

slimo4 - thanks for some interesting facts - now I know why HOAs started -

wow - I am soo glad I dont have to pay HOA fees and still enjoy a beautiful park and lake! I am so lucky - I guess there is a BIG advantage to owning an older home

[newgatedenizen]

Allow me to speak in defense of HOA's. I would not live in a development without an HOA in an urban setting. Our HOA fee helps pay for basketball and tennis courts, swimming pool, multiple playgrounds and substantial common/open area maintenance in addition to the usual items like trash removal, snow removal and landscaping.

We have quite a few private streets that are not state/county maintained so someone has to pay for their upkeep – and I might add our private streets look a lot nicer than the connecting publicly maintained roads. Our HOA helps coordinate a lot of social activities as well.

As far as HOA’s architectural regimes – I’m all in favor of them. It’s amazing the crap that people will try to build or the garish stuff they try to put on their properties. If you don’t care if your next door neighbor builds a large eyesore shed from mismatched scrap wood recovered from a junkyard then by all means find a development without an HOA.

[IntelligentConsumer]

There are more HOAs in NOVA than in most other parts of the country. However, you will find a higher proportion of them in other fast growing metros in high growth states, like Phoenix and Orlando. It's not uncommon and they can serve a constructive purpose.

One reason is that when a single developer builds a development, VA law provides for a structured way for the developer to disengage with clear but limited liability. Has it's pluses and minuses.

Another reason is that the local government law is very different and unusual in Virginia, where cities and counties do not overlap.

There are far fewer cities/towns and local government structure is dominated by Counties. Board members rely on HOAs for information about whether the community wants the roads widened, a new stop sign, no Wal-Mart, whatever.

Because its a mixed bag, it's worth it to attend a HOA meeting in a neighborhood you are considering. That way, you can see your neighbors in action and decide if it's the place for you.