So how about them HOAs

AGGAMEMNON66 said:
They can fine you. Some have more power than others, you have to sign a contract/agreement agreeing to terms usually before purchasing the property/home.


I’ve lived in 2 of them at this point -my current one is great. Very reasonable and pass a lot of common sense stuff.


The 1st one was.. odd imo. But it was also a Condo community. They were very strict about a lot of things that I didn’t care for.
Click to expand...
Could they actually take or do anything to your property? How do they enforce you to pay said fines? I guess im thinking an actually detached residence, not a condo.

Like towing away personal property on a private residence sounds pretty illegal but maybe its in the agreement. Whoever would agree to that is fucking insane though.
 
chrisdiaz said:
Could they actually take or do anything to your property? How do they enforce you to pay said fines? I guess im thinking an actually detached residence, not a condo.

Like towing away personal property on a private residence sounds pretty illegal but maybe its in the agreement. Whoever would agree to that is fucking insane though.
Click to expand...



Supposedly some of them can put a ‘lien’ on your property per your contract with them.. but that has to be enforced by a court ruling. I mean, there’s no black ops force that works for them or dudes in black Lincoln SUV’s showing up in suits to take you and your shit away lol


They take you to court, I believe.
 
chrisdiaz said:
I cant understand why anyone would want one. You buy a house for freedom, not to be told what to do with it.

Can HOA's take your house or anything? What if you just tell them to fuck off? Its still your house and property isnt it?
Click to expand...

When you buy in an HOA, you have to sign a bylaws and covenants agreement that means you agree to their rules. If they cite you for a violation - ours technically could fine us like $100 or something for not maintaining our lawn - you owe them that money and if you don't pay it then can put a lien on your home until you do.

The big ticket items are home improvements. In our HOA you have to request permission to make major additions visible from the outside, or paint your house a different color. Two of our neighbors went through the process this year with no issues but under the bylaws, if you say painted your house pink with yellow trim without permission and the board tells you to undo it, they have a legal right to make you pay to repaint it an acceptable color.

That kind of stuff makes me bristle just on principle. But in practice, people that choose to live in an HOA are fairly conservative and unless you clash with your neighbors' sense of style, there shouldn't be any issues. Anyone that wants to set up a meth lab or have goats in their front yard wouldn't WANT to live in an HOA neighborhood anyway.
 
Some HOA's are bad, some are useless, some are great. My last home had the most epic HOA and only $70/month I pretty much had access to a resort like club. Only thing missing was a golf club. Also included 24/hour security in the neighborhood.
 
Mine is not bad at all...nice residential development in the burbs...it's under $1k a year, which goes towards the upkeep of landscaping around the walking path and other common areas and the neighborhood pool, which is pretty nice and never crowded...
 
TeTe said:
When I was living in Chicago there were condo buildings that had $400-450 HOA fees. These were brand new units too.
Click to expand...
Condo fees run from $400 to $600 on average here in Calgary. That's crazy if you ask me. Now I understand that snow removal, utilities and maintenance in common areas isn't free, but that's just friggin nuts.
 
My neighborhood is quirky and I like it that way. Yeah, some houses have cars on blocks out front, or weird landscaping, or a yard full of constantly barking dogs, but’s all cool. Housing prices are up, we all just live our lives, and no one really minds how long your trash can sits at the curb.
 
TeTe said:
When I was living in Chicago there were condo buildings that had $400-450 HOA fees. These were brand new units too.
Click to expand...
In dc it's not unusual for shitty condos to have 1000+ a month fees.
 
D Train said:
My neighborhood is quirky and I like it that way. Yeah, some houses have cars on blocks out front, or weird landscaping, or a yard full of constantly barking dogs, but’s all cool. Housing prices are up, we all just live our lives, and no one really minds how long your trash can sits at the curb.
Click to expand...
Good post. I hate cookie cutter subdivisions to be honest. I think if someone gets a little too wild with their property, the police should ticket for it, but in general the plainness of suburbia sucks.
 
If you think HOAs are a scam what about PMI?

Why the fuck do I need to pay Insurance on money created via fractional reserve banking, that will almost instantly be bundled and sold via mbs, all while being back by the feds?

I am saving 20% so i don't have to throw free money to the 2big2fails banks we bailed out , because PMI literally does nothing for me in any way.
 
SleepyBoy said:
If you think HOAs are a scam what about PMI?

Why the fuck do I need to pay Insurance on money created via fractional reserve banking, that will almost instantly be bundled and sold via mbs, all while being back by the feds?

I am saving 20% so i don't have to throw free money to the 2big2fails banks we bailed out , because PMI literally does nothing for me in any way.
Click to expand...
I agree with this too. You should only be paying more or less based off of your credit score/interest rate.

The only good thing is that you can refinance the PMI away after a few years when you build enough equity in the house. The downside of course is, if you house goes up in value a lot, you just fucked yourself on your property tax rate.
 
It's so weird that so many people are willing to shell out a $1000+ a year because they care so much about how their neighbors grass looks like.

When i see my neighbors unkept grass, i just think they must just like long grass, nothing wrong with that.
 
I don't get this... we don't have these up here. We have by-laws of course but those are hardly ever enforced. You'd have to let your grass get 10 feet high before they came in.
It seems counter to the american freedom philosophy that you would allow someone to tell you what you can do with your property.
 
SleepyBoy said:
It's so weird that so many people are willing to shell out a $1000+ a year because they care so much about how their neighbors grass looks like.

When i see my neighbors unkept grass, i just think they must just like long grass, nothing wrong with that.
Click to expand...
Just go cut their grass while they're gone to work or something. A little passive aggressive shaming. Probably wouldn't have to do it more than once or twice.
 
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
 
chrisdiaz said:
I cant understand why anyone would want one. You buy a house for freedom, not to be told what to do with it.

Can HOA's take your house or anything? What if you just tell them to fuck off? Its still your house and property isnt it?
Click to expand...
I was one of those people that fell in love with one of the homes I targeted. At the time I never even mentioned HOA as a staple to search for with my realtor.

Anyhow, my total HOA fee computes to $75/annually.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,236,699
Messages
55,435,697
Members
174,774
Latest member
kilgorevontrouty

Share this page

Back
Top