Neighborhood Nightmare…

We are happy with our HOA. They do complete the common area maintenance and the fees are reasonable, just $580 per year. That keeps the common area landscaping looking good and the pool and club house in great condition. They replace street lamp bulbs, repair sidewalks and clear snow. I did have a question about our flag pole when we built our house, as this has been an issue in HOAs across the country. I asked the board how they felt about it and without hesitation the HOA said “go ahead”.
 
highslice said:
:cool: I will say the current board president is actually very good and seems pretty smart. He ran a large construction company for 25 years before retiring, so that experience helps.
Click to expand...
We have a similar situation. Retired senior executive of a Fortune 500 company is President. Everything is done on a schedule with a budget. Dues include a reserve fund which is adequate for emergency needs, and we have had a few. The association is 25 years old so roofs wear out or leak, pool equipment fails, trees come down in storms, etc.
We bought one of three remaining lots and had the advantage of seeing how things around us would look since the homes were already built.
 
Last edited:
That story above is exactually why i will never be a member of a HOA.
 
E7D65CEE-0189-4502-8781-1396BC84FFD9.jpeg
4A74900C-CBB5-42CE-8D3E-09D6D995C6B3.jpeg
TimW said:
How is the everloving HELL is a roof ANYTHING but the homeowners responsibility????
Click to expand...
Our club house with meeting space, gym, library and changing rooms for the pool has a roof. Roofs are pretty common around here.
 
Last edited:
I moved my Mom into a community of stand alone homes that is managed like a condo complex. All of the exterior maintenance is taken care of by the HOA. Best of both worlds she gets the advantages of being in a home with no common walls and I don't have to cut grass, shovel snow or fix things on the exterior. The first board was a huge PITA, wanted drawings of decks or patios in advance with a material list a list of colors for their approval. F that, I had a deck built and a patio poured without their approval and just waited for my Mom to get "the letter". They wanted structural drawings of the deck to ensure it was up to "their code". It passed city inspection, so I sent them a picture of the deck (which they already had cause one of the board members trespassed and took pictures" and a copy of the plot with the deck roughly drawn on it and told them to live with it. They eventually gave up. The new board is much better.
 
highslice said:
I moved my Mom into a community of stand alone homes that is managed like a condo complex. All of the exterior maintenance is taken care of by the HOA. Best of both worlds she gets the advantages of being in a home with no common walls and I don't have to cut grass, shovel snow or fix things on the exterior. The first board was a huge PITA, wanted drawings of decks or patios in advance with a material list a list of colors for their approval. F that, I had a deck built and a patio poured without their approval and just waited for my Mom to get "the letter". They wanted structural drawings of the deck to ensure it was up to "their code". It passed city inspection, so I sent them a picture of the deck (which they already had cause one of the board members trespassed and took pictures" and a copy of the plot with the deck roughly drawn on it and told them to live with it. They eventually gave up. The new board is much better.
Click to expand...
HOAs are not for everyone, but at a certain age, yard work looses it glamour. We used to own enough equipment to run a lawn service to care for three acres. We are down to .6 acres and the yard service comes weekly to mow, trim bushes, dead head flowers while we go out to eat. They do a first rate job. We purchased some art work last week and a phone call to the developer was all it took to have a carpenter come over and hang it. That costs extra but is still very reasonable. We essentially bought an hour of skilled labor for around a hundred bucks.
 
Love my hoa so far. I was super hesitant to leave my house with acreage of 38 years, cried when I sold my John Deere, 4 wheelers and shop tools but was made easier by selling to friends and acquaintances.
Looked hard to find a townhouse with amenities we wanted.
Hardest was getting one with a garage that would house her car and my F-350 4 door longbed plus all the other junk I wouldn’t let go. Do wish the driveway was 10’ longer though. I have to unhook the truck as soon as I bring the trailer home.
“Honey let’s take the boat to Canada for 3 weeks” - lock the door and walk away.
“Let’s cruise to Lake Superior for 2 months” - lock the door and walk away.
“Let’s go to Florida for a few months”- yep.
If I concentrate real hard, I can almost hear them plowing the driveway and shoveling my steps right now!
C9BC9DED-E792-49D5-A475-77FE67444E28.jpeg
 
my3sons said:
…
“Honey let’s take the boat to Canada for 3 weeks” - lock the door and walk away.
“Let’s cruise to Lake Superior for 2 months” - lock the door and walk away.
“Let’s go to Florida for a few months”- yep…
Click to expand...

Other than wife and I still working and thus still on the public school schedule, I can and do the same kind of things, with quite likely the same amount of thought as you.

BONUS: No HOA!!!!


OK, so I may actually have to do a little more work than you, but turning a couple breakers off isn’t TOO taxing.
 
TimW said:
Other than wife and I still working and thus still on the public school schedule, I can and do the same kind of things, with quite likely the same amount of thought as you.

BONUS: No HOA!!!!


OK, so I may actually have to do a little more work than you, but turning a couple breakers off isn’t TOO taxing.
Click to expand...
You’re lucky, hiring out the lawn, the landscaping and the snow plowing alone for an average size home would cost more per month than my hoa and the people are very reasonable and no busybody old biddies, at least not yet!
 
Last edited:
my3sons said:
You’re lucky, hiring out the lawn, the landscaping and the snow plowing alone for an average size home would cost more per month than my hoa
Click to expand...
I’m sure it would.
If necessary I’ll have lawn done, the rest can wait until I get back.

THAT is the benefit of no HOA!!
 
I don't think the issue is so much the HOAs as it is the Karens that so often infest them. We had one such "road nazi" who would literally walk the streets taking pictures of those properties she thought she had something to say about. At one point she could be seen with a tape measure insuring that the distance between the posts of a newly constructed fence met the appropriate standard. Oh the humanity!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,238
Messages
1,429,070
Members
61,119
Latest member
KenBoat
Back
Top