How to get info on HOA’s before putting an offer on a house? (sales, rental)

[Kaisermust]

I’ve been making ourselves a short-list (well the list is not too short anymore LOL) of developments we’d like to look at for our retirement home when we come down on vacation in Sept. Most have HOA’s which are mostly non-existent here in upstate NY so no experience whatsoever as to what we can and can’t do to our house/property. How would I go about getting a copy of these developments HOA’s to see if we can live with their rules/restrictions and keep a development on our short-list or not? Not ready to look at specific houses yet since we won’t be moving til late 2019 but would like to narrow our development list down quite a bit knowing we can live within their rules.

[MovingToWarmth]

Originally Posted by Kaisermust

I’ve been making ourselves a short-list (well the list is not too short anymore LOL) of developments we’d like to look at for our retirement home when we come down on vacation in Sept. Most have HOA’s which are mostly non-existent here in upstate NY so no experience whatsoever as to what we can and can’t do to our house/property. How would I go about getting a copy of these developments HOA’s to see if we can live with their rules/restrictions and keep a development on our short-list or not? Not ready to look at specific houses yet since we won’t be moving til late 2019 but would like to narrow our development list down quite a bit knowing we can live within their rules.

We know a family on Carolina Farms Blvd. and they claim there are no HOA fees but his development is not in a senior community. The husband is a realtor so I guess he knows what he's talking about. Something to look into. We too are planning to move to MB, this year after the summer vacationers are gone.

[CTyankee54]

Most developments do not post their HOA Covenants online for non-members to view. In most cases, you're going to need to visit the development and ask for a copy (if it's a new development with a sales office) or, if it's an existing development without a sales office, your agent should be able to get a copy. Alternately, if you can figure out who the HOA has hired as a property manager, they could provide a copy as well.

[djlen]

In my opinion that's the area that is most important to me, that I and my wife will be leaning on our realtor(s) for to make
decisions. HOA's, I'm finding are not all that complicated. They involve amenities such as pool and clubhouse usage, cable tv and upkeep on property like landscaping etc.
More important to me and my wife is this "leased land" thing. We had no clue what that involved initially and are now getting feedback from our realtor that older, more established communities are safer from a land rental perspective. Before we sign on for anything you can be sure we will have researched the property we're moving into. She has already steered us away from some 'iffy' 55+ communities and toward others based mostly on her knowledge of who's trustworthy and who is not.

Regards,
Len

[FloridaKash]

Originally Posted by MovingToWarmth

We know a family on Carolina Farms Blvd. and they claim there are no HOA fees but his development is not in a senior community. The husband is a realtor so I guess he knows what he's talking about. Something to look into. We too are planning to move to MB, this year after the summer vacationers are gone.

HOA Fees for The Farm at Carolina Forest run about $85 a month which includes garbage and cable tv. Fee may vary depending on the section you are looking at.

As stated, most HOAs will not share their information unless you are a resident. If interested in a property ask the seller to provide a copy of the HOA Regulations and Rules book.

[Teddyterp]

South Carolina Law states that you must be allowed to review the written by-laws of an HOA before you make the decision to sign a contract to purchase property in that community. You must also be provided with a written copy at the time of settlement on that property.

[CTyankee54]

Originally Posted by djlen

In my opinion that's the area that is most important to me, that I and my wife will be leaning on our realtor(s) for to make
decisions. HOA's, I'm finding are not all that complicated. They involve amenities such as pool and clubhouse usage, cable tv and upkeep on property like landscaping etc.
More important to me and my wife is this "leased land" thing. We had no clue what that involved initially and are now getting feedback from our realtor that older, more established communities are safer from a land rental perspective. Before we sign on for anything you can be sure we will have researched the property we're moving into. She has already steered us away from some 'iffy' 55+ communities and toward others based mostly on her knowledge of who's trustworthy and who is not.

Regards,
Len

Definitely be wary of the "leased land" thing especially if the community is still building new houses. A few years ago the people who live in Lakeside Village were up in arms because the developer was selling houses and cutting the monthly price of the leased land on which the new house was built to a price under what the existing owners were paying. This resulted making it impossible for the existing owners to sell their houses because the lease on their land cost more than the lease on the new houses. They had protests, etc. So, be VERY careful with leased land situations.



I personally would not want to get into a leased land situation but everyone has different thoughts on the subject.

[blueherons]

I would be leery of a development with no HOA.

You don't want to wake up one day and find out your next door neighbor is running a AirBnB out of their home or rusted out cars in the driveway.

[Kaisermust]

I’ve just finished reading some horror stories about homeowners who have lost their home or had a lien attached by the HOA over the stupidest things. For instance, having an small American garden flag on my front lawn. I don’t want some HOA board telling me whether I can plant flowers in my front yard, or have an outdoor dining set in my backyard, or what color I can paint my front door. I can see if We let our house fall into disrepair but I don’t want to live in a development where all the houses and their surroundings look so alike, like that TV show “Stepford”. We keep our property nice but the operative word in that sentence is “our” home, not the HOA’s home. Which MB HOA developments are more restrictive than others? And do you lease the land in most developments or do you own the land?

[e66330]

First of all , don't ever lease land , always own . HOA's are trying to maintain a standard , hopefully one that weeds the riff raff and undesirables out . Never really heard of one that does not allow a patio or dining set outside . Most of them that I have seen all have one . I would try to find if they are running in the red or in the black .