When my husband & I bought our first house in a starter community, he did not want to be in a community with an HOA. He did not need anyone telling us what could/couldn't be done on our own property. After some shopping, we found a great little community of starter homes with NO association. We signed a contract and started construction on our house. Several months pass and we happily moved into our brand new home.
We were one of the first houses, in the first phase of construction, in this community. As more homes were built and our neighbors started to outfit their houses with their personal taste, we made several interesting observations. Neighbor#1 was an amateur radio enthuist; he installed an antenna farm in his back yard. Several of the antennaes towered substantially higher than the house. Neighbor#2 was a shade tree mechanic, he would buy any "piece of junk" car and park it on the street in front of his house because his other junk cars completely filled his driveway. Neighbor#3 painted the house exterior both brick and trim canary yellow. Thereafter, when friends or family would visit us, they would comment "I did not know you lived near the UGLY yellow house".
After a few years of this, we realized my husband was so wrapped up in preserving our own rights, that we completely forgot about everyone elses rights. Rights that preserved their freedom to do "their own thing" too.
Finally, we purchased a step up home and "kissed the starter community goodbye". While shopping the second time, we only looked at houses with home owner associations. Now, everytime one of my new neighbors complain that HOA harrassed them about their grass being too tall or their fence needing minor repair, I simply smile, laugh to myself, and remember the craziness of my non-HOA starter community experience.
Let me know about your HOA experiences. Do they add value or not?
www.TREShomes4U.com or www.RowlettRealEstateAgent.com
Cell: 469-644-4602
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