Tucson HOAs - What Services Do You Get? (Pima: for sale, real estate)

[Headacher]

I'm still in Illinois where I'm paying $220.00 per month HOA. This includes Club House and Pool (which in 16 years, we've used 5 times together) landscaping services (we have no grass and few bushes) new roof every 20 years or so. Oh, and we get yelled at for things like having an 80 ton boulder on our property which has been here for 15,000 years, since the last ice age glacier put it here. Of course, there are lots of regulations to follow: only certain type front doors and porch lights, certain type windows, no signs in the yard, 1 certain type of fence. Stuff like that.


So I had decided that when buying a house in Tucson, I would not buy in an HOA. Only thing is, I've noticed that HOA pricing in Tuscon ranges in price quite a bit. There are $200.00 HOAs, but those seem to be at houses by a golf course. Most of the HOAs seem to be around $25.00, $33.00 or so per month, collected bi-yearly or annually.


So I'm curious as to what sorts of things you get for those low prices. But mainly, do you still get yelled at for idiotic things?


I still hope to purchase in a Non-HOA area, but with the lower prices, would it be worth considering an HOA in the $25/$33 dollar range if the HOAs aren't picky?

[Bummer]

Sounds like the MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION . . .

When I was "House Hunting" years ago, my Real Estate Agent taught me that "The Benefits" vary with each and every HOA.

Some include Lawn Maintenance while others include "Structure Maintenance" while others do not include either one. The list goes on and on. So a high HOA fee may not be so high after you check the benefits and vice versa.

Also, nowadays locating the perfect home without an HOA may be much tougher than you think.

GOOD LUCK !

[grmi66]

Some of the HOA cost is also due to the size of the subdivision. Used to live in one subdivision of 700 homes and the HOA was $45/month that included two pools and all of the standard landscaping costs. Now live in a subdivision of 950 homes, no pools and we pay $60/quarter.

But have friends that live in a small subdivision of about 40 homes and they are paying $120/month for just landscaping. If it is a small subdivision, you can't spread out the cost of landscaping as much.

Almost anything built in the past 30 years in a subdivision will have an HOA. But you need to chat with the neighbors about the enforcement of the rules. My in-laws live in an HOA and nothing is enforced. So their neighbor has a used car lot going on in their block. Has 2-3 cars in various stages of repair in his driveway and another 3-5 that he's trying to sell. Along with the 4 cars that belong to his family.

[Bygeorge]

The HOA debate will go forever. Hate or like. Without a doubt some HOAs are run by Nazis.i am fortunate that isn’t the case for me. It isn’t so much what I get via the HOA but what I don’t get. I don’t get the neighbor who loves his Harley and runs around the neighborhood at 2 a.m. I don’t get my street jammed with RVs. I don’t get a house that looks abandoned because it is owned by a snowbird. The list is extensive.

I do get maintained walking trails. I get sidewalks and streets that are maintained. And I get the usual pool and a gated entrance. I get an attractive, quiet environment. I don’t know anyone who has gotten “yelled at” though I cannot swear to that. The community also gets a night time patrol. In 8 years I believe there has been one theft where a garage was left open and a bike taken.

So, for $65 a month I think my HOA is worth it. Houses for sale are rare and they do not last long when one comes on the market. This has been the case for my 8 years. I think my HOA enhances quality of life and helps maintain my property value.

Just my opinion and experience. Good luck.

[Saguarogirl507]

Oh boy. We pay a whopping $376 per month. Yes thats right! We get the following: 2 pools, 2 clubhouses, tennis courts, trash pick up, landscaping and water. There are 254 units. And our fees are going up this year of course just because everything else is going up including our management company fees. Our condo is in the foothills. They used to be apartments in the 80's and 90's but were converted in 2006.

The HOA depends entirely on the board and who is on it. We have had strong boards who enforce every rule no matter how crazy and we have had very weak boards who enforce nothing. That is what we have now.

When you look at the condo CC&Rs be sure to see how the AirBnB thing is handled. Our place is now well over half AirBnBs. There are very few actual real neighbors. It is horrible. Like living in a hotel. All because no-one enforces the vacation rental rules.

So be very careful with HOA's and do your due diligence as far as the board, who is on it and what rules they let go by the wayside. we are hoping to move soon but with the cost of real estate now we may be stuck here.

[Bygeorge]

RobertaWa

You make some excellent points. The short term rental is especially important. It is easy to take things for granted when an HOA seems to run smoothly but that can quickly change.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by Headacher

I'm still in Illinois where I'm paying $220.00 per month HOA. This includes Club House and Pool (which in 16 years, we've used 5 times together) landscaping services (we have no grass and few bushes) new roof every 20 years or so. Oh, and we get yelled at for things like having an 80 ton boulder on our property which has been here for 15,000 years, since the last ice age glacier put it here. Of course, there are lots of regulations to follow: only certain type front doors and porch lights, certain type windows, no signs in the yard, 1 certain type of fence. Stuff like that.

I am NOT going to get into the proverbial HOA or not-HOA argument. I live in an HOA because I got tired of cities not enforcing zoning codes and having neighbors running illegal car repair/detailing operations next door to me.

We were paying $150 per month in the Chicagoland area. The LARGEST part of the association fees was to pay for snow removal. Seriously. Also, the HOA was responsible for the siding and roofs.

I cannot make a judgement on HOA dues without discussing what is covered. In our HOA, we pay $220 per year to pay for roads and landscaping. We are responsible for all of our own home repairs as it is NOT a condo association. In addition, we pay $505 a year for all of our recreation facilities - 12 pools, 5 gyms, etc. - which we use nearly every day.

(And our property taxes in Pima Co. are $900/yr vs $4000 in McHenry Co., IL. Seriously.

[Greenvalleyfan]

HOA'S are fine. It's the people and bored house wives that run them that are a problem. I'm finding they create more problems than they solve. I'm building a home. There are those that create problems because they can. Nit picking, unwelcoming nanny types. I'm makings it my duty to get on my board and help people instead of causing them stress and problems. Before being elected on an HOA board, people should have a psychological evaluation...some seem unfit for everyday life decisions, muchless running a community.

[odinloki1]

I continue to be mystified about HOAs. A lot of them you are paying for them to just complain to you.

Lived in 1 house in Tucson that had an HOA. It sucked. If you had a single weed you would get letters about it. Moved to an older house (1979 build) got left alone and could do what I want with my property. So much better.

[Headacher]

OP here. Thank you to all who have replied. It seems to be hit or miss with HOAs. Some are run by good people and do good things. Others are run by, uh... non-good people, some with goals of irritating everybody else in the neighborhood.


I just find it interesting the differences in the costs. Some are low cost and others are high. I think I'll most likely just go with no HOA. We're hoping to find something with a little bit more land, half an acre or so, maybe in the foothills. Also want an in-ground pool in a back yard where we can view the mountains. Well, now I'm just posting my dreams. Hopefully they'll be reality soon!