Advantages and Disadvantages of Homeowner’s Association

If you ask two different homeowners about what they think about living in a community that has its homeowner’s association, you’ll get two different answers. One may say he likes it, while the other one may find it annoying. This is because of the simple fact that a homeowner’s association, otherwise called HOA offers both pros and cons, and below are some of them.

Pros

Some homeowners prefer to live in a community with HOA for several reasons, which includes:

• Better community appearance. Homes under homeowner’s association are required to meet the standards set by the association or they’ll need to pay a fine. Hence, you’ll usually see these homes are clean, lawns are well maintaining, and walls well painted.
• Less maintenance cost. Depending on the HOA, they sometimes handle the fees for different services like trash and snow removal, and lawn care, therefore, reducing a homeowner’s stress in maintaining their home.
• Different recreational amenities. Again, this still depends on the HOA whether they will provide different recreational amenities or not like badminton court, basketball court, swimming pool and the like.
• Ease of management of common neighborhood problems. For instance, if you have problems with your neighbor who always holds loud parties every night, or maybe they have a dog that keeps on barking, you can address the problem to your HOAs and they’ll be the ones to handle the issue.

Cons

Although the advantages mentioned above seem great, there are also some disadvantages of having HOAs, which includes:

• Some homeowners find it intrusive. Other homeowners find HOAs invasive because it’s like someone is watching them all the time. As mentioned above, HOAs will make sure that you abide with their standards from mowing your lawn, planting the right type of trees, and the like.
• Paying yearly dues. Since you’re part of an association, you will need to pay annual dues that will surely add extra costs to your monthly payments. Plus, these fees are not tax deductible and can be increased anytime.
• Requiring the HOA board approval before selling or renting the home. In some neighborhoods, you will be required to get the approval of the HOA board before you can sell or sometimes, lease the home.

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Most Americans Still Find Homeownership Unaffordable

Despite the improving economy since last year, the stagnant income is still one of the reasons why some Americans find it hard to own a home.

According to the a report released by Interest.com, a median income household can only afford a median priced home in 10 of the 25 biggest metropolitan areas in the United States. However, this is actually an improvement from last year’s 8 out of 25 metros.

The biggest leap over the past year was Baltimore from being ranked 17^th in 2013 and 6^th in 2014. On the other hand, Sacramento had the largest decline in a year’s time from ranking 12^th to 18^th.

Overall, the median home prices increased 6% since 2013 in 25 metropolitan areas while income only improved by approximately 2%. Contrary to what was expected, mortgage rates became actually better, which are homeowners are thankful for.

“Low mortgage rates are helping home affordability to some extent, but the key ingredient – which has been missing to this point – is substantial income growth,” Interest.com Managing Director Mike Sante said. “Millennials, in particular, are struggling to overcome their student loans and save enough money for a down payment.”