Condos that are pet friendly in Huntsville (Madison, Valley: for sale, real estate) - Huntsville-Madison-Decatur area - Alabama (AL) - City-Data Forum

MelHar · 11-06-2015, 08:16 PM

Hi Folks!,

I am moving to Huntsville and wishing to buy a condo. I did a search on this forum, as recommended, and found inquiries about pet friendly apts., but not about condos/townhouses. I did read where one of the real estate agents said not all agents are careful in filling out the MLS form completely and that the agents are not required by law to list the HOA rules, etc. One condo that seemed perfect to what we were looking for did not list whether or not pets were allowed. I searched the same listing on ValleyMLS, Trulia, and Realtor.com but saw no mention. It's only after I found an old listing for a sold condo on the same street that I realized that no pets were allowed.

I have friends who own a house in Huntsville and they recommended that I focus on finding a condo in the Jones Valley area and/or within the 02 zip code.

Does anyone know which condos are pet friendly or even pet-unfriendly in the recommended area? By pet, I am referring to a 9 lb dog.

Any help will be appreciated!

LCTMadison · 11-07-2015, 06:04 AM

Townhouses typically have a lot less restrictions on pets than condos do. Honestly, when you find a property you just need to make sure there are no restrictions and for condos, get ALL the information. Many condos have additional expenses such as working capital funds, etc. that are additional money paid at closing.

In the listings there is supposed to be an HOA point of contact that can provide you information about pets, etc. Would definitely acquire that information before ever making an offer on a property.

We are not required by law to post the HOA docs although our MLS rules and regs state that we are required to post the HOA contact info, although there are still agents that don't do this. There are some agents that do post HOA documents...in our new MLS we have a section in the listing for "Documents" and they are typically posted there. The bottom line is you can't take what is in the MLS listing as gospel and all information needs to be verified...even things in documents. I have had several occasions where HOA docs were posted in the MLS listing yet when I pulled them from the probate they were actually outdated.

jewel104 · 11-09-2015, 12:14 PM

Hi MelHar, I own a townhouse (rental property) in the area your friend suggests and have had it for 10 years. The subdivision is called Gourdneck and has no HOA in *some* but not all of the townhouses. Many, in this area, at least, are pet-friendly, including mine. The street is Wynterhall Road. I hope this is useful.

RocketDawg · 11-09-2015, 04:59 PM

There's a townhouse/condo development (I'm not sure what the difference in the two is) in Edgewater called Steeplechase West on the right just as you enter the neighborhood, that I'm pretty sure allows pets. I live in the neighborhood, and though I have never been in one, they look really nice to me. I think they are one-story, and have an alley in the back where the garages are. You might want to check them out ... I've seen a few "For Sale" signs from the main drive into Edgewater. It is in Madison and is extremely convenient to everything. We do have an active HOA, which to me is a good thing ... people take care of their property. I have no idea of the price range, but it's pretty much an upscale neighborhood.

There's no reason to restrict yourself to the 35802 ZIP Code unless you just want to live in Southeast Huntsville. Jones Valley is certainly a nice, centrally located area, but there are many of those in the metro.

Kman27 · 11-10-2015, 09:56 AM

I owned a condo in Plantation South (its located in the 35802 zip). Unless the HOA rules have changed they allow pets.

Becky2517 · 11-10-2015, 02:51 PM

We have one story condos right across from Lake Forest...The Villa's at Naturewalk - even has a doggie wash and walking area

LCTMadison · 11-10-2015, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RocketDawg

There's a townhouse/condo development (I'm not sure what the difference in the two is) in Edgewater called Steeplechase West on the right just as you enter the neighborhood, that I'm pretty sure allows pets. I live in the neighborhood, and though I have never been in one, they look really nice to me. I think they are one-story, and have an alley in the back where the garages are. You might want to check them out ... I've seen a few "For Sale" signs from the main drive into Edgewater. It is in Madison and is extremely convenient to everything. We do have an active HOA, which to me is a good thing ... people take care of their property. I have no idea of the price range, but it's pretty much an upscale neighborhood.

There's no reason to restrict yourself to the 35802 ZIP Code unless you just want to live in Southeast Huntsville. Jones Valley is certainly a nice, centrally located area, but there are many of those in the metro.

Those are townhomes under the Edgewater HOA and yes they allow pets.

A condo is basically ownership divided between the owners...IE if you have a building with 10 units, then each owner owns 1/10 of the property. Owners own the inside of their unit and the association (who is the homeowners) own the exterior and all amenities and maintain exterior maintenance of the property. The condo association typically provides homeowners insurance and the individual owners have condo insurance which insures from the sheetrock in. Townhomes are more like SFD in that the owner actually owns their unit from the "outside in" and typically some deeded property (front, back, side yard, etc) and is usually responsible for all exterior maintenance (some developments may have included yard maintenance in their HOA fees). Condos typically have higher HOA fees than townhomes because of the additional costs of insurance. Hope that makes sense!

The Villas at Madison across from Lake Forest are actually apartments, they are only for rent. They are REALLY nice, I had a client live there last year while their home in Lake Forest was being built. They liked the security that the complex provided as their rental home was broken into.

Madmom2000 · 11-10-2015, 08:06 PM

The Villas of Madison is pet friendly. There always seem to be folks walking their dogs there and there are two dog parks that are just a couple of mies away in either the east or west direction.

1153 Cathedral Cir, Madison, AL 35758 | Zillow

Becky2517 · 11-11-2015, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LCTMadison

The Villas at Madison across from Lake Forest are actually apartments, they are only for rent. They are REALLY nice, I had a client live there last year while their home in Lake Forest was being built. They liked the security that the complex provided as their rental home was broken into.

I thought they were selling some for around $150K? It is nice to have the added security, while they can't be everywhere all the time, they are a good deterrent for too many shenanigans

needtosellmyhome · 11-11-2015, 07:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Becky2517

I thought they were selling some for around $150K? It is nice to have the added security, while they can't be everywhere all the time, they are a good deterrent for too many shenanigans

The last I heard The Villas (directly across from the main Lake Forest entrance) were all rentals but Stoneridge Homes was selling one level townhomes in Magnolia Village across from Lake Forest for around 150K but they are sold out of there. After Stoneridge sold out of Magnolia Village they started building those same townhouse plans on Atherton Circle on the main side of Lake Forest (Oakwood at Lake Forest) and they are almost completely sold out of there as well.