In case you don’t know what HOA stands for, it stands for homeowner’s association. These are normally associated with a fee; sometimes it could only be like 20 bucks a year. Other times, it could be a few hundred dollars a year. Some folks really love HOAs and I want to go over a couple reasons why they might love them and why some other people really, really dislike them.
Let’s talk about why some people would dislike them to begin with. Oftentimes, there can be restrictions on what you can and cannot do with your property both inside and out. Good chance you have restrictions on how big your house can be, how many stories, how long, how far from the curb, how many garages you can have…. can you have yard sales? Can you put any sort of sign in your yard whatsoever? Can you run a business out of your home? These are all things that very well could be part of the guidelines the HOA puts in place.
Lots of people dislike all of these rules and regulations so they tend to stay out of homeowner’s associations. However let’s talk about the flip side of that. What are some of the positives, some of the pros about being in an HOA? Well, all these rules and regulations that are put into place- they’re going to help keep your property value where it’s at and hopefully eventually help it increase. They’re going to make sure that nobody does anything silly with their house that could potentially bring down the value or the Integrity of your home or the neighborhood.
Lots of people like these rules and regulations for some of those reasons but like I said, not everybody wants all those restrictions. Personally, I’m kind of on the fence. I get it, but at the same time I want to do what I want to do with my house. So, in a nutshell this is really all for you to decide what you do and don’t like and if the documents that make up the homeowner’s association are for you. If you aren’t sure what all a particular association consists of, talk to us and we’ll get you the info.
-Josh Mangini