Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
My Fiance' and I are looking to move to the northern charlotte / huntersville / cornelius area and I will be bringing my small retail web based home business with us. Where we live now, home owner associations are basically non existant, but I see that they are almost everywhere down in NC. My business is run out of the home/garage and really isnt a bother ( aside from fedex picking up some boxes once a day....nobody would even notice ), but I do not know if it would be considered problematic to home owner associations in various neighborhoods. My product would be kept in a storage unit, so that wouldnt be a problem to the community. Any info about your personal home owners assocations would be greatly appreciated.
In North Carolina prior to submitting an offer to purchase and contract, the buyer is able to receive and review all restrictive covenants, bylaws, the name as well as phone number of the current HOA. It's also a really good idea to stroll through the neighborhood (pending a visit once you find an area you like) and talk to the neighbors, some places may have a ton of rules but in reality be quite lenient and the neighbors will definitely know.
Personally, I oppose HOA's. I have always been concerned the board members have nothing better to do than censor people's lifestyles.Most board members are volunteers, and they generally get their training on the job. Sometimes their inexperience means they bungle the bookkeeping, resulting in higher fees or assessments. Sometimes they fail to do their homework on outside contractors, meaning that you get shoddy workmanship in your common areas. Many boards sidestep rules by simply changing their house rules, which are as binding as bylaws but can usually be rewritten without asking all the homeowners. About all you can do is keep up to speed on any changes the board makes in the rules, and if you don't like them, complain. The sooner you raise a fuss, the better: Rules that have been around for a while tend to be the hardest to change.
as long as you do not have commercial foot traffic you really should not even worry about it. If you did have commercial foot traffic you would be dealing with city zoning not really hoa's
I run a internet buisness and I have no troubles due to UPS or DHL doing daily pickups and deliveries in my neighborhood in Huntersville.
The only restrictions we have is commercial vehicles. Those need to be parked in garage and not on street or driveway.
as long as you do not have commercial foot traffic you really should not even worry about it. If you did have commercial foot traffic you would be dealing with city zoning not really hoa's
I run a internet buisness and I have no troubles due to UPS or DHL doing daily pickups and deliveries in my neighborhood in Huntersville.
The only restrictions we have is commercial vehicles. Those need to be parked in garage and not on street or driveway.
Thanks for the feedback. I have no commercial foot traffic either. As for the commercial vehicle, does that apply to a pick up truck or what? Can you get standard passenger plates for a pick up? I have standard plates on my truck here in NY, but I am not sure how things are done in NC.
Just read the thread, if you are still looking for a good communtiy north of Charlotte that doesnt have an HOA, check out Highland Ridge in Harrisburg. Large lots and no HOA.
You can check out various communities on Carolinahome.com (mls site).
There is criteria for rule changes, not random wants of board members. Every home owner is a member of the board and bylaws dictate how rule changes are put in place, usually by a majority vote.
Check the cc&r's for the community you want to live in. Most don't have an issue with home based businesses unless you generate a lot of traffic.
Location: Wherever it is, I am sure it is cosmopolitan
674 posts, read 803,926 times
Reputation: 138
Markh is correct. It is ridiculous when people spout off about how HOAs can change things on a whim. It is simply not done. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to change CCRs? It is rarely done because it is cost prohibitive (printing and postage costs for proposals that must be sent out to each homeowner, meetings, votes that must be 70-90% approval of all residents, attorney's fees for changing the CCRs, etc).....I don't want to get into a big HOA debate, but in the case of this thread, Sunny is right: HOAs AND the county of Mecklenburg DO NOT allow business to be conducted in residential neighborhoods. However, internet work does not really count because there is no customer base coming and going. Also, one cannot manufacture anything out of one's house so even if you are sewing something that you sell on the internet, you need to be careful how you disclose your business to the county....better to say you "market" things rather than "make things to sell" or they may not grant you a business license.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
