CRE Are you ready for this?

[stsssn]

OK. Lets say you establish measurable goals. What happens when the board is overwhelmed with issues that come from the other side? Just like you are complaining (suggesting) the current board is ignoring the issues that are important and focused on the wrong things. I guarantee the current board feels they are focused on the relevant issues and want to do what is best for the community. They are being distracted (for good or bad) by these issues like re-writing the oath. They obviously feel it is important or they would not spend time on it. Is is just a hopeful dream that you have that the next board will be different? That is not to day you all don't have the best of intentions.

In order to do something that has not been done before requires the board to change the fundamentals. What are the fundamentals?

Many of these issues the board has to address I think should be handled by the GM. Maybe you should empower the GM, or allow the GM to not worry about her job and get on with the day to day business of POACRE. Allow for mistakes. No one is perfect.

The board should address the strategic goals. Whatever they are.

The board meetings should be no more than 1 hour. It devolves into near chaos after that because no one can sit there without getting frustrated. Roberts rules then takes a back seat to personalities.

I wish the next board luck. whomever is elected I intend to support. I will volunteer my time to get on with the business of making POACRE a better place for all of the reasons Ladyhawk mentioned.

One final note. What will actually increase property values? This is what matters. In my opinion roads paved, beutification projects and amenities in clean good working order. The goal should be community curb side appeal. There are many things that meet this description. I support them all.

To pave all the roads would take 40+ Million dollars. If we raised fees $1000 a year it would still take 10 years to complete, if everyone paid. There is a peace of reality I do not like. Is there another way to achieve this?

 

[Calidreamer]

Everyone is worried about property values. In this economy it really doesn't matter. All the roads could be paved, the amenities could be the best in the county, the board and the community could communicate properly, this could be the best place to live in southern maryland and it wouldn't mean crap if no one has money to buy houses...welcome to america in 2009...its only gonna get worse before it gets better, if it gets better. What we need to be worrying about is how our government is blowing the national deficit, trying to make us a socialist country, trying to disarm americans, trying to pass some moronic health care plan and in general screwing over the american people. As long as all that continues and our counrty continues the downward spiral that its in, the cre community, its board, its hoa fees, its amenities etc etc mean crap...the bigger picture should be looked at. Write to your congressmen and senators...get involved in your country and make a change there. Then fixing cre's issues might make a difference. Until then, the property values in cre don't make a difference. If you can't sell your house because of the economy and unemployment etc then it really doean't matter how much its really worth. And as long as these forums keep showing all the garbage that goes on in cre then people that might be thinking about buying won't...I saw in an earlier post that someone has already made that decision because of the forums.I am sure others have done the same thing. Keep it up and no one will be able to sell their house..then where will your property values be?

 

[frequentflier]

Everyone is worried about property values. In this economy it really doesn't matter. All the roads could be paved, the amenities could be the best in the county, the board and the community could communicate properly, this could be the best place to live in southern maryland and it wouldn't mean crap if no one has money to buy houses...welcome to america in 2009...its only gonna get worse before it gets better, if it gets better. What we need to be worrying about is how our government is blowing the national deficit, trying to make us a socialist country, trying to disarm americans, trying to pass some moronic health care plan and in general screwing over the american people. As long as all that continues and our counrty continues the downward spiral that its in, the cre community, its board, its hoa fees, its amenities etc etc mean crap...the bigger picture should be looked at. Write to your congressmen and senators...get involved in your country and make a change there. Then fixing cre's issues might make a difference. Until then, the property values in cre don't make a difference. If you can't sell your house because of the economy and unemployment etc then it really doean't matter how much its really worth. And as long as these forums keep showing all the garbage that goes on in cre then people that might be thinking about buying won't...I saw in an earlier post that someone has already made that decision because of the forums[/B].I am sure others have done the same thing. Keep it up and no one will be able to sell their house..then where will your property values be?

Cali makes a good point. My husband found the forums long before we moved here and had all of this negativity been out there as it is now, I feel pretty certain we would be living in Wildewood. As this continues day after day, I do wish we lived elsewhere.
I respect everyone that is trying to change things. I do. But
I also wish all the CRE discussions would be put in a private forum/group. JMO.

 

[BernieP]

[/B]

Cali makes a good point. My husband found the forums long before we moved here and had all of this negativity been out there as it is now, I feel pretty certain we would be living in Wildewood. As this continues day after day, I do wish we lived elsewhere.
I respect everyone that is trying to change things. I do. But
I also wish all the CRE discussions would be put in a private forum/group. JMO.

Funny you should make this post because I have a couple of comments / questions:

First the question; how many people (or what percentage) live in CRE?
I've seen a fair number of threads concerning cRE and just wondered if it was a few people or if there is a large segment in the forum that have this as a shared interest.

Second the comments:
You mentioned Wildewood. You do realize Wildewood has a dual layer HOA. The commenity (section) you live in and then the overarching Wildewood Community Association (WCA). Dues are assessed anually. Ironically their biggest problem is getting people to actually come out to the meetings. One year they sent board members out to search for residents to bring in so they would have enough members to hold a vote.
The HOA contracts out for the services not provided by the county - trash, clearing of roads, common area maintainance etc. Somebody has to pay the bills.
Last but not least, the existance of the HOA wasn't hidden from you when you were looking for homes. Like I said above, Wildewood has one and almost every planned community has one.

 

[punchbuggy]

A friend of mine lives in an HOA in La Plata. Terrible management by a management company in Waldorf. I think if more people had info on what they're really getting into (such as the forums) they could make informed decisions for all communities in our area - including CRE.

 

[BernieP]

A friend of mine lives in an HOA in La Plata. Terrible management by a management company in Waldorf. I think if more people had info on what they're really getting into (such as the forums) they could make informed decisions for all communities in our area - including CRE.

I believe by law that the HOA and it's fees must be disclosed in full when buying a house.
The current owner can tell you what services they recieve for the dues.

 

[slaphappynmd]

[/B]

Cali makes a good point. My husband found the forums long before we moved here and had all of this negativity been out there as it is now, I feel pretty certain we would be living in Wildewood. As this continues day after day, I do wish we lived elsewhere.
I respect everyone that is trying to change things. I do. But
I also wish all the CRE discussions would be put in a private forum/group. JMO.

Well there is one on the forum but nobody uses it, not even the crazies like hotcoffee. They don't get enough attention there.

 

[slaphappynmd]

A friend of mine lives in an HOA in La Plata. Terrible management by a management company in Waldorf. I think if more people had info on what they're really getting into (such as the forums) they could make informed decisions for all communities in our area - including CRE.

Real Estate Agents don't tell you any of this information when they show you a house. It is all about making that comission and once the deal is done, their gone and you're stuck.

 

[willie]

Real Estate Agents don't tell you any of this information when they show you a house. It is all about making that comission and once the deal is done, their gone and you're stuck.

The houses I have sold in CRE and Drum Point all had paperwork that spelled out the HOA fees and required enough signatures and initials that it left no doubt of an HOA's existence. Whether an agent does or doesn't forewarn a buyer of what they are getting into is his/her decision but it is the law.

 

[Mama_Mia08]

haven't paid my dues yet that were due last year, and i'm getting foreclosed on(more than likely) so they aren't getting money this year either! the association is a huge joke!!!

Sorry to hear about the house situation. I know I will get beat up for this.

Um...this is one of the things that contribute to the lack of funds to do the things that will help CRE community. I know there is more then 1 person who doesn't pay dues so please don't think I am blaming you. I realize there are other issues as well. However, if people would pay dues then there would be more money to work with. Also, increasing fees yearly is done in all communities with HOA. You can't get things done now, paying the same amount of money as 10 years ago. I've lived in other HOA communities in the past and the increase was either yearly or EO year. It's something that a homeowner should budget for before buying a home in these types of communities. Sorry...:shrug:

 

[stsssn]

BernieP, 15000+ live in CRE (20657) that is estimated from 2000 census, 86000 live in Calvert county. That is 17% of the population. You would think with numbers like that we would have the county eating out of our hands. There are over 4000 homes in the association. We have 62 miles of private roads.

We are large and have issues. The issue we have are small and it is impossible to get the whole community on the same page. It is too big.

It is true that this forum will stop people from moving here. They will see the issues. Reality is every community association in the country have the same issues. It is the price of living in an association. There are benefits to it as well. You will not see those discussed because no one wants to fix those.

Right now you can buy homes in CRE about 20% less than the rest of Calvert county. It is because of the association. There are a couple of ways to look at that. I see it as getting more house for my dollar. The community has the opportunity to get ahead of the market by fixing itself up. We have plenty of low hanging fruit ready to be picked like the roads. If the roads are paved the homes are worth more just because of curbside appeal. There are many beautiful homes in here. When a percentage of home values increase we all win. Just like we are all loosing with the housing market collapse.

We have not seen a dramatic loss. We could see a dramatic gain if we plan.

I knew about the forums before I moved here. I liked it. I had realistic expectations. The communities you do not know anything about is what should concern you. Ignorance is not always bliss.

 

[BernieP]

BernieP, 15000+ live in CRE (20657) that is estimated from 2000 census, 86000 live in Calvert county. That is 17% of the population. You would think with numbers like that we would have the county eating out of our hands. There are over 4000 homes in the association. We have 62 miles of private roads.

We are large and have issues. The issue we have are small and it is impossible to get the whole community on the same page. It is too big.

It is true that this forum will stop people from moving here. They will see the issues. Reality is every community association in the country have the same issues. It is the price of living in an association. There are benefits to it as well. You will not see those discussed because no one wants to fix those.

Right now you can buy homes in CRE about 20% less than the rest of Calvert county. It is because of the association. There are a couple of ways to look at that. I see it as getting more house for my dollar. The community has the opportunity to get ahead of the market by fixing itself up. We have plenty of low hanging fruit ready to be picked like the roads. If the roads are paved the homes are worth more just because of curbside appeal. There are many beautiful homes in here. When a percentage of home values increase we all win. Just like we are all loosing with the housing market collapse.

We have not seen a dramatic loss. We could see a dramatic gain if we plan.

I knew about the forums before I moved here. I liked it. I had realistic expectations. The communities you do not know anything about is what should concern you. Ignorance is not always bliss.

17% of the population of Calvert Co. but where does that population fit on the income scale?
What percentage of those are renters?
To be brutaly honest the county is probably thrilled that the HOA is so large, that's 62 miles of roads they don't have to deal with. It's 15,000 people, 4000 homes they don't have to bring services to.
I don't know how your board is structured, but if you want change you are going to have to run for a position on the board. I can tell you that most HOAs that I have had experience with have had as it's largest issue getting homeowner participation. Few want a position on the board and even less go to the annual meetings.
But I cn also predict that if you want to pave some of those unpaved roads it will take an increase in the dues. When you vote to increase the yearly dues to pave the unpaved roads, the people with the paved roads are going to be mightly pissed.

 

[Mama_Mia08]

Real Estate Agents don't tell you any of this information when they show you a house. It is all about making that comission and once the deal is done, their gone and you're stuck.

Both the agents we worked with gave us the info on the HOA fees. It was listed with the houses we were going to see. (We started with one agent, then decided to go with another) If you look for houses online the HOA fee is usually listed too. Also, people need to be informed buyers. I researched this area, the schools, and CRE long before we decided to buy. Yes, we bought even after I read all the negative stuff in the forums.

 

[Mama_Mia08]

[/B]

Cali makes a good point. My husband found the forums long before we moved here and had all of this negativity been out there as it is now, I feel pretty certain we would be living in Wildewood. As this continues day after day, I do wish we lived elsewhere.
I respect everyone that is trying to change things. I do. But
I also wish all the CRE discussions would be put in a private forum/group. JMO.

I've noticed several things about this. It is the same group of people who complain about the CRE board/committees in these forums. If you don't like it MOVE! I was wondering if any of these people have volunteered to run for a board position? Do they even go to meetings? I also noticed that it just depends on where you live in CRE. We didn't even look at a few houses just because we drove by them on our own and the neighbors and surrounding houses just weren't our cup of tea. You learn a lot by doing some stuff without your agent. (back to being an informed buyer)

The issues people have with the CRE board are the same issues that people across this country are having with their HOA. It is always money. It is impossible to please everyone all of the time. I agree CRE could be improved as far as amenities and stuff of that nature but this cannot be done without money. If people aren't paying their fees and fees are kept the same for 10 frickin years how does anyone expect this stuff to be done? Wine on a beer budget I guess...What is wrong with unpaved roads? I know it's messy especially when you wash your car and then someone drives by like a bat out of hell, but I don't think it is the end of the world. The pot holes on my road are filled after it rains.

Also, has anyone found any comparisons between the economy and property values in Calvert or so MD compared to else where in the country? It seems to me that people are working, eating out, shopping, etc. based on the lines at the stores and the wait times at the restaurants. I would be interested to know how we rank...

 

[stsssn]

Mama Mia08, zillow.com is a great website that you can look at for your estimated house value compared to Calvert, Lusby.. whatever.

I do not believe everyone complains about CRE on the forums. CRE is discussed as are many communities. Hence the name of the forum.

The purpose is to discuss community issues. That is why Al Gore invented the internet.

 

[Mama_Mia08]

Mama Mia08, zillow.com is a great website that you can look at for your estimated house value compared to Calvert, Lusby.. whatever.

I do not believe everyone complains about CRE on the forums. CRE is discussed as are many communities. Hence the name of the forum.

The purpose is to discuss community issues. That is why Al Gore invented the internet.

I apologize if I came across as saying everyone complains. I don't complain and some others don't either so that isn't everyone. Al Gore invented the internet? Huh, I'll look that up...

Anyway, what I was getting at is there is a select group of individuals who come to the public forum and complain about CRE. It is always the same issues and same arguments. I said these people should step up and take action in addition to their forum posts. I admit, I've learned a thing or 2 from reading the posts. I would have never known about the 10,000, 5,000, or however old the thing is whale fossil. So I'm not trying to imply they shouldn't complain on the forum. It just seems like the same old song and dance after awhile...that's all.

 

[exnodak]

BernieP, 15000+ live in CRE (20657) that is estimated from 2000 census, 86000 live in Calvert county. That is 17% of the population. You would think with numbers like that we would have the county eating out of our hands. There are over 4000 homes in the association. We have 62 miles of private roads.

We are large and have issues. The issue we have are small and it is impossible to get the whole community on the same page. It is too big.

It is true that this forum will stop people from moving here. They will see the issues. Reality is every community association in the country have the same issues. It is the price of living in an association. There are benefits to it as well. You will not see those discussed because no one wants to fix those.

Right now you can buy homes in CRE about 20% less than the rest of Calvert county. It is because of the association. There are a couple of ways to look at that. I see it as getting more house for my dollar. The community has the opportunity to get ahead of the market by fixing itself up. We have plenty of low hanging fruit ready to be picked like the roads. If the roads are paved the homes are worth more just because of curbside appeal. There are many beautiful homes in here. When a percentage of home values increase we all win. Just like we are all loosing with the housing market collapse.

We have not seen a dramatic loss. We could see a dramatic gain if we plan.

I knew about the forums before I moved here. I liked it. I had realistic expectations. The communities you do not know anything about is what should concern you. Ignorance is not always bliss.

There are a few problems with the math logic here.

First, the population of CRE is less than 10,000. That is if you use the accepted 2.5 person per household number and multiply that by the number of dwelling units (3890).

Then, you get roughly 12% of Calvert living here. No matter how you slice the pie, either 83% or 88% of Calvert DOES NOT LIVE HERE, and the pols know it and take advantage.

 

[stsssn]

exnodak, you can always be counted on to check logic. I agree with your numbers, they are as good as any. I was extrapolating from the 2000 census due to the number of households they used.
according to

Chesapeake Ranch Estates-Drum Point, Maryland (MD 20657) Detailed Profile - relocation, real estate, travel, jobs, hospitals, schools, crime, move, moving, houses news

The Jul 2007 population for 20657 was 13,501. Is it all CRE, probably not. I was making a point that a large population of the county is centered in this zip code.

I have a problem with Calverts way of addressing the community. I feel we do not speak as a community to the commissioners. I do not want to bring up the STD, you know what I mean.

I noticed you did not address the potential gains we could see? In my opinion we are buying homes below market value. The economy will improve (eventually). A ten year plan is what I would like to see. With all of the roads paved, walking trails and etc...

I think it would effect the overall sales in the community.

 

[stsssn]

I apologize if I came across as saying everyone complains. I don't complain and some others don't either so that isn't everyone. Al Gore invented the internet? Huh, I'll look that up...

Anyway, what I was getting at is there is a select group of individuals who come to the public forum and complain about CRE. It is always the same issues and same arguments. I said these people should step up and take action in addition to their forum posts. I admit, I've learned a thing or 2 from reading the posts. I would have never known about the 10,000, 5,000, or however old the thing is whale fossil. So I'm not trying to imply they shouldn't complain on the forum. It just seems like the same old song and dance after awhile...that's all.

No need to apologize. I agree that allot do complain. Most that complain are at the meetings and running for the board. Maybe all of them.

Whale bones.....You bring up Whale bones and I bring up STD....

That is what drives the community crazy. Right or wrong I think is based on opinion. Unless exonodak wins the lawsuit. Then I will be on his side.

 

[OmyGawd]

Mama Mia08, zillow.com is a great website that you can look at for your estimated house value compared to Calvert, Lusby.. whatever.

I do not believe everyone complains about CRE on the forums. CRE is discussed as are many communities. Hence the name of the forum.

The purpose is to discuss community issues. That is why Al Gore invented the internet.

A Goron hater. You are right on the money. Al had it all figured out but stepped on it and now he wants to run our lives via the "climate change" (*&^$%^%$% that is being disproved as we speak. No wonder we can't get anything done, too busy having to put in compact light bulbs and keeping our breathing to a minimum.