What does your HOA provide and how much do u pay??? (Houston: foreclose, homes)

[jzntx]

I live in the NW, cypress/fairbanks area. The only thing the HOA provides is the street lights, we pay 100 per year.

[GettaClue]

$700 and change for 2 pools; a splash pad; 2 sets of tennis courts; 2 playgrounds; a wooded park with tables, benches, grills, and a catch-and-release fishing pond; pocket parks; lots of walking trails and nature preserves; and services for extensive landscaped common areas and tree services.

Also includes: trash collection; recycling; street lighting; mosquito control; a community website; a monthly newsletter; an annual community directory; and a variety of community events.

We would happily pay twice what we do to live here!

[carryyourbooks]

in katy, williamsburg hamlet, $450. we get our streets lit, pool and pool house (that we don't use because its filthy) and a darn good sheriff. well worth it for the sheriff just because he is a darn good one! we have very little crime here........knock on wood.

[CDeb]

New Territory (~4600 homes) is $1000/yr. Gated neighborhoods pay more, but I don't know how much.

4 pools, splash pad, many tennis courts and illuminated athletic fields, 5 larger parks with playgrounds plus several smaller parks, hike/bike trails, extensively landscaped common areas, boulevards and neighborhood entrances.

Trash & recycling collection, constable patrols (led by constable who lives in the community), community website, monthly newsletter, various community activities.

The best part: The Club, which has indoor basketball courts, meeting spaces and a fitness center. If you're a serious weightlifter/bodybuilder, the fitness center probably won't work for you, but it's more than adequate for anyone else. I don't know what a gym membership would run me annually, but I'm guessing that it would be a significant portion of my $1000 HOA dues.

[tdhg566]

Originally Posted by CDeb

...Gated neighborhoods pay more, but I don't know how much...

This thread is a good example of how it's very difficult to get to an apples to apples comparison of HOA dues. For example, while my $434/yr pays for landscaping, pools, playgrounds, full-time office personnel, general maintenance, activities, etc etc, the gated community with fountains where I live pays about double that. Gates and fountains are expensive, but I gladly pay for them.

Moreover, the extra Constable patrols we have in Imperial Oaks are paid from the MUD/water bills. So my water bills are a wee bit higher than when I lived in Meyerland, but we have zero crime here, quite unlike Meyerland. But that expense isn't part of my HOA dues.

Being on the board, I know the budget (both HOA and MUD) is very carefully prepared each year and closely watched each month. It's managed as if it we, the directors were spending our own money, and we are, because we pay the dues like anyone else.

[EasilyAmused]

$725.00 annually

Private Constable Patrol, Back door trash pickup twice a week, landscaping/general community area care. No community pools or splash pads, they aren't really needed.

Not having to look at and smell those big green garbage cans at the curb, that sit around a whole week some places in the summer is worth it alone.

[fnh]

$710 per year in Woodwind Lakes, a little more for the gated section. It's a small neighborhood but the money goes toward two pools and poolhouses, a playground (building another), a recreational pavilion, three fishing lakes with miles of walking trails, nature preserves, extensive landscaping, street lighting, trash pickup and recycling 2x per week, constable patrols, community newsletter, website and neighborhood directory. The HOA also sponsors annual community events such as a pool opening party, July 4th parade and pool party, Summer Friday outdoor movie and pizza nights, Easter egg hunts, Halloween party, Santa home visits at Christmas among others. My mother is anti-HOA and warned us against them when we moved here but I am so pleased with ours. The meetings are open to anyone and all the finances are transparent. It's a bargain, especially for such a small community so close to town.

[lhafer]

Originally Posted by Texascrude

We pay about $800 per year in Eagle Springs (Humble area). We've got 2 pools with slides, kid areas, diving boards, etc. Also have a small gym facility, a park on just about every block and a sports field complex with maintained baseball fields, tennis courts, sand volley ball, and 2 soccer / multi purpose fields.

Last I heard they also have 2 - 3 police officers specifically assigned to our area to patrol (we shared them with neighboring communities, but I heard they recently dropped out)

Definitely worth the money in my mind.

Texascrude - I'm in Eagle Springs too!!!

Our fees also include wooded/covered picnic areas throughout the community, walking trails, nature preserves, lots of well-maintained landscaping throught Eagle Springs, trash collection; recycling; street lighting; mosquito control; a community website; a monthly newsletter; an annual community directory; and a variety of community events.

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Not having to look at and smell those big green garbage cans at the curb, that sit around a whole week some places in the summer is worth it alone.

We get notices if ours are left out for more than a day, which is fine with me!

I used to live in Walden on Lake Houston (in Humble), and we paid $1000+ annually for not near as much as we have in my current neighborhood! It was a golf course community, but those fees didn't TOUCH the golf course! We had a cheesy pool with one wimpy diving board, a small kiddy pool, a very small kid's playground, and they did the trash pick up, and some landscaping.

Those fees did include access to a small gym facility and the clubhouse - where you had to pay for overpriced mediocre food. But if you wanted to play tennis/racquetball, etc that was additional $$$ a month, and if you wanted to play golf - that was $3,000/year on top of the regular annual dues.

Yeah, glad we left.

[Myztri]

We pay 325 a year. We have 2,219 homes. We have a clubhouse, 2 pools and a playground. We also have 2 locations of tennis courts- a total of 6 courts.

[crone]

Originally Posted by Myztri

We pay 325 a year. We have 2,219 homes. We have a clubhouse, 2 pools and a playground. We also have 2 locations of tennis courts- a total of 6 courts.

How do you pay for trash pick up, street lights, mosquito control and landscaping?