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Good answers so far. But like with cops abusing their power in the name of safety, it's not too difficult for HOA's to abuse their power in the name of property values. Those HOA's are the ones that people complain about, which includes posting on the internet. "Seinfeld" even had an episode or two about Jerry's parents' having trouble with their HOA. Honest HOA's that diligently do their jobs get talked about far less often.
That's why I started this thread; its tone was meant to be neutral. That said, I prefer not to have one. But since I'm planning to buy a condo, I'm sure there will be an HOA there. So I want to learn about them, so I know how to avoid the bad ones, as well as understand their role.
What might be good today could be bad tomorrow depending on who gets on the board and what their agenda is.
Remember, the board is run by the residents and they are voted into power.
All it takes is one "condo commando" to make life miserable.
It is a Southern thing, keeps you folks from growing Tobacco, firing Muskets and waiving Confederate flags. Seriously in the NY/NJ/CT area does not exist for single family homes
Maybe they should have HOAs up north to keep youse guys from growing pot, firing hand guns and waiving hockey flags. Seriously HOAs don't exist in those areas because most of those areas were developed long before state governments figured out how HOAs benefit them. Since the sun belt has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 20 years, new developments have been subject to states requiring the creation of HOAs.
Maybe they should have HOAs up north to keep youse guys from growing pot, firing hand guns and waiving hockey flags. Seriously HOAs don't exist in those areas because most of those areas were developed long before state governments figured out how HOAs benefit them. Since the sun belt has grown by leaps and bounds over the past 20 years, new developments have been subject to states requiring the creation of HOAs.
Very true. To find neighborhoods without HOA's in the south you'd be looking for neighborhoods built in the late 80's or earlier.
It is a Southern thing, keeps you folks from growing Tobacco, firing Muskets and waiving Confederate flags. Seriously in the NY/NJ/CT area does not exist for single family homes
Hate to tell you, but Florida has surpassed NY's population of 20+ million, and is full of NY's & NJ'ers; most of them very rude with that "I've arrived" attitude! So, there aren't enough locals left to fly that flag here! Unless it's for these NY's to "not get any ideas!"
I just got back from Chicago and it was really interesting to see the architecture. One neighborhood (old houses) I was warned away from. A mile up the road (again, old houses), was okay. Unless you are in a fancy pants neighborhood, you may want to consider an HOA.
I have a home in an HOA and I don't regret it. But it is a decent HOA. At first, I would get reminder letters every month if I left a hose unwound, the garbage can at the street too long, weeds in the yard, you get the picture. And I was mad. After a while, though, I just realized they are enforcing the rules to which I agreed. It kept the neighborhood nice looking in a city where it is not unusual to see cars up on blocks and debris taking over the front yard when there is no HOA - even in expensive areas.
In my opinion, the worst HOA's are the ones in gated communities. They have the highest fees and seem to get out of control the easiest. When I was looking at houses to buy, I would stop throughout the neighborhood and ask residents what they thought of their HOA. If it is a bad one, it won't be long before you hear about it several times.
Yes to the bolded. A point I made earlier as well. A nice neighborhood will be a nice neighborhood no matter if an HOA exists or not. There were a few on here who claimed only HOA neighborhoods are the nice ones in a town. So wrong.
I can see someone saying that in a few rare areas (like more rural places with older homes and tractors [not a bad area, at all] then a new development pops up its vinyl-sided homes and has an HOA -- I'm thinking of a spot in Eastern Maryland like this).
However, for the most part, you are correct. 'Only HOA neighborhoods' aren't typically the only nice area in a town. Not if you live in a decent size city, anyway.
Nice areas don't need HOAs. The homeowners have enough pride of ownership and common sense to not do anything that could devalue their own homes.
That's the stock answer. The REAL answer is that it helps to defray costs of road maintenance from a municipality and thus helps developers get their projects approved by town councils, etc. Since this adds additional tax revenue vis-a-vis residential property taxes but adds little in burden to the town, towns are all too happy to have HOA developments built in their municipalities.
They sell the idea of HOAs to potential homeowners by telling them it will help their real estate value, blah, blah, blah. As you will see with responses on this thread, many, many people truly and genuinely believe their HOA helps their home values. I, on the other hand, am a skeptic. A nice neighborhood is a nice neighborhood with good market value no matter if an HOA is in place or not. I've lived in both - no impact up or down on the market value of my home but living in an HOA is a lot more of a pain in the rear.
A neighborhood is only as nice as its worst resident. If the entire neighborhood is lovely and pretty and well-kept and peaceful, but ONE home has weeds where a garden used to be, a lawn that is only mowed haphazardly once or twice a season just to keep the rats out, is infested with ants, has dog-poop all over his walkway, a broken door screen, and the newspaper box next to the mailbox is hanging off its post, then your neighborhood isn't nearly as lovely as it would be if that one guy simply made some modest attempt to keep his home in decent visible condition.
Add just enough noise to annoy everyone, but never during any zoning-imposed quiet time and never a high enough decible level to impose a fine, and you have a neighborhood that will cease to attract decent neighbors, because no one will want to live near that guy.
That's why there are HOAs. To give that guy a choice: either keep up, or pay a fine.
A neighborhood is only as nice as its worst resident. If the entire neighborhood is lovely and pretty and well-kept and peaceful, but ONE home has weeds where a garden used to be, a lawn that is only mowed haphazardly once or twice a season just to keep the rats out, is infested with ants, has dog-poop all over his walkway, a broken door screen, and the newspaper box next to the mailbox is hanging off its post, then your neighborhood isn't nearly as lovely as it would be if that one guy simply made some modest attempt to keep his home in decent visible condition.
Add just enough noise to annoy everyone, but never during any zoning-imposed quiet time and never a high enough decible level to impose a fine, and you have a neighborhood that will cease to attract decent neighbors, because no one will want to live near that guy.
That's why there are HOAs. To give that guy a choice: either keep up, or pay a fine.
Don't kid yourself, there are tons of neighborhoods with a shabby home or two where homes sell just fine.
You know what makes a neighborhood annoying to live in? Busybodies.
Constant wrangling about who has a bike in their carport or left their garbage bin on the curb an extra day makes for an unpleasant community and from time to time, these squabbles end up in court.
Court cases are bad news for an HOA. Talk about lowering property values. Sometimes lenders won't even lend to a community until the litigation is settled and that can take years.
Their main purpose is to impose rules on those who know will abide by them, ignore those who don't and make you pay out the nose.
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Unless it's for these NY's to "not get any ideas!"
