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But beware, that is what ours was until recently - <$200 year which maintained common areas; however, most HOA documents allow for amendments and several have been added to ours (after 15 years) that, while not onerous, are inane, unnecessary, and pave the way to more amendments later. Amendments often do not require a homeowner vote or, if they do, may not require a majority.
LOL we only have three board members and they are DESPERATE to give their posts to someone else but no one will take them.
No, we don't plan on doing anything unusual, and are good neighbors. We would just rather not have to worry about an HOA that is "no big deal" turn into a pain, and $$$ depending on who's running it - our friends have had some horror stories, and I have read some on here - for example - we have two teenagers - both will have cars. We visited friends in FL where their HOA had issues with multiple cars out in the DRIVEWAY - forget the street!! That would be an issue for me as a new family - I would't want to start life in a new place feeling nervous about some rules I am not used to....
You know it is always tacky for another poster to suggest you would be doing something "unacceptable" as the reason you don't want an HOA. What's unacceptable is the HOA!
You are 100% warranted in being concerned about an HOA that is initially "no big deal". They are often touted as having minimal fees, etc. as if that is justification for the legal entanglement, foreclosure power, etc. They are just not worth it.
Keep in mind that much of the property you look at will have restrictive covenants. In some places those restrictive covenants will impose involuntary membership in an HOA. The lack of existence of an involuntary membership HOA does not mean there aren't restrictive covenants applicable to the property.
Also you may find even on "non-HOA" property that there might be restrictive covenants imposing a prior review by an architectural committee before you make improvements. In other words, an expectation that you grovel to some group of individuals for permission to construct improvements on your property. I'm only mentioning this because it is something you need to be aware of. "No HOA" does not equate to "no restrictions". "No HOA" does not mean there is no impediment to constructing improvements (or even maintaining existing improvements) on your property. Just be aware.
There are some horror stories for sure - plenty of them from the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. You can see the property - you cannot see the invisible legal entanglement of the HOA. The HOA is generally a platform for a few to bully the rest of the neighborhood. That "minimal fee" that might be disclosed to you is NOT the only fee that can or will be charged. You will find charges for "resale certificates", "transfer fees", "regular assessments", "special assessments", "capital improvement fee", etc., etc. There are scads of attorneys that practice almost exclusively representing HOAs. As a trade group they engaged in schemes designed to pyramid up fees by adding their own junk fees and would then extort junk fees to themselves and the management company by threatening foreclosure. You get to avoid all this nonsense if you can find a suitable non-HOA home. Good luck in the search - many of the little cities around Dallas had representatives testify that they only approve new developments that impose an involuntary membership HOA - and that has been going on for a few decades.
TThe HOA is generally a platform for a few to bully the rest of the neighborhood. That "minimal fee" that might be disclosed to you is NOT the only fee that can or will be charged. You will find charges for "resale certificates", "transfer fees", "regular assessments", "special assessments", "capital improvement fee", etc., etc. There are scads of attorneys that practice almost exclusively representing HOAs. As a trade group they engaged in schemes designed to pyramid up fees by adding their own junk fees and would then extort junk fees to themselves and the management company by threatening foreclosure. You get to avoid all this nonsense if you can find a suitable non-HOA home. Good luck in the search - many of the little cities around Dallas had representatives testify that they only approve new developments that impose an involuntary membership HOA - and that has been going on for a few decades.
I can't speak for the DFW area, only the Tyler area. This simply isn't the case around here.
If you're interested in a home in an HOA area, ask for a copy of the covenants. Your realtor must provide them to you. Talk to neighbors as well. Don't just automatically write these properties off unless the HOA fees are simply too high.
I've lived in HOA communities in northeast Texas for most of the past 25 years. Never in a condo or any place with extensive common areas - in every instance these were free standing homes in neighborhoods which were already established. I've literally never had an issue whatsoever with the HOA. Not once. In ONE neighborhood, everyone received a letter from the HOA asking people to return their trashcans from the curb to wherever they usually put them, because they were blocking sidewalks. That's the most intrusive thing that's ever happened to me with an HOA (and no, I wasn't one leaving my trash can out).
Keep an open mind and common sense about you and you'll be fine.
In the state of New Mexico, the county where Albuquerque is located - Bernalillo - is proposing to cap the fees that can be charged at closing for disclosing HOA information. Article can be read here:
March 28, 2017 05:26 PM The state (NM) requires associations to be upfront about their financial health, but there’s a fee attached to it getting that information. Realtors say that amount can range from less than $100 to more than $1,000.
“What does a reasonable fee look like?” asked Bernalillo County Commissioner Wayne Johnson. “Here in Bernalillo County, what we're saying is $200 is a reasonable fee for providing info to a buyer that would be part of the association.”
In the state of New Mexico, the county where Albuquerque is located - Bernalillo - is proposing to cap the fees that can be charged at closing for disclosing HOA information. Article can be read here:
I can't speak for the DFW area, only the Tyler area. This simply isn't the case around here.
The unscrupulous practices were and are prevalent throughout the street. It happens where you are too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
If you're interested in a home in an HOA area, ask for a copy of the covenants. Your realtor must provide them to you. Talk to neighbors as well. Don't just automatically write these properties off unless the HOA fees are simply too high.
This is typical real estate agent puffery. Why? Because there aren't a lot of properties that don't have HOAs in many areas of the state. Don't buy into "the fees are low" argument.
The fact that there are involuntary fees at all means there is an HOA and that you will be dealing with all the legal entanglement that comes with it including groveling for permission for improvements, feudal fees like transfer fees and resale certificate fees, nastygrams about how you are "in violation" of something, threats of "fines", threats of foreclosure, etc., etc., etc.
The board can change tomorrow and the folks attracted to those positions tend to be the very type that enjoys threatening other folks and initiating legal actions from behind the corporate veil of the HOA. By the way, that "low fee" can jump to tremendous numbers pretty quickly. Courts allow an HOA that has, for example, an annual 10% or 20% cap on fee increases (without member approval) to accumulate that increase all at once without member approval if there has not been an increase in a number of years. The "business" of the HOA is to provide exposure to its members of the management company and HOA attorney that make their living bilking the homeowners for fees and stirring up chaos in the subdivision.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KathrynAragon
I've lived in HOA communities in northeast Texas for most of the past 25 years. Never in a condo or any place with extensive common areas - in every instance these were free standing homes in neighborhoods which were already established. I've literally never had an issue whatsoever with the HOA. Not once. In ONE neighborhood, everyone received a letter from the HOA asking people to return their trashcans from the curb to wherever they usually put them, because they were blocking sidewalks. That's the most intrusive thing that's ever happened to me with an HOA (and no, I wasn't one leaving my trash can out).
Keep an open mind and common sense about you and you'll be fine.
As if the board members or for-profit management company cares about open minds or common sense. HOAs were not put there by the developer for the benefit of the homeowners. They were imposed for the benefit of the developer, its financier, and local government - NOT the homeowners. If HOAs were such good things they wouldn't need involuntary membership. OP if you can find non-HOA property that meets your needs, get it.
Saying goes. HOA is like toilet paper sometimes usefull and sometimes not... never know what kinda your going to get.. Ruff or soft..
Frankly, HOA needs to be dissolved period. No value to the home other than the HOA wording to make you think your getting something out of it.. You can name Mac and Cheese something else, but still Mac and Cheese.
We had an HOA in Midland, TX, and while the fees were minimal I will never buy another HOA house. As others have said, the HOA was run by folks who loved to mettle in other people's business and seemed much more interested in behavior control just for the sake of flexing their 'power' than operating in the interest of the neighborhood as a whole. This particular HOA demanded that you seek their approval for any/all landscape changes, if you wished to even do so much as stain your fence. Dumpsters couldn't be left anywhere outside and had to be place inside your garage all the time unless it was trash collection day - this was particularly nice when it was 100+ degrees in the summer with trash sitting in the can for a week. Then we got the random control freaks who were in no way even associated with the HOA but would go around leaving notes on homes and vehicles pretending to be the HOA threatening fines etc.
Some folks really enjoyed the appeal of living in an HOA, I was not one of that group of people, different strokes for different folks though.
Funny, isn't it? I would think they should just require them to keep a current version posted online and available at all times for free .
The "fee" is not going to the HOA corporation. It is a windfall fee that the management companies receive. This is really about capping rent-seeking windfall fees charged by HOA industry management companies. This industry group opposes disclosure unless they can sell the information. There is no reason for the information to be hidden or provided only behind firewalls that existing property owners have access to. If the house is an "investment" then the information should be freely provided no differently than a prospectus.
The unscrupulous practices were and are prevalent throughout the street. It happens where you are too.
This is typical real estate agent puffery. Why? Because there aren't a lot of properties that don't have HOAs in many areas of the state. Don't buy into "the fees are low" argument.
The fact that there are involuntary fees at all means there is an HOA and that you will be dealing with all the legal entanglement that comes with it including groveling for permission for improvements, feudal fees like transfer fees and resale certificate fees, nastygrams about how you are "in violation" of something, threats of "fines", threats of foreclosure, etc., etc., etc.
The board can change tomorrow and the folks attracted to those positions tend to be the very type that enjoys threatening other folks and initiating legal actions from behind the corporate veil of the HOA. By the way, that "low fee" can jump to tremendous numbers pretty quickly. Courts allow an HOA that has, for example, an annual 10% or 20% cap on fee increases (without member approval) to accumulate that increase all at once without member approval if there has not been an increase in a number of years. The "business" of the HOA is to provide exposure to its members of the management company and HOA attorney that make their living bilking the homeowners for fees and stirring up chaos in the subdivision.
As if the board members or for-profit management company cares about open minds or common sense. HOAs were not put there by the developer for the benefit of the homeowners. They were imposed for the benefit of the developer, its financier, and local government - NOT the homeowners. If HOAs were such good things they wouldn't need involuntary membership. OP if you can find non-HOA property that meets your needs, get it.
I'm not a realtor.
And the fees (and HOA involvement) ARE low - and have been absolutely zero issue - for me in typical northeast Texas neighborhoods for the past 25 years. Simply not an issue. I've never paid more than $125 a year in HOA fees. Believe me, not only have the boards been non obtrusive, they're practically non existent. But like I said, I don't live in DFW. I live and have lived for over 25 years in the Tyler area.
You can think up horror stories all day long, maybe coulda shoulda woulda etc. I'm just relaying my own personal experience, and that of many people I know who live in the many "minimalist HOA" neighborhoods in our area.
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