Today I want to talk about home owner’s associations and there are some things that you should know about it.
First I want to say that homeowner’s associations are a very good, healthy thing. They protect the value of a neighborhood. For example, in my neighborhood they work to take care of main entrances, they make sure their is flowers up in the spring and Christmas lights up in the winter. If there is a problem with the walking paths, they make sure it’s corrected. My husband is a part of our homeowner’s association and they do a fantastic job in protecting it and preserving it’s value. If the streets are in bad shape, the trails are in bad shape, unkept landscaping everywhere…people aren’t as attracted! So it’s a big deal to make sure that the neighborhood is appealing to a wide audience.
The other thing that they do is make sure people are following the rules! Rules are in place for a reason. It can be an eyesore to see an RV parked in front of a house for months on end. Some people don’t like the look of storage sheds. However, I do have some people come to me and say, “I don’t want ANY protective convenance.” If that’s the case, the first place you can check out is acreages. Not as much of house for your money, but a lot less restrictions and a lot of land.
There are a lot of questions you need to ask your realtor when evaluating a neighborhood. There are neighborhoods that only allow chain-link fences believe it or not! So if a fence is important to you, make sure to include that in your list of questions for your realtor.
What colors your house can be, storage sheds, fences, whether or not you can park a boat, these are all things that are determined by the homeowner’s association.
If you’re looking into a town home or a villa of some sort, this is critical advice. You need to evaluate the financial health of the association. Make sure that you are asking for bank statements before moving forward with your purchase. Make sure you ask about any assessments that are even being talked about! There is a neighborhood around 180th and Harrison where a roof needed to be replaced on these huge town home buildings as well as some siding work. They talked about it for a long time, but nothing was official. It turned out that there was a $10,000 assessment to folks that owned one of those town homes, and the value of those town homes was $100,000-$150,000. So homeowners associations when it comes to town homes are important to investigate so that your financial needs and priorities are met.
Talk to your realtor! Make sure they understand what YOU want.
Want to watch the video? Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usMgT2BAQ7o
