Have a Home Owners Association?

[uspirate]

Here in Lost Vagrants NV, we have such a thing called HOA (Home Owners Assoc) the tell us when our lawn is too high, trash is too much etc. the average home owner pays around $100 per month for this great service(NOT)thi is a fine example of how they work...Subject of HOA Investigation Commits Suicide

[CharlieCobra]

Yeah, I have one that charges $100 per year and returns no services. It's to keep the streetlights on on their street, not ours.

[retclt]

They are really bad around here and they have supreme power. There's a court case going on here now where a guy bought a really nice $50,000 pick up only to find it was against the rules to have it; even in your closed garage. He missed that part in the 1 foot stack of contracts at closing. The Association is the heavy favorite. My mother flew her American Flag for two years and then somebody complained. The Association said she neglected to apply for a permit for her 20 foot pole. The neighborhood was outraged and on her side. She took it down, applied for the permit, had them measure it to confirm it wasn't an inch over 20 feet, put it back up . . . . . . . legally. You remember the Class Favorites and head cheerleaders and student council presidents when we were in high school? It’s those same people . . . grown up and still trying to tell us what to do.

There are good points about Associations. My current neighborhood does not have one. The house colors are starting to look like a border town on the Rio Grande. AHHHHH!!! The city WILL however cite you for a blade of grass being a quarter inch taller than code.

[ckgreenman]

I have an HOA that I pay $700 a year (and a boatslip owners association that I pay close to $400 a year). Unfortunately they also are the same people that tell me I can't park a boat in my driveway. Bastardos!!!

[sailingdog]

USP-

The guy who committed suicide was the target of an active criminal investigation into corruption involving Home Owners' Associations... and not the victim of an overly aggressive Home Owners' Association, which is what your first post tends to imply...

Home Owners Associations can be both good and bad. On the good side, they tend to keep the houses and yards relatively uniform and prevent people from doing things like painting their house neon pink... or having foot-high weeds for a lawn. However, I don't like it when a HOA says what I can and can't do with my property, provided it doesn't affect anyone else. Painting my house neon pink or having foot-high weeds for a lawn does affect my neighbors.... keeping a trailerable boat in the driveway DOES NOT... fortunately, I don't have to deal with an HOA anymore... but my driveway isn't big enough to fit my boat any more either...

[zz4gta]

$221.73 per month. And I live in an appartment. They just made me hang out of my 3rd story window and paint my window trim. Good thing I bought a climbing harness to go up the mast. We do have a pool, and the fees cover my water bill, but its still pretty high. I could have a nice slip for that price.

[Sailormon6]

When you are thinking of buying a home, you should always determine what, if any, easements and restrictions are in the chain of title that govern it's use. You might find that swimming pools aren't allowed, or that dogs must be fenced in, or that fences are limited in their height or location, or that the size of the garage is limited. You should also investigate local zoning laws, which might prohibit you from carrying on a home-occupation, or from posting signs, or from having a tenant or roomer, or from storing a recreational vehicle anywhere on the premises, or anywhere other than the back yard. In a Historic District, zoning laws are likely to require you to apply for a permit before you do any exterior repairs, or even change any landscaping, and they might require you to use more expensive methods or materials to maintain or repair the home. In many cities, municipal Housing Maintenance Laws require that repairs be made when the condition of a structure begins to deteriorate. You should also determine whether a Home Owner's Association exists, and what, if any regulations it imposes.

If any of those limitations are unacceptable to you, then you shouldn't buy a home where they are applicable, because they are generally enforceable. Usually, the majority of people in any given neighborhood support such limitations, because they tend to make the neighborhood cleaner, they reduce visual clutter, noise and other aggravations of modern living, and they help prevent the decline of property values.

If you know what the rules are before you buy the property, it's easier to accept them. What's bad is when you get surprised with them after you've bought the property.