Home Owners Associations (HOAs) – Love ’em or hate ’em? HOAs get a lot of bad press. Rarely do you see people commenting on how much they appreciate their HOAs. Everyone tends to w
hine about their HOA. My HOA has irritated me in the past. I’ve gotten the letters about weeds and trash cans left out too long. Once I got a letter saying my grass needed mowing, for which I found very easy to contact experts online.
Despite that, and the near constant complaining I hear as a real estate agent about HOAs, I for one appreciate mine. Yes, I am on my HOA board of directors, so my opinion may be biased. And I happen to think we have an exceptional HOA. Some of our directors are incredibly dedicated. Our property manager is top notch. It wasn’t until I joined the HOA directors that I really understood everything they and the managment company do for our neighborhood.
People whine about the HOA fines. I wish I could share the stories of waived or reduced fines. How about the HOA nominating for a cash credit a family who’d fallen on hard times? How about the HOA director who offered up their services to help paint a homeowners fence that had been damaged in a traffic accident? How about the director that got a group of people together who did all the labor in making a common area repair that saved the association hundreds of dollars? How about the director the walks the entire community and notes plants that need replacing, or common area improvements, or spends his own time and money making improvements and repairs? The list goes on and on.
Yes, getting a letter from an HOA that you need to put the trash can up, or pull your weeds can be annoying. But contrary to popular belief, they don’t write these letters to annoy you. They write these letters to maintain the community, and hence maintain YOUR property values. If you don’t like something your HOA does, get up off the couch and go to the meetings. Make your opinion known. Run for the board and help make changes that way. But don’t just sit back and complain. And if you do see something good in your neighborhood, a friendly nod to your directors isn’t out of order. The vast majority of HOA directors really do care. They aren’t doing it for fun, trust me…
The Phoenix Real Estate Guy was started by Jay Thompson, and I have a little blogging problem... he liked to say...
You LIKE you're HOA? Are you insane? I –HATE– mine! Where do they get off telling me I can't put up a basketball hoop? Where do they get off telling me what color I can paint my house? If I want to paint my house purple, I should be able to! HOAs suck, plain and simple. They serve no purpose but to put money in developers hands.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
I know a *lot* of people feel the way you do. And a part of me honestly believes that I should be able to do whatever I want to my house. Paint, landscaping, leaving my trashcan out, a basketball hoop….whatever.
On the other hand, I have no desire to live in a technicolor neighborhood. Try selling your home when the guy across the street has a purple house. See what happens to the value of your home when the neighbor's yard looks like an overgrown vacant lot.
Fact is, HOAs protect home values. Are they a pain in the a$$? Sometimes. Do they do good things? Sometimes. Are they perfect? No.
Fact is, anyone who buys a home gets a copy of the HOAs CC&Rs **before** they close on the home. If you don't like what's in the CC&Rs, don't buy the home.
Lots of opinions on HOAs out there. I'm not saying ALL HOAs are great. Mine is.
By the way, the developers don't get a penny from HOAs. Developers run HOAs in brand new subdivisions until a property management company and Board of Directors made of homeowners can be established. (or more rarely, a "self-governing" HOA is established). Then developers turn over responsibility for the HOA. Developers can't wait to get out of the HOA management.
Again, thanks for reading and commenting. I appreciate your opinion!
Jay
I too am a Realtor that's been a Director on several Boards, usually to get rid of the folks who walk the neighborhood on the weekend making notes of supposed violations to send to the Management Company so that violation letters can be sent. Unfortunately, too many HOA's have too many folks that try and make life miserable for the rest. A little power goes a long way, in some cases. You're right about the purple houses and the neglected yards, though. And you're right about reading the CC&R's prior to purchase. too often the Buyer leaves that up to the Realtor, then is upset when his Realtor isn't sharp enough to have done it.
Thanks,
Ralph
Can I live there? The other day I received a letter out of the blue from our HOA lawyer telling me that the content on the website that I created over a year and a half ago was not posted with the approval or knowledge of my HOA board members and it should be removed or else.
Here are some interesting facts, which I sent to the lawyer:
* The HOA PAYS me to maintain the website
* The HOA board members send me content to put on the website
* The HOA board members approved to have a magnet sent out promoting said website.
* My husband is on the HOA board and was not informed of any of this
I called our HOA President, as did my husband, and we were both told that the board wanted control over the website so they sent the letter. I know the President of the board and normally talk to him often. In fact, he asked me to shoot pool with him during that same conversation (moron). The board didn't think twice about sending a letter to me threatening legal action if I did not remove content from the website. Boy, talk about abuse of power.
Kelly –
WOW! That is unbelieveable. "Abuse of power" is an understatement! It's idiots and actions like these that give HOAs across the country a bad name.
With your permission, I'd LOVE to post a story about this on my blog. I think my readers would like to see a real life example of an HOA gone bonkers. I'm sure it would royally irritate the President of your association as well as Mr. Sellers and Ms. Baxter. But I don't care.
What they did to you is rediculous. Can I write up a blog entry and email it to you?
Keep your chin up and don't let these dolts bring you down!
Jay
HOA's are not bad instruments. In fact if run properly they enhance and improve property values. Most developers turn over control to the Homeowners thenselves once the community is sold out. This is rarely used as a profit center. The problem with HOA's is their Boards! No training, no concept of what the HOA is for. I purchased in my community specifically because of the Deed restrictions that prohibit things like: commercial vehicles, junk cars, etc. I also wanted to know that my neighbor cannot paint their house purple and grow weeds in their yard. Search “curb appeal” in Google and you will see a plethora of articles that directly attach “curb appeal” to the value of your house and community. Fact of the matter if you do not like your HOA there are two possible reasons.
1. You have a bad Board. (unfortunately most are)
2. You did not read the Deed restrictions when you purchased your home and now don’t like the rules of the game. The Declarative Covenants list exactly what is and is not allowed in the community. If you did not like the restrictions it spells out, you should have bought somewhere else. Ignorance is no excuse for a purchase of that size.
Mike
Jay, good post. To be honest with you, I have never heard anyone praising their HOA. But I'm with you, I actually like mine. I live in a little condo complex and the place is kept immaculate. There is a full time cleaner here that keeps the property updated and everything is painted and fresh.
My HOA fees are only $200 a month and this includes free cable. I'm a believer too!
It's funny that everyone talks about the HOA making life "miserable" for the owners. What about the owners who don't keep up their homes and make life miserable for those of us who do? HOAs would not be necessary if there weren't a bunch of assholes around who leave their garbage out in the street, have loud parties at 2AM and don't give a shit about how their neighborhood looks. My association actually sued my neighbor for damanging our property values by not maintaining the exterior of their home…and they won! For that reason alone I LOVE MY HOA. I live in a very new development and don't expect it to look like trash. If that how you want to live don't move into an association. And don't tell me there are no homes without them….I've owned three homes with no HOA in recnetly years. As for those whiners who don't like the rules….can you not read english? In most states you are given the rules upfront and even given the chance to back out of the purchase if you don't agree with them. Grow up, follow the rules, pay your dues…and your mortgage…and stop being a bad neighbor!
I live at Circle Tree Condominiums at 461 W. Holmes Ave Mesa, AZ. This may sound funny but all of us love our HOA. Most of us are glad we live in a community where there are Rules that prevent our property value from declining due to slum lords and owners neglecting their property. This HOA has a Rules, Grievance and Security Committee made up of residence that police the area and cite home owners with a kind warning at first. Its nice to know that the neighbors are watching along with the HOA. Community involvement like this where owners and renters work side by side with the HOA makes for a great community. These guys are sharp don't fight with the owners enlist them to work with and for you.
My name is Steve and I live in a community in California that has an HOA. Apparently my HOA isn't very up to speed on managing a community. We see yards in horrible condition and the focus the HOA gives the community is toward parking. I don't see why an HOA should be able to force me to park in my garage and not on my drive way. This is not a decision for an HOA to make for me or the other homeowners. HOA's in theory are sensible but too many have become socialist experiments that aggrivate more than help. The HOA here sent a monthly letter and it says that there is a parking problem. Funny how myself and my neighbors don't see it. Unfortunately we are part of a community that also has town houses. A rep for the HOA said that the requirement was "mostly" for the townhomes and not our area but it will be enforced for our area as well. I have so many problems with that explanation that I don't know where to start. The requirement is either for us or not for us. There isn't any middle ground for this that I can see. So here is my thoughts on HOA's. Stop telling people how to live and help decent homeowners from horrible neighbors.
My name is Steve and I live in a community in California that has an HOA. Apparently my HOA isn't very up to speed on managing a community. We see yards in horrible condition and the focus the HOA gives the community is toward parking. I don't see why an HOA should be able to force me to park in my garage and not on my drive way. This is not a decision for an HOA to make for me or the other homeowners. HOA's in theory are sensible but too many have become socialist experiments that aggrivate more than help. The HOA here sent a monthly letter and it says that there is a parking problem. Funny how myself and my neighbors don't see it. Unfortunately we are part of a community that also has town houses. A rep for the HOA said that the requirement was "mostly" for the townhomes and not our area but it will be enforced for our area as well. I have so many problems with that explanation that I don't know where to start. The requirement is either for us or not for us. There isn't any middle ground for this that I can see. So here is my thoughts on HOA's. Stop telling people how to live and help decent homeowners from horrible neighbors.