What's with the HOA Fees? (Inwood: real estate, condo, townhome)

[andreaspercheron]

My WV people.. I have questions!!

I see a lot of properties we would like but then as we scroll down through the information the HOA rears it's ugly head. Now, here in PA being part of an HOA basically means you can't do squat without someone saying something for example, if I want to park a semi in front of my house we don't want to get a call or a letter stating to remove it immediately! So, maybe in WV, the HOA's are different, not as stringent as here. Can anyone attest or deny?

Andrea

[Threerun]

All depends on the subdivision. Some are fairly restrictive, some are not.

There are properties out there that are exempt and not subject to HOA's.. Just gotta look.

[vec101]

Yep, all depends on the subdivision as to the regs (if there are any at all for the subdivision). If you are not in a subdivision, look and see if there is zoning and what the regs are.

[AliceT]

The further out in the country you are, the fewer restrictions there will be. I have never lived in an area covered by a HOA and doubt I ever will. But then, I rather appreciate a well lived in area where folks just accept each other or not without pulling some phony baloney rank on a neighbor.

[andreaspercheron]

This is what I figured (all of the above) and it all makes sense. I really don't see HOA up here unless it's a townhome community or condo - I think seeing so many homes associated with the HOA in WV really threw me off.
Anyhoo - yes that makes sense. I do get excited when I see "unrestricted" to me that is true home / land ownership.

[Janipoo]

Most subdivisions have HOA's. There are plenty of properties in WV that have no restrictions and shouldn't be too hard to find them.

[vec101]

I thought unrestricted meant no zoning, etc. but on the real estate forum, discovered "unrestricted" means the person/Seller has the right to sell the Property. So, not sure what context you have read "unrestricted" but may want to keep in mind that it may refer to the seller's right to sell and not just that their are no restrictions on what you can do with the property. I'm no real estate person so I don't know for sure, just telling you what I had read..

[Janipoo]

Originally Posted by vec101

I thought unrestricted meant no zoning, etc. but on the real estate forum, discovered "unrestricted" means the person/Seller has the right to sell the Property. So, not sure what context you have read "unrestricted" but may want to keep in mind that it may refer to the seller's right to sell and not just that their are no restrictions on what you can do with the property. I'm no real estate person so I don't know for sure, just telling you what I had read..

It usually means that you can do pretty much anything you want to on the property (within the laws of course). For instance if you own unrestricted land in WV you can place a mobile home on the property, or park an RV or Tractor trailer etc. You can even put a pink flamingo in the front yard .

[Threerun]

The place I owned in Inwood was an older subdivision. No HOA but it still had regulations. No single wides, no more than 1 livestock p/acre, no pigs...

That was pretty much it.

[Hinton Bound]

Originally Posted by Threerun

The place I owned in Inwood was an older subdivision. No HOA but it still had regulations. No single wides, no more than 1 livestock p/acre, no pigs...

That was pretty much it.

There are HOA's and there are Deed restrictions. HOA's are cash cows for developers and usually cover the same things the cities already cover in Ordinances.

Deed restrictions usually cover things like what manner of livestock and what type of dwellings can be constructed, or how many times you can sub-divide.

There is no "gang" to enforce deed restrictions. You'd have to know of violation, and report it to the Town / City for action to be taken.

Stay away from HOA's, unless you like being told what you can and cannot do on your property.

~Mark