Current Events > Do you think homeowners associations were ever a good idea?

(+) Yeah! (+)

50/50

Nope, FUCK that, if I dont have complete and total freedom with my home then what the fuck even is home ownership?

Rosstin316 posted...

Nope, FUCK that, if I dont have complete and total freedom with my home then what the fuck even is home ownership?

Because HOAs exist for reasons other than to "keep everyone's property values high" (that's just usually the prime concern of what drives the more annoying practices).

For instance they're the ones responsible for getting someone in to repave the road (subdivisions are responsible for their own road upkeep, not the municipality).

no they have way to much power they can take your home for unpaid fees

Solid_Sonic posted...

For instance they're the ones responsible for getting someone in to repave the road (subdivisions are responsible for their own road upkeep, not the municipality).

These things can be handled by me directly, for free, just as effectively. And id take a delayed pothole and $500 extra in my pocket every month over setting that on fire to obey a bunch of karens color preferences.

Well you're free to live somewhere without an HOA. I'm just explaining the full extent of why they exist, not just their negative qualities.

EVERY quality they have is negative.

*Sigh*

No, they suck. People on power trips getting back at just about anyone to feed their egos.

I worked construction in place that had one. They wherent allowed to choose the color of their house. The house colors where done In a repeating pattern

I can understand how some HOAs can be absolutely horrible and petty, but Ive been very happy with mine for the 10+ years Ive lived at my place.

Like all ideas it was corrupted by pricks

Solid_Sonic posted...

For instance they're the ones responsible for getting someone in to repave the road (subdivisions are responsible for their own road upkeep, not the municipality).

Thankfully I live in a sensible country where the municipality is responsible for road upkeep, subdivision or not.

We own our home and I'd never live in a HOA.

Can we ever have poll options that dont add in opinions?

Folks here always do too much.

I always heard negative opinions on them but where I live it's difficult to not be in one. Mine is pretty good and I must have lucked out for it

Solid_Sonic posted...

Well you're free to live somewhere without an HOA. I'm just explaining the full extent of why they exist, not just their negative qualities.

Something like 80% of all new homes are covered by an HOA, so it's super simple to just live somewhere else.

*Yawn*

Corrupt yes but a lot of my friends parents have recently moved into townhomes for retirement. They just dont want to worry about that stuff and are content overpaying for shit I guess.

If you view your home as a financial investment, then they're great for you. If you dont mind the strings that come with renting but want to build equity, they'd be a perfect fit for someone.

Makes sense for a gated community, absolutely loathe them everywhere else. It's my property I'll do what I damn well please with it as long as it doesn't directly put in harm anyone around me.

Mine is dope. I have a community clubhouse, pool, tennis court, running trail, basketball court, and they handle trash service. All for like $400/year.

I just moved out of one and I wish they had been MORE powerful. They didnt enforce any of their own rules, and about 15% of the neighborhood never paid their dues (and no one did anything about it)

Its good for people who crave conformity and exclusion. You can tuck into your approved home design painted an approved color and dream of mowing your lawn an approved height.

Solid_Sonic posted...

For instance they're the ones responsible for getting someone in to repave the road (subdivisions are responsible for their own road upkeep, not the municipality).

Not everywhere.

tremain07 posted...

Like all ideas it was corrupted by pricks

Are they really corrupted since their first intention was to keep "undesirables" out of certain neighborhoods? They were corrupt from the begining.

Nope, they need to be permanently dismantled and illegal. They're a bunch of paid shit-suckers with too much power. If you bought it, you can do what you like as long as it's legal.

Venixon posted...

Nope, they need to be permanently dismantled and illegal. They're a bunch of paid shit-suckers with too much power. If you bought it, you can do what you like as long as it's legal.

If it's against the HOA covenants then it's not legal so...

Sufferedphoenix posted...

I worked construction in place that had one. They wherent allowed to choose the color of their house. The house colors where done In a repeating pattern

Let me guess: Grey, beige, greige, repeat

I think they can be a good idea, there is power in working as a group. Also if you live 20 feet from your neighbor what they do in their house can possibly affect you. So maybe having some REASONABLE rules for everyone isn't a bad idea. I have an HOA... I'm pretty happy with them.

But I have seen/heard too many horror stories about HOA's. HOA's, PTA's, etc etc give people just a little bit of power and they will always take it too far. So while I'm okay with my HOA I am not sure they are net positive in general. Also.....

They were originally created as another way to keep black people out of the suburbs. Not saying they are still racist... but you build something on top of racist, you're gonna have problems long after you "allegedly" stop being racist.

Yea, Ive lived in mine for a year so far and havent had any issues. I dont have to worry about lawn, snow, or street care and my community full of kind hearted residents.

Yea, HOA is bothersome but if it helps gate keep potentially bad neighbors out then its worth the cost of that alone for many.

The benefit should be in stuff like cheaper trash removal through collective bargaining not alienating everyone at one point or another

There has to be good HOAs but no one is ever going to brag about their HOA being awesome are they?

Butterfiles posted...

Let me guess: Grey, beige, greige, repeat

No it was like blue green yellow

I have to tell you in person they seemed like sweet people but when you heard some of things they where demanding they where entitled assewiipes.

They tried talking a local grocery store into only serving them on Tuesdays.

Absolutely not. If you buy a house with an hoa you deserve all that's coming your way.

For multi-housing buildings they are a necessary evil. For single housing buildings they are a huge racket that usually funnels money to the friends of people who run the board (i.e. paying for overpriced landscaping).

I don't live in one, and I don't want to ever live in one. Stories I've heard make them sound super annoying. But, I can see the positives. It mostly keeps the neighborhood looking nice and every house is in tip-top shape; but, there's too much conformity with all of the homes and I don't like the idea of owning a home just for some retired and bored old dude/woman coming around measuring how long your grass is. But, some houses in my neighborhood really let themselves go with weeds or junk or hoarders that have terrible smells coming out of their house.

All in all, I prefer the freedom of a non-HOA. I'm glad I don't bust my ass at work and come home just for some prick boomer to demand I mow my lawn or something in my backyard is a cm too tall.

Solid_Sonic posted...

Because HOAs exist for reasons other than to "keep everyone's property values high" (that's just usually the prime concern of what drives the more annoying practices).

the home algorithm

MagnusX posted...

Thankfully I live in a sensible country where the municipality is responsible for road upkeep, subdivision or not.

We own our home and I'd never live in a HOA.

Yeppers. Who in the hell moves into a neighborhood where the government doesn't maintain the roads? Like, aren't easements a thing whether it's private or not?

voldothegr8 posted...

Yeppers. Who in the hell moves into a neighborhood where the government doesn't maintain the roads? Like, aren't easements a thing whether it's private or not?

Yeah I never heard of such a thing. I am I St. LOUIS, and f the he county maintains the streets of my subdivision.

lol. your system is absolutely broken.

paying taxes for something local governments are supposed to do but don't instead they leave those things in the hands of the HOA who get given subsidies, on top of paying HOA fees. ponzi scheme.

you only hear about the bad ones

Always seemed to me like q-tips.

You're not actually supposed to put q-tips in your ears. The packages will all warn you, in the small text, not to put q-tips in your ears.

But everybody knows that's really what they're for. It's not even that people use them wrong. The manufacturer just put some BS on the package so they can feign innocence when somebody stabs their brain. And they're fooling literally nobody. I bet you didn't even know. I bet you're going to go check your box as soon as you're done reading this.

HoAs always seemed more or less the same. There's some disclaimer about doing it for property value and stuff but they're not fooling anyone.

They're cults imo

They have their purpose.

I do think you (naturally) only hear about the (truly) bad/awful ones and it paints a worse picture than what actually living under a normal one would look like, however I can't say that I would want to live under one.

Some of the rules I've heard of are sensical and stuff that you should generally except from your neighbors, for a variety of reasons. Some, though, are absolutely insane, like the HOAs that restrict flying the flag of the country said HOA resides in. >_>

Though like everything, I'm sure there's history as to why they exist and its actually all just a tool to keep 'undesirables' out

It's always amazing when you think you find a great deal on a house but turns out to have a HOA with an absurdly high fee.

The fact that HOAs literally have the ability to put a lien on your property for no reason other than to be able to leverage literally taking your home away in order to conform to their standards is asinine. Whatever good they may do, and I live in one that isnt tyrannical thank god, is very much not worth having that threat in their back pocket.

voldothegr8 posted...

Yeppers. Who in the hell moves into a neighborhood where the government doesn't maintain the roads? Like, aren't easements a thing whether it's private or not?

It's becoming more common since cities realize they can pass that responsibility to HOA while still collecting the same amount of taxes. Additionally, it's becoming harder and harder to find homes that aren't part of a HOA, specifically newly built homes.

The road I live on runs through the center of my subdivision, and dead ends at a railroad(now a trail), and continues about half a mile, past a creek. The county always planned to bridge the gap, but opposition from the residents stopped them from doing so, and it didnt take a HOA to stop them from implementing their plans.

Where I live has an HOA and I love it. They do all snow shoveling, snow plowing, cutting grass, laying new tan bark, they always keep everything clean and never any potholes or anything in the roads like big cracks.
There isnt trash in the streets and just common junk like you see many places like people leaving garbage cans out all week.
It makes my neighborhood feel safer. It keeps the value of the neighborhood high

There's good and bad, but a lot of the bad is really, really bad.

RamenNoodles posted...

Where I live has an HOA and I love it. They do all snow shoveling, snow plowing, cutting grass, laying new tan bark, they always keep everything clean and never any potholes or anything in the roads like big cracks.
There isnt trash in the streets and just common junk like you see many places like people leaving garbage cans out all week.
It makes my neighborhood feel safer. It keeps the value of the neighborhood high

Sounds like you live in a condo. Those are the only pieces of property where an HOA makes sense, because you don't own the land.