Homeowners Associations

I am so thankful for this thread! I live next to some filthy mother fuckers, unused cars, dog shit, over-grown weedy lawn, just some trashy pieces of shit. Sure, that says a lot about me but I challenge anyone to find a post where I claim to be a success by the standards of current capitalism. In any case, I own my house and I would rather have it next to some filth than have to hob-knob with Hymie and Louise, the overzealous HOA busybody cunts just to have some say in what I do with my house.

The investment in time and political capital just to have potential to have some say in how you live is no way to live. It is just potential; unless you can invest a ton of time into this HOA, some retired cock is going to have his way. Last time I lived in FL, a wasteland of humanity and a strong reason to be okay with sea level rising about 50 foot, I rented an apartment in a new development with an HOA. We couldn't have Christmas decorations, or any sort of outdoor art. They would padlock gates shut despite not having the authority to restrict access. Nevertheless, there'd still be folks renting out places on a weekly basis to Euro-trash that would shave their legs in the community pool. We at first considered buying there but the worst thing was that 25% of the monthly payment would have been going to HOA fees. If there's an HOA in place, I won't buy. So much more happy with my filthy neighbors.

I live next to some filthy mother fuckers, unused cars, dog shit, over-grown weedy lawn, just some trashy pieces of shit. Originally Posted by JohnnyCap

Even without a HOA, wouldn't that be a violation of the city code?

I think a HOA can be a good thing or a bad one depending on the people involved and of course the residence that live in the neighborhood.

Jim Originally Posted by Mr MojoRisin

Very true. I would hope that the people on an HOA act with the interests of all the homeowners in mind. My HOA dues is $340 a year but we have 2 pools, which I rarely use, and a great deal of common area that must be maintained. Definitely a reasonable amount of money IMHO. Do you have any specific complaints about your HOA?

This viral picture comes with the caption: "The guy who was told by his homeowners association that he couldn't fly an American flag in his yard, so he painted his house red, white and blue."


While it may be amusing to think so, that's not the real story.

Even without a HOA, wouldn't that be a violation of the city code? Originally Posted by JCM800

Yes, and I'm working on it person to person, and while there has been progress, it has been hard earned.

Very true. I would hope that the people on an HOA act with the interests of all the homeowners in mind. My HOA dues is $340 a year but we have 2 pools, which I rarely use, and a great deal of common area that must be maintained. Definitely a reasonable amount of money IMHO. Do you have any specific complaints about your HOA? Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX

That seems reasonable; in the place I was mentioning it was $300 a month.

Very true. I would hope that the people on an HOA act with the interests of all the homeowners in mind. My HOA dues is $340 a year but we have 2 pools, which I rarely use, and a great deal of common area that must be maintained. Definitely a reasonable amount of money IMHO. Do you have any specific complaints about your HOA? Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX

Not as of yet cause it just started last year. I moved in Jan 2nd 2010 and the HOA hadn't been put in place. Next thing I know I get a letter last June stating we were to pay dues, so on and so forth they also gave us a copy of the CC,R's and I didn't pay it at first really thought it was a voluntary thing until I received a notice stating they could enforce liens or wage garnishment ect. Now although I won't give them the chance to do anything like that it still bothers me that they actually can. Not only do have to pay dues for the upkeep of common areas which Iam not opposed to really, but some of these restrictions are a bit much. You can't even put a for sale sign out in your front yard, you can't fly a flag outside your house. If you paint the outside of your house you can't use a color to far off of what the original was, ect. Feels provoking, it wouldn't surprise me if people have gone postal on a board of director over a restriction. Of course that wouldn't help the situation but might make ya feel better, lol.

Jim

You can't even put a for sale sign out in your front yard, you can't fly a flag outside your house. If you paint the outside of your house you can't use a color to far off of what the original was, ect. Feels provoking, it wouldn't surprise me if people have gone postal on a board of director over a restriction. Of course that wouldn't help the situation but might make ya feel better, lol.

Jim Originally Posted by Mr MojoRisin

I would agree that those restrictions are ridiculous. One home I owned did not allow political signs in the yard but For Sale signs??? The main purpose of the HOA is to protect home values.

That seems reasonable; in the place I was mentioning it was $300 a month. Originally Posted by JohnnyCap

Was that a condo? Monthly fees at a condo cover much more than maintaining common areas.

Being on the board can expose you to lawsuits by a pissed off resident, contractor, or just someone visiting the development who was injured........not saying you shouldn't be a board member ( i have been on the board of condominium developments)...

Just make sure the board has indemnity insurance to cover your legal costs should you get sued.

Was that a condo? Monthly fees at a condo cover much more than maintaining common areas. Originally Posted by SpeedRacerXXX

It was a townhouse; but the development had single family homes, duplexes, and townhouses. There was a lot of fees and $300 was the combination of some monthy, quarterly and annual fees broken down to monthly. But what would have been a $900 mortgage/taxes/insurance was then $1200.

I am sure it covered more and part of unwillingness to buy was the idea of investing in a multi-dwelling building. Not a good idea to me for a home investment.

But I still have and encourage disdain for HOAs. Especially for the people it attracts. When we were asked to move a piece of artwork (a flower pot holder shaped like a dog), we didn't get asked. Rather we were sent a letter with a picture attached that was taken from the seat of a car. You could see the dash of the car in the pic. So instead of knocking on a door and meeting a neighbor, this pansy ass wuss cunt tool takes a pic, writes a letter, prints two copies of each and mails them to two residents since the 'offensive' piece was placed between two units and he was not sure who it belonged to. The author of the letter didn't even leave his/her name. Coward.

I'm all for the immediate extermination of that type of behavior and I refuse to invest my life fighting it politically.

This is not the first house I've owned. The other two didn't have any restrictions at all and no HOA fees of any kind. If you wanted to paint your house pink with blue stripes no one could say or do shit about it, but HOA's can and will put some rather ridiculous restrictions on homeowners and if not complied with from what I've been reading can put a lien on your house and can even initiate a foreclosure. As far as property value I question that. When I was married my wife and I built a house in a Subdivision in 2001 we bought it for about 128,000 we stayed in it for five years when we split up we sold it in 2006 for 168,000 and made 40,000 in proceeds. That Subdivision didn't have any HOA of any kind. The house I live in now is about the same size and style and even though I've bought it for more than the house in 01 the houses that have been selling in the past year have only been yielding a little over ten thousand in profits and we have a HOA. I think a HOA can be a good thing or a bad one depending on the people involved and of course the residence that live in the neighborhood.

Jim Originally Posted by Mr MojoRisin

Linking the efficacy of deed restrictions or HOA's to the price escalation of a home is dubious. The period from 2001 to 2006 was one of record home price inflation driven by forces, mostly corrupt, completely alien from deed restrictions and HOA governance. Try to imagine what that first home would have been worth in 2006 if bad luck had landed a slob next to your house. It happens. That's why HOA's generally have the authority to mow the grass if things get out of hand, and place a lien on the offender's property for reimbursement. It can be construed as an intrusion on liberty, and is at the hands of overzealous HOA's, but I'll take a well maintained environment any day over laissez faire chaos, particularly to protect not only your investment, but your everyday well being.

Linking the efficacy of deed restrictions or HOA's to the price escalation of a home is dubious. The period from 2001 to 2006 was one of record home price inflation driven by forces, mostly corrupt, completely alien from deed restrictions and HOA governance. Try to imagine what that first home would have been worth in 2006 if bad luck had landed a slob next to your house. It happens. That's why HOA's generally have the authority to mow the grass if things get out of hand, and place a lien on the offender's property for reimbursement. It can be construed as an intrusion on liberty, and is at the hands of overzealous HOA's, but I'll take a well maintained environment any day over laissez faire chaos, particularly to protect not only your investment, but your everyday well being. Originally Posted by trident60

Well you're right 2001-2006 was a great time to sell a house and it just so happens that time framed benefited me at a real difficult time in my life. After 17 years of marriage and we had a great little house. I have to hand it to her she decorated this place so sweetly. The place was sold less than a week after it was on the market. But some things really don't affect the value of the house as one poster explained he couldn't even put up Christmas decorations or yard art during a Holliday that's being a bit anal.

Jim

but I'll take a well maintained environment any day over laissez faire chaos, particularly to protect not only your investment, but your everyday well being. Originally Posted by trident60

Those who will sacrifice liberty for safety deserve neither and will lose both.

Due diligence!

Why is it most of us can do

-- Proper research prior to engaging a provider

But not so due diligence when:

-- engaging a real estate agent, broker or Realtor
-- signing a purchase contract (indeed, making an offer without doing ALL the property research)
-- buying a new car by using a dealer's financing (w/o having your own financing from the bank, credit union, etc. in place first just in case)

Etc.