Houses without HOAs (Palm Bay, Winter Park: sale, HOA fees, landscaping)

[hallbabies]

I was curious as to why HOAs are so popular in Florida. Will not having an HOA lower the resale price of a house later on? Are people (neighbors) usually so bad that an HOA is really needed. We are live and let live kind of people, could really care less about neighbors letting their grass grow or painting their house whatever color.

Also are there online home searches that list HOA fees, seems like this is an important bit of information that I can't find on listings I have seen. Are there online searches that let you look for houses without HOA fees.

[jdoty]

I live in a non HOA neighborhood in Palm Bay. It was one of the things I liked the most about this area. It does lead to lower property values because most people do want to live in deed restricted communities, but future resale value will be lower at a similar amount to current sale prices. In other words, a $200k house will sell for say $225k in the future regardless of a HOA, it will just be a bigger house in a non HOA area due to lower property values. And no, my neighbors don't let their grass grow too long and don't paint their houses funny colors.

[beckycat]

I used to live in a HOA subdivision but don't live in one now. The one I lived in wasn't too strict but the homes were on 0 lot lines. All of the houses were very similar. My DH has a landscaping biz so we needed a place to store his equipment. We also have a travel trailer. We keep our property very neat and for the most part, most neighbors do keep their property neat. The ones that don't just may not have their lawn mowed all the time. It doesn't bother us.

We can do what we want with our property which is what we like. We can paint our house whatever color we want. We can have a bonfire when we want. We have a half acre now and enjoy the bigger lot. The homes are older in my new neighborhood but they a different, not all the same. We have mature trees. We built our house 7 years ago to have the way we like it.

It's up to you what you like. When it comes to resale, the homes in a non HOA are slightly less for comparable homes.

[IC_deLight]

Originally Posted by hallbabies

I was curious as to why HOAs are so popular in Florida. Will not having an HOA lower the resale price of a house later on? Are people (neighbors) usually so bad that an HOA is really needed. We are live and let live kind of people, could really care less about neighbors letting their grass grow or painting their house whatever color.

Also are there online home searches that list HOA fees, seems like this is an important bit of information that I can't find on listings I have seen. Are there online searches that let you look for houses without HOA fees.

Don't confuse numerosity with popularity. Local government has generally been mandating that new subdivisions be burdened with HOAs for quite some time. It is difficult to find a newer home that is not burdened by an HOA. HOAs are numerous due largely to government mandate, not popularity.

[idr591]

Depends on where you are buying. HOA's are more common in the suburbs. Many of the most affluent neighborhoods in Winter Park and downtown are HOA free. I would never buy in a neighborhood with an HOA.