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Oh and apparently they can take up to 6 months to give a response to an ARC request. The president now oversees and gives all final answers on ARC requests (power trip much?) and they turned someone down who wanted to do lanscaping and add a patio in their yard! I could do this all day! LOL
We live in an HOA. I think part of the reason they're necessary is because lot sizes are so small in this area. My neighbors built a screen porch, which was fine, but they put on our side a fireplace which was about seven feet wide and maybe 13 feet tall. My wooded view from my family room turned into a view of a siding fireplace. They got permits from the town and were 11' from our property, but the HOA didn't approve it. To make a long story short they had to modify the fireplace and screen it with trees. I felt bad because it made for an uncomfortable situation, but I do believe the HOA protected my property's value. If we'd been on a half acre lot, though, it probably wouldn't have mattered.
Odd.. there were definitely some posts completely deleted from this thread leaving no trail. Usually there's the "post deleted by" left behind, and the symbol on the main forum page showing that posts have been deleted.
It's a conspiracy, I say!
My biggest "issue" with HOA's is they get wrapped up in some crazy stuff. Last fall our HOA decided you couldn't park a street motorcycle on your driveway (or anywhere on your property) - no matter if the bike was in working condition, properly tagged, etc. How can you ban a legal mode of transportation? I got a letter because my grass needed to be cut one weekend, but a neighbor had his yard dug up (literally a big pile of dirt, front & back yards) for a YEAR and nothing was done. Then one person was told we aren't allowed to change the color of our front door *at all,* yet another neighbor replaced their entire front door with this gothic-style monstrosity that is completely out of character for the neighborhood.
I'd take a non-HOA neighborhood over an HOA one any day of the week! I'd rather take my chances with cars up on blocks and fuschia houses, than worry about power-hungry HOA boards, thankyouverymuch!
I to was not a fan of covenants when I brought my first house 35 years ago. However I now drive around town and some older neighborhoods look much better then others. I think a lot of is a result of good village boards implementing the covenants. Over the years various board members have gone overboard however they were brought inline by citizen participation. The folks who had to much time were reigned in and there power trip reduced to sitting on their porch. As said before I like covenants and the resulting HOA purely because of quality control over the long haul. My last neighborhood that was 21-23 years old looks better now then when developed(mature trees).
All I can say is that I will NEVER, ever be a voluntary part of any "community" group that actually has legal authority to reach into my pocketbook or put a lien against my home, no matter how nice and well intentioned they are. I am just not willing to to accept that as a trade off. I'd rather live in a double wide.
All I can say is that I will NEVER, ever be a voluntary part of any "community" group that actually has legal authority to fine me or put a lien against my home, no matter how well intentioned they are. I am just not willing to to accept that as a trade off. I'd rather live in a double wide.
Seriously. I have to say, I live in Houston now, but I still co-own a home in NC, just outside of Raleigh. Thankfully, there isn't an HOA in the subdivision where the home is and you know what? There are NO unattractive homes there. All are beautifully maintained and landscaped. If I do buy a home anywhere else, HOAs are a deal-breaker, because if I own the home and the land and I wake up one Saturday morning and think "wow...a nice little flower bed would be pretty along the front side of the house", I should be able to carry myself down to the local garden supply place, get what I want, and plant it that same day, WITHOUT having to submit applications and asking the neighbors if it's ok.
Seriously. I have to say, I live in Houston now, but I still co-own a home in NC, just outside of Raleigh. Thankfully, there isn't an HOA in the subdivision where the home is and you know what? There are NO unattractive homes there. All are beautifully maintained and landscaped. If I do buy a home anywhere else, HOAs are a deal-breaker, because if I own the home and the land and I wake up one Saturday morning and think "wow...a nice little flower bed would be pretty along the front side of the house", I should be able to carry myself down to the local garden supply place, get what I want, and plant it that same day, WITHOUT having to submit applications and asking the neighbors if it's ok.
Luckily, not all HOAs are that restrictive. If I wanted to plant some flowers in my front yard tomorrow, I could do it without a problem.
It's a shame that other HOAs insist on being so domineering. That 6 month approval process at that one neighborhood is especially bad! You have to know in October what you want to plant in April. Ludicrous!
These are the sorts of things one should check out in the covenants, before buying-in the HOA I was on the board of, the HOA had to approve or deny requests at, or before, the next regular meeting (which were monthly). So, it never took longer than 30 days.
We actually never denied any requests in the 10 years I served-we only took them in the first place because it was in the covenants that we had to!
The HOA's have to abide by the covenants too-they should not be able to get away with 'deciding' to ban legal motorcycles or things like that. The homeowners should hold the HOA as accountable to the covenants as they themselves are.
In another case from where I lived, some residents wanted to ban portable ball hoops-well, there was nothing in the covenants against them so that was denied (it was illegal to leave them on the public streets, though). If 2/3rds of the residents voted to change the covenants to make them illegal, they could have -but it didn't fly. So, homeowners do have power in an HOA, you have to know how to use it.
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