HOA questions (Johnson City, Jonesborough, Gray: houses, neighborhoods, buy)

[Cycle crazy]

Originally Posted by DubbleT

Are you from a part of the country where HOA's are the norm? It's not like that here, there are probably far more areas without HOA's than those that have them, unless you're only considering newer builds.
I don't think you'll have a lot of difficulty finding something that suits your needs without having to go into the boonies.
This is my neighborhood in the city limits of Bristol, pretty laid back.
http:////www.city-data.com/forum/mem...31-nhood8.html
http:////www.city-data.com/forum/mem...29-nhood6.html
http:////www.city-data.com/forum/mem...28-nhood5.html
http:////www.city-data.com/forum/mem...6-nhood12.html

Thankyou for the pictures and your information about HOAs.

I'm sure I'll locate properties without the fees. It just seemed that the homes that we had liked, in the areas we like always had HOA fees.

[Beretta]

Originally Posted by temptation001

1.) Every HOA is different. Rules are different.
2.) Not every neighborhood has an HOA.
3.) If you live in the city, you still have to pay city and state taxes, HOA or not.
4.) In the US, you choose if you want to live in an HOA neighborhood or not.

This is so true. It all just depends but this area, for the most part, does not have a lot of HOA's. Johnson City has the most subdivisions with the most HOA's imho.

A good realtor can help you with this once you narrow down an area.

[jchometeam]

HOA's are basically for condos, and really high-end developments. Deed restrictions are mostly in high-end and/or newer (regardless of price point) neighborhoods. I imagine those are the types of homes that the OP is looking at. I bought a 500k home in a nice neighborhood in Johnson City this year without an HOA and the rules are basically 1 page mostly applying to the way the houses had to be built at the development stage. My point is that you should be able to find what you are looking for without overbearing rules.

Rccrain is right, most people around here do not like HOA's associated with single family neighborhoods and they are rare. In my 3 month home search this past summer (400k-600k price point) the only neighborhood that we were looking at which had an HOA was Willows Ridge, and the HOA was a deal breaker for me. The deed restrictions are more common, but the enforcement of these rules is generally lenient. Often these rules (e.g., restrictions on fences, visible trash cans, etc.) are broken by several homeowners over the course of time and nobody really cares.

[Ted Bear]

OP, do some basic research on what an HOA Involves. There is a lot of incorrect information already in this thread.

True: Most people in the area do not like HOA's, but unless you want to live in an area with cars up on blocks, Billy-Bobs commercial truck parked on the street, or coon hounds tied to a tree, you better think about an HOA Community.

False: Most neighborhoods ( i will call them upscale developments) in the area do not have HOA's. On the contrary, most do, which helps to protect the builder from having the community go to hell before they can get out.

For a good example, probably the tightest in the area, look at the CCR's for The Ridges. It is an upscale community (although it has power lines going right over the development which is a huge distraction but it seems to be where people build if they wish to "outdo" their neighbor) with a golf course and they seem to do a good job enforcing the covenants: The Ridges Property Owners Association - Jonesborough, TN

I live in a nice community with an HOA. The intentions were good, but the enforcements is really weak as there seems to be a "they are nice people and we don't wish to be "mean" or we want to be nice to our neighbors" sort of attitude by the Board (even though the Board is legally obligated to enforce the covenants). As a result, people who wish to ignore the covenants do so as they know they are not going to get into an enforcement action if they just do as they wish. And they do. We have CCR's saying trash cans away, no commercial vehicles, no signs, play equipment in back yards, construction must be approved and yards must be maintained. None of them are enforced, but i guess without that backdrop of the covenants, things would be a LOT worse. And yes, it does seem to be mostly the "libertarian" type of local people who ascribe to the "it's my property i can do with it what i want" even though they were given a copy of the rules when they moved in. It is a very odd thing: people want a nice neighborhood as long as it it someone else who keeps it nice. Very odd thing.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by ted bear

op, do some basic research on what an hoa involves. There is a lot of incorrect information already in this thread.

True: Most people in the area do not like hoa's, but unless you want to live in an area with cars up on blocks, billy-bobs commercial truck parked on the street, or coon hounds tied to a tree, you better think about an hoa community.

lol

[rccrain]

Originally Posted by Ted Bear

OP, do some basic research on what an HOA Involves. There is a lot of incorrect information already in this thread.

True: Most people in the area do not like HOA's, but unless you want to live in an area with cars up on blocks, Billy-Bobs commercial truck parked on the street, or coon hounds tied to a tree, you better think about an HOA Community.

False: Most neighborhoods ( i will call them upscale developments) in the area do not have HOA's. On the contrary, most do, which helps to protect the builder from having the community go to hell before they can get out.

For a good example, probably the tightest in the area, look at the CCR's for The Ridges. It is an upscale community (although it has power lines going right over the development which is a huge distraction but it seems to be where people build if they wish to "outdo" their neighbor) with a golf course and they seem to do a good job enforcing the covenants: The Ridges Property Owners Association - Jonesborough, TN

Most of it in this very post. (regarding bold above)

[Ted Bear]

Originally Posted by rccrain

Most of it in this very post. (regarding bold above)

LoL


Originally Posted by Ted Bear OP, do some basic research on what an HOA Involves. There is a lot of incorrect information already in this thread. True: Most people in the area do not like HOA's, but unless you want to live in an area with cars up on blocks, Billy-Bobs commercial truck parked on the street, or coon hounds tied to a tree, you better think about an HOA Community. False: Most neighborhoods ( i will call them upscale developments) in the area do not have HOA's. On the contrary, most do, which helps to protect the builder from having the community go to hell before they can get out. For a good example, probably the tightest in the area, look at the CCR's for The Ridges. It is an upscale community (although it has power lines going right over the development which is a huge distraction but it seems to be where people build if they wish to "outdo" their neighbor) with a golf course and they seem to do a good job enforcing the covenants: The Ridges Property Owners Association - Jonesborough, TN

Read more: //www.city-data.com/forum/kings...estions-2.html


So, have to ask if you live in an HOA Community?

You think more prefer HOA's locally, than do?

You observe that many locations without HOA's are pristine with well kept yards and manicured homes?

The Ridges isn't on top of a good set of well enforced covenants?

I thought you lived in the area, but maybe no if you strongly rebut what i said.

PS...with COVID, i am following the guidelines and don't get out much, it at all. Things could have changed quite a bit in the past few months. Apparently so if my observations are that wrong.

Let me know.

[DubbleT]

Originally Posted by Ted Bear

LoL


Originally Posted by Ted Bear OP, do some basic research on what an HOA Involves. There is a lot of incorrect information already in this thread. True: Most people in the area do not like HOA's, but unless you want to live in an area with cars up on blocks, Billy-Bobs commercial truck parked on the street, or coon hounds tied to a tree, you better think about an HOA Community. False: Most neighborhoods ( i will call them upscale developments) in the area do not have HOA's. On the contrary, most do, which helps to protect the builder from having the community go to hell before they can get out. For a good example, probably the tightest in the area, look at the CCR's for The Ridges. It is an upscale community (although it has power lines going right over the development which is a huge distraction but it seems to be where people build if they wish to "outdo" their neighbor) with a golf course and they seem to do a good job enforcing the covenants: The Ridges Property Owners Association - Jonesborough, TN

Read more: //www.city-data.com/forum/kings...estions-2.html


So, have to ask if you live in an HOA Community?

You think more prefer HOA's locally, than do?

You observe that many locations without HOA's are pristine with well kept yards and manicured homes?

The Ridges isn't on top of a good set of well enforced covenants?

I thought you lived in the area, but maybe no if you strongly rebut what i said.

PS...with COVID, i am following the guidelines and don't get out much, it at all. Things could have changed quite a bit in the past few months. Apparently so if my observations are that wrong.

Let me know.

Question for you. Since you agree that HOA are less preferred in the area, yet seem to think that non HOA means Billy bob redneck homes, does that mean the tri-city area is a majority of billy bob homes? Is that what you see when you are out and about? I see some tacky areas, but I also see a lot more average and nice areas. I sincerely doubt that the average and nice areas are ALL HOA, since they are less preferred.

[jchometeam]

It is true that the Ridges is one of the communities with a very extensive set of rules and an active HOA.

Yes, most locations without HOA's are very well kept. Some neighborhoods, especially those at a lower price point, have owners that work on their cars in their driveways. And yes, some neighborhoods have owners who own a business and thus that business truck might be visible to the neighborhood. Some even have their city-issued trash can up against their house visible to the road. If those things mean that a neighborhood isn't upkept, then we will just have to disagree.

And NO, you will not see dogs routinely tied to trees, that is actually outlawed in Johnson City and probably many others, and only occurs sometimes in the very rural areas.

In the upper end neighborhoods, these residents generally pay someone to do their yard, do the maintenance on their cars, etc. This would be the case with or without an HOA. If you see a upper-end home without a well cut yard, it is probably in foreclosure.

I have been a Realtor for 12 years and I've never had anyone specifically ask for an HOA neighborhood. Some will bear it if the fees aren't too high and the covenants aren't too stupid, other's won't. On the other hand, I've had probably a third of my buyers specifically ask for no HOA when we go over what they are looking for, and it would be a dealbreaker for them.

Bottom line- I think we can agree that HOA neighborhoods attract a certain type of buyer, and that we don't have all that many of those kinds of buyers in the Tri-Cities.

[Beretta]

Well - alrighty. I think we have gone from answering the OP's question to coon hounds and around the holler. Good grief.