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MotherBear wrote:

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

n5wd wrote:The best way to deal with an HOA is to comiserate with the folks that live under their thumb, and be glad that you could afford to live somewhere that an HOA will never be a problem!

Not all of us want to live in the sticks however. If you live in the suburbs in Texas, you live with an HOA.

Our previous neighborhood in north Austin (yes, inside city limits) technically had an HOA, but it was an HOA formed solely for the purpose of preventing an actual HOA from ever being formed.

Now that's a HOA that I can support!

It is bad enough that the paragraph essentially says that the victim is responsible for the situation. It doesn't stop there. The saddest thing is, that someone will read this notice from the HOA, take it as gospel and fail to act thereby causing injury or death to themselves or a loved one.

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

n5wd wrote:The best way to deal with an HOA is to comiserate with the folks that live under their thumb, and be glad that you could afford to live somewhere that an HOA will never be a problem!

Not all of us want to live in the sticks however. If you live in the suburbs in Texas, you live with an HOA.

I live in a suburb, and I don't have an HOA, and I agree with Charles. If you don't want an HOA, then don't buy a home in an HOA.

I do live "in the sticks" and if anyone ever succeeds in forming an HOA, I'm building Carhenge around the property. Dead autos, busted appliances, "trees" of tires, etc. Let 'em try to enforce the HOA regs; as I won't ever sign on, and we were here before any such organization would be formed, we'd be grandfathered in, and thereby exempt.

"Cadillac Ranch: New Mexico" anyone?

I think that'd be the only way SWMBO would agree to forming a "perimeter fence" of rusted metal and aged plastics, though.

The Annoyed Man wrote: I live in a suburb, and I don't have an HOA, and I agree with Charles. If you don't want an HOA, then don't buy a home in an HOA.

I see that opinion a lot. And when I was a board member, I understood both sides of it. The reality is that most new subdivisions are built with HOAs in place - the afford substantial control to the developer and long term, they're supported by interest groups like property management companies and attorneys that make money off of them. They're also VERY hard to get rid of, even if the vast majority of the neighborhood wants to do away with them...

So if you want to live in a reasonably priced development, say, under $200k in N. Austin or Cedar Park and want a newer house, the reality is that you probably won't be able to find one without an HOA... The homes that are non-HOA are older, often in more established neighborhoods. In Cedar Park, they may still be available at reasonable prices.. Older and "established" in Austin usually comes with a bigger price.

Short answer: They're getting harder and harder to find, especially at reasonable prices.

I fled the HOA scene (and I was on the board). I paid about twice as much for a smaller home, that was newer, much more father out, with a POA... That is, the POA owned common property, but had no power to tell you what to do with your property... That worked much better.

For a time, I lived under HOA restrictions with rules like: No setting of garbage cans out the night before pickup or I'd be fined.

I got a nasty-gram about it.

That's part of the reason I now live in the county.

When I get up from the keyboard, I'll be putting my trash out for tomorrow's pickup...

Abraham wrote:For a time, I lived under HOA restrictions with rules like: No setting of garbage cans out the night before pickup or I'd be fined.

I got a nasty-gram about it.

That's part of the reason I now live in the county.

When I get up from the keyboard, I'll be putting my trash out for tomorrow's pickup...

And that's why I don't like them... I understand that they work for some, maybe even most, people, but getting a nastygram about something like that is completely unacceptable to me.

Cedar Park Dad wrote:

steveincowtown wrote:Maybe I am being to sensitive, but man am I sick of my HOA sending emails blast encouraging folks to be sheep.

Maybe I am being sensitive, but man am I sick of people calling other people "sheep."

The word “victims” would substitute nicely for “sheep”.