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I was using hyperbole. - Of course, not every person outside of an HOA lives like a 'Lil Abner' character. However, there is often an 80/20 relationship between people who adhere to society's normal rules and conventions ... and those who feel like the rules don't apply to them. HOA's and rules are designed for the 20-percent, not the 80-percent.
I don't find my HOA rules at all onerous. The one evoking the most opposition is requiring people to have their HOA ID at the pool. Big deal.
That's funny, I live in a community that has no HOA, as I did in Miami, and we never had any neighbors who 1) painted their houses bazooka pink, 2) had a clothesline in their yards ( although I would not have objected if they did), 3) left nonrunning junk vehicles on their property, or 4) let their animals run free in the neighborhood. In fact, we, as well as our neighbors in both places have always maintained our properties well, landscaped and generally showed the pride of ownership in what we had. Although you might object to the uniqueness of the houses in these areas, they don't tend to be cookiecutter identical such as often seen in housing developments with HOAs. Or as crowded, we and most of our neighbors have built on a half acre or larger.
So despite your descriptions of non-HOA properties as something out of "L'il Abner" (Dogpatch), or maybe the Beverly Hillbillies, it 'taint always so.
I was using hyperbole. -
Of course, not every person outside of an HOA lives like a 'Lil Abner' character. However, there is often an 80/20 relationship between people who adhere to society's normal rules and conventions ... and those who feel like the rules don't apply to them. HOA's and rules are designed for the 20-percent, not the 80-percent.
I've been a homeowner for almost 39 years. Every home I've lived in had an HOA. Never really had a problem with any of them. Most intrusive covenants concerned fencing, sheds and parking RVs and boats in driveways. Current one also covers exterior paint colors ("earthtones or similar") which is fine since I'm not crazy about my neighbor painting their house Bazooka Pink.
Before condemning all HOAs, read the restrictions from any areas that interest you. In my county, you can find them online on the Recorder of Deeds website.
I have been an owner of real estate in several Montana communities since 1970. I have never lived under the thumb of an HOA. The place we have now is the first I have owned that had CCRs. However, there is no HOA, so there is no one to enforce the few CCRs that exist.
Before we bought this place, we looked at a place that we really liked. So, I asked for the CCRs. One provision forbid any truck larger than 3/4 ton. Since I had a one ton dually to tow the fifth wheel, we walked away. I'm glad we walked; instead of a town lot, we have almost 2 acres in the country.
As for weed control and trash, the county has regulations regarding that. If the property owner does not take care of it, the county will, then they add the cost onto the property tax bill.
Junk vehicles? The state has laws covering them. But, those laws are easy to get around. Just keep current registration on the vehicle, and move it now and then, and it is legal. Or, just keep it covered.
We have decided to permanently move to Florida. Looking at houses on zillow and Realtor. It seems like 80% of houses have HOAs.
I'm an American. I live in America. I do not want some communist HOA board telling me what flowers we can and can't plant. And I certainly don't want some nazi HOA lawyer to foreclose on our house over a $500 dispute.
What's with Florida becoming a communist dictatorship?
Probably a bunch of O/C control freaks in Florid-err. Just a guess.
We moved to an HOA by mistake once, we didn't even know what it was because we'd NEVER ever been near one before.
To me, an HOA is the perfect place for sociopaths to have their way with peoples livelihoods. Just do a search online and you will find many horror stories about HOAs telling people how to live their lives. My cousin lives in Florida. He said one area he lived in years ago all of a sudden came out with a ban on any car visible at night. That meant people couldn't even park in their own driveway.
These 'poor victims' are given documents (CC&R'S) to read and put their signature to that breaks down the rules. They don't have to buy in an HOA. They could walk away when give the HOA package and before SIGNING it.
Move to an HOA accidentally? Doubting that one. You received NO paper work telling you that you were buying in an HOA?
No offense intended but you sound very uninformed about HOA's. There have been many threads on CD about them. Inform yourself, many places have them now. Some are very relaxed in their rules, some not.
In this world, I would NOT live in one that didn't have strict rules and guards on site to enforce them. These are the neighborhood where home values go up.
The psycho gun nuts won't live in nor will morons who have a fridge on the porch or a jacked up car in the yard. Also won't paint the house purple cause they can. "You might be a redneck. '
I'm renting in a condo with HOA rules now and I, personally have not found them to be restrictive. We have a gate at the front and security from 4-midnight and they are going to be increasing the security guard to an all night deal. Since I am a widow I feel safe here. It's not a false sense of security like some people get. I know it's not easy to get in here because of the guard and the cameras at the front entrance, pool areas, etc. I'm on the second floor and since we all have cathedral ceilings there is no way for anyone to get in my windows or sliding glass door as they would need a tall ladder or be Spiderman so I have no qualms about leaving them open when the weather is nice. I have not once in 4 years felt scared living here.
However I am buying a small house in the next town over which is not in an HOA and I have to tell you I am nervous about living in a single family house with lots of windows, all on the ground floor. It just happens to be a deal that I would be crazy to pass up. I will just get an alarm system and perhaps start a neighborhood watch when I get there.
Like everything else in life there are good HOA's and there are bad ones. Just check out their rules & regulations before buying in one. Only you can decide what is acceptable to you.
One thing that struck me when I first went to FL (Tampa area on south toward Naples) for the first time as an adult two years ago was how neat and tidy all the homes looked compared to most of the small towns in Indiana and Tennessee I've been in. HOAs are a part of that. They can enforce a standardized set of looks and behaviors that keeps the neighborhood "in check."
Here in Tennessee, we don't have an HOA in my community and do not have a problem with property upkeep, but it is a concern right outside my neighborhood. My grandmother lives about a mile away and that neighborhood was mostly populated by Silent and Greatest Generation homeowners who kept their places up. Most of those people have now passed on, and the homes were sold to younger people. Some do a good job of keeping the property up, but others do not and it may bring down surrounding property values.
There is an immaculate ranch for sale at the end of that street. It is one of the better maintained homes in this general area. There is a house across the street from that ranch that is also for sale, but has had at least five cars parked in the front lawn (some on blocks), a couple of fridges on the carport, and it's junked up beyond belief. While the owners have cleaned the property up somewhat, it is still messy and an HOA would have never let it get to that original condition. As it stands, both homes have been on the market since spring and neither have sold.
HOAs aren't perfect nor are they a right choice for every buyer or every situation, but they do have a place.
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