What's your view on HOA's? (Manassas, Vienna: selling a house, neighborhood, to buy)

[Nancy in Nokomis]

My neighborhood does not have an HOA but we have a very active neighborhood watch, community pools, a lake with jogging trails, tot lots, etc., we also have lost of community events. Mostly everyone keeps their homes nice.

NO rip-off HOA for us! Yippee!

[lovetoboat]

This is all great. I will most definitely ask who manages the HOA when we narrow down the houses. We are headed down this weekend and I am getting very excited. This will be my husband's first trip there and we will travel the neighborhoods a bit more than I did with my daughter the last time.
You've been a great help!

[DC Oldtimer]

All other things being equal, I prefer a neighborhood without an HOA. I just dont like the idea of committees dictating what color I can paint my house.

I dont think the caricature on one of the old Seinfeld shows was that far off from some of the HOAs you find in real life.

[Borge]

I prefer HOA's. Just drive down Springfield and see nice, smaller, 60's homes on large lots, adjacent to a ridiculous brand new multi-family home that extends right up to the property line. I would prefer no HOA, but there are too many idiots around not using common sense.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by lovetoboat

I will most definitely ask who manages the HOA when we narrow down the houses.

Be aware, though, that HOAs can change management companies. After our HOA's initial contract with CMC ended, they awarded the new contract to Armstrong. The quality of service isn't any worse (and in some ways, it's better) but it could have turned out differently. You can always help set the "tone" by volunteering for an HOA committee (our neighborhood has Grounds and Facilities, Covenants, Technology, and Activities committees).

[normie]

Originally Posted by DC Oldtimer

I just dont like the idea of committees dictating what color I can paint my house.

Is that really an issue in NOVA? House color isn't mentioned in my HOA documents. Of course, most of the homes here are brick or have vinyl siding so people don't paint them anyway. They don't even care what color you paint your front door--which is great, IMO. We have one house along Lowes Island Blvd. with a bright purple door and we use it as a landmark when giving directions.



Here's the purple door... and a few other colorful ones further down the block. (But I get your point--many people don't like HOA rules. That's cool, and totally understandable. I personally like the rules my HOA has, but it's not for everyone.)

[slim04]

You should definitely read the other HOA thread. I also highly recommend contacting a HOA board member (either from the website or the management company) and have a conversion with them about the HOA. The questions I like to ask is what's your biggest headache? and is there anything you think a new home buyer would like to know? are the reserves adequate? any special assessments coming or in discussion?

I did this and the president of the HOA told me that they had marine clay issues causing a building to sink, which may require some foundation work. Whoops, this wasn't disclosed to me by the seller and I was able to get out of the contract because supposedly all the homes had serious marine clay issues.

If you want to know about the HOA's performance (i.e. too strict or too lax), I would sort of randomly ask people around in the neighborhood (or ask them if you can call them later). Most will talk your ear off once they figure you aren't a salesperson. Just remember to take any complaints with a grain of salt.

[cdmurphy]

Originally Posted by normie

Is that really an issue in NOVA? House color isn't mentioned in my HOA documents. Of course, most of the homes here are brick or have vinyl siding so people don't paint them anyway. They don't even care what color you paint your front door--which is great, IMO. We have one house along Lowes Island Blvd. with a bright purple door and we use it as a landmark when giving directions.

Our HOA requires approval for changing the color of anything (siding, shutters, door) and as far as I can tell no one in my immediate area (which is about six years old now) has done anything but repaint with the same color. They were very particular about color allocation when we were choosing options - there were four siding colors and four trim colors, and you couldn't have exactly the same combo as your immediate neighbors. Each builder in Brambleton (there are seven) had its own approved color schemes so that all of the houses don't look exactly the same, but nothing is particularly jarring. I definitely think that a purple door would not be approved by our HOA. Of course, we are decades away from being completely built out, and we are just now finishing sales in Phase II - so I think that probably makes a difference. They don't want anything to hinder the sale of new homes.

[normie]

Originally Posted by cdmurphy

Our HOA requires approval for changing the color of anything (siding, shutters, door) and as far as I can tell no one in my immediate area (which is about six years old now) has done anything but repaint with the same color. They were very particular about color allocation when we were choosing options - there were four siding colors and four trim colors, and you couldn't have exactly the same combo as your immediate neighbors. Each builder in Brambleton (there are seven) had its own approved color schemes so that all of the houses don't look exactly the same, but nothing is particularly jarring. I definitely think that a purple door would not be approved by our HOA. Of course, we are decades away from being completely built out, and we are just now finishing sales in Phase II - so I think that probably makes a difference. They don't want anything to hinder the sale of new homes.

Here we have a great example of why you find out about an HOA before buying the house. There's something for everyone, so make sure you get the HOA that's right for you. People who want a more uniform neighborhood would love Brambleton. People who want to be free to paint their front doors purple would like Cascades. People who don't want any rules at all can live in non-HOA neighborhoods.

Like I said, something for everyone.

[Denton56]

I have never lived with an HOA and never wanted to. Some are pretty loose and some are ridiculously strict. For instance my friend, in a fairly large single family home, got in trouble when she repainted the trim around her front door in an off white color that was not the HOA approved off white color. They left her a snotty note saying that it was NOT acceptable and would have to be repainted.

Other friends have to get approval from their HOA before doing ANY landscaping on their large, 1/2 to 1 acre lots. One family was told they had to take down a back porch that they had installed without HOA approval. The HOA committee had voted that it was ugly and part of it could be seen from one side road.

After you sign a contract on a home in an HOA you will be allowed to see the bylaws of the HOA. At that point you can legally cancel the contract if you don't like the HOA rules. That's how my real estate agent explained it to me. I told her that it seems backwards, I should be able to see the contract prior to signing a contract, but that's not how it works in Virginia. Fortunately, we were able to find a new house without an HOA.

I can't imagine having to get approval to paint my front door or to add a screened porch or plant a tree in yard. But to each his own.