HOA Rant

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

WTF is the benefit of an HOA?

the HOA tax is the penalty for not being as well armed as the riff raff..

[look 171]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

My last place didn’t have one and I had to deal with stupid redneck neighbors swilling beer, blasting Skynard, having half-disassembled cars all over their lot from the “body shop” they were running and a few other goodies. Generally speaking it wasn’t as much of a bother as one might expect since it was rural and it was about 200+ yards to that property line - the other one was about twice that far , the third was conservation land and the fourth was a roadway that had vacant land (woods) across. So it generally was ok and didn’t bother me but just seeing that some people could and really did live like that was enough for me to understand that in denser situations HOAs do have their role to play.

That said, anyone who buys a place with an HOA and doesn’t thoroughly read the by-laws before signing on the dotted line is asking for it. I walked away from a couple of accepted offers in the mid-2000s for precisely that reason. A low stress HOA that has common sense bylaws that were revised 5 or 10 years ago is what I’d look for. One that’s got an “active” HOA that’s constantly tweaking / rewriting rules is a HUGE red flag (busybody alert!)

I rent now (happily) but still familiarized myself with the HOA bylaws from the guy I rent from - firstly because I want to be good to him and not land him in trouble and secondly for the reasons above (I didn’t agree to become his tenant until I knew and understood what the rules were...). The bylaws were last updated in I think 2007 and that was to impose a rule prohibiting people from having dogs more than 25 pounds in the complex - something I’m totally fine with. I’ve never had an issue. If things go well maybe I’ll buy the unit from him or grab another one in the same complex (they come up from time to time). Pleasant place, quiet, no hillbillies, a few neighborhood kids that are generally good, etc. The way things should be.

I echo what the others said about getting on the board. Then be someone else’s pain in the rear for a change.

Did you moved to Alaska from CA? Now you are elsewhere?

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Heya, short version is I left CA in 2009 to take a job back in Boston. Lived in NH for a few years and worked in MA. It had a few nice things but all in all the northeast isn’t for me. I got a chance to come out to HI in ‘17 for some work and took the plunge. Life’s pretty good now. Alaska is beautiful but I doubt I could ever live there!

[ckelly78z]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

Interesting to see how other people live.
Your HOA fees are 50% of my property taxes, and I live on 5 acres.
Living out here in the sticks has its disadvantages, but reading stories like these make me like it more all the time.

I could have written this^^^ !

$393 a month seems really steep, but I guess location is everything ?

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by wdfifteen

the HOA tax is the penalty for not being as well armed as the riff raff..

well armed... Ah. so it IS a BDSM thing.

Thankfully I've never had live anywhere where the riff raff arent into that. Not that theres anything wrong with it.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

WTF is the benefit of an HOA? Is it a BDSM thing?

Some areas, like mine do not have zoning. The HOA becomes the defacto zoning board. The idea is low level uniformity, to prevent idiots from ruining the property values.

My neighborhood is gated. And we own the streets. So the HOA also takes care of community maintenance.

We also have amenities like 2 pools, tennis courts, playground, community center and a guard shack.

$1500/yr

[red-beard]

Also, the board changes. Our present board has been pretty good. Except for the last month or so where they tried to pass a "tax" on new homeowners to fund improvements/maintenance 25-30 years from now (2045-2050!). I admire them for trying get ahead of it, but it would be better if we just raised the HOA fee 1% over inflation for a few years and spread the cost around. (Need to raise an inflation adjusted $7M for road repairs).

I've received a few letters over the years. Most were mistaken address issues. But the one or two items were real things that needed attention (green mold on a fence, clean and repaint). As far as dealing with the architectual commitee, it is done to keep the appearence up. I have only seen one issue of enforment where the homeowner completely deviated from the plan.

The funniest thing are the couple of homes that are consistently in violation, are always owned by lawyers.

[GH85Carrera]

I love our HOA.

We have several wonderful rules. Like no long term parking on the streets. All vehicles are to be in the garage, or parked in your own driveway. All but a couple of the house in our neighborhood have three car garages. It looks so much better to drive down the street and see the open streets.
If someone has guests it is no issue to have them park on the street for a few nights. When my brother came to visit he parked his class A motorhome on the street in front of our house overnight.

The trash cans have to be put away and out of sight from the street. The obvious mow the yard and keep the property up is just logical. The community property has a sprinkler system to keep the grass alive and we pay to have it mowed.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

I have served on the HOA for my home in Mexico.
Imagine getting involved in serious medical transportation issues, animal control and good old fashioned fraud.

If as a HOA member, you get your financials on a spreadsheet each year, you are being skimmed

[Rick Lee]

I have been very lucky, living in an HOA for 10 years and having never heard from the HOA. I am on nextdoor.com and read a lot of horror stories about enforcement and HOA board shenanigans. But so far I have not had firsthand experience with it. I know my luck will run out one day.

OTOH, I work in a lot of non-HOA areas, the kind of scenarios HOAs were invented to prevent. One guy I visited in a trailer park had his trailer totally destroyed by a gas explosion. His insurance denied the claim, so he lives in the rubble with a rented makeshift chain link fence around it. You wouldn't believe it unless you saw it. I can't believe the county even allows that, but an HOA surely never would.

[red-beard]

Pictures?

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

well armed... Ah. so it IS a BDSM thing.

Thankfully I've never had live anywhere where the riff raff arent into that. Not that theres anything wrong with it.

I was just joking. I figured someone here was going to say it sooner or later.
Out here I AM the riff raff.

[Rick Lee]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Pictures?

Looks like it might have been removed since I was last there a few mos. ago. It's the fenced lot behind and to the right of the fire hydrant.

3638 W Monona Dr, Glendale, AZ, 85308

[Nostril Cheese]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Some areas, like mine do not have zoning. The HOA becomes the defacto zoning board. The idea is low level uniformity, to prevent idiots from ruining the property values.

My neighborhood is gated. And we own the streets. So the HOA also takes care of community maintenance.

We also have amenities like 2 pools, tennis courts, playground, community center and a guard shack.

$1500/yr

I just want a nice cabin out in the boonies. Sit on my porch with my Mossberg. Hey, you with the red beard... GET OFF MY LAND!

[legion]

Originally Posted by Nostril Cheese

I just want a nice cabin out in the boonies. Sit on my porch with my Mossberg. Hey, you with the red beard... GET OFF MY LAND!

I just want to sit in my hilltop fortress with my Barrett. Get within two miles of my house and....

(JK )

[jyl]

My sister lives in a HOA area. The board was being unreasonably picky with neighbors. Her husband and some other neighbors got together, ran for the board, won, and put things on the right track.

My friend bought a condo, which has the equivalent of a HOA. The board was refusing to maintain the building and dock. He and other neighbors got on the board and fixed the problem.

I’ve never lived anywhere with a HOA. If I did, I’d get on the board and do my part to make sure things were running well.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by jyl

My sister lives in a HOA area. The board was being unreasonably picky with neighbors. Her husband and some other neighbors got together, ran for the board, won, and put things on the right track.

My friend bought a condo, which has the equivalent of a HOA. The board was refusing to maintain the building and dock. He and other neighbors got on the board and fixed the problem.

I’ve never lived anywhere with a HOA. If I did, I’d get on the board and do my part to make sure things were running well.

This. With any club or HOA the board members make decisions and there are complaints. In our PCA region many times a members says "we need to do this type of event" and we give them the same reply, you are now in charge of that. You do all the work and spent your time and effort to make it happen. Some just slink away, and others step up, and do the work and the club is better. It just takes the volunteer to step up and make it right.

Smae thing with our HOA. We all agreed we needed to "do something" to pretty up the association owned green area. The HOA can't afford to hire pros to do it. So some residents did it with the supplies funded by the HOA.

[jyl]

Neighborhood bodies, whether they be HOAs or traditional neighborhood associations like mine, are always in need of people who are willing to step up, get involved, and work with others. If you’re have that mindset, you can always get a role and start making things better.

My neighborhood is not a HOA, and we’ve been seeing the disadvantages of that in the last few years. The city doesn’t do jack all for us and is increasingly hostile to our needs and wants. Our park has 50-60 tents and homeless people doing drugs, spreading trash, acting hostile all over the place. The police have been ordered to do nothing, and our neighborhood officer was taken away. Last night a deranged homeless guy was pounding on one neighbor’s house all night trying to break in. They called the police who merely shooed the guy away, but he kept coming back, finally in the morning they arrested him, but he’ll be released in 24 hours. The houses by the park are $1MM+ and the folks living there are under siege. Times like this, you kinda wish you had a HOA.

[stomachmonkey]

I'm in a love hate relationship with my HOA.

A lot of the hate stems from them simply not having the resources to monitor a 4,000 home community.

Our community is larger than many of the towns around here so a lot of the letters they send is the result of your neighbors dropping dime which is even worse because some people just don't have lives and are just *******s in general so you end up dealing with bull**** letters.

I love it because the HOA is very strong and the community was well thought out.

It's nearly 20 years old now and the place is immaculate.

No ****ty lawns, dilapidated fencing, odd paint schemes, etc....

I appreciate how well they preserve my property values.

Now HOA's can be silly.

Maybe 8 or so years ago we were having issues with mail delivery and I did not get my renewal notice for some fee so it got paid a month late. No big deal.

They tried to hit me with a $35.00 late fee so I called them to have it waived.

For some reason they refused.

OK, fine. So once a month I get a bill for $35.00, tear it up and toss it in the trash.

The absolute worst that can happen is they attach a $35.00 lien to my house. Meh.

The plan is when I sell next year, I'll send them the $35.00 along with a note and the calculation of what it cost them to collect it.

I imagine mailing out 120 or so "reminder" notices has cost them well in excess of $35.00.

Other than that, nothing wrong with a good strong HOA, it's just finding one that's the challenge.

[fintstone]

The HOA where I live now will send you a notice to do something (cut down a tree or mow your yard). If you do not, they hire someone and send them to do it and bill you. You come home from vacation and not only was your forest of trees trimmed or cut down, but you have a bill for it.