Striking A Balance Between The Good And Bad Of Homeowner’s Associations

In the United States, when you want to purchase residential property in a planned development, along with the homes come many other added amenities like security, swimming pools, gardens, pathways and club houses that you are entitled to enjoy. For the maintenance of these amenities for all the residents, real estate developers of such developments form homeowner’s associations or HOAs.

One has to be careful about these HOAs before agreeing to them. These HOAs come with their own sets of pros and cons, some find them dangerously binding while others enjoy the power HOAs possess over them. These associations do have an upper hand on the owners but at the same time are under obligation to follow all legal regulations laid down in the governing documents as articles of incorporation and declarations of rules and regulations, and hence it is advisable for homeowners to be well versed with these legal bylaws before the signing. There are numerous homeowner associations websites to educate and familiarize common man with these legal declarations, safeguarding and protection policies that one must thoroughly study while signing up for an HOA membership.

PROS

1. The intense and mandatory set of rules and regulations laid down by HOAs primarily serve the purpose of protecting property values and keeping them as high as possible for potential customers.
2. They offer shared access to recreational amenities like pools, golf courses and playgrounds whose operational timing rules are easy to change, along with essential services such as security systems and guards, private roadways, streetlights and gymnasiums.
3. The HOAs are governed by volunteers who are homeowners themselves, and thus give them an opportunity to maintain the character of the neighborhood they live in. in a way, it is an ultimate form of democracy.

CONS

1. HOAs are made up of extremely tightly – knitted rules that are immune to interference from cops and government bodies. You have no choice but to abide by the rules or the HOA can levy penalties even to the extent of selling your residence!
2. The reason some associations face issues are that firstly, their rigid rules are very difficult to change and secondly, they are formulated by estate developers who do not reside on the property themselves.
3. Almost a quarter of the population living under such HOAs disagrees over rules of parking and landscape choices, financial contributions, budget and architectural issues. Think about it, it is your home yet you cannot decide the color of your walls, or the number of pets you want to keep and so on.

TIPS TO A HARMONIUS AND FRUITFUL HOA

Be thorough with the rules before sealing the deal. Very few homeowners do their research before time and they reap benefits of HOAs while others realize too late that they have lost their privacy and freedom of expression. Follow correct procedures for permissions and giving suggestions. Gather a large majority if you need to change the rules. Hire or train property managers to deal with operations. Most importantly, maintain transparency about the finances and measures taken and communicate about them with the residents.

Get more details about http://www.instapage.org/hoa-websites.html

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