Home Owners Association Clue
When driving through a neighborhood and you see
large areas of maintained hillsides, like the one in the picture above,
you could be entering into a neighborhood that is maintained by a home
owners association.
Make sure you ask your real estate professional or the current
homeowners to find out, if they are part of a homeowners association and
what the monthly fees will be if you purchase the home.
Most gated communities are sure signs that you are entering into a
community that is part of a home owners association. Some of these
communities will have swimming pools, tennis courts, parks for children,
horse riding trails and a clubhouse for the residents to use.
These communities can become quite attractive to people with busy
lifestyles who are not interested in property maintenance.
Home owners associations have their advantages and disadvantages and you
should be advised, examine the rules of these communities very closely
before purchasing the house.
I have worked in some of these communities and they can become extremely
difficult to work with, if the wrong people are elected to represent
their community.