Area's without HOA's? (Austin: day care, houses, established neighborhood)

[mitchell.glass]

hey, anyone know any areas without HOA's? We are going to oepn at at home day care fully licesned with the state. i really dont want to have to deal with anyone fining me 10.00 if the kids are playing too loud.

[TexasHorseLady]

Size of house, what's your budget, does the house have to be new or will an older one in good condition in an established neighborhood do?

[loves2read]

@TXHorseLady
is that a solicitation for business from that poster????

to the OP
every HOA has its own rules and most would rule-out home-based business like that--for good reasons--I would not want to have street in my neighborhood bogged down with cars twice a day or have what could be pretty noisy backyard that could be something that would make dogs in neighborhood bark all the time
so even if there is NO HOA--neighbors might object and report you to the city--and a disturbing the peace/excessive noise could cost way more than $10

also consider that your CITY (almost any city) has rules about home-based businesses as well
which you can't always escape just by getting house that is in neighborhood with no/voluntary HOA

you need to check with your city's zoning requirments/department FIRST
even if you get house with no HOA rules--you still may have to apply to have house rezoned for use as day care with the city...and your neighbors can voice their objections at the council meetings you have to present your request at...
zoning changes have to be posted on/near the property for specific timeline--maybe 30 days--then there is a hearing where the city council takes comments and people can protest and you can answer any questions that might be asked...

some MLS sites will say if house in IN an HOA or not but rarely will it give any of the HOA rules unless they might allow for horses or something of that nature...

[TexasHorseLady]

Not hardly. You should know me better than that! Just asking the questions that are necessary to respond suitably to the OP's question.

Most non-HOA neighborhoods are going to be older, established neighborhoods that existed, along with their houses, before HOA's were common, though there are a few houses in newer neighborhoods that are not in HOA's or that have voluntary HOA's (more along the line of neighborhood associations).

[Willsson]

I would suggest that if a home is in a neighborhood with only one or few entrance/exits and signage at that entrance then it's probably HOA controlled. Especially new construction. Which is probably what you'll mostly find in these small towns with explosive growth due to proximity to Austin.

If someone has a better guideline to correct me I would certainly defer to their expertise. Realty in the Austin area can be a good guess at what you're getting in to. Finding good advice can be priceless.

If there's a nearby Farm Road with some acreage and a suitable house you might have a better opportunity to avoid that HOA.

[RVAtoCNC]

Originally Posted by TexasHorseLady

Not hardly. You should know me better than that! Just asking the questions that are necessary to respond suitably to the OP's question.

Most non-HOA neighborhoods are going to be older, established neighborhoods that existed, along with their houses, before HOA's were common, though there are a few houses in newer neighborhoods that are not in HOA's or that have voluntary HOA's (more along the line of neighborhood associations).

........that have a fair number of houses with chickens, junkyards, cars on blocks, and shutters falling off, and the 20 screaming kids from the home daycare service.
If you want a home daycare, that's fine, my cousin ran one, but she bought a house with over 2 acres, where her business would not disburb the neighborhood/neighbors.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by RVAtoCNC

........that have a fair number of houses with chickens, junkyards, cars on blocks, and shutters falling off, and the 20 screaming kids from the home daycare service.
If you want a home daycare, that's fine, my cousin ran one, but she bought a house with over 2 acres, where her business would not disburb the neighborhood/neighbors.

No, not at all. There's LOTS of very nice neighborhoods that do not have HOA's, or voluntary HOA's, in a variety of price ranges, available in and around the Austin area. (With your bias, you'd probably assume that they were HOA neighborhoods because they're so nice.) You just have to know where to find them.

Depending on the price range, yes, you could even find one in an area that has half an acre to a couple of acres along with the house.

[loves2read]

the fact is that normally people want day care facilities that are licensed/quality/good--BUT those have to be ACCESSIBLE/CONVENIENT
people are not driving out of their way by 15 min even usually to take kids to day care if there is something "just as good" "priced the same" that is right on their way to/from work...

especially in Austin which has some of the most horrible driving that I have found in Texas...

so whatever location you choose for this day-care situation--you need to know WHERE your business is coming from...
you need to have a site that is easy to get to-- has reasonable amount of parking space for people to drop off/pick up their kids -- and depending on how many children you can care for--you might need to be close to main road for people coming from other areas...

the one person I know who ran an in-home day care was
1--very good at what she did
2--focused ONLY on children of teachers--especially those in her local ISD so that all moms had the same vacation schedule/special days/inclement weather days--
and so that she had her summers off--she had three daughters and was coach for their softball team, active in Special Olympics (not her children) and had one daughter who was very active in gymnastics--so she wanted her summers off--
3--she had full capacity every year and a waiting list--and had to do NO advertising--work of mouth kept her in business for more than 20 yrs--then her daughter took over the business and she went to doing something else..

her house backed up to neighborhood street--they put gate in back fence--and people could stop for the 5 min or so that it took to drop off/pick up w/o tieing up the street in front ...

[Bo]

Just answer the OP's question. We're not discussing the merits of HOAs in this thread. That topic is off-limits in this forum for a while.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by mitchell.glass

hey, anyone know any areas without HOA's? We are going to oepn at at home day care fully licesned with the state. i really dont want to have to deal with anyone fining me 10.00 if the kids are playing too loud.

In addition to State Liscense you need to check out the City regulations on running a business in an area that is zoned Single Family Residential. Small Day Care Services (6 or less) are allowed in Single Family zoning, but anything larger is not. There may also be other fire and life safety requirements.

This file shows what type of Day Car Services are allowed in various zoning classifications. http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/developme...edusechart.pdf

Day Car Services (Limited) 6 persons or less is Permitted in Single Family Zoning.

Day Car Services (General) and (Commercial) are NOT Permitted in Single Family Zoning.

http://www.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/Texas/austin/title25landdevelopment/chapter25-2zoning?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal :austin_tx$anc=JD_Chapter25-2

(16) DAY CARE SERVICES (COMMERCIAL) use is the use of a site for the provision of daytime care for more than 20 persons. This use includes nursery schools, preschools, day care centers for children or adults, and similar uses, and excludes public and private primary or secondary educational facilities.

(17) DAY CARE SERVICES (GENERAL) use is the use of a site for the provision of daytime care for more than 6 but not more than 20 persons. This use includes nursery schools, pre-schools, day care centers for children or adults, and similar uses, and excludes public and private primary or secondary educational facilities.

(18) DAY CARE SERVICES (LIMITED) use is the use of a site for the provision of daytime care for six persons or less. This use includes nursery schools, preschools, day care centers for children or adults, and similar uses, and excludes public and private primary or secondary educational facilities.