:lol: I know...I know...I knew I was gonna get a comment, I just wanted to say what I thought about the question the OP asked about miscommunication with these things :lol: thought this maybe part of the problem
i have to agree with Shar - this HOA are a southern thing. I never heard of then and my dad was a builder for decades. They are designed to keep the area looking nice but there is no way I would ever buy a home that has one. I want to be able to paint my house the color i want with the fence and bushes I want and make additions as I want. i don't want some board voting on what I can and can not do.
I have not personally seen any covenants that restrict types of landscaping. An HOA can definitely be a good or bad thing. Bottom line is you need to be informed. In the first paragraph of the offer to purchase the buyer is advised to review any restrictive covenants (which should be provided by your Realtor) There is also an Owners Association Disclosure Addendum that should accompany an offer disclosing dues and HOA responsibilities.
I was once of the mindset that all HOAs were bad. Since living in two neighborhoods now where some folks just lack sense enough to be respectful of their neighbors, I have come to appreciate those with lenient HOAs. It seems that the people that seek out neighborhoods without HOAs do so for what they deem very good reason.
Thanks for input I work for an HOA association management co. and wanted to see what opinions were out there. Thanks.....
I'll throw my $.02 in. I don't like HOA's. If I want to fly a flag in my yard, paint my house a certain color, work on my car in my driveway, I will and no committee will tell me otherwise. I paid for my house, not them and until they pay my bank note, they don't get to tell me what to do at, or with, my home. As an example, my yard looks like crap right now because every time I get a day off to clean it, it's been raining! I'm planning of cleaning it tomorrow as I have the day off and it's finally not going to rain. I don't live where there is an HOA and I never will. Mike
AMEN. I use to live in a townhouse community in Boca Raton. It had a HOA. It seams the only word they knew was CAN'T. Can't do this, Can't do that. The Third Reiche wasn't as bad as the HOA. South Florida And if you watched the news almost every day there was another story about a home owner or condo owner that wanted to paint their home a diffrent color or put a mezuzah or cross on the door frame the HOA would make you take it down or could only paint your home in APPROVED HOA colors. Your landscape had to look a certain way. Only certain trees and bushes could be planted.....etc. Heck some of these HOA's make the Nazi party look like a bunch of good ole boys that even I would like to hang with.
I would be interested to see, in the current economy, Which types of homes have held their value. With the stories of home owners having to eat the membership fees of those empty homes in the community, I have a feeling the HOA's are losing.
I agree here..and let me get this straight - people actually pay some kind of dues? PAY to have people restrict them from doing with their houses whatever they want? Well, I must have at least 50 gnomes on my property right now; I move them around for everyone's amusement in the neighborhood, and I for one would not appreciate someone telling me I cannot decorate the way we please. I can appreciate some common sense policies such as health hazard restrictions, but stuff like what to plant, what colors to paint, decorations, etc is not one's concern but the homeowners. Self expression, to me, is so important...these are things that make our house our home. Just my 2ยข.
When I moved to my neighborhood, the builder still had control, and it was OK. When the homeowners elected a board, it became a bit much. They had someone peeping over my fence to check in my back yard for violations. I didn't catch them, but my neighbor told me about it and I got a violation letter in the mail a few days later. Personally, I think if you can't see it without stepping foot on the property, they should leave you alone.
