HOA LIVING 4 of 5 What are some of the Benefits

What is the best thing about living in an Homeowners Association? 

Well you can ask 10 different people that question and get 10 different answers. 

Each HOA is different, but they all have one thing in common. Amenities and Benefits

Some communities have a pool, club house, workout room, tennis courts, playgrounds, extra parking, RV Parking and Storage, a Greenbelt, Cable TV and Internet, Utilities included the list can go on and on!

Why do I live in an HOA, several reasons. I hate doing yard work, I hate planting things and I do not have the time or the desire to take care of a yard. This is why I live in an HOA. Also I hate in the winter shoveling snow.  I hated doing it as a kid and it is even worse as an adult.  That is why I love living in an HOA. 

The benefits of having your time free to do what you really love to do is worth the small fee each month.  So this is why I encourage people to get to know the communities they are thinking of buying a home in. If there is an HOA find out all it has to offer. Talk to the neighbors, and current owners about the community. Find out all you can. 

My last post is going to be about getting involved in your communities.

HOA Living Part 3 of 5 ~ The Annual Meeting

Ok there are three way's this can go... depending on the HOA you live in.
1. You will have no one show up and nothing will get done. Because no one cares.
2. You will have everyone show up with Pitch Forks and Torches ready for battle. Because they only seem to care once a year.
3. You will have everyone show up listen attentively and put their heads together and make decisions on what needs to be done, vote, conduct business and everyone will leave happy because there is a plan in place. 

I have lived in all three of these kinds of communities.

Here is an example of what the Annual Meeting is supposed to be, and what is supposed to happen.


You go over the agenda. Usually it is Delinquency of Dues in the complex. Not saying who, but how much is past due. Then you go over the income and the budget. and discuss what needs to be done at the community to keep up the property values and address major concerns.  Then you go over the Balance Sheet of what the community has to address these expenses.

This is where you as an owner see the full disclosure of where your funds are going. You can help by seeing where cuts can be made or if there is a way to save money. 

Most complexes if there are major capital improvements that need to be done you may have to discuss the dreaded special assessment.  These are imperative however because if you want your community to be approved for FHA status you need to maintain your community so in the future you can sell your home to another first time home buyer.

Here are some examples. 
1. Parking Lots/ Roads and Sidewalks.  These have to be maintained.
2. Foundation work on Units and Roofing. You would not your house sinking, flooding or leaking would you?
3. Common Area maintenance. This includes club house, tennis courts, pools, fitness rooms, landscaping, sprinkler systems and so on. Yes even if you do not use them personally they are part of the common areas and you need to help maintain them. You live there.


Then you need to elect board members, people who will serve your community WITH OUT PAY to make decisions on what is important and what needs to be done.  You want people with the ability to serve and with some expertise in business, real estate, accounting, community service and so on. 
I encourage all my home buyers and owners in my community to serve one term. It is an eye opening experience and it is REWARDING.  That is why I do it in my communities that I have lived in. 

These meetings are not to come in and complain about what is not being done or who you have a problems with. Those issues and concerns should be addressed at the monthly meeting with the HOA Board members.  Annual meetings are to conduct business and set priorities. 

I hope you find this helpful. 

If you have questions or comments feel free to post.

Standards of Pratice ~~ Being an Accountable Business Professional

As you know I am a Real Estate Agent, and it is that time of year where I have a lot of people who want to house shop and want my time, experience and expertise.  However, I have a few standards of practice that I will be adhering too. 

1. Please Schedule an Appointment with me. So you have my full attention, please schedule time.
2. Before you get in my car or even go see a house, you will need to sign the Buyer Broker Agreement. Yes my time is that valuable. And if you refuse to sign this agreement, I am sorry but I will not be taking you to see properties.  By signing this agreement, you are protecting you, and me, and I am able to justify my expenses for time and travel to the IRS.
3. Communicate with me honestly what your wants and needs are. 
4. Be Realistic with your price point if you are looking at homes under $100K in the Salt Lake City Metro area most of those homes are going to need work to bring it up to the standards that most buyers are looking for. 

I am sorry if this seems a bit harsh, but as a professional I need to juggle my time with my clients and their needs. And if you do not hire me or sign that paper, do not call me for help, because I do not work for free.

What do my Fees Actually GET ME?

WHAT DO MY FEES GET ME?

I often hear from people who live in an HOA, our HOA fees are a RIP OFF, we do not get anything for what we are paying for. Well actually you do. I am going to go over a basic HOA budget and show you what you are actually paying for.  This is not the same for EVERY HOA but this is a good example of what you are getting and paying for.

What is it?    How Much
   
Management    $9.45
Bank Charges Licensing Property Taxes    $0.22
Postage/Printing/Coupon Books    $1.30
Landscaping Snow and Plowing and Sprinklers    $25.49
High Speed Internet and TV    $51.47
Insurance (Master Policy)    $16.11
Misc. Common Area Repairs & Maintenance    $2.92
GARBAGE PICK UP    $10.50
Irrigation Water - Electric Utilities    $6.16
Lights Fences Surveillance    $2.52
Legal Fees and Accounting    $2.45
CAPITAL RESERVE CONTRIBUTIONS   
Asphalt Streets    $6.08
Concrete HOA Sidewalks    $2.80
Fence Monuments Signs Maintenance    $1.82
Concrete Curbs    $2.52
Landscaping Common Trees    $2.80
Lawn Sprinklers    $0.39
TOTAL FEE    $145.00

Now as you can see that is quite a lot of items, for the fee.  Let’s explain what each item is line by line. 

Management, what do they do. Well the Property Manager fields all the calls, manages all the costs, gets all the vendors in and out to do the work required to maintain the property. They also do the accounting and collecting of the HOA dues. They also get all the paperwork for all the people who are moving in and out, and get everything ready for the Board Members monthly meetings. The Property Manager is also there to make sure things are done in accordance to the law and the CC&R's. 

Bank Charges Licensing Property Taxes. Your HOA has to be certified with the state as an active NON PROFIT Organization. And the Property Taxes for the common area's have to be paid by everyone who lives there.

Postage/Printing/Coupon Books This is for all the notices, letters, communication and yearly coupon book that you need to use to pay your HOA dues. 

Landscaping Snow Removal/ Plowing and Sprinklers systems. Well this does not come free, this is usually contracted out and managed and maintained by a landscaping company.  There are a lot of different companies out there. If you do not care for, or appreciate the job that is being done with your current provider, let your HOA Board know your concerns. They will review the contracts and do what they can to address the issues. 

High Speed Internet and TV This is the largest cost of this particular HOA, but they have Fiber Optic Internet Speeds basic 15 up and down, and Basic Cable over 200 channels and HD. Now you contact your local provider and see if they can get you a Rate for the same for under $52.00 with out a Bundle or a Contract. 

Insurance (Master Policy) This covers the entire structure of the house. The best way to explain this is to take the roof off the house and turn it upside-down and shake. Anything that FALLS out of the house is your responsibility as an owner to cover with your insurance. The Master Policy Covers everything else. 

Misc. Common Area Repairs & Maintenance: This covers the light bulbs, and lighting for safety, the painting of the parking-lot, the doggie station baggies and trash removal of puppy poopie. 

GARBAGE PICK UP: Instead of once a week in a subdivision and paying on average $200 a year, you get your garbage picked up three times a week and for a lot less. 

Irrigation Water - Electric Utilities to water the grass and keep the lights on at night. 

Lights Fences Surveillance  This pays for the security system and the power to run them, to maintain the cameras on the property. 

Legal Fees and Accounting: This is to pay for the collection of past due fees, sometimes people fall on hard times, or get into the mindset that they do not have to pay their HOA dues. Well these legal fees put liens on the properties that are delinquent, pay for the collection efforts and help the HOA not fall into financial failure due to this situation. 

(This does happen, people feel the Internet and TV services do not meet their needs so they get their own through another provider. Then because they are not using what part of that HOA fee covers they feel that they do not need to pay any of it. I am sorry to say, Nope Sorry, you cannot do that. You have to pay the HOA fee in full every month regardless of your choices because again you agreed to it when you signed the papers at the title company when you settled and closed on your purchase of your home in the HOA.)

CAPITAL RESERVE CONTRIBUTIONS    (Capital Reserve is required per STATE LAW) the HOA has to have funds in reserve to cover catastrophic events and repairs. If the HOA you are considering moving into does not BUDGET or have a Capital Reserve fund, find out why, and I advise my home buyers to stay away from that because that means future SPECIAL ASSESSMENTS. I will go into that in a later post)

Asphalt Streets   Private subdivision, is responsible for their own streets maintenance and repair. It is better to have this on budget because it is a reoccurring expense. 

Concrete HOA Sidewalks Utah Winters are BRUTAL and on sidewalks when people put SALT on the concrete well it eats away at the ground and it turns into Ugly Sidewalk. You have to maintain that and keep up on that. Ask your HOA Landscaping company to use Ice Melt with out SALT to preserve the sidewalks and keep the sidewalks lasting longer. 

Fence Monuments Signs Maintenance, traffic signs for the streets and the fencing outside and around the property. Yes it is sad truth but people back into fences and bust through them, vandals graffiti the fences. This is just the part of being a property owner, and being part of the HOA you all get to help pay for that to keep it looking good. 

Concrete Curbs keeping the paint on the curbing and the repairs done when they get crashed into. 

Landscaping Common Trees. Trees Die, they get crashed into, they get broken by kids playing on them. You have to trim them, and spray for bugs. This is what this category is for. 

Lawn Sprinklers  They BREAK all the time, people run over them with their bikes, the lawn mower hit's it just right. Just regular maintenance. 

So as you can see you DO get a lot for what you are paying for. And if your HOA budgets properly you will not have to deal with Special Assessments.

When your HOA does not budget or plan properly, then if something happens that needs repair then every owner would be given a Special Assessment to cover the costs and you would have to come up with that money in some cases less than a month and I do not know about you but I would not like the burden of coming up with $1000 or more in one month for someone's failure to plan ahead. 

In the next blog post, we will discuss how most HOA BOARD Meetings work, and what the Annual Meeting is supposed to be about. 

Thank you for reading and if you have any questions, feel free to ask. 

Emily Jones, Keller William Real Estate Agent.

 

Home Owner Association Living TIPS!

I have lived in a Home Owner Association (HOA) for my entire adult life. I love living in a community and serving it. What I do not like is the GREAT MISUNDERSTANDING that comes along with living in a HOA community. People do not understand fully what their HOA Dues pay for, they do not understand the Rules and Regulations, or the CC&R's.  So my goal as a real estate professional is to teach those who I sell a home to in a HOA is to encourage them to study and learn all they can about their little community within a community.

So with this blog I am going to get you thinking about the HOA items you would want to look into and we will discuss HOA's over the next few posts. 

Before you even buy a home you have what is called a Due Diligence Period. During this time your Real Estate Agent and the Title Company should provide to you, Rules and Regulations, CC&R (Covenants Conditions and Restrictions), the Annual Budget and Finances, and Minutes to the Meetings. You should use this Due Diligence period to review all this information. That is your responsibility as a future homeowner. You want to know all you can about the place you are moving into. You want to know what you can, and cannot do. You want to know how big of a dog you can have, how many, what is restricted, what is expected of you as an owner. If you fail to do this, then it is not the HOA or the Boards fault for letting you know you are in violation of those rules. Because in all honesty when you bought your house and signed all those papers, one of them states, you agree to abide by the Rules and CC&R's set fourth in that community. You are not above anyone else in that regard. Be respectful and mindful of those you are living in close quarters with and follow those rules. And if they seem to restrictive for you... BACK OUT OF THE DEAL that is what Due Diligence is for.

What are your dues actually paying for? What insurance coverage does the HOA have? What kind of policy would you need to get? How much GAP coverage should you have?  What amenities and benefits are you receiving from those dues? Who is on your HOA Board? When are the meetings? How can you get involved in the community?

The above questions are things I actually ask for myself when I decide to move. I encourage all homeowners in a HOA community to SERVE on your HOA Board for one term or on a committee in some capacity. It is quite the eye opener. Yes you are sacrificing a little bit of time but it is for the good of the community. You are making the decisions to help not only your home value but your neighbors as well. And you will get to know your neighbors and become more involved in the community and that is always a good feeling. Service is great, when you serve others, you serve your soul.

When you choose not to involve yourself in the community in any other way except to COMPLAIN constantly about what is or is not being done it can be upsetting to those who are serving you. Because being on the HOA Board can sometimes be a thankless job. But your Board Members they are trying, but they need your help as an individual homeowner to get involved and help make things better. Being an arm chair quarterback is not getting things done.

So in my next blog post we will go over a Sample Budget of what HOA dues pay for and break that all down.

In the mean time if you have questions please ask. I am happy to get an answer out to you.

Emily Jones Real Estate Agent Keller Williams Utah Realtors!

Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.

This has been ringing in my ear for almost a week. I recall a four years ago when I wanted to be laid off or let go so I could have a real break, I was tired I was lost, and I was just confused about what I wanted to do.  I realized that I needed to work so I could contribute to society and help take care of my family.  But I was depressed and I did not want to do anything.  Amazing what a year can do. Amazing what being in-between opportunities can do, but even more amazing is Finding the PASSION in Life and Doing it! JUST DOING WHAT YOU WANT!

It is amazing what time will do.  I have wanted to work in Real Estate, I have always worked in some form of Real Estate.  I started in Mortgage Servicing at Select Portfolio  doing Title Curative work.  It is amazing what kind of clarity comes from doing something you thought you wanted to do but in turn find out it is something that you really do not enjoy. I hated getting up and going to work the last couple of years, the last time I really enjoyed getting up and going to work was when I worked at SPS. I enjoyed all my past jobs. But that is what they were jobs. I loved Real Estate, but most of all I loved Solving problems and helping people.

When I was talking to my mom this last week, she said I sounded positive, just like always. It is a joke that I am Polyanna in my family. I am always looking for the good in the bad, and making the best out of every situation. This has been a downfall for me in the past but lately it has been good for me and I have been putting my positive energy into good use. I decided to welcome these changes in my life and embrace the unknown and have “faith” in myself that I can do anything. I do not let FEAR control me. Love is my guide, hope is my get up in the morning. I now, instead of hiding from the unknown, I embrace this time and embrace the unpredictable which is something I thrive on and I am looking for new opportunities and new perspectives and I am enjoying this time of transition and change.

I have the desire of life in me.  Henry Ford has said “You can do anything if you have enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is the yeast that makes your hopes rise to the stars. Enthusiasm is the sparkle in your eyes, the swing in your gait, the grip of your hand, the irresistible surge of will and energy to execute your
ideas. Enthusiasts are fighters. They have fortitude. They have staying qualities. Enthusiasm is at the bottom of all progress. With it, there is accomplishment. Without it, there are only alibis.”

I have the passion, and I have learned that if I follow the desires and passions of my heart without fear but with full and complete faith in the universe I will get what my heart most desires and what my mind needs to thrive.

In doing what I did not appreciate, or thrive on, I have learned my path, my desire, my dream job and environment. Now I just have to get back there. Being honest with my situation got me here. Continuing to be honest will move me forward. My father taught me that all we have is our integrity our word. And the minute that is lost what else do we have but empty promises and passions that are non-existent.  I would rather be unemployed and keep my integrity and passion for life, than employed and living in fear of doing something wrong and hating each and every minute of my day. Doing what you love and then leaving it to go and try something else only to find that you are not well suited for that environment, finding that you do not thrive, finding that you miss your daily routine can be a real wake up call.

Every day you take a risk, be that not wearing your seatbelt, not saying what you really feel, taking a leap of faith and not knowing where you will end up.  In the last few years I have taken a lot of risks. And I think I want to be done, I want to get back to my stable happy place.  Real Estate has become that place. I can solve problems and help people. But I also get to help inspire and motivate others.