[BBMW]

The answer to that is fairly easy. Get on the board of your HOA. This is usually not that difficult. A lot of people don't want to be involved, and a lot of times they have trouble getting people to serve on them.

Once on, push the rest of the board, and the management company, to enforce the rules.

Originally Posted by 08grad

And I'm the opposite. I HATE living in an HOA because even with a rule in the CC&Rs that state "you cannot put things in your garage and park your car in the driveway", even with a picture that shows the neighbors doing this with a two-car garages, and even after filling out all the forms to formally request a complaint, there is NO ENFORCEMENT.

When there is a rule in HOAs saying "no noise-making devices outside" and the other neighbor has SEVEN wind chimes hanging from there tree, there is NO ENFORCEMENT.

Then there's the community pool. Where we encounter in our 3 annual visits there...

1 - Locked gates propped open as non-residents bring friends over for parties (probably happens in every HOA)
2 - Dogs swimming in the pool next to a sign that says "No Pets"
3 - Open alcohol in the pool when there's children swimming next to them
4 - Stereos blasting in front of a sign that says "No Stereos"
5 - Old dudes in speedos tanning as if they are a model (not a rule violation but ewwww)

We apparently have security cameras at the pool but do we enforce anything? Nope.

And I don't live in a bad part of Vegas. All the schools my property is zoned for rate 10/10.

[palepeople]

In my opinion: when you live on 50x100 lots, HOAs help keep neighbors friendly and help to maintain the overall appearance (and home values) of the neighborhood. My HOA has 30 approved exterior paint schemes, so no reason for anyone to feel that their freedom of expression has been stifled. Our HOA strives to encourage property owners to maintain the exteriors and yards, because it keeps the values up, (and as one of those property owners, I appreciate it), but they don't tell us what and where to plant. If you are in an HOA that you feel is always up in your business, then I would suggest (as someone did previously) that you get a seat on the board - because THAT is where the crazy is coming from, not from the fact that the HOA exists.

[tijlover]

Originally Posted by RCIS719

So can anyone tell me why there is such variation on the cost of the HOAs? I've noticed that some HOAs are $15/month, and some are $150/month, and it doesn't necessarily seem to relate to the type/size/or age of the home. If I pay a $15/month HOA fee, can I expect them to be less intrusive and less Nazi-esque about my property, in comparison to paying a $150/month HOA?

Also, if a neighborhood has an HOA, does that mean they don't allow renters, or does that vary neighborhood to neighborhood?

It's even possible to have neighborhoods with an HOA, and no HOA fees! No clubhouse, no common grounds, no pool, no gates, no nothing! And I'm sure there's rules to uphold!

Planning to retire in Tucson next year, I'll be going down there next month to investigate 5 distinct townhouse complexes with no HOA dues, period, but, with an HOA! They're stand-alone one-story townhouses, viewed on the RE website, all looks good to me, but I need a closer inspection.

I'll also be looking at some other townhouse complexes, with very low HOA fees, under $40 a month.

And I'm sure there's similar communities in Las Vegas!

[SoCalCpl2]

Originally Posted by von949

HOAs are not for you or me. Or any of the upstanding citizens of City-Data. It's for the few bad apples that ruin it for the rest of us. All the stuff that you mentioned isn't bad at all. With taste, I don't think anyone would mind you doing whatever you want to do to your property. But when someone wants to take a crap in their front yard and leave it there for a couple of days, that HOA enforcement doesn't sound so bad.

(Two guys did get into it over someone's poop in the front yard a few years back, I believe it was Texas)

I get that they can be good... BUT when some or most of the rules verge on Nazi-ism... That's where I put my foot down...

I don't mind the rules saying you have to keep your area clean, no junked cars in the driveway, no trash, etc, etc.. BUT when they intrude in my backyard, or even inside my garage, I have a problem with that....

Also I might like a pastel color house instead of the institutional beiges or tans or brown they say I have to paint my house...

Also parking in my own driveway... If I feel I want to leave my car in the driveway overnight, that's my business unless the car is broken down or up on jack stands, etc...

There was a court case a few moons ago, where the family were being taken to court by the HOA because of decorative bark in their flower gardens.. The HOA stated they needed to have a certain brand bark...

The house was situated on a curve in the street where the wind would shoot thru and send the bark all over.. So they would keep getting fines for the bark being all over the street, yard, etc..On top of the fines for not having the bark neatly in the flower garden..

So they replaced it with decorative rock that was almost identical to the bark and the HOA took them to court... During the court trial the judge did an experiment where they used the bark and video'd it during a week of weather which included wind.. Then the did the same with the rock.. The judges ruling was the HOA ended up changing the rules to allow rock instead of bark if the owners wanted...

AND the fines were wiped out....

These are the type of things about HOA's I hate...

[xafpilot]

In my 31 home gated HOA neighborhood in the northwest that has no central amenities; we pay $900 per month to Southwest Gas for our gas streetlights. Our quarterly HOA fees are $360. Our reserve is well funded and our homeowners for the most part are up-to-date on dues. We have the usual common area maintenance issues, plants, gate, call box, irrigation and such. Our main expense for the year are the fees to the management company. Thankfully, we are not one of those problem communities with little nasty notes going out to the various homeowners.

[xafpilot]

HOA's are actually very good for the local governments to wash their hands at the residential level, so to speak, another micro level of taxation without the government having to deal with individual neighborhoods.

[BBMW]

That's explicitly the idea. They town push them on the developers (I'm talking nationally, not specifically Clark County.) They won't allow a development unless an HOA is put in place to maintain the local infrastructure. The towns don't want that cost dumped on them.

Originally Posted by xafpilot

HOA's are actually very good for the local governments to wash their hands at the residential level, so to speak, another micro level of taxation without the government having to deal with individual neighborhoods.

[RCIS719]

We are beginning to understand, and and except the HOA fees (to some extent). What I do not get are the LID(?) fees, which seem to be astronomical. These were explained as fees to help build the community in new developments. Are you kidding me?! I have never heard of such a thing before. New areas of development, previously deemed as rural are a constant, ongoing thing in VA, and NY, and the developers dont make the buyers help pay for the rest of the community. That's just ridiculous. exactly what does that money pay for in "the community"?

[squishy506]

Originally Posted by longton52

At closing it's a requirement that you have received and understood the CCR's.

You're right, but why wait until closing to find out the HOA won't allow something that's a deal-breaker for you?

[lvoc]

Originally Posted by RCIS719

We are beginning to understand, and and except the HOA fees (to some extent). What I do not get are the LID(?) fees, which seem to be astronomical. These were explained as fees to help build the community in new developments. Are you kidding me?! I have never heard of such a thing before. New areas of development, previously deemed as rural are a constant, ongoing thing in VA, and NY, and the developers dont make the buyers help pay for the rest of the community. That's just ridiculous. exactly what does that money pay for in "the community"?

It is a builder gimmick that came out of California. Basically the builder borrows money to build the infrastructure - sewers, roads, street lights - for a project and divides it up into proportionate pieces that go with each property. The net effect is to lower the cost of the house by that amount but let the new owner pay it off over 20 years.

Nothing terrible about it actually. Cheap mortgage money if done right.

I warn clients not to pay it off. The sum does not appear to flow to the bottom line so a house with a SID/LID is worth the same, or close, as one without.