“Study Your Potential Neighbors”: Homeowners Share 40 Things They Wish They Had Known Before Buying Their First Houses

Wasn't HOA started essentially to keep POC out of white neighborhoods and away from house ownership in the first place? I'm pretty sure its creatiion had racist goals

This might explain why so many suburbs look uniform, without trees etc. In the Netherlands you might need a permission from the city council for certain alterations, which includes permission (if necessary) from the immediate neighbours. I live in a very old (founded in the 13th century), small village, a couple of houses are from the 1600s. So there is a sort of friendly pressure to keep everything neat, but individuality is allowed, luckily

Unless they are private road paid for and upkeep done by the HOA and in a city and state where it’s legal to park on the street they can’t legally do c**p about it. My uncle had his HOA President arrested for grand theft auto because he had his car town from a public street outside of his home

It's getting worse every year. I've heard of HOAs limiting how many pets you can have, not letting you work on your car in your driveway, etc. Listen Karen, I've got 4 dogs and change my own oil. Sorry you're to lazy to do stuff on your own but I paid for this house and the land it sits on and ill do as i please on it. So go back to your home and mind your own business.

I will second and third and fourth what you say. I used to manage eight Associations and all of them were a living hell! NOTHING is ever right! Every day and night I'd get complaints from homeowners or Board members. And it was amazing how many homeowners NEVER read the Rules and Regulations before they purchased the property, even though they were provided the HOA docs to review before Closing, and even signed a doc at closing that they had read and understood the docs. I had a guy complain that birds were pooping on his car so he told me to get a tree trimmed. I told him I had to get the Board's ok and could he please park in the garage? Nope, his garage was full. One gal complained her home value was falling because their garbage cans were green and she wanted brown. I lasted 8 months and often dreamed of deliberately crashing my car on the way to work so I could go to the hospital so I could get out of work.And we were on call 24/7! Many nights I got ZERO sleep.

My grandmother was president of the HOA (only because literally no one else wanted to do it) in her neighborhood and she would go on and on about the most stupid miniscule things about other people's houses. She was definitely a Karen about it too. I felt so bad for her neighbors.

But it’s YOUR house, you bought it, it’s your property, you should be able to do whatever you want with it. This should be unlawful

Oh, wow! Talk about controlling! As far as I'm aware, we have nothing like this in the UK.

Men get power hungry on those boards too. You make it sound like some crazy woman is solely responsible for their nonsense.

America: land of the free...

"some Karen will try to get a petition going to make the subdivision an HOA." If you purchase a house in a subdivision that doesn't have an HOA, and someone starts one, you are not required to abide by the HOA rules. If you agree to having a HOA, you must follow the rules, but if you refuse they can't make make you join, and they can't do anything about it.

All of the things that you mentioned as negative about an HOA are the what your neighbors hate about you. Quit trashing your house up, quit clogging the streets with a dozen immobile cars, and quit having full volume domestic issues at 2 o'clock in the morning. Then no one would want an HOA. And another point, HOAs are started and maintained by majority choice. The can't exist if no one wanted them. In other words, either the whole world is the problem, or you are...

We bought a house that was a new construction build. We asked about an HOA, wanting to avoid one. We were told that there was none. Great. Then a few months after moving in, I was walking with my baby in the stroller and some lady comes up telling me about the HOA meeting next week and blah blah blah I told her that we were told there was no HOA and that is why we chose this house. I didn't think much more about it, until we got a letter from the HOA 😭 Long story short, we talked to our realtor who talked with the builders and the city. The houses that were already built at the end of the subdivision had started an HOA years ago, but it was dormant until more people moved in. So we were suckered into it. 😡

Thank you for the information, I now understand where incels come from!

HOAs are typically created by developers, who create massive numbers of homes fairly inexpensively by assembly-line production techniques and streamlined bureaucracy. Because not all homes sell the second ground is broken, the developers have a financial interest in not seeing property values slump despite the large number of unsold homes. The key that makes this all legal is that the developers still own the infrastructure, including even the streets, and maybe such things as community pools, club houses, etc. and maybe even the schools. The original intent wasn't strictly racist, but when you see the GORGEOUS acrhitecture in the inner-city slums of Boston, DC, etc., well, when you realize that every single white person in those cities is choosing instead to pay ten times more money to live in cramped little apartments in Back Bay or Pentagon City, it doesn't take much to figure out how racism enters.

It's generally good for the community. So s****y neighbors don't mess it up for everyone.

I personally would add, do NOT purchase anywhere near T-rat. Someone who “knows HIS rights”, but doesn’t give a you know what about anyone else’s!!

Unless you get a sneaky guy like a recent ex-pres of our HOA. He went to everyone who didn't regularly attend meetings and got them to sign over proxy votes. He totally ruined our. Just a couple months ago we found out that he, without approval, turned the management over to a contacted management company, then sold his property and moved overnight. Before his presidency, dues were paid by 95% of owners. The management company says it's now at 20% at placed an automatic required backpay on late fees for EVERYONE, regardless of whether they have always been current or paid ahead. It's a big mess that going to take paying a lot of lawyers to fix, which is another thing he did, was fire the lawyers the HOA had.

Some join precisely because they want to be that rando busybody.

And once more because half the stuff you bought weren't the right pieces after all.

Buy more than you need and return the unused. Saves time and frustration.

You forgot the 4th trip...to 2 other stores because the closest one doesn't have what you need and the next closest is closed when you need it. Source: Just went through 3.5 days without hot water to my kitchen sink. Oh, and when you are over 70 when doing this minor repair, it takes 6 times longer to get up off the floor each time you realize you have the wrong wrench and forgot the teflon tape. Yeah. I know.

This is the truest thing I will read this week. Well said!

Or you marry a plumber like me. I have long think hair, having an in house plumber is deff a plus

I just buy the fitting I want and hire a plumber to install it. They can find what they need in the truck, usually.

LOL. Excellent description of a typical home project. Also always save receipts. Makes it easier at the return desk. Unless they know you because you've been there 5 times already.

And don't forget the stuff you DO have but can't remember where you put it. Says the owner of at least 3 of every kind of tool.

Lol my electrician friend says this

And a fourth time for to return the stuff you didn't need after all.

I hired a professional plumber for something and I think he spent more time "at the supply store" than he did on the project. Most times I didn't think he was coming back.

Every single time

And it's always on a Sunday when the shops are shut! Yes, most of continental Europe still has no Sunday opening for most types of shop. Used to get me Every Single Time when I first moved from the UK, where we'd long been used to DIY and Furniture stores opening on Sundays, end in the 1990s pretty much universal Sunday opening.

Very recognizable indeed, haha!

Does that include throwing them?

The algorithm that I use, which has worked for me, is to do a good-faith cost estimate, then double that amount and add 18%, which is to account for the collateral damage involved in mucking about. Estimating time is hopeless because too many tasks on the project’s critical path are never under your direct control. Figure out what you can speed up or delay to try and land as close to the desired due date as possible.

Yes! 2 neighbors like late night outdoor parties, even when it's cold, 2 others like to get up early, like 6 am, and putter around outside my open bedroom window (can't get air conditioning). I hate them.

One thing I tell all future buyers is drive by house at least twice on a Friday or Saturday night. It will give a very general idea how bad the area is.

What a great idea to do something nice for them in return!

My neighbor was police officer for 2 years. He is probably still a cop, he's just not my neighbor anymore.

People totally underestimate the instability of flat roofs. Some even try to argue they must be better because they're simpler, but that's not the case. A regular peaked roof is much more stable, because the weight is more evenly distributed to the corner beams and the weight on any point of the roof itself is much lower. The water can run of better and it's less prone to rot. I'm working for a company building photovoltaic systems on private roofs. We have to refuse most requests for building on flat roofs because they can't bear the extra load. Also shingles are better than any other roof cover because you can see damage better and do punctual repairs. You can always just exchange one or two shingles. But if you roof cover, metal sheets or whatever has to be exchanged, you'll most likely look forward to massive roof work. Temperature control is also much better with shingles. More energy saving too.

A flat roof can collapse under heavy snow

Our roof isn't flat but really low pitch so it has the same roofing as a flat roof. When we replaced it, it was 3x more expensive than conventional shingles.

We cannot have flat roofing. The snow is too heavy and ample.

I have a flat roof. :(