What's your neighborhood's HOA like?

No HOA here & no neighbors either, Only wildlife & cows!

Love it,
Left Raleigh for it.

Now stop telling people how great JoCo is - Shhhhhhhhh!!!

 

We don't have a HOA. Overall our subdivision is nicely kept. I do wish there were some enforcement of the basic covenants though ... i.e. for the neighbor that has had a Pack Rat sitting in the front yard for three years or so. It's not so much the Pack Rat that even bothers me. It's that they plopped it in the front yard. Why not at least put it on the side of the house or end of the driveway by the house.

Another house plopped one of those metal carports pretty much in their front yard to store a boat. It would look better if they had put the carport over the driveway.

 

No HOA in our subdivision. A good thing - no one to tell me I can't put my gnomes in my front yard. And tacky Christmas decorations, for that matter. And no, my gnomes do not lower the value of the house for sale next door. We keep our grass and property properly maintained, and the gnomes are not an eyesore. Unless, of course, you have a deep rooted belief that gnomes are evil or something.

I believe some neighbors need to worry more about their pets running loose in the neighborhood before passing judgment on my choice of landscaping...

 

We have to pay $50/month HOA fee and they do nothing. HOA is joke.

 

Wow, do you at least have a pool and/or other amenities? Adams Point is going to be $600 a year (once the pool is finished), which includes the pool membership.

We pay $100 a year, which pretty much covers the astronomical fee charged by the mgmt company (who we'll of course get rid of the minute the builder turns over the association), upkeep of the signage, and electricity for the lights. And once we get control, we'll probably use the portion previously paid to the mgmt company to install some temporary speed bumps.

 

These are excellent examples of why I like HOA.

 

whatever, we do not need to pay something for our neighbors to look out for and take care of each other, that is just the nature of people that believe in and take care of their own, i am so blessed to live in a wonderful neighborhood of good honest people, no one needs to pay money to tell us how to live:hurray::hurray::hurray:

 

Same here, Kaci. WE are very fortunate to live in a great subdivision. I can overlook the small things as long as I know we are safe and can live in peace where we are.

 

Amen, I live in a good neighborhood, never had any problem. Neighbors look out for each other. That means a lot more to me than what their yard looks like.
I never want to live in a neighborhood where someone tells me what to do. I do not like the cookie cutter look of some neighborhoods. I know some people do, if you like it you are welcome to it! That is why I moved to the country(at least it used to be country), so I could do my own thing, and you can do yours. As long as you don't do it in my yard, have at it!

 

We have an HOA. $40 per month for nearly nothing.

 

We have a HOA and I agree with another poster, the thing we need to do is fire Kohn Ell, imo.

 

I am curious - those that say they have an HOA and pay into it.

Is your S/D still under construction? If so then this may be why you see nothing for your money. Typically, the developer maintains the HOA when the S/D is being built and depending on its convenants the residents cannot take over the HOA until the S/D is 50-75% built out.

If this is the case and you know your paying into an HOA and will not have the option ot too then I'd suggest contacting your developer/builder and seeing when you can get control. That way YOU can make a difference. I have yet to find a developer/builder who collects HOA funds and uses them for the benefit of the HOA. It is not until the residents get control that you actually can make it a good thing.

 

Most HOAs get a bad rap becuase of what the fees are versus what the benefits are. In my opinion, a HOA shouldn't dictate neighborhood policy beyond what most basic covenants are (except for a few things). However, the fees only need to be a bare minimum. My subdivision doesn't have a HOA and it shows. There is one common area and it looks pretty bad. At $20/year x 300 homes = $6000 which is way more than enough to maintain a yearly contract with a landscaping company. $20 whole dollars. Why can't builders set these kind of HOA's up without the strict rules?

 

Actually as Tresuerer of an HOA with 700+ homes I can tell you the costs are decevign if you do not have a clear understanding of how much it costs for contracts the HOA has. We recently re-did ALL of our contracts and although we significantly lowered our contract procies by going with new companies, it is still extremely expensive. Our Grounds contract is 10K a year and that is the cheapest out there, trust me I saw the contracts. We also have a pool thus a pool contractor which costs 10k a year to maintain. Then we have a property manegement company to manage our property and that costs 30K a year. Then thier is insurance and other contracts. It is very expensive. We currently have the lowest dues in Wake County at 72 every 3 months and we get yelled at for that!!!

 

Well, my subd only has a small area to maintain and would only require a volunteer board and $20-$30 a year per house.

 

Ok, well that of course makes a difference

 

For Jordan Ridge, there are no lights..and darned little common area that needs maintaining. On our side (small cul de sac - 6 homes) we even put up our own street sign to replace the ones that kept getting vandalized. We also mow our own little strip of grass and weeds. Somehow, I'm thinking that the hundred dollars or so that each homeowner is paying far exceeds that payout for the maintenance here. I could understand it better if we had some type of community pool or building. We do not.

This isn't a shot at the home owners on the board. Having done that thankless job in Virginia, I knew there was no way I'd do it again here.

My concern is that the developer apparently jumps into bed with the first HOA management company they can, and really don't appear to do anything with it until the HOA governance moves from developer to owners, after the threshold of ownership change is met.

Although the homeowners on the board have tried to communicate it, I am still unaware of the need for Kohn Ell to manage, nor what they provide for the coin they get.

 

You are 100% correct!!! That is exactly what happened in our situation and unfortunately when we got control we had so many other issues we had to attend to first we could not get rid of the company hired by the developer the first year. We actually held onto them for two years after we took over and once we resolved some other major issues this past year we canned them and hired a new one who I must say is awesome!!! A heck of a lot cheaper and we get WAY more attention and response from them.

 

I suggest you stop mowing your entrance because it is covered by the lawn maintenance company. There was an issue last year with the old board in regards to proper and timely upkeep that will not happen this year. You also need to remember if you have folks on the board that CAN do a good job; it is only a two year tenure for HOA members. The property managemnet company is just that and was not being used properly in the past. Kohn Ell works for Jordan Ridge not vice versa.
I was like yourself last year being a little disgusted to what was going on then decided (suckered probably the better word) joined the HOA and neighbors have been noticing the improvements. I know you saw the immediate cleanup of the entrances late fall and the new gravel spread at the entrance at Galaxy. I must of missed that between all your griping.:nopity:
There is also a beautification/socialization committe set up with good things to come this year so I suppose you need to pay attention and do some volunteeering. There is no room for complainers in JR. Any issue can be resolved and will never become a problem.
Stop over some time and I'll go over the income statement to show you all the money the HOA is rolling in. You really to drive the neighborhood and count the house THEN do the math. JR is a great neighborhood to be involved with. Hint...get involved instead of being the highest poster on 40/42.:lol:
You know my door is ALWAYS open. That's why I'm on the board.

 

Notify the HOA.....:beathorse: It's on the website under contacts. C'mon Carl I know your smarter than this.

ES