Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/army-vets-puerto-rican-flag-ticks-off-kissimmee-hoa/ar-AAFT8ls?li=BBnb7Kz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Badlands Bob #61228 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 If you buy a house in one of these neighborhoods, you'd better understand that the most radical property maintenance nuts in the neighborhood will get elected to the board. The bigger the neighborhood, the bigger the nuts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 Bigger nuts but smaller stones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Father Kit Cool Gun Garth Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 UB: All too familiar with Homeowners Associations (HOA's) as our previous residence in Orlando for 18 years was run by one, and I served on the Board several times in the capacity of Treasurer. They set guidelines that are provided to each homeowner prior to purchasing a house, and their original intent is to maintain the value of the homes. We specifically looked for one when we moved to Orlando, as the last subdivision we lived in did not have an HOA and we suffered for it with neighbors that did everything and anything they wanted which drove the home prices down dramatically. Our home maintained that value and we were fortunate to sell it at a premium to move where we currently live. The issue is enforcement. With the flag issue raised in the Orlando Sentinel article, if no flags are to be flown or displayed, then it should be enforced for every type of flag and every homeowner. Most of the time this doesn't happen. Additionally, the HOA guidelines, in most situations, can be modified by a majority of the homeowners. And YES, there will be homeowners who are elected to the Board that can be a real pain in being a stickler of petty issues. I must state though that in almost every HOA, there are usually no volunteers to run for the offices, never a quorum to make it valid, and those who get elected turn out to either be good people that are harassed by the homeowners themselves, or they become a PITA themselves. Every situation like this has it's GOOD and its BAD, and usually it turns out UGLY. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 HOAs = Busy-Bodies with clout. I think HOAs can be beneficial if they are hands off and only address egregious behavior. Unfortunately this is not the case with many of them. So far I have been lucky in this regard and did lots of research before buying into a neighborhood. In Oregon I think the whole damn state would be an HOA if some people had their way. In North Carolina the Yankees wanted HOAs and fervently ran for HOA office. In California I have lived in neighborhoods that had no HOAs and no one in the neighborhoods wanted them. Anyone trying to start one met with quite a resistance. In Oregon the former HOA President was selling his home so he reported everyone around his house for even the most minor infractions. Yet during my time living catty-corner across from him he violated the covenants on a regular basis. The dipstick made the mistake of telling someone in a phone conversation at four in the morning on his front porch that he would accept $20,000 less than his property was posted for sale. His voice carried well at that time of day. So, being neighborly (for my future neighbors) I contacted all the local realtors and told them this (small out of the way town, limited realtor options). He had selected a smarmy Portland realtor, whose office was 30 miles away, to represent him. Poor guy! Ended up selling his home for $20,000 less than what he wanted...Darn! Realistically he was $30,000 over market. The day he was moving out I shouted over to him and told him what I did. Boy, was he angry. He even came across the intersection to yell at me. He stopped when he saw I was busy cleaning guns in my garage. I guess he wasn’t really all that mad...it felt good costing that mothe...uh, jackass a nice chunk of money even if it may have altered comps and affected my home sale a few months later. I despise HOAs and the dipstick manipulators that like to participate in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Miles #13621 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 39 minutes ago, Badlands Bob #61228 said: If you buy a house in one of these neighborhoods, you'd better understand that the most radical property maintenance nuts in the neighborhood will get elected to the board. The bigger the neighborhood, the bigger the nuts. My niece is a dyed in the wool liberal and don't ya know she's on the board of her condo association. I love her but she's a whacko!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
irish ike, SASS #43615 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 Ours is very selective in enforcement and definitely its who's in tight with the Board. People with weeds, and crap in the front yard no call. We leave our trash can out by the garage for 3 days and we get a letter. Ike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 I will NEVER own nor live in a place with an HOA. Why would I pay people to tell me what I can and cannot do on my own property My son lives in Las Vegas where it is nearly impossible to find a place that isn't controlled by an HOA. His experiences have been awful, so when he moved into his present home he d decided to run for place on the board and won. Two years later he ran for the president of the board and won again. He had a review of the finances and found all sort of problems so he called for and got a full audit. He's like me, sort of shy and retiring and seldom speaks his mind, but the owners liked him and he helped get two more elected. He recently got re-elected and the place has never looked better and is run efficiently. There were excess funds and the people voted to use them to upgrade their clubhouse. The pool is next. If all were run this way I wouldn't object, but most are neighborhood dictatorships. BTW, he's getting remarried and will be moving into a new home, but he's keeping his home in the HOA and renting it out. The people who live in the park now are begging him to keep his seat on the HOA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Steak Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 Ha - I live in a cul de sac in the waaaay back side of my neighborhood and get hassled by the HOA on a routine basis. I like to go to the "meetings" and raise my hand to ask "why" I got a notice - and then I go about naming addresses of all the folks that are "officers" that have unauthorized dogs as well as cars, boats, sheds, and trailers in their yards - all of which "live on the main drag" that have gone for months and years without moving these "offensive" items Then I show my ass and ask why if THEY are able to overtly disregard rules when they are on the busiest part of the neighborhood - why am I being hassled for a fallen limb or failure to "trim my grass" within 48 hours of a storm or week long rain. Then one of my neighbors jumps on and calls out some of the same "board members" for the same reasons. ...which usually just means we will get a few more petty threats about liens and fines in our mailbox over the next week or so. But DAMN it is sooooo much fun calling them out as hypocrites at the kangaroo court meetings that they hold. I think there are folks that come just to see the finger pointing that goes on at these meetings because of the level of entertainment it provides. The only redeeming quality is that two of my three closest neighbor enjoy each others company. On 4th of July and New Years eve we absolutely REJOICE in inviting a few of these assholes to our "celebratory BBQ" - one day, maybe they will show up. I'll be retiring/moving soon and will live in an old refrigerator box under a bridge on the bad side of town before I'll EVER buy into another HOA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
punxsutawneypete Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 I live in an area with an HOA and the only issue I've ever had with them is that I thought the last assessment increase was a little excessive. I live next door to the president and she couldn't be a nicer person luckily. I guess I've been lucky because when I applied for approval to install my home generator they could have made the conditions a lot more stringent but ended up cutting me a lot of slack. Maybe the difference is that the HOA defers a lot of its duties to a long-time professional management company that handles a lot of HOAs. But basically they leave me alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pat Riot Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 I actually enjoyed the HOA I had when I lived in Concord NC (Home of the Charlotte Motor Speedway). Those folks knew how to run an HOA. Every time a smarmy northerner got their panties in a bunch they tabled it for the next meeting that usually got postponed for two or three months. PS: We had some really nice northerners that lived there too. Nice folks. I used to joke with my neighbors that i was “from the South” ....Southern California. That usually got a laugh. When it didn’t I would say “Bless yer heart” Well, I thought it was funny. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Original Lumpy Gritz Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 Will NEVER/EVER live where I have to deal with a HOA OLG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henry T Harrison Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 The first home I ever bought was in a brand new development with HOA. As soon as the property owners obtained more than a 50% share we had a meeting. It was the only meeting we voted to abolish the HOA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 16, 2019 Author Share Posted August 16, 2019 2 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said: I will NEVER own nor live in a place with an HOA. Why would I pay people to tell me what I can and cannot do on my own property... Ditto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 We will never live in an area with a HOA either! The Fire Marshal is welcome to make suggestions or demands. So far he's only had one suggestion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 We looked at over 70 properties in Prescott. Of the very few that met our simple needs, all had HOAs. This is a 100% deal-breaker for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramblin Gambler Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 I hate HOAs. My mom loves them. Realtors have trouble believing me when I say I want a place with no HOA. Where I live now the HOA is voluntary and the title company forced me to join for a year when I closed. I still don't get why they wouldn't remove it when I raised a fuss, but in the end I decided it wasn't worth walking away from the house over. The kicker is that I was supposed to get a key to the boat dock for being a member and apparently the key got sent to the title company and I never got it. Every once in a while they hit me up to join again and I tell them they owe me a year of boat dock usage before I will even consider it. Anwyay, if you wanna see a good HOA and have facebook, look up East Mountain West View Home Owners Association. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie Mo, SASS No. 25217 Posted August 16, 2019 Share Posted August 16, 2019 My SIL lives in Henderson, NV, and has a HOA. If you didn't have the address you could never tell one house from the other. They are all the same color (tannish beige)with the same roof. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bad Bascomb, SASS # 47,494 Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 My temperament and HOA's are incompatible. Been looking at real estate, and HOA presence is a total deal-breaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red Gauntlet , SASS 60619 Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 Like Forty have never lived under one and never would. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forty Rod SASS 3935 Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 6 hours ago, Ramblin Gambler said: I hate HOAs. My mom loves them. Realtors have trouble believing me when I say I want a place with no HOA. Where I live now the HOA is voluntary and the title company forced me to join for a year when I closed. I still don't get why they wouldn't remove it when I raised a fuss, but in the end I decided it wasn't worth walking away from the house over. The kicker is that I was supposed to get a key to the boat dock for being a member and apparently the key got sent to the title company and I never got it. Every once in a while they hit me up to join again and I tell them they owe me a year of boat dock usage before I will even consider it. Anwyay, if you wanna see a good HOA and have facebook, look up East Mountain West View Home Owners Association. We moved here almost five years ago and I had several demands for the realtor: 1. No HOA. 2. No septic tanks. 3. No bottled gas. 4. No wells. 5. No manufactured homes. 6. Close access to fire, police, medical facilities. Nearby stores and other facilities. Got 100% right, but we didn't settle for Prescott, but rather we are in Prescott Valley, a "suburb" that didn't exist until 1975 and i s now more populated that Prescott which has been here since the the Civil War. My place is semi rural, but five to ten minutes from shopping, restaurants, a huge events center, the town library and civic center. We have a population of almost 50,000 and I know the mayor, town manager, all but one of the town council, most of the cops and firefighters, and many of the business people, some of the Chamber of commerce people including the president, and about thirty guns shops and five or six ranges and shooting schools. I don't know what heaven is like but it can't be much different than this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bgavin Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 8 hours ago, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said: We moved here almost five years ago and I had several demands for the realtor: 1. No HOA. 2. No septic tanks. 3. No bottled gas. 4. No wells. 5. No manufactured homes. 6. Close access to fire, police, medical facilities. Nearby stores and other facilities. Got 100% right, but we didn't settle for Prescott, but rather we are in Prescott Valley, a "suburb" that didn't exist until 1975 and i s now more populated that Prescott which has been here since the the Civil War. My place is semi rural, but five to ten minutes from shopping, restaurants, a huge events center, the town library and civic center. We set a $600k limit. 4 beds, 3-car garage or 2-car + shop, 1800+ square feet. 1 story. Two realtors, over 70 properties, could not find what we wanted. A few had the features, but the properties were right under the takeoff path of the airport. Deal breaker. A few had the features, but the house was down in a hole or other geographic failures. Deal breaker. We found a Victorian in 86305 that had it all, except beds upstairs and much too big. We nearly offered, but the deal breaker was a huge turret that opened into the master bed ceiling. Cannot block all those windows. Deal breaker. We also looked in Payson. Minden, Carson City and Garderville in NV. I notice all the properties I looked at are still on the market, unsold. Over priced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Sage, SASS #49891 Life Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 I have a different take on HOA's. HOA's exist because of developers covenants that they place on a subdivision or development. You have a choice on buying or not buying. I live in a very rural subdivision (5 parcels of 3 to 6 acres) that has covenants which were disclosed when we looked at buying a parcel. They were all written with the purpose of keeping prospective owners investment sound. (minimum home size, no mobiles, weed abatement, no junk cars, etc). I had a choice on purchasing the parcel. No HOA or dues. We can change the rules as we see fit. In 20 years of living here, we have had almost no problems. Worst was one owner wanted to raise some livestock that were banned. We didn't change anything and they eventually moved to a place where they could raise pigs! LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770 Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 On 8/16/2019 at 7:38 AM, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said: I will NEVER own nor live in a place with an HOA. Why would I pay people to tell me what I can and cannot do on my own property I completely agree!! On 8/16/2019 at 7:38 AM, Forty Rod SASS 3935 said: He's like me, sort of shy and retiring and seldom speaks his mind. Wait, WHAT?!?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shoer 27979 Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 I agree with Forty Rod, if I spend all that money on a house ain't nobody going to tell me what I can and can't do to it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utah Bob #35998 Posted August 17, 2019 Author Share Posted August 17, 2019 A friend of mine bought a house in a nice upscale neighborhood with an HOA. One of the covenants was no commercial vehicles marked with names of companies could be parked in view. One of the HOA board Nazis called a tow truck to tow the his vehicle he had parked in the driveway. It was a patrol car. The tow truck driver got there, laughed, and left. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramblin Gambler Posted August 17, 2019 Share Posted August 17, 2019 6 hours ago, bgavin said: but the deal breaker was a huge turret that opened into the master bed ceiling. Waitaminute, that's a deal breaker? I didn't even know such a thing was possible 10 minutes ago, but now on all future homes the LACK of a turret will be a deal breaker! Might be enough to finally make me get that MA deuce I've always wanted. Unless of course there's already something bigger mounted on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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