HOA vs HOME MECHANIC

[JMcFly]

like anything, hoa's are fine in moderation. mine has no restrictions on having open garage doors. but most have restrictions on working on a cars for >48 hours outside, no chain-link fences, no obnoxious paint/roof colors, no trailers/rv's/boats/junk cars parked outside, etc. it's not a hassle for me & i generally think there are more upsides than downsides to having a modest set of covenants.

a buddy of mine moved into a development with very restrictive covenants. can't have garage doors open unless you need to & can't park outside unless you have a newer car. it *****, but he knew the rules going in & can't complain now.

Rules about only newer cars being allowed to park outside is such utter bull ****. I own nicely maintained classics, my newest car other than my MINI is 33 years old and the next car is 40. Going into debt just to not break the rules is dumb.

Reminds me of my old HOA. People would get letters for brown grass, well drought conditions mean no one can water their lawn without being fined if caught. You'd think the HOA would suspend that rule during drought conditions. And the people with the greener lawns, were on the HOA board....

 

[AirJunky]

That's cheap, talk to those who's HOA's are more than their house payment. They are charging you to maintain their own grounds .

I knew the price when I bought the house & so did they. If you don't agree with it, then move somewhere else.

 

[Modern Jess]

No HOA in my neighborhood. And none of the houses are run down.

Weird. It's like I live in a parallel universe or something.

 

[mmack66]

See this is just not true. Maybe where you live, but out here we get snow. Sometimes a lot. Paying someone to remove it gets costly. If I was physically unable to do yard work or remove the snow, I would seriously consider an HOA.

Landscapers are costly and some make crazy money during bad snow years. I envy you guys that live in rural America with miles between neighbors. Out here in the NE- NJ being one of top densely populated states- you will run into nightmare neighbors someday.

But I am fortunate so f u HOA. But they do have a place for many reasons.

HOAs generally do not provide yard care or snow removal, not to say that their aren't communities where those things are provided.

 

[nicksnothereman]

If you got a-hole neighbors HOAs are great, actually better than cops because cops can't force you out of your house. The trick is to find an HOA that don't give a **** until someone reports something. Then you can hammer your d-bag neighbors with multiple violations and fines on a single day. Nice!

One of my neighbors recently did this to another neighbor, it was hilarious.

 

[volleyball]

If you got a-hole neighbors HOAs are great, actually better than cops because cops can't force you out of your house. The trick is to find an HOA that don't give a **** until someone reports something. Then you can hammer your d-bag neighbors with multiple violations and fines on a single day. Nice!

One of my neighbors recently did this to another neighbor, it was hilarious.

I am unclear on which neighbor is the A hole? Most likely both.

 

[welder4956]

So the OP is now showing as "Banned". Is that for using the "H" word or being a troll?

 

[94LX]

I have a great HOA. The dues are $400 a year, and it goes to maintain the community pool/clubhouse and keep the entrance to the neighborhood looking nice. No rules about how many cars in the driveway, or whether you can leave your garage door open, or other useless stuff. If someone lets their lawn get too messy, the HOA will send a letter asking them to mow it or they'll lose their pool privileges. We get the occasional email reminding people that the speed limit IS 25mph, as well as notices when someone has had something stolen from their garage (from leaving the door open all the time).

 

[Kimarieck]

It's all about the people. I live in a HOA and everybody has a project car or two. I'm a piker because I just have two motorcycles. Our HOA has never been PITA. We've got firefighters, cops, lawyers, judges, casino workers--a whole mixed bag. As long as you're not a real ahole about not maintaining your property, you'll never know there's an HOA.

 

[jchetty]

HOAs generally do not provide yard care or snow removal, not to say that their aren't communities where those things are provided.

In NJ they do. They better for how much some of these HOA association charge. To be fair, most HOA have a good amount of residents due to NJ being #1 most densely populated state.

Damn I envy you "my neighbor lives 5 miles away."

 

[skyking]

Finally ..........A thread on GJ about HOA's ........

 

[ClineWrench]

So the OP is now showing as "Banned". Is that for using the "H" word or being a troll?

I'm kinda scratching my head on this one too. Curiosity got the best of me so I check out his past posts, and I couldn't find anything wrong.

I dunno...maybe the mods don't like HOA's

 

[ZRX61]

Talking of HOA's.. that lottery winner who drugged himself to death (Dave Edwards, look him up) lost his mansion in Florida owing to unpaid HOA fees that amounted to about 1% of the home value.

 

[Norcal]

So the OP is now showing as "Banned". Is that for using the "H" word or being a troll?

He did start a thread about Craftsman,Snap-On,Husky, Pittsburgh, & others that was shut down rather quick, perhaps got pissy w/ a mod.

Edit: Here is the thread, you can see why it was canned.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=257119



HOA= Horrible Overbearing Azzholes. They have their place, & ignorance of the rules is no defense.

 

[Danver]

All this talk about HOAs and a-hole neighbors got me feeling guilty so tonight I aired up two flat tires on the old truck sitting in the driveway of my shop.

I feel better now.

 

[pepi]

Read the rules, they are usually very vague and can be used against them. My hoa would bust my balls all the time over silly things, I confronted them on several things that they could not prove and then it magically went away.

That's the ticket, way back when I lived in a townhouse I did that very thing with a problem I was having. They will tuck tail and slither like the snake they are back to their hole.

If you present a logical counter, parse the words . For instance if they are telling you, cannot have a vehicle parked in the drive that does not run and you have the wheels off cause you'er doing a break job ........ start it ...... see it runs, stupid **** like that.

These self anointed kings and queens are roaches that are best at hiding. when Time came to buy a house, first question to a Realtor does it have an HOA, NO then show me the house.

I must give her credit, she tried / worked her fanny off trying to convince me how great those turds are. I won she backed off no HOA for me.

Last story for information to others. I have live here 20 years, they formed and HOA, some even pay fees. Big problem for this HOA or any other Nazis that tries to establish and HOA after the fact.

It turns out that unless the developer builds a subdivision with an HOA in place. In place meaning it is in the deed or documentation you sign at closing. You cannot be regulated, billed or required to be a part of or participate in any HOA that springs to life. That also applies to the folks that buy into that subdivision as long as it is standing.

 

[600SL]

My number 1 requirement when I moved to NC. No HOA. Cant build a 30x48 garage with an HOA

 

[Mike in Ohio]

Full disclosure my nearest neighbor is 3/4 of a mile away. That being said at my last house the neighbors to the sides were 500' away, with treelines on both sides. The only neighbor that could see my house was the one across the street.

As to those who love hoas, your property values are of no interest to me. If you attempt to make rules that lessen the value of my property to me, we got a problem. I hate to see things setting out, so I have buildings to keep them in. When you tell me I can't build a building to keep my stuff out of the weather ( and out of your sight so you don't whine) we are going to have a problem.

My brother lives in a neighborhood with a hoa. When he got married his new wife brought her dogs, he needed a fence for the dogs. These were very vicious dogs, they would try very hard to lick you death, if that didn't work they would try to beat you death with their tails, just vicious critters.

He wanted a fence, his neighbors wanted a fence, the hoa spent months debating what type of fence could be used. The dogs could easily jump over all of the hoa approved fences. At one point I asked him, you made the down payment, you make the mortgage payments, you pay the property taxes, you are trying to do the right thing with the dogs, why the hell would you let these people tell you what kind of fence you can use to keep your dogs out of their yards? He answered " I agreed to the rules"

So the moral of the story is if you are ok with other people telling you what you can and cannot do with property you worked your *** of to afford, go for the hoa.

 

[PT Doc]

Many HOA have something in the covenants to prevent someone from wrenching in the street regularly. If that is what you want to do and it is written that way then you have a problem. Nothing wrong with doing that, just needs to be done in hype right place. Can you do it in your garage?

 

[Lassen Forge]

im not a fan of HOAs mostly because in the inflated real estate market of San Francisco. The going rates for most HOAs are $650-$800 per month. My cousin and I purchased our properties at the same time, my house was valued 100k higher than his however with his HOAs his monthly payments are about $800 higher than mine. After three years at $800 a month he hasnt seen a signle thing done with his HOA fees.

Sure it has. It's kept the people who can't afford the HOA out of "our" town and over in the "dregs" of the East Bay where, ahem, *they* belong. It sounds sucky, but if you're not working a high paying job, and can afford the high buy in for property in the City, and the outrageous HOA dues and Rules, then, ahem, we don't want your kind living here in "our" city...

It also pays the lease payment on the HOA president's Lexus, and the HOA's share of the HOA dues... The one I was in for that short time (in the North Bay), part of what pissed me off was the HOA board were exempt from the HOA dues and requirements. One parked his shop truck in the driveway (a violation, one that would have been for us $25 a day); when a group of us brought it up, we were pointed to the "exemption clause" for HOA board members. So it was just us little people. One of the group who brought it up got whanged for staining their redwood fence with the wrong shade of stain (it had been that color for 4 years), another because their lawn was being kept too long, a third for having her motorcycle in the side yard (behind her mandatory 6' redwood fence)... the guy next door for having "a rusty dilapidated vehicle (there was rust on his chrome bumper of his pickup)...

The message was clear - we have power over you, and if you challenge our authority, we'll make life difficult for you.

If you're worried about crack houses moving in (and your local PD can't enforce the laws) then I guess a HOA is right for you. I've lived on the other side of the fiasco, and thank you, no.

 

[ozyborn]

My sister has had some fun with her HOA. She is a convert. She used to love them now she loathes them. They were giving her grief over a shed in her fenced in back yard. I asked if she watched tv. Not much so no cable or satellite. I informed her of what the FCC says about HOAs and their no antenna rules. She put up a couple outdoor antennas, used ones at that. The HOA sent out their nastygram. She sent them the FCC rules and told them to go to hell. They backed off and ignore her now.

Personally, I would never live in a area with a HOA. Ever

 

[pepi]

My sister has had some fun with her HOA. She is a convert. She used to love them now she loathes them. They were giving her grief over a shed in her fenced in back yard. I asked if she watched tav. Not much so no cable or satellite. I informed her of what the FCC says about HOAs and they're no antenna rules. She put up a couple outdoor antennas, used ones at that. The HOA sent out their nastygram. She sent them the FCC rules and told them to go to hell. They backed off and ignore her now.

Personally, I would never live in an area with a HOA. Ever

Aw the TV antenna, had the very same fight, with one difference I had weather instrument up, after the 50th HOA complaint/directive, I sent them the definition of an antenna. Antennas send or receive signals, weather instrument do neither, case closed slam dunk, stuff it HOA. LMAO a 1000 times, they stayed up until I bid them an AMFs and move to GA.

 

[RatchetMan]

I'm a former member of a HOA Board of Directors and, lemme tell you, having that job is no picnic. Not only did I hear all the complaints about those of us on the Board, I heard all the complaints that neighbors submit about their own neighbors, and they are endless. Fact is, anytime you enforce rules, even if you didn't write those rules, people will dislike you. This transcends HOAs and extends to anyone who has even been in any kind of managerial position. People just automatically dislike you, no matter how lenient or understanding you try to be.

And, I too am astounded by the number of people who buy homes in areas where a HOA is present and then refuse to abide by the rules. Fact is, if you are breaking the rules and someone informs you about the issue but you decline to change your behavior, the rule-breaker is the one being the a-hole, not the HOA or its officers. I could write a dissertation on the topic of HOAs simply based on my experience alone. All that said, if I am ever approached about being part of a HOA again, I will decline. Not worth the hassle.

 

[DekeT]

Seems to be a lot of people here who are overly concerned with what other people have in their yards.

Just like it is easy to say "If you don't like an HOA then don't live where there is one" it is just as easy to say "If you don't like the way my yard looks then don't look at it."

You don't want my place lowering your property value? Guess what, I don't want your carbon-copy house with the perfect yard with every blade of grass cut just right and nothing out of place raising the values in the neighborhood so I end up paying more taxes. Instead of bitching you should be thanking me for keeping your taxes lower.

I suppose that is why you live in the UP of Michigan. Probably as far away from civilization as any place east of the Mississippi.

 

[Wuaname]

Will there ever be an end to people bitching about this? You get a copy of your CC&R's before you buy the house. You read and sign it before you buy the house. You know what you can't do and the consequences for screwing up. Pretty fricken simple.
HOA's are good for property value and sanity if you have stupid neighbors. I would never live in a densely housed neighborhood without an HOA. I would love 30 acres too, but in San Diego that would mean I'm a multi-millionaire.

What he said. I'm building within an hoA community , but I read the rules very closely and you can see where on points they've left loopholes. My solution? I plan on being on the board. I love working on my car as much as any one here but I don't want to see junk parked in my neighbors yard.

 

[johndeereman]

My nearest neighbor is a 1/2 mile in any direction and i like it that way not that i'm anti social I know all my neighbor's but I need my space so SCREW HOA....

 

[Danver]

I suppose that is why you live in the UP of Michigan. Probably as far away from civilization as any place east of the Mississippi.

Or maybe living here allows me to see things with common sense and clarity without getting all caught up with what other people do in their own lives and on their own property.

 

[rmmiller]

What I don't like to hear is people that complain about HOA knowing that when they moved in. HOA aren't for everyone so don't move in to one and complain about it. People that don't want to move into HOA I can certainly respect that too.

I bought in one on purpose, found an area I liked and the rules fit my lifestyle.

I wish my HOA would call me when I leave the garage
door open... happens occasionally on my way to work.

The Garage Butler solves that issue!

 

[General Geoff]

HOAs are basically just stricter local governments. Those who like 'aesthetic' rules and regulations, and would prefer to have their neighbors abide by those same aesthetic regulations, are perfectly at home in an HOA-governed neighborhood.

Personally, I prefer a neighbor with some tall grass, dried crackling paint on his siding, and a Camaro up on blocks in his yard, to a bunch of busybodies telling me I can't paint my shed blue. My neighbor's property is his own business, and my property is mine.

 

[Diesel Dan]

And, I too am astounded by the number of people who buy homes in areas where a HOA is present and then refuse to abide by the rules.

It has been brought up before that there are many urban areas where it is hard to find any neighborhood without an HOA. From what I understand most new construction is HOA and developers force you into an HOA situation and the developers most of the time do not live under an HOA restriction.

If I was forced to live in an HOA community, due to work reasons, I'd try to just get along and not make many waves be nice with the neighbors etc. Just mind my own business but if someone started nit picking I could easily become the neighbor from hell.

If I can't enjoy myself in my "castle" then my hobby will become exploiting any/all loopholes of the HOA. One has to have a hobby away from work, right?

 

[JMcFly]

One day they came by and handed me a container of 'regulation gray' mailbox post paint and demanded that I repaint my mailbox post -- it had faded to an "unacceptable" shade of gray.

Free paint, sweet.

 

[4x4_G30_Sportvan]

Sure it has. It's kept the people who can't afford the HOA out of "our" town and over in the "dregs" of the East Bay where, ahem, *they* belong. It sounds sucky, but if you're not working a high paying job, and can afford the high buy in for property in the City, and the outrageous HOA dues and Rules, then, ahem, we don't want your kind living here in "our" city...

It also pays the lease payment on the HOA president's Lexus, and the HOA's share of the HOA dues... The one I was in for that short time (in the North Bay), part of what pissed me off was the HOA board were exempt from the HOA dues and requirements. One parked his shop truck in the driveway (a violation, one that would have been for us $25 a day); when a group of us brought it up, we were pointed to the "exemption clause" for HOA board members. So it was just us little people. One of the group who brought it up got whanged for staining their redwood fence with the wrong shade of stain (it had been that color for 4 years), another because their lawn was being kept too long, a third for having her motorcycle in the side yard (behind her mandatory 6' redwood fence)... the guy next door for having "a rusty dilapidated vehicle (there was rust on his chrome bumper of his pickup)...

The message was clear - we have power over you, and if you challenge our authority, we'll make life difficult for you.

Sounds like our CONgress.

 

[mikethestig]

A friend of mine had a mailbox that he had built out of brick to contain the mail and paper box after they had been smashed a few times The hoa did like it and said it had to be torn down. He was able to deed it to the county (actually part of the road easement anyway)and now they trim the grass around it and repoint the brick from time to time. The hoa has no power over the county

 

[Diesel Dan]

Brick mail boxes were illegal in some places that I've lived.
Safety hazard to motorists if they went off the road.

 

[Trey T]

Lol... that's ridiculous. My neighborhood have a lot of trees and mailbox would be in the same area; so what they tell you (or law imposed) doesn't quite make sense. Even if you have a brick mailbox, you're more like to die hitting a tree than hitting a mailbox if the driver go off-road.

I believe centralized mailboxes are encouraged because both neighborhood developers and USPS both benefit from it; there's no mailbox fashion to compete and it's more efficient to deliver mail to a centralized location.

Brick mail boxes were illegal in some places that I've lived.
Safety hazard to motorists if they went off the road.

 

[Gerald O]

Free paint, sweet.

Not free, I paid for it out of the HOA dues!

 

[JMcFly]

Lame....

A HOA tried to fine me for working on a car in my driveway because I had a tent set up. I was actually detailing the car which is part of washing it so that's allowed by their rules. Jerks

 

[Trey T]

How long was the tent/canopy up for? Hrs or days?

 

[volleyball]

Lol... that's ridiculous. My neighborhood have a lot of trees and mailbox would be in the same area; so what they tell you (or law imposed) doesn't quite make sense. Even if you have a brick mailbox, you're more like to die hitting a tree than hitting a mailbox if the driver go off-road.
.

It is justified in snow country. Mail boxes need to be close to the road. Plows come buy and trash your mailbox, oh well, is all they say. Same plow comes by and hits a masonry box and it damages government equipment. They cannot have that. And they make the rules. And usually the box is on government land adjacent to the road.

 

[Diesel Dan]

And usually the box is on government land adjacent to the road.

Very true, the road right of way is usually wider than the actual road. Years back I seen something on TV detailing the mailbox issue. Some govn't entity, maybe USPS, set the guidelines for mailboxes. I know they spec out the height of mail boxes but the posts have to be able to break away in a crash and the mail box itself light enough to not go through a windshield and kill someone.

That is why mail boxes made from plate steel, iron pipe posts and brick/mortar units are illegal in certain areas. Maybe slow speed neighbor hoods or private communities are exempt.

Over the years I've heard people state that well it's too bad if you don't stay on the road. To that I have this example: Years back I was cruising down the road, 50mph in 50 zone and a lady drives through a stop sign and hits me in the RR wheel. Now I'm going 50mph sideways to the point I can't steer out of it and go into the ditch and roll the truck. I walked away but if there was a brick mail box there it could have hit right in the drivers door. A wood post, plastic mail box or 4x4 would have sheared right off without issue. A brick, metal post or plate steel box would have F'ed my day up.