Why gated community? (pros and cons, live in, costs)

[Zippyman]

Originally Posted by rgscpat

Has there been any research on whether HOAs generally cause property values to be maintained better than in non-HOA communities? No doubt, some HOAs are better than others at this, and in some areas there will be factors beyond the control of the HOA, such as the local economy, that could swamp what the HOA can or can't do.

Also, is there any sort of hard knowledge as to whether HOAs and their rules and fees, versus the amenities they support and effect they might have on property values, make homes easier or harder to sell? What do real estate agents and other professionals think? Does HOA status make any statistical difference in average time on market?

In the Phoenix metro, we've lost the ability to directly compare HOA vs. non-HOA neighborhoods, because pretty much everything built after about 1985~ish here has an HOA. The only direct comparisons you can make are those neighborhoods where the builder built both HOA and non-HOA homes in that transition timeframe, and in the ones I've seen, the differences in home values are negligible, or sometimes tilted against HOA's.

You really don't want an ownership interest in a 30 year-old pool, or 30-year-old roads.. That's begging for a special-assessment..

As for buyer-backlash, that's a developing issue - certainly here you can see a backlash movement forming, and as a seller - you don't want to turn off a single buyer..Pretty much everyone who is vehemently against HOA neighborhoods had a bad experience with one, so by extension - those are "move-up" buyers that are looking for more expensive homes, but not necessarily million/multi-million-dollar homes..

In the range of what were (at the peak) $200k/$300k/$400k homes, they all got hammered hard in the crash - HOA or not.. so at best the HOA might protect you from a neighbor with a purple house, it can't protect you from a market crash..

In the lower-end market, I think there's a key difference to remember - while you will often hear people professing that they *won't* ever buy a home in an HOA, you don't often hear I'll *only* buy a home in an HOA neighborhood..

So if we're talking about a typical infill subdivision near a freeway that doesn't have a golf-course or even a pool, it's hard to see an HOA doing much to increase the value, (even with a gate) and at least a few buyers chafing at the rules and the fees.. Many of those infill neighborhoods are so small that replacing the gate or rebuilding the road/curbs/sidewalks in the future is going to lead to some major assessments that will kill a lot of enthusiasm for the whole idea.

That said, my experience *renting out* a home with an HOA was different - like all the other landlords in the neighborhood, you can snap glitzy photos of the community pool & the freshly-mowed community park & sell the "lifestyle" of "just skip a few doors down to the beautiful heated pool".. no one ever uses that freakin' pool, but they *think* they will, so they'll pay extra for the ammenity, or rent that unit first, as opposed to one that doesn't have it..

[cjs123]

I've never lived in a gated community; I recall visiting one with the gate hanging open because it was busted, and the code had been given out everybody and anybody so it was useless as far as security was concerned (as a prior poster said, it's probably more about traffic control). The community was black as pitch at night but the residents 'felt' safe because--you guessed it--they had a gate. I never liked walking to my car there.

I've lived in an apartment complex where there were no gates, but 'security guards' who slept in the bathrooms all night. Next door was a gated complex that had loads of problems with various residents.

I don't think I'd like having to deal with codes for deliveries or service people coming to the house, but I would have bought a home I looked at in a gated community if it had been the right house for me.

[hikernut]

We live in a gated neighborhood. I'd prefer to be without the hassle and expense of a gate, honestly. I doubt we're any safer because of the gate, although it does seem to keep out door-to-door solicitors. At our previous home (not gated) we had a "No Solicitors" sign right by the doorbell, which many of them simply ignored.

hikernut

[in_newengland]

The whole idea is alien and fake to me. We don't have them around here. Our taxes go to maintain the roads and to pay the town officials to enforce what rules there are.

Every neighborhood I have ever owned a home in has gone UP in value. The homeowners added onto their houses, built decks, put in new landscaping, and when one house goes up in value, so do the rest. No one needs an HOA to tell you to take care of your own home.

I guess if you lived in an area with a crime ridden population or some sort of people who don't care about their own living environment a gated community would make sense because you could segregate yourself away from them. I'm just trying to understand the reason for them as well as the reason for HOAs. Towns look a lot better WITHOUT them, from what I can see around here.

[jerseyexpat]

How does Arizona define gated community?

Gated community when I imagine it has a person at the gate 24 hours a day.

But from what I have seen, simply having what looks like a gate with or without a physical gate that opens and closes, constitutes "gated community living?"

Is it restricted to homes about a certain price range? or can homes that are below $300,000 have gated and person guarded access?

[DetroitN8V]

Originally Posted by jerseyexpat

How does Arizona define gated community?

Gated community when I imagine it has a person at the gate 24 hours a day.

But from what I have seen, simply having what looks like a gate with or without a physical gate that opens and closes, constitutes "gated community living?"

Is it restricted to homes about a certain price range? or can homes that are below $300,000 have gated and person guarded access?

There's gated and then there's guard-gated. A lot of communities are simply gated with a key pad or remote access. You can assume higher HOAs in a guard-gated neighborhood.

I don't know every neighborhood in the Valley so I can't answer your second question.

[phx1205]

Originally Posted by jerseyexpat

How does Arizona define gated community?

Gated community when I imagine it has a person at the gate 24 hours a day.

But from what I have seen, simply having what looks like a gate with or without a physical gate that opens and closes, constitutes "gated community living?"

Is it restricted to homes about a certain price range? or can homes that are below $300,000 have gated and person guarded access?

Guard-gated is restricted to homes over a certain amount as it will take a higher monthly fee to support the costs associated with having someone sit there 24x7. Just a gate? Some of the neighborhoods in the Baseline corridor have gates and the homes behind them are in the low to mid $100's.

[Cynduy]

I have a home in WA (not gated) and one in a guard gated community in Phoenix. Personally, I love being in a gated community where visitors have to be given access and their license plate is recorded and a picture taken of it. I also like that the residents have a standard to comply with vs. having a pink house with purple shutters next to me. Of course it is not a guarantee that crime can't happen, but I believe it helps. If you don't want to pay the HOA fees, I would steer away from one.

[caryberry]

Some people will gladly pay for a false sense of security.

Feelings of superiority and selective inclusion are free.

[rgscpat]

From what I've seen, there seem to be many flavors and personalities of HOAs... some stick to the basics of offering amenities and trying to protect property values, others support certain lifestyle desires, and others get caught up in petty issues. Some are better at budgeting and planning and some are neglectful. One size doesn't fit all. The most relevant comments will probably be from those who have had experiences with both HOA- and non-HOA life, and even these are likely to be small bits of a broader picture.

We ruled out buying one home in a gated community in Tempe principally for an oddball reason that the HOA required planting lush grass landscapes and actually prohibited native, desert-adapted plants. That seemed wasteful, plus, we didn't want to buy a home in the Valley of the Sun with the goal of pretending that our home wasn't in the desert. But that HOA's lifestyle might be perfect for other people. Yet another, much newer HOA, took the opposite tack and requires desert-adapted landscaping.

My brother-in-law and his wife had an almighty tussle with an HOA that seemed overly restrictive; they couldn't even paint their door a color of their choice (which seemed reasonable, harmonious, and appropriate to me) even though it was set back behind a patio courtyard and mostly invisible from their street.

Yet, we have a rural cabin that is behind a gate, which is locked because of deed restrictions that are part of the history of the neighborhood -- it is reached by transiting a ranch that requires the gate -- and the gate, while sometimes circumvented and one which some local service providers have keys to, does seem to provide some real security. (Home owners can remotely open the gate via their phones when someone calls to do repairs or deliveries or for guests.) This set-up seems to work well.