For or Against Home Owners' Associations where you live?

[Stormspark]

Against. HoAs are super anal and unreasonable about a lot of shit.

This. They should be illegal. They undermine the concept of private property.

[God Save The King]

How are they allowed to exist?

How can they be forced upon a new buyer?

I've known what they are from American movies n stuff over the years but I've never seen the like in the UK personally so zero experience.

The new buyer must accept the terms of an HoA, and the current owner cannot sell their home without the buyer agreeing to the terms. You get to look at the terms and everything, so its a contract you must accept to buy your home.

It's similar to the idea of a freeholder in UK housing. Except an HoA is substantially worse by a large margin.

Why are they allowed to exist? I ask myself this question all the time. It takes like 50% of the housing market out of my search.

[Crissi]

This. They should be illegal. They undermine the concept of private property.

My famil;y tends to live on the outskirts of cities so thankfully, we've never had to deal with them. Current neighborhood was talking about trying to create one but the people that owned the biggest properties (my family among them) went NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE.

[Machismo]

I will do my best to never live in an HOA neighborhood. Half the time it's filled with people pushing petty shit against each other. It's just one more way to let other people tell you what the fuck you can do on your own property. Oh, and they charge you money for the privilege... no thanks.

[Stormspark]

My famil;y tends to live on the outskirts of cities so thankfully, we've never had to deal with them. Current neighborhood was talking about trying to create one but the people that owned the biggest properties (my family among them) went NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOPE.

Yep, assuming I ever buy a house (which I don't know if I will), I absolutely will not sign any contract that involves one of those. I don't care how nice the place is or how good of a deal it is or how good the area is. Screw that. I would literally go homeless rather than deal with that shit.

It's basically just legalized racketeering. Pretty much all the ones I've ever seen do stuff that could be prosecuted under RICO if the authorities would actually do it.

[Bodakane]

How are they allowed to exist?

How can they be forced upon a new buyer?

I've known what they are from American movies n stuff over the years but I've never seen the like in the UK personally so zero experience.

It's your choice to buy a house where they exist or not.

[God Save The King]

In case anyone is curious: There are over 351,000 homeowner associations in the United States. Collectively, this represents over 40 million households or 53% of the owner occupied households in the America.

Get rekt

[Deleted]

It's your choice to buy a house where they exist or not.

That doesn't answer either question however GothamCity did so now I understand. I realise now it's a vicious circle, the person you are buying from is already in it, and can only sell to you if you agree to join it thereby keeping the house within it's control.

[Belize]

Against. HoAs are super anal and unreasonable about a lot of shit.

This.

Ours keep making arbitrary rules like "Must have 3 trees on your front yard" and "Cannot park an RV in your driveway for more than 2 days".

[Stormspark]

That doesn't answer either question however GothamCity did so now I understand. I realise now it's a vicious circle, the person you are buying from is already in it, and can only sell to you if you agree to join it thereby keeping the house within it's control.

I almost wish I owned property in one of those places. Destroy it and salt the earth so that noone could build there again, lol.

[Allybeboba]

Many subdivisions are not within city limits. Thus they do not have city government restrictions nor governance. Without an HoA your neighbors could paint their house lime green if they wanted to. They could also have vehicles parked in their yard. Or even park commercial vehicles in the neighborhood.
HoAs also provide subdivision parks, pools and recreation centers. Many also provide extra security patrols. My subdivision has a golf course and tennis courts. Part of the dues go to that as well for up keep.

[Puupi]

In case anyone is curious: There are over 351,000 homeowner associations in the United States. Collectively, this represents over 40 million households or 53% of the owner occupied households in the America.

Get rekt

Land of the free, eh?

[Bodakane]

That doesn't answer either question however GothamCity did so now I understand. I realise now it's a vicious circle, the person you are buying from is already in it, and can only sell to you if you agree to join it thereby keeping the house within it's control.

It actually does answer it. But ok, you understand now.

For the most part, if a house is in a neighborhood with an HOA, it must be part of the HOA.

[Crissi]

Many subdivisions are not within city limits. Thus they do not have city government restrictions nor governance. Without an HoA your neighbors could paint their house lime green if they wanted to. They could also have vehicles parked in their yard. Or even park commercial vehicles in the neighborhood.
HoAs also provide subdivision parks, pools and recreation centers. Many also provide extra security patrols. My subdivision has a golf course and tennis courts. Part of the dues go to that as well for up keep.

I live in one of said non incorporated neighborhoods. The world hasnt ended and there isnt an epidemic of trashed yards and green houses. The VAST majority people have good taste and keep their property looking nice.

[Puupi]

I live in one of said non incorporated neighborhoods. The world hasnt ended and there isnt an epidemic of trashed yards and green houses. The VAST majority people have good taste and keep their property looking nice.

What's wrong with green houses?! I live in a green house!

[Matchles]

We are planning a coup of our HOA. My wife wants chickens and they won't allow them while they simultaneously do jack all to enforce some of their other rules. For instance, you aren't supposed to have outdoor cats but tons of people in the neighborhood do. I have to chase off cats hunting birds or snakes in my yard multiple times a week.

[Milchshake]

Totally against, if you're paying through the nose for a house, you deserve the benefit of the doubt with what to do with it.

Personally I took out my lawn and now have a super vegetable garden. I grow hundreds of vegetables and fruits. Couldnt do this with an HOA, since having a lawn and mowing it constantly are mandatory.

[God Save The King]

Another side note a lot of people don't know about HoAs:

When you buy a home in an HoA, you get a copy of all the rules, and you can read everything and see if it works for you. but that's not the end of it. You're also agreeing to any rules the HoA makes after you buy your home. So say you move into an HoA neighborhood that allows pets, then 3 years later they ban them. You have to get rid of Spot or face fines.


The best way to enjoy the "benefits" of an HoA without all the bureaucracy is to buy a slightly nicer home. If you're going to pay 2k a month in mortgage and 500 a month in HoA fees, buy a home that has a 2.5k mortgage. Generally with nicer, more expensive homes, people take better care of them.

My grandma learned that one the hard way. She paid like 15k to install solar panels, the first home to do so in her HoA. Less than a few months later, solar panels were banned because they looked bad and could lower property value. So she had to remove them, or move. She opted for the latter and took her panels with her.

[Fencers]

Really? I have heard nothing but terrible things.

I dealt with three HOAs at my residences and many without. HOAs always led to better environment compared to the willy-nilly shit that goes down in unrestricted neighborhoods.

[Rasulis]

We live in an HoA. Our HoA fee is $98 per month. That comes with access to the golf course, club house, Olympic size swimming pool, well maintained parks (plural) and 16 miles of well maintained horse trails.

The lot that we bought was one of the last few unbuilt one-acre lots in the development. The house that we designed had to be approved by the HoA planning committee. The process was pretty quick and painless. We told them that we wanted to keep the existing barn on the lot and convert it into a granny flat. Again it was quick and easy. When we told them we were going to install two converted containers as library. They were hesitant, but once they saw the concept plans, they were approved quickly.

There were some additional rules that we had to follow during construction. Such as grading had to be kept to minimal and follow the natural terrain. Natural gas tanks had to be out of sight. Cutting oak and pine trees required special permission. Nothing onerous. We ended up keeping all the oak and pine trees on our lot anyway.

All in all, we have no complaints. There are no two house alike in our development since each was custom build. They do have one thing in common, all of them are well maintained and clean.