A Homeowner’s Association, or a Property Owner’s Association, is a popular thing in Florida and you would be hard pressed to find a community without one, especially one that has amenities. It’s so commonplace that I forget that in other states they are limited to condos and townhomes or otherwise nonexistent. Since they are so prevalent here, there are things you definitely need to know about HOAs before you buy into a community that has one.

HOAs are generally formed by a real estate developer to market, manage, and sell homes in a residential community. When you buy a house in that community, you are part of the HOA, and you need to pay annual, quarterly or yearly fees. The more amenities a neighborhood has, or the more upscale it is, the higher your dues. Dues in my area can go anywhere from $60 annually to $125 monthly for a single-family home and $160 to $500 monthly for condos or townhomes. In other areas, they can be much higher or lower depending on the community and amenities. Plus, all HOAs have rules and covenants for their homeowners that anyone who is part of it needs to abide by.

The Pros of an HOA:

1. Community Appearance: There are rules for the community that prevent your neighbors from doing things to their home that could lower the property value of the neighborhood. If someone chooses not the mow their lawn, paint their house hot pink, or park a broken down car in their yard the HOA would put a stop to that. It makes for a less stressful situation if you ever have to sell your home or want to come home to a beautiful community. The community appearance is a big part of why we live in an HOA community.
2. Avoid Neighbor Disputes: Have a neighbor who likes to walk their dog without a lease (illegal in Florida) or who has five cars parked on the street at all times (illegal after dark in a few counties)? Never fear! That’s the HOAs job. Rather than have that awkward conversation that leaves to bitterness (since people are not as mature as we would like) you report it to the HOA and they handle. From what I have seen, if you are alerting the HOA to it, you are not the only one, and everyone will appreciate the improvement.
3. Amenities: When you pay an HOA, there are typically community amenities that you are paying towards. Our community has a pool, clubhouse, fitness center, playground, The community fees cover all that, and we do not need to maintain anything.This also means that when we were looking for our home, we didn’t need to look for a house with a pool (which is a needless expense in my opinion). We were able to find a community with one, and we pay less in the dues that we would have to maintain our own pool.
4. Community Events: HOAs are nice because they set up community events. Our community does events for Halloween, Summer, Easter, garage sales, block parties, It helps create a community feel and keeps everyone untied.

The Cons of an HOA:

1. Rules: While I see this is a pro, many do not like being told what to do. If this is you, then an HOA may not be for you. Do you want to change the trees in your yard? You need to get approval. Do you want to paint your house? You need to get approval. Do you want to put up a fence? You guessed it; you need approval. If that sounds like torture, then avoid HOAs like the plague.
2. Fees: You have to pay for an HOA. They usually are paying to take care of the common areas or amenities, and you are part of that. Not to mention, if something happens, like a lawsuit, where the fees are more than the HOA can cover, then a special assessment can be added that will increase your HOA. In a situation like this, selling your home will be that much harder.Also, even in a perfect scenario, you will need to pay one time fees for the HOA to evaluate and decide if you can make the changes that you want to your home. In our community, we paid a $25 fee to have them review whether we could add gutters (we could). We have to pay a $50 fee to review for a fence. A $100 fee for paint. It can start to add up.And, if you think you can avoid your fees, the HOA can put a lien on your property. If you still don’t pay, they can foreclose on your home (although this tends to be a last resort).
3. Under Management: Some HOAs are under managed. This means that all the cool community appearance perks that I liked are null and void. If your HOA is not enforcing the rules that they created then (to me), there is no point in having them. Plus, this negates the avoiding disputes with neighbors as well. Not worth it.
4. Over Management: While under management is awful, over management can be much worse. Getting a call about a boat in your driveway (not allowed by most HOAs in my area) that you have only had there for one hour to clean it is ridiculous. Getting a call from the HOA about too many cars parked on Thanksgiving is equally absurd. There is managing a community, and then there is overstepping your boundaries. There are HOAs where fines get mailed out every day, and those are definitely not communities you want to be living in.

Ways to Find Out if an HOA is for You

1. You want to make sure you read the HOA documents beforehand, learn all the rules, and see if that community can work for you or not.
2. I also recommend driving around through the neighborhood you’re interested in and speaking to your potential neighbors. They are currently living in the community, and they are the best source of information on how the HOA works and whether they are good or bad.So, there are definite pros and cons to living in a community with an HOA. Doing that work beforehand can save you lots of time and suffering so you can avoid the worst of any issues with an HOA.

How have your experiences been with an HOA? Good? Bad? Nonexistent? Let me know in the comments below.