During the last year I have learned one thing. There are a lot of Real Estate Agents who are not properly letting their buyers know what the HOA means. I have encountered this a lot as of late being the President of my HOA. The new owners think that the HOA is responsible to maintain the outside of their home. This would be the case if you lived in a Condo. But in a Town-home PUD the owner is responsible for the maintenance of the unit. Roof, Siding, Doors, Windows, Paint Trim everything is your sole responsibility to take care of.
As a buyer you have that period of time to make the decision to move into a Community that has an HOA. During that time your agent needs to get from the SELLERS AGENT a copy of the Rules and Regulations, CC&R's, RULES AND BYLAWS, BUDGET, and anything else that you may want to review. Should you not get this from your Real Estate Agent they are doing you a HUGE Dis-Service. Before you purchase a home you should know all that comes along with it.
Homeowners Associations run the entire community, not each and every individual unit. Each unit is separately owned and operated by its Owner. The HOA is the one that makes sure the rules of the community are kept, the maintenance of the units is in line with the community rules and standards. The HOA also has to maintain the common grounds of the community and provide the benefits that are supplied by that community, (Garbage, Grounds Keeping, any Utilities and so on.) They cannot make changes to these items with out a status quo or community vote.
It is a challenge for most new homeowners to go from Apartment/Rental Living to owning because there is a lot more responsibility and there is no land lord to fix things. If your dishwasher or hot water heater dies, guess what, you as an owner get to fix it. When a lightbulb burns out... you have to replace it.
So I urge all homeowners and future homeowners to do your homework and really understand what you are getting into before you sign those papers. (What Show is this house from?)
