[Retiredcoach]

My father once said to me that I needed to understand the politics of life. The number one lesson to be learned is that one day the politics can be for you, and the next day be 100% against you. HOA's are strong political devices run by individuals with "agendas" (sometimes for the common good & sometimes for personal gain). These agendas can shift with the wind, and there are allies and foes throughout. Two questions: Why would anyone want to have more government (HOA) intruding upon their rights to have a home? With all of the unpredictable (and ever-rising) assessments and neighbor infringement upon home ownership would anyone be insane enough to ever consider buying a home with an HOA today?

[faithfulFrank]

RC,
I understand what you are saying, and I have read about some places that the HOA's have very restrictive rules that seem ridiculous. I'm just not sure you can lump every HOA situation in the same bucket.

I only have experience with ours. I have not found them restrictive at all....whenever you do anything major, we do have to submit your plans to them, but basically they make sure you are compliant to the local building code.......that is about it. I have done major changes to landscaping, etc, without any HOA involvement at all. I just had a new roof put on, with no involvement other then the building dept. Same with installing my new A/C in a different location.

I'm even planning a garage addition that was approved with no problems.

My $85 monthly HOA fee pays for the 3 big activity centers and pools, beautiful landscaping all over, activity staff, tennis, pickleball, softball bocce, volleyball courts, etc,etc,etc.....as well as weight rooms, fitness centers, etc......and many classes, clubs, etc. It also pays for full time security, 24/7 manned gates, etc.

I am not trying to sway you in the least.....I'm just attempting to convey the views of many who feel that they bought into a lifestyle that is well worth the $85 monthly fee.

Actually, in NY where our other home is, we live 9/10 of a mile from the city line. In the city, a small 15,000 population "city", I have seen many cases of more restrictive code enforcement then I've seen in my HOA Florida home.
Here in this NY state city, I've seen fines given to people whose house needed painting even though it was the middle of winter, and the owners could not paint until spring. I've seen people park their cars in their front yards overnight because they just had their driveway sealed, and they have gotten fined. And city hall is much tougher to fight then an HOA.

All I'm saying is that code enforcement is everywhere, and sometimes worse then in HOA communities. It has been our experience that our HOA is not restrictive, and more common sense and safety minded. That mindset has resulted in our neighborhood looking nice, but diverse, without that ugly "cookie cutter McMansion" look.

Frank D.

[LaylaGrayce]

Is anyone familiar w/River Edge Rd. in Legacy? We're looking at a home for sale there, and wonder if the road noise from Rte. 27 is an issue?

[LaylaGrayce]

Just wondering if anyone is familiar w/River Edge Road, in Legacy? We are looking at a house there, and wanted to know if road noise from Rte. 27 is an issue?