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Friends of ours live in an HOA neighborhood in Durham & like it. She is happy that they have recourse when the neighbors do goofy/trashy things (like parking an old non-running RV on the front lawn).
Personally, I'm very into gardening & my yard. Many times we found HOA rules that limited # of bird feeders, gardens, etc. so those homes were obviously never going to work for us.
We ultimately found a nice house in an older neighborhood, but not an HOA. We have an active neighborhood watch group but also very little recourse should our neighbors go goofy on us. I"m okay w/that.... others wouldn't be.
As for all older homes needing completely re-done, have your realtor keep looking. Not all of them are that bad. Ours was built in the early 70's. Did need new windows & a bit of attic insulation, but certainly didn't need gutted & re-done. There are nice houses out there, you just have to keep looking to find them.
Thank you all so much for all this input. There are definitely pros and cons to living in an HOA community but I guess that it's difficult to really know what kind of HOA you're getting yourself into until you actually live there.
My priorities for a house are that I want to build a green house, put solar panels, rain barrels, definitely great high school, in the $250,000 range, under an hour drive from airport (my husband travels) and as for me, I'm a massage therapist and will build a private practice wherever I am living, so in actuality I would need to live near areas where there is affluence so that I have access to folks who can afford regular massage therapy. This is what I've been doing in NY for 15 years and I"m sure I can build a practice again as long as I'm positioned well geographically.
Am I asking for too much? Is this all feasible?
Not to be the Debbie Downer of the board BUT...most of the newer n'hoods do not allow the solar panals. I know, seems odd and perhaps that will change as more and more folks want green.
My suggestion would be to look for a larger lot. Most of the newer homes in your price range are on very very small lots.
Shouldn't be too difficult to find what you want as long as you don't want brand new!
Ahhh, Vicki! Invaluable advice. For that one reason alone I will not buy in a subdivision. Not waiting around for that to change, gotta get started as soon as possible.
So, now my research will solely focus on non-HOA hoods. Seems like more of project since one must consider where the pool will be, the school, and how do I start to network for clients? Are there yoga schools, gyms? or places as such I can start reaching out to women in the community? I will be focusing on a female-only massage clientele so need places to start communications with.
Ahhh, Vicki! Invaluable advice. For that one reason alone I will not buy in a subdivision. Not waiting around for that to change, gotta get started as soon as possible.
So, now my research will solely focus on non-HOA hoods. Seems like more of project since one must consider where the pool will be, the school, and how do I start to network for clients? Are there yoga schools, gyms? or places as such I can start reaching out to women in the community? I will be focusing on a female-only massage clientele so need places to start communications with.
Big Thanks to Everyone...You guys Rock!
Some of the older neighborhoos WITH HOA's may not have any rules against the solar panels BUT you'd have to ASK.
I'd start with finding homes you like and then checking in with the HOA managers. However, if one of them told me that it was do-able, I'd want that in writing!
Forget the brand new n'hoods.
I have a friend that wanted to teach Zumba and got the YMCA to allow her to do that. Since then, she also has private sessions in her home. There are plenty of gyms and yoga studios in the area that you can research to get those answers if no one on here has any for you.
For that one reason alone I will not buy in a subdivision. ... So, now my research will solely focus on non-HOA hoods.
I think your terminology is getting a little confused - or at least it's not translating regionally.
A "subdivision" is a neighborhood here. Typically they have a name. (This was foreign to me the first time I moved to the southeast.) The subdivision may have been developed by a single builder, or it may have had multiple builders.
A subdivision may or may not have an HOA. Older ones often don't. Newer ones always do, because of state laws that require ownership of stormwater facilities by an HOA.
An HOA and restrictive covenants are not the same thing. They often go together, but not always. Even in older neighborhoods without an HOA, there are often some restrictive covenants that the developer attached to the property. There just isn't an HOA to enforce them. Some older neighborhoods have an HOA that is "voluntary," or that doesn't have any authority with respect to the enforcement of covenants.
I think your terminology is getting a little confused - or at least it's not translating regionally.
A "subdivision" is a neighborhood here. Typically they have a name. (This was foreign to me the first time I moved to the southeast.) The subdivision may have been developed by a single builder, or it may have had multiple builders.
A subdivision may or may not have an HOA. Older ones often don't. Newer ones always do, because of state laws that require ownership of stormwater facilities by an HOA.
An HOA and restrictive covenants are not the same thing. They often go together, but not always. Even in older neighborhoods without an HOA, there are often some restrictive covenants that the developer attached to the property. There just isn't an HOA to enforce them. Some older neighborhoods have an HOA that is "voluntary," or that doesn't have any authority with respect to the enforcement of covenants.
Some of the older neighborhoos WITH HOA's may not have any rules against the solar panels BUT you'd have to ASK.
I'd start with finding homes you like and then checking in with the HOA managers. However, if one of them told me that it was do-able, I'd want that in writing!
Forget the brand new n'hoods.
I have a friend that wanted to teach Zumba and got the YMCA to allow her to do that. Since then, she also has private sessions in her home. There are plenty of gyms and yoga studios in the area that you can research to get those answers if no one on here has any for you.
Vicki
Excellent Vicki! Will do all that.
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