Thank you!! I was on my HOA board for 10 years, president for 5 of them. Our neighborhood is oldish, most houses built in the early 80's but our deed of restrictions has ensured that not only has our neighborhood kept its value, but actually makes it sought after with our pool, tennis courts, clubhouse and lots of neighborhood activities…
Thank you!! I was on my HOA board for 10 years, president for 5 of them. Our neighborhood is oldish, most houses built in the early 80's but our deed of restrictions has ensured that not only has our neighborhood kept its value, but actually makes it sought after with our pool, tennis courts, clubhouse and lots of neighborhood activities all maintained and organized by our volunteer board. One need only drive through the neighborhoods to the E and W of ours, that do not have an HOA, to see that there is some value. I 'get' that some HOA boards are petty tyrants and dictators but our restrictions are basically, 'you must maintain your property'. An occasional PITA-type person who occasionally landed on our board was voted out. If you want to let weeds over run your flower beds, have peeling paint on your house, and pile junk in your driveway, don't buy a house in our HOA.
My favorite scenario is when several "cost conscious" owners manage to get on a board. They then refuse all recommendations to raise fees and properly fund the reserves. Thus creating multiple cases of "deferred maintenance." They save money, sell their properties years later, and future owners get slammed with huge concrete, roofing, and other capital costs as assessments.
We have a couple of saintly people who've been on our board for ~30 years (although one recently stepped down due to failing health). They are the 'rock' members who have records and memories of every dumb decision and discussion (every 5-7 years we get a young one who wants to put in a playground - legal liability, insurance costs, and maintenance issues make it a big NO, and we have 2 city owned parks with playgrounds within a mile of us). Me and the 2 rocks were the only ones to vote down a proposal to resurface the pool area with a surface that ended up being slick when it was wet, and hotter than blazes when the sun hit it. The silver tongued sales guy's company filed bankruptcy when we took him to court (we weren't the only ones unhappy) and THAT dumb decision ate most of our reserves as we ended up having to tear out the entire pool deck and replace it. Other than that we have maintained a pretty even keel between keeping dues down and taking care of the less sexy maintenance things, thanks in a large part to the legacy members. God bless them - I did 10 years and I burned out - hours and hours of unpaid work and people only pay attention when they get pissed off and want to yell at you over some petty thing. Most have no clue how much work goes into it, especially when you have a very large common area, clubhouse, pool, and tennis courts that all have to be maintained.
Thank you!! I was on my HOA board for 10 years, president for 5 of them. Our neighborhood is oldish, most houses built in the early 80's but our deed of restrictions has ensured that not only has our neighborhood kept its value, but actually makes it sought after with our pool, tennis courts, clubhouse and lots of neighborhood activities all maintained and organized by our volunteer board. One need only drive through the neighborhoods to the E and W of ours, that do not have an HOA, to see that there is some value. I 'get' that some HOA boards are petty tyrants and dictators but our restrictions are basically, 'you must maintain your property'. An occasional PITA-type person who occasionally landed on our board was voted out. If you want to let weeds over run your flower beds, have peeling paint on your house, and pile junk in your driveway, don't buy a house in our HOA.
You nailed it!
My favorite scenario is when several "cost conscious" owners manage to get on a board. They then refuse all recommendations to raise fees and properly fund the reserves. Thus creating multiple cases of "deferred maintenance." They save money, sell their properties years later, and future owners get slammed with huge concrete, roofing, and other capital costs as assessments.
We have a couple of saintly people who've been on our board for ~30 years (although one recently stepped down due to failing health). They are the 'rock' members who have records and memories of every dumb decision and discussion (every 5-7 years we get a young one who wants to put in a playground - legal liability, insurance costs, and maintenance issues make it a big NO, and we have 2 city owned parks with playgrounds within a mile of us). Me and the 2 rocks were the only ones to vote down a proposal to resurface the pool area with a surface that ended up being slick when it was wet, and hotter than blazes when the sun hit it. The silver tongued sales guy's company filed bankruptcy when we took him to court (we weren't the only ones unhappy) and THAT dumb decision ate most of our reserves as we ended up having to tear out the entire pool deck and replace it. Other than that we have maintained a pretty even keel between keeping dues down and taking care of the less sexy maintenance things, thanks in a large part to the legacy members. God bless them - I did 10 years and I burned out - hours and hours of unpaid work and people only pay attention when they get pissed off and want to yell at you over some petty thing. Most have no clue how much work goes into it, especially when you have a very large common area, clubhouse, pool, and tennis courts that all have to be maintained.