Homeowners associations (commonly referred to as HOAs) have been around since the mid-1800s and grown in popularity in the last few decades. What exactly is an HOA?
On the surface, HOAs are fairly straight forward. An HOA consists of a body of elected representatives that live in the community they are expected to manage. Their job is to collect dues and use these dues to take care of common areas, manage utilities, and organize events, amongst other things.
However, HOAs should not be confused with residential property management. In many ways, these organizations are very different, and renters and buyers alike should understand the difference before moving into a community in or around Cypress with an HOA.
Learn everything you need to know, from the pros to the cons, about HOAs so that you can make an informed decision about where to live or buy property.
The Potential Pros of HOA Communities
First, let’s take a look at why HOAs appeal to so many people and continue to grow in popularity. When an HOA is at its best, there are several reasons that people might enjoy having them around. As a renter, homeowner, or landlord, you may benefit from some of these potential pros.
Quality Amenities
Oftentimes, a community with an HOA can offer great amenities. These may include well-maintained parks, neighborhood pools, gyms, and more. Whether or not access to these amenities comes with the HOA fee or a separate annual fee varies.
Reduced Upkeep Responsibilities
HOAs tend to handle things like the maintenance of common areas and services needed by everyone in the community. That means that they’ll take care of finding vendors for things like landscaping, snow removal, and trash pickup. For anyone considering renting out their property, this can be helpful as it lessens the responsibilities of a landlord.
Overall Community Appeal and Property Value
Most HOA communities strive to create an appealing and high-quality community. Between the attractive amenities and attention to maintenance, these communities tend to keep renters and buyers interested. That means that you’re looking at a low level of vacancies and an increase in property value, both of which are good news for any homeowners who are interested in selling or renting their property.
The Potential Cons of HOA Communities
It’s important to understand your options before you buy or rent a property. HOAs can seem like the wise choice because the potential pros are so positive.
However, HOAs are not without their cons, too, and some of those cons are factors that you could avoid with residential property management or self-management. Let’s take a look at the downside of HOAs.
Difficulties with Renting
Believe it or not, an HOA can get involved with your rental process. Some HOAs don’t allow short-term rentals, while others may not allow rentals at all. Some HOAs specify a certain amount of time that a homeowner is required to occupy their property before renting becomes an option.
Because these things come down to the HOA bylaws, they can change unexpectedly. In other words, an HOA that previously allowed rentals unconditionally could change those rules, affecting the circumstances under which you can rent out your home or condo.
HOA Fees
In an HOA community, every homeowner is expected to pay fees. This can cut into your bottom line as a landlord or increase your rent as a renter. Plus, HOA fees tend to increase over time even if the resulting services and amenities don’t change or improve.
Not everyone considers HOA fees to be a negative thing. To decide whether or not it’s worth the investment, find out what those fees go towards and how often they are expected to increase over the next five to ten years.
Less Control Over Property
Perhaps one of the most frustrating things about living in a community with an HOA is the control that the HOA can exert over your property. While not all HOAs exercise this control, some can impact the options you have when it comes to exterior choices like landscaping, lighting, and paint.
Plus, HOAs perform periodic assessments of the properties in their community and you generally have minimal control over when these will happen. The objective is to assess any risks and make suggestions (or requirements) about maintenance. However, this can be costly for homeowners and landlords and disruptive for tenants.
Neighborhood Politics
In some ways, it makes sense to elect residents of a community to run that community. They know in an intimate way what that community needs.
However, things can also get personal under HOA management, and not in a good way. It’s all too common for neighborhood politics to get out of hand and interfere with the decision making in an HOA. Unlike residential property management, an HOA can struggle to make objective decisions that benefit the entire community and instead push for bylaws and budget uses that are self-beneficial.
Where a Cypress Residential Property Management Company Differs From an HOA
Buying or renting a property in a community with an HOA has a number of pros and cons. There are other options, some of which come with more pros and fewer cons.
Residential property management can offer many of the same benefits as an HOA. The difference is that residential property management can also take care of things like rent collection and tenant relations without the frustrating interference or neighborhood politics.
Interested in learning more about residential property management and how we can help you manage your property or find the rental of your dreams? Contact us today and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.
