3 ms·

Eliminate HOAs and you've destroyed the basic mechanism that makes common maintenance practical for high-density non-rental housing.

dheera 6y ago
It seems to me HOAs aren't mostly about maintainence, they're mostly about old farts yelling at you for installing a fence or planting the wrong type of flower or using the wrong color of paint. None of that stuff affects maintainence. Those farts shouldn't even be allowed to step on land they don't own. The stuff that actually affects maintainence, I can understand, but participation should be optional by law. If you want discount maintainence, don't mess with your water pipes and electrical conduits. But hey if you're okay with finding your own maintainence, you should be entitled to do whatever you want as long as it's legal per fire/building code.
- vkou 6y ago
  How do you intend to make participation in maintenance of a highrise building, of which you occupy one unit, optional? [1] HOAs don't make a lick of sense for suburban blocks, but you can't do without them when you share a building. [1] You could try the Soviet model, where people took care of their personal apartments, while the common areas and infrastructure of most buildings would go to shit. I've seen it, I'm not eager to re-live it.
  - dheera 6y ago
    For highrise buildings I agree that you should need approval to touch the utility infrastructure. I was referring more to HOAs for suburban blocks, which are extraordinarily common in the US. Many of them are obsessed about whether you can park your car in the driveway, what kind of car you're allowed to own, what kinds of plants you can plant in your front yard, the color of your house, modifications to the aesthetics of your house, and other stupid things. Welcome to the "land of the free".
- crooked-v 6y ago
  There's a reason I specified 'high-density'. 'Your' water pipes and electrical conduits become only a small part of the whole as soon as you're looking at townhouses, duplexes, or even just small homes sharing a lot and utility connections.
outworlder 6y ago
HOAs are a US thing. Would you be surprised to know that high density housing exist elsewhere, with common areas, which are not maintained by HOAs?
- vkou 6y ago
  Yeah, it does exist in other places not maintained by HOAs. It's maintained by an organization that is the exact same thing as an HOA, but is called a strata.
  - outworlder 6y ago
    Not exactly the same thing, just performs the same function. HOAs wouldn't be so bad if rules were grandfathered-in when you bought your house.
jjav 6y ago
You absolutely do not need a controlling HOA just to maintain common areas. My neighborhood considered a HOA for the common park areas but in the end the land was transferred to the city and maintenance is paid via property taxes. No HOA to tell us what flowers we can plant.
- crooked-v 6y ago
  So what do you do about townhouses that share walls or homes that share enclosed backyards?

dheera 6y ago

It seems to me HOAs aren't mostly about maintainence, they're mostly about old farts yelling at you for installing a fence or planting the wrong type of flower or using the wrong color of paint. None of that stuff affects maintainence. Those farts shouldn't even be allowed to step on land they don't own. The stuff that actually affects maintainence, I can understand, but participation should be optional by law. If you want discount maintainence, don't mess with your water pipes and electrical conduits. But hey if you're okay with finding your own maintainence, you should be entitled to do whatever you want as long as it's legal per fire/building code.

vkou 6y ago
How do you intend to make participation in maintenance of a highrise building, of which you occupy one unit, optional? [1] HOAs don't make a lick of sense for suburban blocks, but you can't do without them when you share a building. [1] You could try the Soviet model, where people took care of their personal apartments, while the common areas and infrastructure of most buildings would go to shit. I've seen it, I'm not eager to re-live it.
- dheera 6y ago
  For highrise buildings I agree that you should need approval to touch the utility infrastructure. I was referring more to HOAs for suburban blocks, which are extraordinarily common in the US. Many of them are obsessed about whether you can park your car in the driveway, what kind of car you're allowed to own, what kinds of plants you can plant in your front yard, the color of your house, modifications to the aesthetics of your house, and other stupid things. Welcome to the "land of the free".
crooked-v 6y ago
There's a reason I specified 'high-density'. 'Your' water pipes and electrical conduits become only a small part of the whole as soon as you're looking at townhouses, duplexes, or even just small homes sharing a lot and utility connections.

outworlder 6y ago

HOAs are a US thing. Would you be surprised to know that high density housing exist elsewhere, with common areas, which are not maintained by HOAs?

vkou 6y ago
Yeah, it does exist in other places not maintained by HOAs. It's maintained by an organization that is the exact same thing as an HOA, but is called a strata.
- outworlder 6y ago
  Not exactly the same thing, just performs the same function. HOAs wouldn't be so bad if rules were grandfathered-in when you bought your house.

jjav 6y ago

You absolutely do not need a controlling HOA just to maintain common areas. My neighborhood considered a HOA for the common park areas but in the end the land was transferred to the city and maintenance is paid via property taxes. No HOA to tell us what flowers we can plant.

crooked-v 6y ago
So what do you do about townhouses that share walls or homes that share enclosed backyards?