Any Input Positive/negative About Home Owners Associations

We will NEVER buy a house with an HOA. Ever! Period!
My DH and I agree on this. Why would you spend hundreds of thousands of dollars, decades of paying down a mortgage on a house that you cannot do with as you please. I want to be able to put whatever I please in my frontyard and back, I don't want someone come ringing because we didn't cut the grass for two weeks or because my daughter drew chalk on the driveway OR becuase I want to hang laundry in my backyard.
If I am going to own my house, I want it to be MY house and nobody but the local builing code should be able to tell me what to do or not do on my property. If we wanted to have to abide by someone else's rules we'd keep on renting - really how is it any different from having a landlord, EXCEPT you have to pay for it on top.
Just my two cents.

I would say HOA's are just like neighborhoods, they all have their own personalities (good and bad).

Our's honestly is a mixture of good and bad. We have several parties a year. Everything from a 4th of July party, to BBQ cookoff, Octoberfest etc.
We have a decent pool, that actually is getting too small for the neighborhood but since I do utilize it and my kids are almost out of the house, that's not a battle I'm getting into.
Yes, they do have the purpose maintaining neighborhood rules and regulations, and as a former board member, there have been liens put on properties who did not pay dues, but no forclosures. *If part of the dues is going for trash pick up and pool/recreation area maintenance and you don't pay your dues, you can't expect to have the same rights as others who do. and when you continue to NOT pay your dues, HOA do have a right to eliminate services (stop trash pickup to your house) and even put a lien on your property. When you get ready to sell, that money will have to be paid to the HOA before the sale.
But the nit-picking, backstabbing and political issues in our 'hood, I think, are worse than most! I have often wondered if I knew then what I know now about our neighborhood HOA, would I buy this house? Probably, because we love the house and overall love our neighbors and neighborhood. And I think most of us (or at least my DH and I) thought we could help bring new blood to the HOA meetings. But as soon as we (as did many others before us and since us) found out it was like beating our heads against the wall, we left our board positions as soon as we could.

Bottom line, you really are NOT going to know all the good and bad until you're in it. I would say that overall though, HOA are looking out for the good of the people who live there.

Good Luck

I hate mine. After 3 years here our house is on the market and my husband and I agree we will NEVER buy a house in a HOA area again. I do not like having someone tell me what I can and can not do with my own home, or in my own yard. If you like having everyone forced into a cookie cutter style and having no freedom of personal expression, than an HOA is perfect for that.

If you are a rule follower HOA will be fine for you. Not planning to do much to the outside of the house, build a shed, fence, play structure, yard you may never have to look at it. You put your garbage cans away, you mow your grass, you don't want to paint your house pink you will be fine. Plus you will have any of the neighbor doing the same thing.

We have lived in homes and been on the board of HOA's. People get in trouble when they continue to not follow the rules and it is upsetting to the other neighbors. ie, Our HOA had a rule that you couldn't have motor homes parked for more than 12 hours. One guy would have it there all summer, every summer. He got letter, after letter, then fines, the fines weren't paid and were put on as a lien. To be paid when ever he sold his house. This is might be were the foreclosure rumor comes from, could lien never be be that high? Wouldn't you move you fix the problem?

I wouldn't let an HOA scary me away from a home a really liked. I would rather the neighborhoods follow rules too.

HOA's are good and bad.

The first neighborhood we bullt in had an HOA which was volunteer. They did not have a lot of regulations but we had a lot of organized social activities. Because HOA was an option, some homes were not kept up as well as they should have been.

We built our current home in 2000 and it has a required HOA. We pay $400 a yr and that has not increased in several years. The grounds and common areas are kept nice. Of course they want input on whatever you do and most of the time all is well. They have a rule about the playsets have to have a green slide which is BS.

We've had "words" when we were painting our house. They wanted a paint swatch and I laughed at them. It never went further. They will write people up if the garbage cans are not brought in fast enough. and get nit picky on some things. No cars parked in the street, no boats, RV's and I agree with those.....because it can make a neighborhood look tacky.

The bad part of an HOA is sometimes the officers are egomaniacs on a power trip. The good part is people are required to maintain their homes and the neighborhood is much nicer. There have been horror stories lately, but for the most part, I agree with having an HOA to help keep my property value up. Our HOA does not tolerate people not taking care of yards and looking trashy.

Good luck

To me an HOA is horrible at best. If you want to have a mommy or dictator or daddy tell you everything you have to do and all you can say is, "Yes sir. Or No, sir". You deserve to be in an HOA.

The HOA near us (we looked at several houses in it before we found one we liked out side the clutches of the HOA) was charging $75 per month. 10 years later they charge $250 per month. (HOA fees are now higher than my property taxes.) You can only have a garage sale twice per year on the dates the HOA selects. If the weather is bad, tough. You have to wait 6 months. Cars cannot be parked overnight in the street. Having your kids come home for Christmas? They have to park outside the HOA boundries or pay a $75 per night ticket. Going on a two week vacation? The grass better not be too high or you'll get an HOA fine. A veteran cannot fly a flag from a flag pole in his yard. It (flag pole mounting bracket) must be screwed into his house so far off the ground. Want flowers. It ok as long as they are on the HOA list. Want a shade tree that also gives you fruit. Its ok as long as its on the HOA list. Want to have a BBQ in your yard? You must have HOA permission if your BBQ grill gives off too much smoke or if you have more than 4 cars parked in the street. You pay for tennis courts and the night lights. And the list goes on.

Anyone willing to give up that much freedom without loosing a war or being convicted of a crime deserves what they get. (BTW, under forclosure rules, if the HOA gives you a ticket for leaving your trashcans on the street over night and you don't pay it, the HOA can choose to forclose and sell your house for the $25 fine.)

I'd never willing live in an HOA controlled neighborhood.

I've only dealt with one HOA, and that is the one that I have currently. My experience, after 6 years, has been positive. The dues have not gone up, they keep the common areas very nicely manicured and ours doesn't seem to be too invasive. They are there if you need them to be (like if your neighbor's house becomes Sanford & Son-esque). Having said that, I know people who have nightmare situations w/ their HOAs, so they are all different. Do some research on the specific HOA you may buy into and go from there.

Seems nobody likes HOA's. I personally love my HOA. But I also came from a neighborhood that did not have an HOA. Our old neighbor was cleaning up forclosure homes and would put his trailer on the side of his house for us to see. Major Eyesore. Oh and the pink house, that was the other neighbor next to us. We had already moved, but that really drops the value of your house if you ever decide to sell it. Our fees are only $275.00 a year which maintains the pool, flowers, grass etc. Maybe ours isnt so strict. Never had a problem with them.

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I've never lived in a home with a HOA, but have friends who have with nothing but horror stories about it. Sorry, but I don't want someone else telling me what color I can paint my front door or what height I have to mow the lawn to, etc. I just think you are never going to know exactly what kind of neighbors you are going to get with a new house: good, bad, quiet , noisy, friendly, grumpy- but at least if you don't have a HOA, they don't have any control over YOU or your property.

So, moving into a neighborhood with a HOA would NOT be for me- you just have to decide if its something you want to put up with.

Depends if the HOA is run by an actual homeowners, normally volunteer, or by actual associations with paid employees. Ours in completely volunteer, I am actually an officer of mine. We have yearly dues of $40, not monthly. Our dues are used to cover the water, electricity and landscaper for the entrance to our additon and common grounds areas. Also, for printing costs of our newsletters and flyers. Ours is mainly to enforce the already existing city rules regarding keeping yards and properties maintained and looking nice. We don't have our own rules. We just make sure the ones required by the city are followed.
Example: if we have a yard that is in need to mowing (overgrown etc.) we will send the homeowner a letter telling them there have been complaints and they need to mow or we will contact the city's action center. If it's not mowed we can contact the city and if they come out and mow it they will bill the homeowner a ridiculous huge amount. Any citizen can contact the action center...it's seems if we contact it as the HOA and then notify the action center that we have already given them a notice to mow we can get things done faster than the average joe complaining about a neighbors property.

Both of our houses have been with HOAs, now we dont pay a huge amount like I know many of our friends do in California for theirs, and I really like the HOA. It keeps the neighborhood really clean and holds poeple accountable for their properties (so you wont end up next to a house with a bunch of broken down cars and weeds). We also have many green areas and playgrounds in our nieghborhood that they keep up. The negatives are few and far between. Every now and then we will get a letter if we forget to bring our trash cans in the same day as pick up, aslo if we have iur boat or trailer parked infront of our house for more than a day or two, but we dont get fined or anything just a "friendly notice". we have a cople of renters in the area and it has helped with a couple of issues there,a quick phone call. I peesonally would not purchase a house that does not have an HOA, But then again we only pay $40 a month so not a lot to get that peice of mind. Now if ytou dont pay they can put a lien on your house for what is owed (basically if you sell they get that $$ 1st before you collect yours) The aggreementd are pretty easy tp read through and pretty cut and dry (atleast ours are). Hope this helps.
Oh and at our last property our fees actually went down after they found a less exspensive landscape company.
Most our run by homeowners (usually once a development has a certain % of homes sold) so if oyu are worried about fees and rules you can always join the board and let your voice be heard about what you agree to and not. We go to our meetings when there are things on discussion that we care about, if you get involved even a little you feel better about where your $ is going to. And since it is run by home owners they are less likely to screw over the developemnt cause they live tthere as well.

We have a HOA but we also live in a townhouse division so it might be a different situation if you are getting a single family home. I like our HOA it's some of the crazy neighbors that go overboard that you have to worry about. If you find one you like be sure to get a copy of the rules and regulations to read ahead of time. Walk around the neighborhood and talk to the neighbors and see how they like living there. Get the minutes from the last annual meeting to see what concerns people have and ask if there are any plans for fees to increase. A good HOA will be happy to help in any way and should not prevent any of the above.

I have been in two HOA and don't like them. They both threatened to fine people for violations like overly weedy yards or having a satellite dish within view of the road. They send nasty letters and then don't follow up.

Then we pay a whole lot of money for the grounds and upkeep of our neighborhood. Although it is nice to have a neighborhood pool and pretty grounds, if you just live in a good area, people will keep their houses up and you can do what you want to your home without asking permission.

Also, our HOA wants all sheds to match our homes exactly, and all landscaping plans to be approved by them. I actually find them to be really annoying. The fees go up every year, too.

I guess I've always been in neighborhoods that HOAs. I don't agree with everything they do, but I knew there was an HOA before we agreed to buy our house, so I can't really be anything but accountable.

Ours has some silly restrictions like fencing only being a certain kind (shadow box) and playhouses having to be the same color as the house. They also have a "no commercial vehicles" or "boats, rv's", etc. rule.

More often than not, the HOA members are either people who really care about the neighborhood or who are in desperate need of some kind of power. One street in the neighborhood has an increasingly large 4th of July party each year. This was the first year they invited the entire neighborhood for a $20/family fee. I called the HOA to see if they were sponsoring it - they said no, but the people organizing it did ask the HOA to pay for the port-a-potties. That ticked me off.

My parents live in a nice neighborhood outside Washington, DC. Their HOA approves all home colors before people can paint. They have to be "colonial" in selection. They also can't have livestock in their yards despite having only 1/4 acre 15 miles outside of DC. Strange.

So, I agree with all the people that say it really depends on the organization and the people running them. The WWII vet who was fined for flying his American Flag is WAY over the top as far as I'm concerned.

We have 1, our fees aren't high. We have lived here for 12 years and I have never had a problem with mine. I didn't know they could foreclose on your house, don't banks do that if you don't pay on your mortgage.

I live in a house with a HOA. Like one poster had mentioned, if you follow the rules, you will be okay. Personally, if I had to do it over again, I would move to a home in the country without any HOA. There is a certain freedom you get by living without a private little government dictating how you should live. Our HOA charges annual dues. We have 4 parks in our neighborhood and all the dues monies went to restore one of the parks, but not the others. As it turns out, the monies went to the park where most of the board members houses surround, coincidentally. Then all the members quit! What a joke.