what-buyers-need-to-know-about-hoas

What is HOA? Is it mandatory? How much are the HOA fees when selling a home? We are going to discuss everything that you need to know when selling or buying a home with a HOA.

How Does HOA Work

What HOA stand for?

HOA is the acronym for homeowners’ associations. It’s a private Association created to protect and preserve the value of the neighborhood.

Is it always the case? Not necessarily, some associations are more strict than others and some are pricier than others as well.

If the neighborhood that you’re looking to have an HOA and it’s a mandatory HOA you don’t have a choice, you have to become a part of the HOA in order to live in that property.

To be a part of the Association you have to pay your monthly dues or it could be in some instances annual dues.

What HOA Includes?

One of the upsides of buying in HOA is taking advantage of the community amenities such as pools, or a sports club.

They may have a gated community that mean’s your HOA fee is going to be a little bit higher. Here in Texas, some HOA’s are voluntary, but the majority of them however are mandatory. What HOA Does is it covers some of the things like keeping up with the exterior of the property and it also can cover  upkeep of some of the shared amenities such as community pools etc.

How are HOA Fees Paid?

Typically, HOA fees are normally paid either monthly or yearly. This will depend on the HOA. Typically, when you buy a home you normally pay for what we call a HOA resale Certificate. The transfer fee is determined by the HOA and this amount is negotiated between the Seller and the Buyer on how much each person will pay.

Normally, this fee gets paid at closing. If you’re working with an agent, they will typically let you know what the cost is for the Certificate.

If you’re not, make sure that you talk to the listing agent or the seller and find out if the property is affected by an HOA and how much the HOA dues are.

How to determine if HOA is right for you.

There are some cases were some buyers like living in an HOA community and there are some buyers who don’t like the idea of living in an HOA community because they feel that the HOA will rule what they can do or not with their home.

Normally when you buy the home, the seller will give you what we call the Declaration and the By Laws. This lets you know what you can and cannot do in that community when it comes to things like fencing or something to the property.

It also lets you know what HOA can and cannot do. So you will need to make sure that you read this before you purchase the home… You will have to do this within your inspection period.

If you’re not working with an Realtor, you have to do a little bit of legwork and contact the HOA. The resale certificate is going to outline how much the HOA charges? How often do they charge it? How much is the outstanding balance for the seller?

So that we can close and especially and most importantly it’s going to tell you if there is any pending violations.

As a buyer, I will never, ever, ever buy a house or represent a client that is trying to buy a house without having the resale certificate.

I want to make sure that we know if there are any violations and that I ask that the seller to fix those violations prior to closing.

The resale certificate is going to contain how much the HOA charges? How often do they charge it? How much the outstanding balance for the seller? We need that amount in order to close. It will also give you information and any type of litigation that the HOA may be involved in.

What is in the the Resale Packed?

The resale package is a lot of pages, take the time to read it. This is important because these are the rules that you are going to be abiding by when you live in that community.

As per the HOA addendum that we as agents use, the buyer has three days to review these documents and they can terminate because of that.

Maybe, they don’t like the rules they think they are too strict they can cancel.

They just learned that information. Some of the older associations here in Texas indicate that the seller (owner) is responsible for taking care of the curb.

It all depends on what you’re looking for and what you’re willing to pay for?

In a brand-new neighborhood it’s going to be kind of hard because you have to understand that if you don’t read the By Laws and the Declaration pages the HOA is going to really enforce the rules.

However, in an established neighborhood it’s going to be a little bit easier, as you drive in the neighborhood you’re going to see if they really enforce it and if this is the environment that you feel comfortable living in.

Can HOA Fees Be Negotiated ?

Typically, HOA fees are not negotable. You normally will have to pay the amount that is owed. If you are buying the house this will normally be the resale fee.

If you are selling the house you want to make sure that all HOA dues are caught up before selling or you will end up paying what you owe to the hoa at closing.

Can HOA Foreclose on my Property?

This is something you want to keep in mind. If for some reason you do not pay your HOA fees for a very long period of time it is possible that they can foreclose you the property. Sometimes HOA might try to resolve the issue with sending you the amount owed and ask you if you can catch them up.

Others might put a lien on the property and this is normally then paid upon the resale of the property.

There are others that will foreclose on the property if for some reason you fall too far behind on your HOA.

This is why you want to make this a part of your monthly budget to ensure that you don’t run into any problems…

Conclusion:

When you are buying or selling a Home, it is a good idea to make sure you know the HOA information.

This will help the buyer’s know more about what the can do at the property and this will allow the seller’s to have a smoother transaction by ensuring that you got the HOA information upfront with selling a home.

Sell or Buy Your Next Home in Dallas FT Worth Tx Area!