why so many HOA's? (New Castle: homeowners association, condos, loans)

[jojo80]

Can anyone tell me if they know of any new developments without homeowner's associations? I am looking to purchase new construction in lewes, or south of lewes. Every place I go has an HOA, with a pool, tennis, clubhouse etc. Why do they all have HOA's? Why do I have to pay over $100 a month (that's now, I'm sure it will go up every year) for a pool, clubhouse, tennis, etc., things I probably would never use. I wouldn't mind a couple of hundred dollars a year for flowers or landscaping at the entrance, but why all the other stuff? Am I the only one that thinks this way? Does anyone else have opinions on this, pro or con? Am I missing something?

[Older&Wiser]

You're not missing a thing; HOA's tell you how to live and what color you should paint your house - Good Morning Comrade!

[coastalrap]

HOA’s have become a necessary evil. There was once a time when property owners took pride and kept things well maintained. Now coincidently, in a time of no personal responsibility, no money down loans and a feeling that home ownership is a “Right” of being a citizen, we began to see many properties either falling into disrepair or the latest trend in lawn accessories are left to accumulate and rot. It’s going to get very hard to find a new construction home not in a HOA community.

Buyers need to read and understand the HOA rules and regs before they decide to buy in a community. Once you are in, it’s hard to justify not wanting to abide by them.

As far as community amenities, developers are complying with what the consumer is asking for. You may not want any of these but more and more families are looking for them. People are becoming and staying more active. Having these amenities in your community not only enhances your property values but also your health and social needs.

With all that said, I hate HOA’s. They are usually run by individuals that either have never had any power and want it or had power at one time and miss it.

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by coastalrap

HOA’s have become a necessary evil. There was once a time when property owners took pride and kept things well maintained. Now coincidently, in a time of no personal responsibility, no money down loans and a feeling that home ownership is a “Right” of being a citizen, we began to see many properties either falling into disrepair or the latest trend in lawn accessories are left to accumulate and rot. It’s going to get very hard to find a new construction home not in a HOA community.

Buyers need to read and understand the HOA rules and regs before they decide to buy in a community. Once you are in, it’s hard to justify not wanting to abide by them.

As far as community amenities, developers are complying with what the consumer is asking for. You may not want any of these but more and more families are looking for them. People are becoming and staying more active. Having these amenities in your community not only enhances your property values but also your health and social needs.

With all that said, I hate HOA’s. They are usually run by individuals that either have never had any power and want it or had power at one time and miss it.

Depends. Sometimes HOA's can be good and sometimes bad.
Depends who is on the board. You are correct in saying some people can't handle power. So so true. we do not have an HOA here as of yet. the rules were however presented to us from the owners of our community. We knew first hand before we moved in what to expect and accepted all they had said we can or can not do.
An educated consumer is the best consumer. Know what you are getting into before you buy. It is your responsiblity as a consumer to gather all information pro and con then make up your own mind based on your needs, wants and financial liability.

[from PA]

Originally Posted by coastalrap

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With all that said, I hate HOA’s. They are usually run by individuals that either have never had any power and want it or had power at one time and miss it.

I agree with most of what you said with the exception of this last statement. I was a member of the Board of Directors and volunteered my time and efforts for over 8 years. The original rules for our last association were implemented by the builder in order to sell homes. My goal as a member of the board was to see that the rules were changed for the good of the homeowners there. There are those who move into an HOA community and do nothing but complain and there are others who genuinely care about the well being of their community. If you don't like the rules then volunteer to be on a committee to change them. If you don't like how the association is run then exercise your right to be involved. It just isn't fair to be critical, as most members are volunteers who serve for the benefit of the community.

[elizamary]

it is fair to be critical because even thought there are some good HOA's there are some bad ones too.
some of my neighbors lived in communities with HOA's and have told some horror stories.
The problem is exactly what coastalrap stated.........Some people get overwhelmed with power. One story almost destroyed the community and cause riffs between residents.
We were considering a HOA and the owner of our community said if majority want an HOA he would go along with this provided he still has hands on.
He stated just what coastalrap stated.......some are good and some are bad.
All points must be made.

[jojo80]

After reading everyone's response, it seems to me the majority of people would rather not have an HOA. I can see having them in certain communities, such as condos, where they are actually using the money to maintain the outside of the buildings, (new roofs, siding, etc.), and where people don't have their own yards, so a pool would be nice. But not single family homes. To me, a community pool is just an unneeded expense (not to mention the liability, if someone gets hurt and the cost of upkeep and repair, etc) for homeowners. Also, you're paying for a pool, and you can only swim the times they tell you. If I want a pool, I'll put my own in, and swim when I want. I still believe, the majority of people don't use these ammenities, and would rather not have them. The whole community is paying for a few people to use them. If a builder asked buyers if they wanted them, I'm sure the majority of people would say no. I guess I don't have a choice. Hope I didn't complain too much, but it feels good to vent my frustrations. Thanks everyone for listening.

[elizamary]

Originally Posted by jojo80

After reading everyone's response, it seems to me the majority of people would rather not have an HOA. I can see having them in certain communities, such as condos, where they are actually using the money to maintain the outside of the buildings, (new roofs, siding, etc.), and where people don't have their own yards, so a pool would be nice. But not single family homes. To me, a community pool is just an unneeded expense (not to mention the liability, if someone gets hurt and the cost of upkeep and repair, etc) for homeowners. Also, you're paying for a pool, and you can only swim the times they tell you. If I want a pool, I'll put my own in, and swim when I want. I still believe, the majority of people don't use these ammenities, and would rather not have them. The whole community is paying for a few people to use them. If a builder asked buyers if they wanted them, I'm sure the majority of people would say no. I guess I don't have a choice. Hope I didn't complain too much, but it feels good to vent my frustrations. Thanks everyone for listening.

We are in a 55+ community and have no HOA. Any complaints go directly to the owners.
so far, they have been extremely fair.
We are older and do not want to travel far for a pool and activities so this is perfect for us.

If I was raising a family in an all age community, I would not want a HOA either.
Seems like an added unnecessary problem.
Good luck and dont' feel bad about complaining. Got to get it out, hear what others have to say and then decide what is right for you.
We all do it and the people on this forum are great.

[ltdontcare]

We also have a HOA. When we first moved in I was going to build a shed for all of my crap. I was informed that there were NO sheds, clothes lines, etc. You have to drive through one development to get to ours. They don't have an active HOA, they have sheds, etc. The price diff. is about $100,000. Now I'm ok with the idea of a group of neighbors keeping the prices up.

[poepoe01]

Does anyone know where to file a complaint against a homeowners association? I am the original owner of a townhouse in New Castle County Delaware. When my ex husband and I bought the house 18 years ago there wasn't a homeowners association, this was fine with us because we didn't want anyone telling us what we could or couldn't do with a house we were paying for.
The company that developed and sold our end of the development (18 townhouses) sold the rest of the land to another company who finished developing the rest of the community. Eventually the new section created a homeowners association on their own. Some of the residents who bought homes from the original builder found out about the association and asked why we were not included in the association. They were told we were not welcome to join their association and were not welcome to attend the meetings. We were not considered part of their community because we were not developed by the same company. As dumb as this sounds this is what we were told. This didn't bother us because we didn't want to be in an association. We were never given any information or paperwork regarding a homeowners association nor ever asked to pay dues because we were not allowed to join nor attend meetings.
In the last couple of years the homeowners association has asked us (the 18 townhomes) to become a part of the association, we (as a whole) were not interested in joining. I, along with the other home owners, received a letter yesterday from the homeowners association stating we have to pay dues by 5/31 or they will take us to court to collect back dues. I'm not sure how they can legally do this since we were not welcome to join nor were we allowed to attend the meetings for years.
Is it legal to force us to join this association that was not in place when we bought our homes and threaten to take us to court to collect back dues for an association we were not allowed to join nor were we allowed to attend the meetings? Can they force us to be part of their HOA association since many of us bought our houses here because we did not want to be part of an association?