Paying way to much

Dear Readers

So here is the question we moved into a house about a year and a half ago which we were excited about but once we move in we received a letter with coupons payment to pay the HOA fee which is great but we pay $55 a month ($660 yearly) which doesn't sound bad until you realize that all the do is cut your grass each week, no pool, playground,no other perks. Our HOA is handled by a property company that I am sure is so over worked they have no clue what is going on. What do we do to take over our HOA because their budget is crazy something like 77,000 to cut grass when there is maybe 300 small properties to cut. Can we as a neighborhood take it over or demand lower payment, the keep increasing it to because us that do pay it our also paying for those that don't pay it?

I see what you are saying but many of us don't want to pay a thing I would rather spend $300 get a lawn mower and do it myself it might cost me time or 1/2 years HOA fee but after that year now I am making my money back year after year. It crazy to us because we have many people who have pools, tennis courts, ect. and they pay $300 where we pay $660 a year for are grass cut and another side note is it would take me no less then 1hr to complete my whole yard!!

David,

are you saying the assessments for ground maintenance are not equally divided among all owners? And some owners pay $330 and some $660? Aha, that is a different story. How is that computed? Does it include common areas, if any?

Well, you would have to change your covenants to say each owner is responsible for cutting the grass on his private lot. Or, it could be optional, may be? I cannot envision your lots but if a majority would rather maintain their own property you may have a point. On the other hand, enforcing it could be a problem and complaints that some people do not maintain their yards could flourish.

Also, have you read a contract with the landscaper? Perhaps you ought to start there. And, knowing what exactly your covenants say about the ground maintenance and assessments would be helpful.

David:

first before you start ruffling too many feathers I would go on a fact finding mission. Ask to see the financials so you have a better idea of the expenses and revenues. Also attend a couple meetings to see what is going on. After that if you are convinced doing lawn care yourself is better you would need to get the board to agree to it and eventually change your covenants. The procedures are laid out in them how to do that. My guess is you will have an uphill climb as I bet there are a decent amount of folks who like having their lawn done for them at a relatively cheap price.

I think that is pretty reasonable and there are more costs involved than you assume. Property Management doesn't work for free. I'd assume about 10 of your 55 goes toward paying them. Another 5 -7 pays for HOA insurance. 15 Probably goes toward the actual lawncare. The other amount goes for savings, other maintenance issues, and legal fees. If someone doesn't pay that cost money to enforce the rules. A lien can cost about $400 to file...

If anything, that 55 is fully being stretched to it's limits. We paid 50 a month and it wasn't nearly enough to cover the HOA's bills every month. Considering we didn't have 100% of the owners paying. Which is another factor your overlooking. A few dollars has to go toward covering those members too.

I'd recommend you get a copy of the expenditure report. You will be surprised on how much it does cost an HOA to run. I don't live in a HOA anymore and I have to pay $40 every two weeks for my lawn to be mowed alone. It's less than a 1/2 acre!!! Plus garbage pickup is about $15 a month. Which was once covered by my HOA. The real world individual costs are waay more than HOA group costs...

Is that all? I wish our HOA fees were that low!

David,

You should be able to get a copy of the HOA budget to look at. There's a lot more in expenses than just lawn mowing. As others have said, there's insurance (liability and D&O for starters), the management company doesn't work for free, there's bank fees, accountants to be paid (the association has to file tax forms and maybe issue W2s (if they have employees) and 1099s (at least to their mowing contractor). Do you have streetlights? They're likely rented and it takes electricity to run them (gotta pay for that). At $55 a month you're probably just squeaking by.

well, hopefully some of that money is going into insurance, because it seems as if you may be paying less than the federal minimum wage for the lawnwork.

which means, either the US government or some person could sue you. Better hope you have insurance when that happens.

I also wonder what else you may be paying for. Any streetlights? Watering? Any common areas at all, behind a house, along a street or road, an entrance area with shrubs or landscaping along the mailbox area?

And if you think $55 a month is too much to pay for what you are getting, WHY DID YOU BUY THE HOUSE?

David,

Landscapers generally bid their services based on time efficiency of serving a large property rather than on a per-yard basis. That's how you can legally get a $7 lawn mowing. A large crew knocks it out very quickly and saves the company money.

That said, I tend to agree that having some tangible community amenities like a pool and playground would be better (for me) than the grass mowing, which I'm glad to do myself.

The community trades lawn care for those amenities. Your HOA board policy, and the landscaping contract length, could determine how quickly a legitimate discussion could ensue about it. I can see your community supporting either vision.