One of the main reasons I have not suggested purchasing condos as investments has been the tendancy to have self-managed board of directors cost ALL owners money.
A few Sundays ago, I was at my office when I received a phone call on one of my rental signs. The caller identified himself as member of the new board of directors and that my FOR LEASE sign would have to be removed. For the last 2 years, the new HOA had been self-managed by the developer who obviously had had sufficient sales to trigger the formation of the HOA under the original governing documents. I asked the board member if he realized the long term effect of not allowing For Lease or For Sale signs and he indicated he thought it would approve the appearance of the property. I suggested that from 40 years of experience, the opposite would be the case. I then went to the property and removed my sign.
Rather than getting into a philosophical discussion, I decided to post a question on ActiveRain - the 80,000 member real estate website.....almost all replies came back that my argument was true.
Most real estate signs are professionally made and well-maintained. Many agents actually have covers for their signs for storage in their cars, basements or offices. My signs are stored in my basement and maintained and discarded when they deteriorate.
Most real estate signs actually benefit the unit owner whose unit is For Lease or For Sale in addition to the HOA....In these hard real estate times, marketing is critical and by posting a real estate sign, the agent/owner is notifying adjacent owners that a unit is for sale is a good way to market units in new buildings. Additionally, unit purchase prospects driving through the development can see other units on the market that may better suit their needs.
Unit owners who can not post a real estate sign in front of their unit often post a hand-made sign in the window of their unit.....now that can be TACKY!!
Vacant units that remain on the market in the current real estate environment often remain on the market longer, causing financial hardship on the owners. If the unit owner goes into foreclosure, any back/deliquent HOA fees are erased and the ENTIRE association membership/other unit owners share in the increased cost of these deliquencies.
The HOA should ENCOURAGE any and all efforts in assisting in the financial health of all unit owners and that should include getting rid of any onerous rules and regulations including no real estate signs in front of units.
Anonymous
I have been involved with the hoa management industry for over 30 years and understand the frustratiion of not being allowed to post a for sale sign in front of a clients home. I always suggest that sellers inform their realtor of their association's rules and covenant compliance requirements. If you are a seller, be sure to ask your potential client about signage rules before you sign a contract to sell a home. Before you begin explaing all of the benefits to allowing for sale signs, find out if a no signs requirement is written in the associations Rules and Requlations, Archituctural guidlines or the CC&R,s. If the requirement is in theCC&R,s, your attempt to get the requirement changed will do absolutely no good. The CC&R,s is like the Constitution in that the requirement in that document cannot easily be changed, and can not usually be changed by a board of directors. In additiion, a board of directrors does not have the authorty to decide to not enforce the RCC&R requirements. If they make an official decision to not enforce a requirement in the CC&R,s and they get sued for not enforcing a requirement, the insurance carrier may not cover them. Most Director and Officer Insurance will not cover a board for willful negligence. As a result, sued board members will pay for their own lawyer and for any damages resulting from a lawsuit. So don't get upset with board members who are just following the law
Nov 06, 2008 07:48 AM
#1
Rainmaker
1,342,291
1,342,291
Wallace S. Gibson, CPM
LandlordWhisperer
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