Again, I'm genuinely curious. What make a person buying in to a street/neighbourhood obligated to join the HOA? I mean, is the HOA agreement attached to the purchase agreement of the house/property? Do they show up on the day you move in "hey neighbour, welcome. Would you mind putting your John Henry on this document? Press hard, there's three copies."?
If the former, I'd tell the home sellers to go pound sand.
If the latter, I'd treat the clown at my door the same as I would a Jehovah's Witness. Thanks, I've got my own beliefs *close door*.
Wouldn't an HOA have a detrimental impact on property values via potential reduced demand?
I mean, I get it for condo and townhouse complexes, where common areas are funded and maintained, and for 'gated' communities where people actually want certain conditions of living to be upheld throughout the community. But as a general proposition .... why the hell?
EDIT: Ninja'd, sort of, by Chris.
The HOAs I've been part of were a contingency of the sale. There was a choice, but the choice was "buy the house"/"don't buy the house". And remember, we're talking about the evils now. There are SOME good things. If there is a community center, perhaps, or a pool, you get the benefit without any of the hassle. In some cases, snow removal (for sidewalks and what not) is taken care of. Lawn mowing and shrubbery for common areas or connective areas (meaning, the spaces between my property line and the next, occupied property line). Uniformity; the neighbor across the street cannot erect a gaudy wall without approval, or excessively (in some cases, not at all) erect "Trump in 2020!" signs. In one case, there was also insurance purchased by the HOA for things that were out of coverage to traditional homeowners as well. In duplex/condo situations, that extends to building insurance and things like roof and septic/utility repair.
I can't speak to up here, but in Georgia and North Carolina - where farms are more prevalent, and the odds of a Chevy 325 hemi engine showing up in someone's front yard are also higher - HOAs can (especially if tied to a community center/common area benefits) improve property values.
(Sidebar: in Georgia, there was a running joke in the neighborhood; someone started putting 10 or 15 pink flamingos out in the middle of the night on a selected lawn. It was patently against the HOA code, but it turned into a fun little gag. On any given Saturday/Sunday, you could wake up to a gaggle of plastic flamingos on your lawn. It happened to me once, and I put them in my garage, and a day or so later, "George" (I don't know why the quotes; that WAS his name) stopped by and said "if you need help getting rid of those flamingos, let me know. I know just the place..." About a week or so later, he and I and another dude were erecting them on another lawn. I don't really know the point other than a) to fuck with the HOA reps, and b) build a little cameraderie. It was a nice feeling, actually, to know that someone trusted us to be a part of the community and not go all "citizens arrest! citizens arrest!").
Topic: What pissed you off today? (Read 125271 times)
