Buying a house with h.o.a... Yes or no

[bcoop]

All the horror stories youve read about HOAs are outnumbered by the horror stories of shit bag neighbors.

I find that hard to believe. I'm not aware of many shit bag neighbor stories at all, though you never see them reported on by the news. It seems that HOA's are reported on frequently because they're always trying to pull some shady shit. I've had one shitbag neighbor in 9 years, with no HOA. Didn't take long for their house to get seized.

I also have a huge problem with the hall monitor types that got picked on in high school and are using their "authority" within an HOA to take that out on everyone. That is the rule, not the exception. It also gives the pussies who can't speak up for themselves a passive aggressive outlet, and I don't like that either. You don't like something I'm doing? Cool. Come talk to me about it. Don't run to the HOA like a sniveling little bitch. Have a spine. I can't stand passive aggression.

[Denny]

Shit bag neighbors can be delta wiff, one way or another. HOA's can have your ass, in certain situations.

[46Tbird]

The disastrous HOAs I've seen are in modest neighborhoods, where the houses are close together and people have to make decisions on how best to use their discretionary time and income. That's the living situation where you start seeing high grass, shitty cars, barking dogs, etc. that make an HOA 'necessary.'

These neighborhoods have busy HOAs, with neighbors constantly complaining about each other for violations. If you don't have a lot of money or free time to maintain your home, then I would avoid an HOA in this type of neighborhood. Well-to-do people in million dollar homes don't have to deal with that crap.

[4EyedTurd]

If you have to ask yourself that question you're not far enough outside the city.

[Denny]

I was part of a HOA in a neighborhood that had over 120 houses. It was strictly voluntary. My wife was on a board of five. We had 7 actively paying households. All we could do with that was keep up the landscaping at the entrance to the neighborhood. When 2 of the paying families moved out, we all said fuck it. LOL!

When we put our house up for sale before I went to Guam, I was committed to keeping the entrance and common areas up myself. Luckily, we had 4 bids at full price within 4 days.

[Chili]

I was part of a HOA in a neighborhood that had over 120 houses. It was strictly voluntary. My wife was on a board of five. We had 7 actively paying households. All we could do with that was keep up the landscaping at the entrance to the neighborhood. When 2 of the paying families moved out, we all said fuck it. LOL!

When we put our house up for sale before I went to Guam, I was committed to keeping the entrance and common areas up myself. Luckily, we had 4 bids at full price within 4 days.

2 weeks later the buyers were like: "Why isn't the entrance being mowed anymore?!?"

[Rreemo]

Ours provided no benefits at all, other than to continue lining the developer's pocket. They eventually raised it to $900/yr (ironically shortly following the street lights being cut off for non-payment). A bunch of us banded together and hired a lawyer, filed suit against the developer, and after about a year and a half, we won. We didn't get any of our money back, but the HOA was dissolved and our property deeds were amended removing us from any current or future HOA in our development. I prefer it this way b/c our community is outside of the city...lot sizes range from 1-5 acres, and all of the homes are in a price range that keeps the riff-raff out, as-well-as rentals. Yes, people can park RV's/trailers behind their house, and we can have metal out buildings, horses, etc. But that's what majority of us want and why we moved outside the city limits to begin with. We haven't had any problems with folks not keeping up their place or hurting property values. To the contrary, our neighborhood has become a very hot seller over the past couple years. I've heard numerous times that has a lot to do with no HOA, and I presume also the larger lots & country living that isn't too far outside of the city.

[Captain Crawfish]

Hoa are good because they keep the rif raf and lazy asses in check. Without a hoa people will grow a jungle in their lawn park cars all over the place etc. we pay 300 a yr but it's worth it to keep the bullshitters in check.

[Denny]

2 weeks later the buyers were like: "Why isn't the entrance being mowed anymore?!?"

Ya, I've been by there. It ain't pretty.

[abecx]

I think the value of not having to deal with this crap is much lower than million dollar homes. There isn't many million dollar homes in the Dallas area to begin with. If you spend more than even just $300k, you really dont need to deal with an HOA because the people that can afford that are more often than not, going to care about their property and neighbors.

[Sean88gt]

The lowest form of power, and those fuckers exercise that power with nazi-esque efficiency.

[Sean88gt]

I think the value of not having to deal with this crap is much lower than million dollar homes. There isn't many million dollar homes in the Dallas area to begin with. If you spend more than even just $300k, you really dont need to deal with an HOA because the people that can afford that are more often than not, going to care about their property and neighbors.

Seem to be quite a few...

[Ruffdaddy]

I think the value of not having to deal with this crap is much lower than million dollar homes. There isn't many million dollar homes in the Dallas area to begin with. If you spend more than even just $300k, you really dont need to deal with an HOA because the people that can afford that are more often than not, going to care about their property and neighbors.

300K is not near enough to keep shit out.

[abecx]

300K is not near enough to keep shit out.

The areas I've been looking at when I drive through are well kept even when they dont have an HOA and are selling for $250k-$350k ( wylie, sasche, plano ). What areas would this not be the case so I can avoid them as well.

[CexMashean]

Hoa are good because they keep the rif raf and lazy asses in check. Without a hoa people will grow a jungle in their lawn park cars all over the place etc. we pay 300 a yr but it's worth it to keep the bullshitters in check.

Weren't you the one who posted about partying neighbors taking up driveway spaces and parking in yards? Where was the HOA on that one?