The Role of Homeowners Associations (HOAs): Pros and Cons

According to Bloomberg, people in wealthy and developed countries pay about a 4% premium to the HOAs. But is it really necessary?

There are a lot of people who like HOAs and others who don’t like them. In Dubai, finding a home to buy or rent is nearly impossible unless you’re in a HOA.

And in many cities, even in the U.S., you will have the same situation with all new developments are all HOAs. So whether you like HOAs or not, it is a new reality. They are a part of the new landscape of housing. There will be some situations where you’ll have to live in an HOA simply because of limited options. So let’s understand the points below regarding the pros and cons.

What Is the Role of a Homeowners Association (HOAs)?

The HOAs or homeowners association is a governing body in a particular area/neighborhood/community. They are legal bodies set up by the builders of such new communities/areas so that they can have some control over buyers of their properties. Without an HOA or something similar in place, people who buy the place or properties can do whatever they want.

Builders want to continue to build more and more buildings and homes in Dubaiand sell them at maximum prices. They don’t want their customers/buyers of their properties to customize the design and look of the house they bought. Furthermore, builders don’t want their buyers to make any major changes that can spoil their landscape.

A builder is trying to build a community, so HOAs are presented as a third party that will benefit the buyers. Once the builder is done with building the last home in the community, the responsibility to maintain it is passed on to select homeowners. They volunteer to be part of a board of directors acting as a community’s HOA.

Pros of Having a Homeowners Associations (HOAs)

• Maintain the Value of Property The HOA’s job is to maintain the value of your home. They are not there to dominate you and show themselves as the community’s superior. Instead, their role is to make sure that your home value stays in steady increase along with everybody else’s. For example, suppose you have a neighbor who decided to cut his grass for a long time.

Moreover, their weed is getting out of control, and they have left their old junk car in the yard collecting dust. This gives a bad impression when someone is visiting your place to buy or rent the property. That’s how it can affect the Value of your property in a negative way. An HOA will make sure, even before it gets out of control, to find the owner and order them to fix it.

It is not ideal to mess with the Homeowners Association because they are set up with the legal system. Messing with the HOA is basically picking up a fight with the law. In Arizona, HOAs can even start a foreclosure process on your property, but that is in extreme cases when owners don’t follow community rules and have pending dues for months.

• Keep Neighbors in Check for Problems Another pro of having an HOA is the accountability factor when it comes to you and your neighbors. Most of us living in independent homes know that neighbors can become nasty and do crazy things like sneaking their garbage into your backyard or painting their home in a polka dot.

These are not something you can call the cops for, but living in a HOA provides you with the safety and security of getting assistance right away. You can relax knowing that everybody on the street is held to the same standards, and your home’s value will remain intact.

Cons of Homeowners Associations (HOAs)

• Limitations on creativity Now that we have talked about the positive side of having an HOA let’s understand the disadvantages too. HOAs are trying to maintain the value of the community/neighborhood, but they decide on what will going to achieve that for the area. It means that if homeowners want to do anything creative to beautify their homes, they need to abide by the HOA guidelines.

For example, if you want to remodel your home, or build another room in your backyard, paint your front door Red and so on, you cannot do them unless the HOA approves. In most cases, the maximum they allow in certain areas allows you to paint in three or four shades of Grey or Brown and limit your creativity.

However, homeowners can do certain things, like a brick design on the bottom half of the home and add plants to their garden. To understand better, they can drive around their neighborhood and see what their neighbors have. They are only allowed similar stuff.

• Strict Rules Other cons include HOAs don’t allow you to park your car on the street or in the driveway. They will give you a ticket or warning, which can get excessive and frustrating when you have a party or something at home. Although HOAs do these to maintain the Value and peace in the community. So when you park your drive on the street, it may not be pleasant for your neighbors.

• Pay Fees to the HOAs Monthly/Annually Another con to an HOA is unfortunately, there’s an additional cost to it. You will have to pay HOA fees which can either be monthly, quarterly, or yearly. The cost depends from country to country and area to area. It is an added expense and can be hard to digest as without an HOA; you would have been saving that money.

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