Understanding Legal Documents
When buying a home or rental property, you should always know and understand the homeowners association you are moving into. The best way to get acquainted with your new community is to review their CC&Rs (covenants, conditions, and restrictions), financial statements, reserve statements, and other necessary documents. Making this a priority will save you a lot of stress and prevent you from being a homeowner that ends up having a bad experience with their HOA. What the outside world doesn’t know about an upset homeowner that feels they have been screwed over by their HOA, is that the homeowner probably did not take the time to read through the governing documents. These documents are specific for your new community and have been carefully considered by the Board in hopes of preserve the community’s values.
Beware Of Surprises
Many surprises can occur if you haven’t researched the important aspects of your HOA. If you are looking to buy a home in hopes of renting out the property, you may want to be sure the HOA does not have a limit on how many homes can be rented out within your community. There was one homeowner that bought a condo with a specific parking spot. The spot ended up having restrictions on it because of its proximity to the laundry room. He ended up having to buy a new car to fit into the parking spot. The homeowner could have picked another condo with a different parking spot if he simply would have read the HOA documents thoroughly and was aware of the parking issue. As a new buyer, you should also always read through the reserve study of your HOA. They normally have big upcoming projects planned out that could cause the HOA assessments to rise in order to finance these projects. This will keep you better prepared to budget and be ready for the higher assessments.
Preserve Your Community
The reality is, before buying or making such a huge investment, you should be wise with your decisions. Look into every detail and make sure you know exactly what you are getting into. We tell you this because we want you to be prepared and fair warned. We believe having a homeowners association is necessary and truly does help keep the community values up and preserve a sense of friendship between the residents living in the community. These laws have to be put in place for the community to flourish, and it seems best for everyone to know and understand these regulations.