Home Owners Associations, yea or nay?

glhs837

Power with Control
Holy cow! That's a new one on me; I just assumed HOAs were a "thing" for the tract housing developments only.....1/3 to maybe 1 acre size. How does someone end up with an HOA on a 16 acre piece? Is it surrounded by a bunch of smaller lots that were created at the same time?

There are some serious parcel sizes in the nooks and crannies of King James.
 

black dog

Free America
Anyone who's been here through the old ranch club HOA wars would never willingly live HOA community, but it was great entertainment.

I worked with a guy years back that owns a home on Coyote, he's a piece of work.
He and his wife have danced with The ranch club HOA many times in the last 20 years.
 

black dog

Free America
Holy cow! That's a new one on me; I just assumed HOAs were a "thing" for the tract housing developments only.....1/3 to maybe 1 acre size. How does someone end up with an HOA on a 16 acre piece? Is it surrounded by a bunch of smaller lots that were created at the same time?

My friend in Hearts Desire has about 40 acres and they have a HOA.
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

Anyone who's been here through the old ranch club HOA wars would never willingly live HOA community, but it was great entertainment.

The Ranch Club is a POA (Property Owners Association). There is a difference. POAs are more about the property. You can have a POA that is nothing but empty lots. In this instance, it’s the property owners who become members of the association. POAs are often started around a landmark, such as a lake or golf course, in hopes that people will buy the land for its location just like the Chesapeake Ranch club was in the beginning. A HOA is about a community or development of the same type of properties with rules in place to maintain a certain look. CRE's POA should have long ago switched over to a HOA to avoid its current state. Or at least updated its POA regulations. The Ranch Club was to be a quiet place as well. Motorcycles were forbidden back in the day. I don't think it was ever envisioned that the Ranch Club would become what it has or it would have been reflected in the POA documents at the time. It was mostly a weekend getaway destination for people. And it was a destination back then. It had horse stables, a golf course, a lake beach, two bay beaches, a rifle range, a trading post store, a camp ground, a club house. It was a nice destination.

HOAs suck. I would never buy into one, regardless of how pretty the overpriced houses built of Chinese drywall and trinkets were built by illegal alien workers, or the promise of a pool or community center. First you have a mortgage, then the HOA fee, special assessments, etc. Way too many restrictions. But ... people will do what people will do. Today, it seems, plenty of people are willing to give up many of their rights, and to be controlled, to be able to live in some perceived flashy wonderland.
 

black dog

Free America
I gutted a home in Cape St Clair in the eightys, and the HOA was not happy that i didn't send them a letter asking for approval with my rehab.
I explained to them that this property was sold to the family i bought it from 15 years before the HOA was formed. Weeks later I received a letter to go to the next meeting, I laughed when the treasurer gave his report. I laughed harder when I was told to be quiet, I made a statement that if they had a problem they needed to sue me, but they needed more money. Because I had more money in my checking account then the community had in the bank. They didnt have enough money to put mulch in the kids playground. I was never bothered again. Years later the community used there riparian rights to take a few folks piers away and extend the community pier about 125 yards. They didnt get past the lot next to me, Two out of three of the end lots on the street had original plats that our property were sold with along with the riparian rights on the plats.

I considered very briefly buying a home in Sherwood Forest ,,, And quickly changed my mind while reading the HOA and rules to live their.
 

LightRoasted

If I may ...
If I may ...

.... original plats that our property were sold with along with the riparian rights on the plats. I considered very briefly buying a home in Sherwood Forest ,,, And quickly changed my mind while reading the HOA and rules to live their.

I always thought riparian rights stayed with the state? That property owners only owned/controlled their property up to the mean high tide line? And yup, some HOA documents are really quite scary reading.
 

Rommey

Well-Known Member
It really depends on the specific situation. There would only be two situations where I would/could live in an HOA community: First, if the HOA is over a bunch of condos, then its almost a necessity, as there is likely a lot of common area/property that needs to be maintained. Things such as roofs, parking lots, playgrounds, etc. Imagine if there were not an HOA and the roof started leaking...who would be responsible? The person on the top floor? So in this case there needs to be a HOA. Second, if the HOA is in a Historic District, but in this case you should know what you are getting into.

I couldn't live in an area that had the busy-body HOA demanding I run every color change/window design/window style etc. through them. If they were paying part of the mortgage, then maybe they could have a say. I know a few will complain that they want some standards for the neighborhood that an HOA provides, but for the most part, the area I live in is generally kept up (not as nicely as I would do it, but that's just the way I want to keep my property) and there's no HOA needed.

I guess if you don't like the people serving on the HOA, then maybe you should run for the board the next they are up for election...
 

black dog

Free America
If I may ...



I always thought riparian rights stayed with the state? That property owners only owned/controlled their property up to the mean high tide line? And yup, some HOA documents are really quite scary reading.

Not to my knowledge, I know my parents place In Ulmstead up the Magothy they own the riparian rights on their waterfront. Look at what the state had to go through to gain the rights to add sand to the beaches at ocean city. It took years to get the ripairians from some beach owners.
 

officeguy

Well-Known Member
Holy cow! That's a new one on me; I just assumed HOAs were a "thing" for the tract housing developments only.....1/3 to maybe 1 acre size. How does someone end up with an HOA on a 16 acre piece? Is it surrounded by a bunch of smaller lots that were created at the same time?

That tends to be necessary if someone subdivides a larger farm and there is a need to maintain an access road or things like a creek crossing. Usually one would cede those things to the county at the end of the subdivision process, but for some spread out neighborhoods the county simply doesn't accept it.
 

Kyle

ULTRA-F###ING-MAGA!
PREMO Member
IMG_1185.jpg
 
Top