Why Do So Many On INGO Hate HOA's?

[BE Mike]

In decades of owning homes in different places, I never had one in a HOA neighborhood until I moved back to Indiana. I never had any problems with neighbors in the other places. Having said that, all it takes is a couple of self-centered jerks in a neighborhood to make life miserable. Not everyone is reasonable or even makes a half-hearted attempt to keep the peace with neighbors. Our HOA is very reasonable, the fee isn't high and they do a pretty good job of keeping the neighborhood in decent condition. I think one of the biggest helps in keeping people feeling like neighbors is our exclusive facebook page which allows neighbors to ask for help, answer questions, sell/ giveaway things and complain. It also serves somewhat as a neighborhood watch when people are victims of crime. It seems to me that most people who knock HOA's have never lived under one's covenants. To each his own. If you are a self-centered jerk who continually does things that really disrupts a neighborhood, then "you suck as a person"!

 

[Ingomike]

Well this is certainly getting exciting.

Yep! Most from those that don't even live with an HOA. LOL

 

[Ingomike]

Your freedom from something, is your right to leave or relocate to somewhere you aren't subjected to what you choose not to be around. Your freedom is never an excuse to force others to live like you.
You have mentioned a builders investment in building a neighborhood and using an HOA to protect that investment. Sorry man, but once I sign those papers, that is MY investment not the builders. Just like buying a car. Once you take my cash you forfeit any right to tell me I can't cut it up and make it how I want it.

I've never met you, but based solely on your strong advocacy of HOA's, I can't help but wonder if you are one of those who don the paper masks and demand the rest of us do the same because you know what's best for the rest of us.
I'm not trying to be a jerk, just your side of this seems to go against the grain of a community that enjoys rights while wanting less oversight from outside governing agencies.

If you (not you specifically) need an HOA to tell you how to live as an American citizen, then you suck as a person lol

How can one be so wrong in just a single post.

You want to take away others rights to have the neighborhood they want so you can have what you want? I'm not suggesting that you cannot have a neighborhood where everything goes, freedom to park junk cars in the yard, not mow the grass, park a 40' RV in a 40' drive. I just want the same freedom to live with folks that don't want that, to protect my investment and provide an aesthetically pleasing neighborhood. You sound like the fleeing Californians moving to Texas, you want to move into a nice neighborhood and junk it up.

If you live in a neighborhood it is a shared investment in the neighborhood by all lot owners. Since the developers/builders have more lots it is just logical that they have a greater investment. The reputation of neighborhoods are generally set by the lowest denominators.

My posts in the mask threads speak for themselves...

The covenants and HOA are not a dictation, they are an agreement between neighbors as to how they will manage their properties. We both have the freedom to move on if we don't like that agreement.

 

[Route 45]

How can one be so wrong in just a single post.

You want to take away others rights to have the neighborhood they want so you can have what you want? I'm not suggesting that you cannot have a neighborhood where everything goes, freedom to park junk cars in the yard, not mow the grass, park a 40' RV in a 40' drive. I just want the same freedom to live with folks that don't want that, to protect my investment and provide an aesthetically pleasing neighborhood. You sound like the fleeing Californians moving to Texas, you want to move into a nice neighborhood and junk it up.

If you live in a neighborhood it is a shared investment in the neighborhood by all lot owners. Since the developers/builders have more lots it is just logical that they have a greater investment. The reputation of neighborhoods are generally set by the lowest denominators.

My posts in the mask threads speak for themselves...

The covenants and HOA are not a dictation, they are an agreement between neighbors as to how they will manage their properties. We both have the freedom to move on if we don't like that agreement.

When you can't do what you want with your own property, you've basically got collective ownership. I find neighborhoods with an HOA to be a weird mix of communism and capitalism. "Your mailbox is the wrong color, comrade, you must correct it so that all of our cookie-cutter Stepford houses retain the same value."

 

[thunderchicken]

In decades of owning homes in different places, I never had one in a HOA neighborhood until I moved back to Indiana. I never had any problems with neighbors in the other places. Having said that, all it takes is a couple of self-centered jerks in a neighborhood to make life miserable. Not everyone is reasonable or even makes a half-hearted attempt to keep the peace with neighbors. Our HOA is very reasonable, the fee isn't high and they do a pretty good job of keeping the neighborhood in decent condition. I think one of the biggest helps in keeping people feeling like neighbors is our exclusive facebook page which allows neighbors to ask for help, answer questions, sell/ giveaway things and complain. It also serves somewhat as a neighborhood watch when people are victims of crime. It seems to me that most people who knock HOA's have never lived under one's covenants. To each his own. If you are a self-centered jerk who continually does things that really disrupts a neighborhood, then "you suck as a person"!

Maybe the whole idea of being involved in my neighbors lives or they in mine is a bit of a foreign concept to me. No, I don't live in a neighborhood with an HOA. However, I have to deal with on for the neighborhood the church property I manage is in. That experience alone has turned me against them.
Where I live, I know my neighbors on either side of me and a couple folks across the street. Otherwise my wife and I pretty much keep to ourselves. Oh and a block down the street is my parents and next door to them on one side is my brother and on the other is my grandma.

 

[Cameramonkey]

Another grand example of HOAs gone crazy. Forgot about the HOA manager that would harass an Asian resident that lived toward the back of the neighborhood because she dared walk her kids to the front section to play on the bigger main playground. Asian called the cops for harassment, and the lady doing the complaining kept saying "She doesnt live up here, she isnt allowed!" and no matter how many times the cop told her "But she is still a resident, she is entitled to ANY public space in the neighborhood, not just her street." And his best comment "Ma'am. This is a HOME owners association. Not a YOU association. You cannot decide where she can and cannot be since she is a resident. "

 

[thunderchicken]

How can one be so wrong in just a single post.

You want to take away others rights to have the neighborhood they want so you can have what you want? I'm not suggesting that you cannot have a neighborhood where everything goes, freedom to park junk cars in the yard, not mow the grass, park a 40' RV in a 40' drive. I just want the same freedom to live with folks that don't want that, to protect my investment and provide an aesthetically pleasing neighborhood. You sound like the fleeing Californians moving to Texas, you want to move into a nice neighborhood and junk it up.

If you live in a neighborhood it is a shared investment in the neighborhood by all lot owners. Since the developers/builders have more lots it is just logical that they have a greater investment. The reputation of neighborhoods are generally set by the lowest denominators.

My posts in the mask threads speak for themselves...

The covenants and HOA are not a dictation, they are an agreement between neighbors as to how they will manage their properties. We both have the freedom to move on if we don't like that agreement.

Wow. We clearly have different views and that's fine.

I don't wish to take anyone rights away.
Sure if someone is a d-bag and doesn't mow or piles up garbage etc, it's a problem. I know who to call to address those issues without having to interact with said neighbors. And I wouldn't want to.
If a person parks a broken down car on their property and it isn't moved in a certain period of time there are actions you can take to get that done without having to pay into a HOA or go to any meetings etc. I could give a rats spit if someone wants to park their 40' RV in their own 40' driveway... it's theirs not mine. If they want to work on their car or lawn mower in their driveway that's none of my business.
I keep my property well maintained. I pick up trash others toss out, keep driveway clear of snow (obviously when needed), trees trimmed, lawn mowed etc. I don't need or want anyone to have any control of what I do on my property. I don't have any use for a covenant telling me what I need to do or to nitpick what my neighbors do.

The developer/builder is only temporarily invested in the neighbourhood much like a house flipper no better/ no worse. The home owners are the only ones truly invested. The problem there is when they start being slum lords and don't take care of or oversee their rental properties. Yep there are a few of those nearby where I live. But they don't bother me and I don't bother them.

Just like I don't want big .gov further restricting my 2A rights, I won't have anyone tell me I can't park my 26' enclosed racing trailer in my driveway in front of the garage that happens to be probably 75yds from the back of the house either. And yes I run air tools and even start the racecar on occasion (when needed) but am always considerate of the time of day I do those things. Again I don't need anyone to tell me when that is appropriate or not.

I deal with an HOA because of the church property I manage (as a volunteer). The church was there long before the HOA was established. It's always the same people crying, b!+#ing and moaning about stuff at the monthly meetings. Crying because they moved in near a hospital and they have to hear ambulance sirens at all hours. Or the gas station lights are too bright or people need to do better clearing snow from their own driveway etc. After 10yrs of meetings, I am yet to see anything positive happen as a result. It just seems to be people gripping about what everyone else does.
Our church has had a covenant on file with an adjacent property owner since like 1976 relating to parking. Long story short, that property is vacant and run down. The HOA has done absolutely nothing to help get it cleaned up. We have to constantly clean up their property so it doesn't negatively effect ours.

Mom & dad taught me to worry about myself and take care of my own business and let others worry about themselves.
The original question you asked was, why do so many people on INGO hate HOA's. I have shared my view and why I wouldn't live somewhere with one. If you choose to do so fine by me it's your home, your investment. But don't throw shade just because my opinion is different than yours

 

[edporch]

One glossed over point is, even non HOA residential neighborhoods in town aren't a free for all.
Every place I've ever lived have a ton of municipal zoning laws and city ordinances.

And as far as experience with HOA neighborhoods, I don't have to have lived in one to know something about them.
I've had a LIFETIME of knowing many people who have, and they haven't hesitated to tell me about their experiences.

And their experiences have varied, from reasonable HOAs, clear to the other extreme of having retired lawyers with too much time on their hands that scour through the bylaws to the EXTREME, digging for something to hassle people about.

That said, EVERY place I've ever lived was served sufficiently with municipal zoning laws, and town ordinances.
I've NEVER felt the need for an HOA in any place I've ever lived in my 65 + years.
YMMV

 

[Gabriel]

For those that hate HOA's do you like junkyard neighbors? Cars on blocks? Yards not mowed? Houses in visible disrepair?

My neighbors are free to do with their own property as they wish.

 

[Ingomike]

One glossed over point is, even non HOA residential neighborhoods in town aren't a free for all.
Every place I've ever lived have a ton of municipal zoning laws and city ordinances.

And as far as experience with HOA neighborhoods, I don't have to have lived in one to know something about them.
I've had a LIFETIME of knowing many people who have, and they haven't hesitated to tell me about their experiences.

And their experiences have varied, from reasonable HOAs, clear to the other extreme of having retired lawyers with too much time on their hands that scour through the bylaws to the EXTREME, digging for something to hassle people about.

That said, EVERY place I've ever lived was served sufficiently with municipal zoning laws, and town ordinances.
I've NEVER felt the need for an HOA in any place I've ever lived in my 65 + years.
YMMV

Have you ever lived on .15 acre lot with houses 10 feet apart? That tends to create the need for agreement more than acre plus situations...

 

[Ingomike]

One glossed over point is, even non HOA residential neighborhoods in town aren't a free for all.
Every place I've ever lived have a ton of municipal zoning laws and city ordinances.

And as far as experience with HOA neighborhoods, I don't have to have lived in one to know something about them.
I've had a LIFETIME of knowing many people who have, and they haven't hesitated to tell me about their experiences.

And their experiences have varied, from reasonable HOAs, clear to the other extreme of having retired lawyers with too much time on their hands that scour through the bylaws to the EXTREME, digging for something to hassle people about.

That said, EVERY place I've ever lived was served sufficiently with municipal zoning laws, and town ordinances.
I've NEVER felt the need for an HOA in any place I've ever lived in my 65 + years.
YMMV

Have you ever lived on .15 acre lot with houses 10 feet apart? That tends to create the need for agreement more than acre plus situations...

 

[edporch]

Have you ever lived on .15 acre lot with houses 10 feet apart? That tends to create the need for agreement more than acre plus situations...

Actually, I lived in a 900 square foot place where the houses were right next to each other from 1987 to 2016.
The local zoning laws and town ordinances were more than sufficient to handle any issues I had with neighbors through the years there.

I've lived in a different place in another city since then, and haven't had any issues where living under a HOA in addition to the local zoning and city ordinances would've made a difference.

 

[churchmouse]

How can one be so wrong in just a single post.

You want to take away others rights to have the neighborhood they want so you can have what you want? I'm not suggesting that you cannot have a neighborhood where everything goes, freedom to park junk cars in the yard, not mow the grass, park a 40' RV in a 40' drive. I just want the same freedom to live with folks that don't want that, to protect my investment and provide an aesthetically pleasing neighborhood. You sound like the fleeing Californians moving to Texas, you want to move into a nice neighborhood and junk it up.

If you live in a neighborhood it is a shared investment in the neighborhood by all lot owners. Since the developers/builders have more lots it is just logical that they have a greater investment. The reputation of neighborhoods are generally set by the lowest denominators.

My posts in the mask threads speak for themselves...

The covenants and HOA are not a dictation, they are an agreement between neighbors as to how they will manage their properties. We both have the freedom to move on if we don't like that agreement.

Hey Mike you drove right around his opinion to make a statement that’s really not relate to.
OK people since I have been sick I have just been reading and very little responding.
no one is off base much here but man let’s use our heads and stay on track.
no personal knock but way to much fella.

 

[churchmouse]

My neighbors are free to do with their own property as they wish.

To a point yes.
neighbor decided to breed dogs in raised wood pens. The smell and the flys became unbearable. A serious discussion among reasonable men solved it. But we had another issue with rats when the people behind him raised chickens goats and god knows what else. Yes. ****ing rats. They regularly raided CKWs garden.
we killed probably 20 in a month. Called the city. That’s a joke. Worthless.
we bagged them up and hand delivered to the morons involved. Since we have only seen one but god only knows.
Now……are your neighbors free fo do as they will. Seriously.

 

[fullmetaljesus]

You buy the land/house, what you do with it is your business. I don't need some nerd telling me I can't paint my door green or have a mini barn or any of the other stupid **** they come up with.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

Seems like it's probably not an all or nothing situation.

I don't care what color my neighbor paints his door, and will tell him to eff off if he cares what color I paint mine. If he wants a giant chicken for a mailbox, whatever. Neither really affect me, regardless of how close he lives.

Now when odors, infestations, unreasonable noise, etc. start "invading" my property we have a conflict. You have the right to do with what you will with your property...but you don't have the right to ruin mine.

Reasonable minds can differ on where the line is drawn. If you want to live with an HOA, I don't mind at all. I just don't and have found zoning and the like to be sufficient to keep amateur constructed nuclear power plants and Anthrax research facilities from popping up in my neighborhood.

 

[foszoe]

Seems like it's probably not an all or nothing situation.

I don't care what color my neighbor paints his door, and will tell him to eff off if he cares what color I paint mine. If he wants a giant chicken for a mailbox, whatever. Neither really affect me, regardless of how close he lives.

Now when odors, infestations, unreasonable noise, etc. start "invading" my property we have a conflict. You have the right to do with what you will with your property...but you don't have the right to ruin mine.

Reasonable minds can differ on where the line is drawn. If you want to live with an HOA, I don't mind at all. I just don't and have found zoning and the like to be sufficient to keep amateur constructed nuclear power plants and Anthrax research facilities from popping up in my neighborhood.

PM me your secret on the nuclear power plants....the neighbor keeps goin on and on about a cold fusion thing over in his garage. Now I am not certain its there but when he claims to have it running, my tritium sights are shooting low left.

 

[BehindBlueI's]

PM me your secret on the nuclear power plants....the neighbor keeps goin on and on about a cold fusion thing over in his garage. Now I am not certain its there but when he claims to have it running, my tritium sights are shooting low left.

"Honey, did we buy a black light? And why does everything smell purple?"

 

[woowoo2]

What's worse than a Formal HOA?
A group of ladies that form an 'Association" and think they are an HOA.
They have dues, by-laws, and monthly meetings.

Mostly harmless, but sometimes you have to remind them that they have no power.

 

[foszoe]

What's worse than a Formal HOA?
A group of ladies that form an 'Association" and think they are an HOA.
They have dues, by-laws, and monthly meetings.

Mostly harmless, but sometimes you have to remind them that they have no power.

I have rarely if ever had a positive outcome from reminding a woman she has no power.