Found perfect house-with HOA-Advice needed (Raleigh: for sale, condo, houses)

[THEROVERS]

I am relocating to Raleigh, and I found my PERFECT home, it has everything I want, including a HOA. I have no experience with a HOA before and some of the tales on this board have me leery of them. In FLA we have "Condo Commandos", retirees who are bored and turn into tyrranical nutjobs wielding their power on the board over everyone in their buildings. The thought of this has always terrified me of the HOA homes.

This HOA is a yearly fee of $600+ and the board is very organized, with regular meetings, votes, even a website. The community has a pool, tennis and golf, but there oddly does seem to be a lot of homes for sale there. What I am worried about is that I do not know how I will be able to tolerate when I want to paint my front door a new color, I will have to present an application with paint chips so my NEIGHBORS CAN DECIDE what color I am ALLOWED to paint my door on the property I own. Ditto having to file an application to request if I can be ALLOWED to remove even one tree on MY property. I have two yappy wiener dogs, can I be fined if they bark sometimes in the back yard? Can the board decide the community needs something new or needs something fixed, and bill me thousands for my share, or else I will be evicted? I am a normal, responsible property owner, I keep my home and yard in good repair and nice appearance and do not cause problems.

Please advise, as I have no idea what to expect, and I really do like this home, but if it will otherwise be a misery to live there, I will keep looking.

[Erin1264]

Before you make an offer, ask your realtor to get you a copy of the covenants and restrictions. Read them thoroughly. If you are a do-it-yourself'er, think about all of the possible projects you want to do at your home and see if the covenants will forbid them. Look for information on noise from pets, painting, landscaping, etc. to see if there are restrictions on your normal life.

Reading the covenants will help you decide if the home is worth it or not.

Good luck!

Erin

[coltank]

Remember, while it may be annoying to have to submit to repaint your door, the HOA is there to help you protect the investment you are making in your home. Would you like it if your neighbor put cars on blocks in the front yard, or decided to paint their front door tie-dye?

[MrsSteel]

TheRovers, covenants like that are very popular for HOAs in this area. However, some neighborhoods are far pickier than others. Which neighborhood is this? Perhaps someone here in the boards lives there & can offer you some further insight.

I live in a neighborhood that is about 20 years old. Our HOA has some restrictive convenants, but they are definitely flexible. The homes here are very colorful - blues, greens, reds, yellows, and even muted tones like grey & beige. If I wanted to paint my house a differnt color, I am confident that the HOA wouldn't have a problem with it. Their main issue is that they don't want you to use the exact same color scheme as a neighboring house (and of course they might not like a bubble gum pink house, but we have plenty of mauve houses around! ). The only things our HOA is really picky about are fences & mail boxes; All mail boxes must be identical & fences must meet certain standards. Luckily, these are quirks I can easily live with.

However, I have a friend who lives just a mile away who is dealing with a much more strict HOA. She would like to paint her shutters blue (I think they are currently green). In my neighborhood, I think her request would be approved without any problems. However, she is in a neighborhood where the houses are predominantly white or cream. Any color change - even to her shutters - is a major event. Sadly, they voted against her blue shutters.

[lamishra]

I suggest you read the covenants very, very closely and try to do as much research as you can about other peoples' experiences with the HOA in this specific neighborhood. If you don't like the idea of paying for common areas, submitting applications and paint chips for small home changes and pet fines, then a neighborhood with an HOA might not be for you.

[THEROVERS]

The home is in Wildwood Green.

[MrsSteel]

Thanks for the additional info, Therovers.

Here's a link to their HOA's website.
INDEX (broken link)

[VickiR]

Wildwood Green may have a few extra covenants thrown in since its a golf course community in North Raleigh.

I've never lived in a neighborhood without HOA so I don't see what the big deal is.

We recently painted our home, I sent a sheet with paint colors to the HOA, it was approved within a few days. Of course...I didn't WANT to paint it purple!

I guess if you feel that you are the rebellious sort, you may want to consider an area thats either older or further out with no HOA. However, Wildwood Green is a beautiful neighborhood and will stay that way due to the HOA.

Just my two cents' worth!

And I live VERY CLOSE to it so I want it to stay that way!!!

Vicki

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by coltank

Would you like it if your neighbor put cars on blocks in the front yard,

No

Originally Posted by coltank

or decided to paint their front door tie-dye?

Sure! It's just a door for pete's sake. If you don't like a tie-dye door it is VERY easy not to look at it. But a car on blocks is pretty hard to miss.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by VickiR

I guess if you feel that you are the rebellious sort, you may want to consider an area thats either older or further out with no HOA.

WHY is artistic considered to be rebellious?? And what is wrong with purple? On the right house in the right amount it's lovely! Look at all those painted ladies in San Fran! But of course I realize that the average suburban home (mine included) does not have enough character to pull of purple, which is just a shame.