HOAs and New Residents of a neighborhood

[suncat]

Aren't you supposed to receive the covenants when you buy the place? My buyer's agent gave them to me.

[cry884]

HOA covenants very rarely change... asking for "new ones" is like your first post. It says, "I'm an HOA neophyte". That said, call and ask! They work for you.

All of this lamenting that HOAs are a racket and no one knows where the money goes. All this suspicion and no action? Call and ask for a copy of the budget. Any management company will provide that to any owner. It shows where your money is spent - usually, it goes to the landscaper, the pool company, the management co., printing and postage, perhaps social or other committees, meeting costs, audit preparation, legal fees if the association needs to contact an attorney, insurance on the common area, etc. etc.

[NC_newcomer]

PDXMom, ditto: the only communication I got was a bill for the annual dues. And the neighbors confirm that's about as active as the HOA management (Tallis) is. Our maintained "common area" is the sign at the foot of the road, and a grassy (muddy) path between two houses to access the greenway.

We get an annual budget statement. Looks like almost all the budget goes to insurance (for the sign and path?), "maintainnence" around the sign (and perhaps the center median strip of Cary Parkway? We're in Parkway PUD), and running Tallis.

The good news is that because the HOA is so lax, they don't terrorize us with rules. I believe that the house down the road has <gasp!> has non-approved shutter paint, in a rather nice deep teal on the regulation pale gray house.

Let's see.... 60 houses each pay about $150/year in dues. Wow, for that sum, we could have a heckuva block party twice year for BBQ and "maintaining" the sign...

[saturnfan]

Shame buyers don't just avoid HOA deeded homes and tell the builder why.

Maybe this stupidity would go away.

[PDXmom]

Originally Posted by cry884

HOA covenants very rarely change... asking for "new ones" is like your first post. It says, "I'm an HOA neophyte". That said, call and ask! They work for you.

All of this lamenting that HOAs are a racket and no one knows where the money goes. All this suspicion and no action? Call and ask for a copy of the budget. Any management company will provide that to any owner. It shows where your money is spent - usually, it goes to the landscaper, the pool company, the management co., printing and postage, perhaps social or other committees, meeting costs, audit preparation, legal fees if the association needs to contact an attorney, insurance on the common area, etc. etc.

FWIW, this thread is about 15 months old. I did actually get all those docs that you suggested from Talis. Turns out the majority of the budget was going to Talis. But fortunately, the HOA board found a new smaller mgmt group so we are not dealing w/ Talis.

I do attend the HOA yearly meeting and this year I may attempt a board position. But I still have an issue of paying over $400 a year to get the grassy strip by the entrance & the "park" mowed. Our "park" is a grave yard the developer couldn't do anything with. I wouldn't mind if there was a play structure or something... it's just a bench and a few bushes... oh and dead people. I figure if I'm ever gonna get those bodies exumed and a pool put in up there I better get myself on the board.

Edit: NC_newcomer, good luck on your journey West!!! I hope you find peace. I still very much miss the West but I'm making peace with our decision to plant ourselves here.... for now at least. Happy trails!!

[cry884]

Originally Posted by PDXmom

I figure if I'm ever gonna get those bodies exhumed and a pool put in up there I better get myself on the board.

I know you're joking, but look around at the anti-HOA sentiment. Trying to get money and approval for a new project would be fruitless. You could try to do the best for the neighborhood to keep its value high, and your efforts would be greeted with suspicion and complaints.