HOA Fee's (Bowie, Point: rent, how much, houses)

[wCat]

Originally Posted by cdelena

Do not confuse HOA fees in a condo with those in a single family home development. The condo monthly usually pays for maintenance, insurance, etc. for the property (usually all units and property) in shared ownership. HOA fees in a housing development are different, not directly aiding individually owned residences and usually covering just a few shared facilities.

CD.....very good point......and costs will vary greatly in that regard. However, either case an HOA does have some legal recouse that could cost you your home in a worst case sceanrio......either in legal fees or just being voted out of the community.

I can't remember the community (NW somewhere)....but after 911, a homeowner painted his entire garage door to resemble the American Flag.
While the image was not offensive, the attention drawn to the neighborhood by onlookers and media did not set well with the HOA. He had a bit of a battle over his freedom to express himself and what the HOA allowed. He eventually caved under pressure and painted over it. But that's an extreme case.....not at all typical....it's just best to read the fine print in any HOA before even making an offer on a property.

[Scamp]

My wife works part time for a company that handles compliance issues for mandatory HOA's. Trust me, you don't want to be involved in that scenario. The two possible exceptions would be lower priced and upper priced homes. The lower because it would protect your investment and the upper because it wouldn't be in place to police you.

As an example, you could pay a landscaper to come in and do your yard. If you failed to get permission, you could end up having to remove all the work. Everything needs approval and to meet with often vague notions of propriety. In other words, if the color of your door irritates a neighbor, you may well have to repaint.

It's best to buy smart than to give up your freedom in exchange for your neighbors being policed.

[TexasTeq]

Originally Posted by lockheed1

I am sure you are talking about the atmosphere in side the gates, outside might be a different story with the Apartments and Commercial mini strip malls going in what will be the future HWY 151 that will right outside you Pulte Gate. Not to mention the Glow in the Sky above your house from the Hundreds of 1000Watt Metal Halide parking Lot lights from Target, BestBuy, JCpenny ETC..
Its kinda early to compare AR to anything right now (especially Stone Oak).
Don't know if you"ve been in the neigborhood across the highway called The Great Northwest, which is rapidly deteriating, not to mention their HOA.
lots of gangs in this area, these are the kids that your kids will be going to school with.
Hate to be a debbie downer, but you really need to do your research before committing not to mention comparing.

Not sure exactly why you are on this forum since you clearly don't live here. There are no gangs in Alamo Ranch, only bands of slow driving seniors from the neighboring Dell Webb community. I agree with AIRFORCEDOC, with the addition of David Weekly, NewMark and other premier builders this is a great place to invest. It's only minutes away from my job, and with a growing family the wife will only have to drive 5 minutes to go shopping or make a doctors visit. So please don't be so negative. With the addition of Microsoft, a Lowes Data Facility, CapitalGroup It center and other hi-tech jobs this is a great place to live and work. No doubt we will have our growing pains but all new develops do.

[anazario]

Just to add to your comment about procomm they are the worst management company to deal with and unfortunately they almost have a monopoly on San Antonio. We lived in bridgewood and at this moment we are trying to close on our house. Procomm is preventing that because of the necessary paper work needed in order to get everything closed. They never answer the phone, or return calls. I have lived in other neighborhoods with HOA that did not use a management company. The neighborhood stayed neat and clean and had no issues.

We were so sick of the letters from procomm we had to send a certified letter asking them to stop harassing us. We would get letters regarding a basketball hoop that we never owned, pictures of our trash cans that were out the same day trash was being picked up, and on one occasion my husband was told that he could not punch his punching bag with the garage door open.

HOA's are there for good reasons, preventing the "broken window theory" but at what point do we allow HOA's to take away our rights as homeowners. This is one reason we left the neighborhood. We were sick of paying for things that we did not have, and were not able to use, park that is still closed for construction. One year we refused to pay our dues until we received proof of what they spent the money on. We never got this and after they put a lien on our home and almost 1000 dollars later on late fees we gave up the fight. At the end of the year we received a statement where we found most of the money went to Procomm, and a good chunk went to Cellular on Patrol which was a volunteer program. (hmmmmmm) Anyways we payed the fees and now are attempting to sale our house an low and behold they never took the lien off. A month after discovering this we are still fighting to have the lien taken off. Now they are costing me interest and a potential buyer, maybe I should send them a bill.

[airdog69]

We just bought a house in the DR Horton section of Alamo Ranch and the dues are $220 per year. We don't move in for a few months so I don't know everything we get for our money, but our dues seem to be the cheapest in AR.

[Bo]

Originally Posted by anazario

Just to add to your comment about procomm they are the worst management company to deal with and unfortunately they almost have a monopoly on San Antonio.

In my experience as a former president and board member of my HOA, the quality of members' interaction with the management company is highly dependent on the quality of the manager assigned to work with your association. I saw this firsthand, as Procomm had a lot of turnover among the association managers assigned to our neighborhood for a while. Most of the Procomm managers we had were very good, but a couple were just so-so.

Members sometimes believe that the deck is stacked against them and that the manager always speaks for the board. But every complaint does not get back to the board leadership. Your board of directors is the ultimate authority for your HOA. If you have a bad experience dealing with your manager, make sure to let your board of directors know, as they may have a different view of the issue and can intervene on your behalf if necessary. The managers are busy people and they also function as gatekeepers, passing along only what they think the board needs to know. Their judgment is usually very good, but they're not always right.

[kdobie73]

How are the HOA fees in Alamo Ranch paid? Annually or monthly? In CA we paid a hefty monthly fee.

[NurseDana]

We are in the gated section of Alamo Ranch and we pay $1200 anually.

[viking65]

I live in Stone Oak and pay about $100 a month.

[BamaSailor]

Dang viking...this thread is so old I have never even seen it. But since you revived it...we pay about $284 per year in Westcreek and lots of people aren't happy about it. Our HOA is running on a budget of just over $1MILLION per year.