If you are considering buying a home that has a homeowners association (HOA), you need to know exactly what you are getting into and what impact it will have on your monthly and long-term expenses. Depending on where you live, you could spend as little as ten or twenty dollars a month or as much as several hundred or more. Keep in mind that if you do buy a home within a HOA community, you must join the HOA. Here we discuss the good and the bad when determining if you should live in an HOA. Click here to view North Scottsdale homes for sale with an HOA.
The Good:
Generally, the fees that an HOA charges often contribute to the overall upkeep of the neighborhood. Traditionally, some of the costs that are covered by an HOA are city services such as trash removal, water and sewage, and all maintenance of common property such as lawn, gardening and snow removal. Also, most HOA’s schedule a monthly inspection from a pest control company in order to avoid pest infestation. With this in mind, this could affect your long-term expenses positively as these are built into the cost of your HOA fees. If you live in a guard-gated community, the fees you pay cover the cost of the guard. Many associations have community pools, basketball courts, golf courses, and other amenities whose maintenance is covered by the HOA fee. Click here to view North Scottsdale homes for sale in guard-gated communities.
The Bad:
There are some problems with HOA’s. There are always those people who go a little power hungry and the neighborhood becomes a police state. When this happens, residents get fined because they leave their trash can out 2 hours too long, their grass is too long, there are too many cars parked in the driveway and/or the street, the list goes on. This could get expensive if the HOA decides that a resident must paint their house or fence because the HOA thinks the paint is wearing off, or the house is not the right color. These types of expenses can add up and have a negative impact on your long- term budgeting. Homeowners associations can be your best friend when they prevent your neighbor from painting her house neon pink, but your worst enemy when they expect you to perform expensive maintenance on your home that you don’t think is necessary, or impose rules that are unreasonable. Click here to view North Scottsdale homes for sale without an HOA.
