HOA-get involved!

I volunteered to be president of our HOA last summer and my good friend Cindy volunteered to take on being secretary for our HOA. It's not that it's a hard job, it's that it's an unappreciated job. I've actually had home owners write me nasty notes and I've even had a couple of them yelling at me on the phone. Cindy and I are meeting with the contractor/developer of our subdivision today to address some issues before we can schedule an HOA town hall type meeting. It seems that everyone wants to live in the best looking subdivision/neighborhood in this town BUT no one wants to do what is expected of them in the way of the HOA bylaws. When buying a home in the nice looking neighborhood there comes a set of rules with it. They get pissed off when they get a notice that they've not paid the HOA dues or when they get sited for violations to the covenants, one would be not having their landscaping done in the 12 month period from buying their home, another would be not having the proper fence materials or the people that have more furry pets than the city allows . I don't write the rules but I do expect everyone to do their share and abide by them. More and more neighborhoods across the USA are going to Home Owners Associations to govern them.

Some may offended by what I say but lets be realistic- none of us wants to live in a neighborhood where people can dump broken down cars in front of a home or in their front yard, no one wants to live next door to someone who will paint their house any color they find in a government surplus sale and let weeds grow waist high. It's not fair to the other home owners in the neighborhood- the ones that have poured thousands of dollars and just as many hours of their time into landscaping -to make their home more attractive and to draw in future potential buyers. Buying a home is the single most important investment a person will ever make, and it's time that people wake up to it and take the time to groom their investment.