Whats up everyone

If you’re thinking of buying a house located within an HOA, you definitely want to see this video first. HOA’s can be great and I have another video that goes through the pros & cons of living in an HOA. This is not that video.

Today I’m going to share with you some true stories of people that have lived in an HOA, or still live within one and regret ever buying a home there. I’m not going to mention any names because some of them are quite contentious situations and still ongoing but my hope is to give you some empirical knowledge so you can see if you want to live in an HOA.

Lets dive right in

Ok, so this first person who shared their story with me blew my mind. They told me that their HOA has banned residents from parking on the street. So you’re thinking, well that doesn’t sound so bad. We like our streets clear of cars as well. 

Well, here’s the catch. Their garages were built so narrow that only small cars can actually fit in their garages. So now the residents who have cars that don’t fit into their garage have to either sell their cars or sell their house because of this “new rule” that they made. This is a true story.

And it’s not so easy to change these decisions once they are made. I’ve heard countless accounts of people being held hostage to rules a few power crazed board members made without their input. And if you break the rules, you get fined. And if you don’t pay your fines, the HOA can put a lien on your house and eventually foreclose on it. At least here in Maryland. 

Let’s move onto another complaint. This person told me that just last week their HOA started fining people if their trash was outside earlier than 7pm the night before pickup and fining them if it isn’t brought in by 7 the next night. 

Now, once again, you may think this sounds reasonable but think about it. In my house for example, we have dinner around 6-6:30, then its homework, any work I need to do, finish up the day, and in my case, take a bath and get into bed. 

I start my day super early like a lot of you do and I really don’t feel like waiting until after dinner etc to take the trash out to the street. I just want to do it when I get home before I start dinner.  

And add some bad weather to it like we’re experiencing now, no thanks. It’s dark after 7. I’m already out of work clothes, making dinner and not going back outside. So, a big no for me. 

Other people don’t even get home from work before 7 to bring the trash back inside. We’re all adults just trying to live our lives. Does’t this sound unreasonable?

How about this story. These people were building a fire pit in their backyard and the neighbor behind them sent them a letter stating that they had to get their 3 closest neighbors to sign off on it or cease the build. They decided to ignore the neighbor and continued to make their fire pit so we’ll see what happens next. It just sounds so intrusive. And, this was after they had to give their pet chickens away! Just fyi, the chickens were gone before the fire pit. This isn’t “that’ video.

So this next person told me that she simply wanted to plant a tree in their yard but had to get permission from the HOA to do that. They couldn’t  just plant the tree. And this is no joke. Their association does a visual inspection of the front of their house every 2 years, and they find something they don’t like – she gave me an example of peeling paint on their  fence – they are obligated to fix it and report back to the association that they’ve done so. 

And they will send you multiple letters with a nasty tone to let you know you’re out of compliance and then fine you. 

They told me in one incident, a water main break caused flooding in 5 homes, including the vice presidents home (all in their basements). The VP later told this person that these are the perks of being on the board, she made sure the remediation began with her home. It soon became apparent to them that in order to have a repair request addressed with any kind of urgency or even to be considered, one had to be on the HOA board. 

This last story is a bit different. They had a property in a condo building that was approached by Sprint to install a cell phone tower atop the building. 

The building is 11 stories in a smaller city (not in the DMV), and would be the perfect location for a cell tower. The newer towers are smaller and you would not see them from the ground. 

Sprint would then pay the association rent to use the roof. They’d also maintain the roof, and fix any issues with the roof, as their equipment would be on the roof. 

Sprint would want a multi year deal – could be something like 10 years. They thought it was good for Sprint and the association in that it’s guaranteed monthly revenue.  And Sprint improves their service. And a roof is expensive to fix. The roof at the time in the building was nearing the time of replacement. 

A bunch of older residents did not want the tower; they thought it would cause illness/cancer. 

Now, I’m going to pause here and say, I have no idea if the cell tower causes any illness. You all can google that yourselves. 

The story continues that the older residents won the vote, and Sprint took their contract and went elsewhere never to be heard from again. Then maybe 2 years later they had massive leaks in the roof and a lot of damage to folks’ units on the two top floors.

They ended up having to get the roof done twice – first time it was not done correctly by a contractor that they thought had an inside deal with their Assoc President, and a second roof to replace the 1st replaced roof.  They had to get a loan to get the new roof, there were special assessments and it cost them a lot of money. 

Now whether you are on the side of the residents who vetoed the sprint deal or the residents that wanted it, either way someone loses. And if its you, and your concerned for your health if the deal went through, or you don’t have the money to fix the roof when it didn’t , it can be really stressful and disruptive.

And speaking of special assessments, you also may have to deal with deferred maintenance. This person lived in an association where maintenance was held off on for quite some time to the point of then they had multiple items that needed to be fixed all at the same time, which means the residents have to pay for that either by increased monthly dues, special assessments or the association takes a loan. 

As a homeowner, I want to decide what maintenance I do when, on my terms, within my budget – but in an association, some of that is dictated for you. It can almost become a ticking time bomb of what comes up next. 

I can go on and on with more true examples but I think you get the gist. You’re at the mercy of the HOA and their rules and regulations. And their fees. And assessments. It sounds like the HOA board and especially the officials can get a bit power crazy and behave in an unfair way. So if you want more control over your home and your finances, you may want to avoid living in an HOA