4 ms·
I similarly heard all the horror stories and was nervous buying my current house because it has an HOA. My partner and I started sending yearly thank you gifts
by fader 4y ago
I similarly heard all the horror stories and was nervous buying my current house because it has an HOA.
My partner and I started sending yearly thank you gifts to the HOA board after our first year here. They manage contractors and landscapers to handle upkeep and repairs on the property, coordinate information among neighbors, contract and negotiate with service providers, and even pass along helpful maintenance tips. (Most recently it was "most people still have their original hot water tanks and several people have had theirs start to fail -- it's a good idea to start replacing yours before it becomes a problem" which, as someone newly moved in, I hadn't thought about but sincerely appreciated.) It's like having an advisor on hand who cares as much as we do because they live there too.
I still side-eye the idea of HOAs, but I'm coming around. People talk about the horror stories but "everything is fine with my HOA" doesn't make for exciting reading.
- rayiner 4y ago
- fader 4y agoThanking people for the work that they've done -- unpaid -- that has benefited me directly and saved me money just feels like the right thing to do. I was raised to appreciate efforts that others take on my behalf and it's served me well so far. I hope your approach is working as well for you.
- rayiner 4y agoDo you give annual gifts to your building or office cleaning staff? Or just people who have unaccountable authority over you.
- samatman 4y agoThey're his neighbors, Ray.
- rayiner 4y agoThey’re his HOA, which is a different power relationship. It’s like bringing gifts to your boss at work.
- random314 4y agoYou of all people shouldn't be talking about dignity, because you have none. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31348078 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31348078 > As an ethnic Bangladeshi my kids and I have a right of return. I can obtain Bangladeshi citizenship any time I want. Well then, why aren't you returning. Why continue to impugn on America. > > Why are you treating America as some kind of science experiment? > I try not to! My family was invited here by Americans on certain terms, and nobody has ever really complained. But I think they have every right to complain if they wanted. You were not "invited by Americans" Your father received a visa from the "American government" and you were a tag along. You are not a special snowflake and when you tell Indians and Bangladeshis to go back to their own country, you should take the first step and go back to your "own country". The US right wing is strongly anti immigrant and dont welcome you. Liberals don't care about your skin color but will notice your hypocrisy and won't welcome you either. Trust me, 90% of Americans don't want you here - including me. So yeah, you should take your own advice and go back to your own country Bangladesh, before advising other people on dignity, lol. Clayton bigsby, if you had paid attention, was supposed to be a joke - not a role model.
- Robin_Message 4y agoMy wife runs a community choir with some friends in a notional elected committee. Is buying the committee a token yearly thank you like buying gifts for a boss too? It seems to me, at best, the HOA is a committee of volunteers from the community, serving the community. It is not your boss; it's your peers completing the executive function of the rules and procedures you have collectively agreed. Buying a gift for a peer's uncompensated labour is standard politeness.
- samatman 4y agoAh yes, my boss, whom I live next to, and vote for or against on a yearly basis. I guess you don't like your HOA and you're projecting.