I want stone veneers..HOA says no (house, neighborhoods)

[unit731]

I certainly do not wish to hurt anyone's feelings.

I don't particularly like HOA's. Why are there HOA's? Why not just plain city streets with sidewalks and such? I'd like someone to explain why there are HOA's to begin with.

In the older parts of the metro area are regular city streets. No HOA's. What happened to that concept?

I understand gated communities with uniformed people at gate to only allow those invited to enter. Possibly for some perceived security reasons.

But what is the purpose or point of an HOA community with no gates? Why are most of the builders constructing HOA type homes or sub-divisions? Anyone explain?

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by unit731

I certainly do not wish to hurt anyone's feelings.

I don't particularly like HOA's. Why are there HOA's? Why not just plain city streets with sidewalks and such? I'd like someone to explain why there are HOA's to begin with.

In the older parts of the metro area are regular city streets. No HOA's. What happened to that concept?

I understand gated communities with uniformed people at gate to only allow those invited to enter. Possibly for some perceived security reasons.

But what is the purpose or point of an HOA community with no gates? Why are most of the builders constructing HOA type homes or sub-divisions? Anyone explain?

Because too many homeowners are not responsible enough to keep their property up to the standards that I do. Or they rent their property to people who don't really care to keep up the property.

Or they want to turn their garage into a welding business. Or they want to park their boat/RV/multi-axle truck/eyesore on the street/driveway/front yard.

Because they want to paint their house a lovely shade of violet purple, flamingo pink, sunshine yellow, or sky blue. Nice colors for Mexico or Florida, but not in the middle of the desert, please.

Sadly, Pride of ownership, character and integrity are not so common anymore. Neither is common sense or common courtesy or respect for your neighbors.

I agree - you can find nice, well kept neighborhoods that do not have HOA's. But it ain't so easy anymore.

[Ponderosa]

What he said ^^, but also in some areas homeowners join together to have common areas like pools, parks, trails, lakes, and activities for the benefit of residents. It's not all about regulation.

[Jkgourmet]

Originally Posted by Ponderosa

What he said ^^, but also in some areas homeowners join together to have common areas like pools, parks, trails, lakes, and activities for the benefit of residents. It's not all about regulation.

Quite true, as indicated in my final sentence above. It's a shame that as a community or as a society we have to regulate this kind of stuff, but I've lived here since 1989, and would be very hesitant to live in a non-HOA community.

(My comments apply to the Phoenix area only - in another part of the country, I have considered buying a home in a non-HOA community.)

[kdog]

Originally Posted by Jkgourmet

Because too many homeowners are not responsible enough to keep their property up to the standards that I do. Or they rent their property to people who don't really care to keep up the property.

Or they want to turn their garage into a welding business. Or they want to park their boat/RV/multi-axle truck/eyesore on the street/driveway/front yard.

Because they want to paint their house a lovely shade of violet purple, flamingo pink, sunshine yellow, or sky blue. Nice colors for Mexico or Florida, but not in the middle of the desert, please.

Sadly, Pride of ownership, character and integrity are not so common anymore. Neither is common sense or common courtesy or respect for your neighbors.

Actually, all that can be prevented WITHOUT an HOA by the land developers when they subdivide the land. They do this by implementing a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions which is attached to the titles for each property and must be signed by the home owner when they purchase the property. I know this for a fact, because our neighborhood has this. So we have all of the benefits of an HOA like architectural controls and stipulations about junk cars, running business from the home, etc. But we have none of the downsides to HOAs like fees and obnoxious parking restrictions. Works for me.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by kdog

Actually, all that can be prevented WITHOUT an HOA by the land developers when they subdivide the land. They do this by implementing a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions which is attached to the titles for each property and must be signed by the home owner when they purchase the property. I know this for a fact, because our neighborhood has this. So we have all of the benefits of an HOA like architectural controls and stipulations about junk cars, running business from the home, etc. But we have none of the downsides to HOAs like fees and obnoxious parking restrictions. Works for me.

Kdog, is this a new community where the builder is still in control and hasn't passed control over to the community?

[kdog]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

Kdog, is this a new community where the builder is still in control and hasn't passed control over to the community?

Six years old. Builder is still in control (still building), and there's a vague provision in the covenants about replacing "committee" members by approval of a majority of property holders. No timeline or anything. That makes me wonder if control could be wrested away from him now. Although maybe not since he may still own a majority of the parcels (on the other hand, it's getting pretty close.)

[AZ bound]

Originally Posted by kdog

Actually, all that can be prevented WITHOUT an HOA by the land developers when they subdivide the land. They do this by implementing a Declaration of Covenants and Restrictions which is attached to the titles for each property and must be signed by the home owner when they purchase the property. I know this for a fact, because our neighborhood has this. So we have all of the benefits of an HOA like architectural controls and stipulations about junk cars, running business from the home, etc. But we have none of the downsides to HOAs like fees and obnoxious parking restrictions. Works for me.

Who enforces the CCRs then?

[kdog]

Originally Posted by AZ bound

Who enforces the CCRs then?

Good question. According to the covenants, it's the "committee". which is currently the builder and his wife, and the "trustee", which is the title company. I wasn't aware that title companies do that sort of thing, but maybe they do.

[pbenjamin]

CC&Rs without some sort of group to enforce them are pretty much useless. We lived in such a neighborhood and it soon degenerated into "You don't like it? Sue me."