Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
Copy Link
As someone who has seen nearly every condo and townhome in Johnson County, KS this past year and now being a resident, I feel this is a great place to start.
There are good and bad parts to HOA’s and there are some ways to avoid problems down the road. We all hear about the guy who was told to take down Christmas lights, or not to change his oil in the driveway, or the friends car was towed away while visiting.
As a realtor, I reach out to the listing agent to get the HOA information. If my client is truly interested in the property and the agent fails to provide documents, I will do my due diligence to hunt down the documentation.
I want my clients to see the HOA rules and regulations. I ask buyers what is important to them. Do they own an RV? Do they want to have a backyard playset for their kids? Do they have a hobby car they want to work on in the garage and their daily use vehicles will need to park in the street? These are all important things to consider. Sometimes you may not even realize something is important to you now or in the future. Read these over carefully. The HOA’s have a right to enforce the rules they have set.
Check the budget. Are there items in the common area that are in disrepair? Do they have money to fix these? Has the HOA been planning to fix in the near future? How much money is in reserves? Is there insurance in place to cover any common area issues that could arise? Years ago I was trying to sell a condo that didn’t qualify for FHA financing and on top of that there was a $12,000 elevator repair bill coming due for each unit. That was pretty sizeable considering the small condo was selling for $100,000 and it was not a seller’s market.
If you see neighbors feel free to chat, with them. Ask how they like living there? Is it loud at night? Any issues that have been disturbing to them? Maintenance issues? Snow removal? Trash pickup?
Some of the perks we are loving in our townhome…..no lawn maintenance. It looks amazing when the ground maintenance people come through and all areas are free of leaves at once! Our particular HOA was a little more lenient with some things during covid, but they do enforce owners maintaining the siding and exteriors of their homes. I like knowing my neighbors home is being attended to. I do feel like there is a sense of community for the most part. I feel that residents would be willing to help if someone did need an extra hand to complete a project to improve the quality of our surroundings.
Some things I have seen in poorly managed properties include lack of knowledge of occupants of units. This was troubling in a relative’s situation. He had a leak into his unit from a neighbors unit. He left notes and knocked on the door, after the management company said they didn’t know who lived there. This went on for a couple of days and then I jumped in. Not everyone is aware that in many areas you can pull up county records to find the owner. I was lucky to find the owner’s address and name. He lived across the country. I managed to track down a contact phone number or email, and got the name of the tenant. It really shouldn’t be this hard and I would hope a management company would help in this situation. It is for the good of all owners to have a water leak addressed as soon as possible. As it was, a neighbor below also had damages. It didn’t end well for my relative.
In some HOA’s, I have shown the same unit a few times and took note that the same piece of trash is sitting in the same common area each time I visit. Yes, I could have picked it up, but my feeling is it was a good barometer of how well the property was maintained. These were showings days and or weeks apart.
Consider the proximity to a pool or playground if there is one. Are you someone who likes quiet during the day? Perhaps having a pool view might not be the best.
Check out the parking. Sometimes garages or carports if available, might not correspond to the unit you are looking at. I have seen units where the garage is across the property from the unit and others where it is conveniently outside. Is the property in an area where your visiting friends or relatives may not have an easy spot to park? Some HOA’s require you to make arrangements for guests to park on the street even just overnight. If you like to entertain, this might be a problem if someone has a few too many.
Are you a Phil Dunphy or Clark Griswold when it comes to holiday decor? The HOA might be your enemy. One community we considered for 3 minutes had strict rules regarding the 1 or two holiday decorations you could put in your yard for about 2 weeks surrounding Christmas. It even stipulated what types of flowers and plants you could have in your front garden space. That might be perfect for some, but I like some expression of creativity!
If you are a pet person, you will definitely need to check the rules. I failed on this one. The realtor had put out a sign saying “Pet Friendly”. In the hasty spring market, I failed to read the HOA bylaws until after making an offer, it stated “ONE pet”. In the end, it turned out that the HOA had updated that information recently, because no one was following the rule anyway. This is another issue. Once rules start to be lazily enforced it can be hard to know when someone will step in or if all rules meant to make the community a pleasant place to live start to fall by the wayside. I have seen discussions on social media regarding this issue. “Hide your pets” or “Lie about how many you have” seem to be popular ideas, but I can’t imagine living with the guilt of hiding my pets and thinking at some point I may have to rehome them.
I am sure I have missed some things that are issues with HOA’s.
In the end I recommend you read the bylaws and check the financial statements. And, if you decide to take the plunge and buy a home in an HOA, stay active. Know what is happening in your community. It is a small investment of time to make sure your huge investment increases in value over time and you will have a say in how your community is managed!
Have a wonderful holiday with your loved ones!
