Homeowners associations (Phoenix, Surprise, Goodyear: how much, lawyers, new house)

[mattyk]

homeowners associations are ridiculous. they are driving me nuts. if i own a house no one should be able to tell me that i cant park my company truck in my driveway. they should not be able to tell me that i must put my city of mesa trashcans in m garage(they stink when full of trash no matter how much u clean them when their empty). if i want to paint my house pink and yellow i damn well should b able too(but i don't wanna). its like even though you own your home you don't really. what kind of democracy is this?

[blisterpeanuts]

I agree. Why do HOA's even exist? I feel so lucky that my neighborhood has no such thing, and my neighbors and I have a live-and-let-live approach. Sort of the way you'd expect things to be in an independent-minded place like AZ.

[mattyk]

Originally Posted by blisterpeanuts

I agree. Why do HOA's even exist? I feel so lucky that my neighborhood has no such thing, and my neighbors and I have a live-and-let-live approach. Sort of the way you'd expect things to be in an independent-minded place like AZ.

haha this is a little off topic but i started the topic so there....

when do i become a senior member?

[twiggy]

I would love an HOA that actually addressed the real problems. Like the guy thinking his house is a great place to start the neighborhood junk yard or used auto parts store. But, they seem to just pick on my basket ball hoop or my 4 weeds or my garbage can instead. I guess the easy targets! If they solved the real problems that would effect the resale of my home I would bow to them. But, ...... as we all know who have HOA's, they only address what they feel they can conquer. I could do this! It's the burly guy with 10 cars and the weed fortress that nobody can talk to, including it seems my HOA!

[artvandelay]

HOA's are a revenue center, period. They pick their battles with the best likelihood of fine revenue. It's too bad that all new houses come with an HOA, and you can avoid them, though you are limited to an older neighborhood. It's funny, but my neighbor's van with a sheet covering his company name is a bigger eyesore than a company name on it.

[Master Shake]

Originally Posted by twiggy

I would love an HOA that actually addressed the real problems. Like the guy thinking his house is a great place to start the neighborhood junk yard or used auto parts store. But, they seem to just pick on my basket ball hoop or my 4 weeds or my garbage can instead. I guess the easy targets! If they solved the real problems that would effect the resale of my home I would bow to them. But, ...... as we all know who have HOA's, they only address what they feel they can conquer. I could do this! It's the burly guy with 10 cars and the weed fortress that nobody can talk to, including it seems my HOA!

You make some really good points here!

In my opinion, most HOA's are basically formed by lawyers or the builders themselves that create their own LLC or LLP, and it is almost impossible to buy a house in a new community that doesn't have an HOA. They hire a few people to collect and process dues and occasionally send out letters to homeowners that violated one or more of the various rules. Although HOA's do allow community homeowners to be elected as representatives, the primary purpose of an HOA is to collect dues (don't let anyone fool you on this!)

Some people will argue that an HOA adds to a community by keeping everything nice and pretty and orderly -- which may indeed be the case (such as when there are many common areas that need maintenance, etc.). However, if you have ever reviewed and/or audited the HOA's financial report, you would seriously have to wonder where all of that money is going. Does it really cost $100k per month to cut and water the grass? Maybe I should start my own landscaping company that works solely with HOA's!

As for keeping the community up to standards? I'm sure there are a few good HOA's and communities out there, but I have not seen any lately -- especially with all of the empty houses where the owners/investors do not perform any upkeep. What do the HOA's do in these cases?

...sorry for the rant, but now you know my feelings regarding HOA's!

[Captain Bill]

If one doesn't like HOA's then the simple solution is do not buy in one.

If one is in an HOA community and doesn't like the way it's run, the simple solution is to volunteer your services for a committee or become a board member and have a say in straightening out the community. HOA's are run by community volunteers, and everyone should volunteer some of their time at some point in their residency.

Fines are not a profit center. In fact they cost money and energy to pursue, and a headache to deal with, because many of the people who are fined believe the rules are not for them. They want their neighbors to obey the rules, but not themselves. So when this type comes in to complain about a fine, the first thing they bring up in their defense is that someone else is in violation. They're usually wrong about their accusation, but that is the way they operate. Use attacks as a defense weapon.

I'm on the board of my community and on the board of the master community so I have a lot of experience in how a well run community operates.

For fines, if the person cooperates after getting the fine, and comes to the board requesting it, then we will remove the fine, except for 10% to cover the hard costs of the fine process.

HOA's are not for everyone. If it's not for you, then by all means don't live in one.

They are here to stay because the city governments realize that they get the same tax money from the homes, but the HOA does the park upkeep, and if it's a gated community, the community pays for the streets, street lights and everything in the community.

It's a sort of double taxation and the cities love it.

[wit-nit]

The OP is a perfect example why they have HOA's.

[ITChick]

Originally Posted by mattyk

homeowners associations are ridiculous. they are driving me nuts. if i own a house no one should be able to tell me that i cant park my company truck in my driveway. they should not be able to tell me that i must put my city of mesa trashcans in m garage(they stink when full of trash no matter how much u clean them when their empty). if i want to paint my house pink and yellow i damn well should b able too(but i don't wanna). its like even though you own your home you don't really. what kind of democracy is this?

I agree with everything you wrote. That is why I despise HOA's. Unfortunately, it seems that a lot of the communities in Phoenix are full of them.

It didn't used to be this way. My Parents and Grandparents never had to put up with HOA's when they bought their first homes. I wish it didn't change.

To add, I believe you become a Senior Member when you reach 100 posts. Anyone feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

[Ponderosa]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

If one doesn't like HOA's then the simple solution is do not buy in one.

If one is in an HOA community and doesn't like the way it's run, the simple solution is to volunteer your services for a committee or become a board member and have a say in straightening out the community. HOA's are run by community volunteers, and everyone should volunteer some of their time at some point in their residency.

Fines are not a profit center. In fact they cost money and energy to pursue, and a headache to deal with, because many of the people who are fined believe the rules are not for them. They want their neighbors to obey the rules, but not themselves. So when this type comes in to complain about a fine, the first thing they bring up in their defense is that someone else is in violation. They're usually wrong about their accusation, but that is the way they operate. Use attacks as a defense weapon.

I'm on the board of my community and on the board of the master community so I have a lot of experience in how a well run community operates.

For fines, if the person cooperates after getting the fine, and comes to the board requesting it, then we will remove the fine, except for 10% to cover the hard costs of the fine process.

HOA's are not for everyone. If it's not for you, then by all means don't live in one.

They are here to stay because the city governments realize that they get the same tax money from the homes, but the HOA does the park upkeep, and if it's a gated community, the community pays for the streets, street lights and everything in the community.

It's a sort of double taxation and the cities love it.

Ah, would that it were. It is all but impossible to buy a home built in the last 15 years that is not in a HOA or in a "bad" part of town. Permitting authorities now require an HOA to maintain community drainage structures which all developments have and for all of the reasons you mention. The alternative to buying into an HOA is to be forced into an older home or a unsafe neighborhood for the most part. People who desire not to have an HOA would be virtually excluded from Ahwatukee, Goodyear, Surprise, and Maricopa among other booming cities. That is not freedom of choice.

I don't think many object to HOAs, but to the tactics. Twiggy is spot on. Many of the bylaws restrict and control behaviors that have no measurable impact on property values, rear yard plant pallets and repetitious, monotone color schemes for example. As far as getting involved, in many developments like Estrella where I am, the builder has so many lots that they can vote in any increases and spend whatever sum on whatever cause they want and hire and compensate staff as they see fit. The real "homeowners" have no voice at all.