What do you think of when you think about Homeowners Associations? For some, it is synonymous with paper pushers with the right to dictate your every house decision. For others, it simply means that your neighbor can’t park three cars in their front yard or paint their house neon orange and scare away future buyers.
The Good
HOA’s protect your resale values by maintaining the bar for minimum maintenance and consistency within a neighborhood. The best of them also provide community gathering places, pools and other amenities that can be a huge draw for a minimal cost. With recent changes here in Colorado, HOAs are beginning to provide greater transparency and follow basic regulation.
The Bad
HOA’s have been unregulated for a long time and in some cases, it is at the detriment of the homeowners. There are homeowners associations that are poorly run or provide very little value for the monthly cost. On the opposite end of the spectrum are HOA’s that may be well run but very strict in how they evaluate homeowner requests and/or difficult to work with to accomplish exterior repairs or improvements.
Our advice is to always read your Covenants, the financials and the Board Minutes thoroughly. You want to look for Covenants that will not work for you (ie – only one dog allowed or no fences) and any indication of poor management of the HOA.