Storage Sheds Impact on HOA Valuations

Jane,

With newer homes having little to no storage, and the desire to have garages used as a garage (vs. a storage pit), I would think that sheds wouldn't be an issue and likely attractive to buyers.

When I was looking, I either wanted storage within the home (unfinished basement, extra room or walk-up attic) or the ability to have a shed. This was a deal breaker for my purchase.

As long as the sheds were kept in good condition and placed properly (small shed on small lot, large shed on large lot), I wouldn't have an issue.
If the sheds were rusty, peeling paint, etc., that would be a different story.

I would have looked elsewhere if cars were parked in the driveway because the garages were used as storage or if garage doors were open and I could see they were being used as storage.

BTW, I just purchased a home that has storage within and the covenants allow sheds.

Thank you, Tim. I understand your point about diminished storage in newer homes. And I agree that garages used as storage create problems for the neighborhood. However, I wonder about the local and neighborhood practices in Virginia and Arizona. In certain neighborhoods here, I wouldn't hesitate to build a storage shed that conformed to standards. In our current HOA and local HOAs, the standard is tight control over storage sheds to eliminate or minimize their presence. Thus our HOA stands out as "the one" that has sheds...and has offered no clear standards from the BoD to maintain the quality of those we see. Your view is important. I think it helps shed light on the many considerations related to the local HOA and local standards. Thanks, again.

Many of the townhomes in my community have attached storage sheds instead of garages (this is what happens when you have two cheap developers!) As you've probably guessed, some look a lot better than others.

Our Board began rebuilding a few last year, but it will likely be on a case by case basis because some people added more stuff (which they may or may not have gotten prior approval to do). In those cases, I would hope they’re holding the homeowner will be responsible for maintenance (there were at least 3 property managers before I moved here and quite a bit of paperwork has been lost, along with original homeowners who are long gone).

As for how they impact property values, the word is very subjective, so I agree with Tim that it’s probably more important to worry about their condition and location (big sheds on tiny lots usually look ridiculous). Perhaps your board can talk a walk through and gather more data to see what type of trends you see in size, color, design, etc. and use that to come up with some design standards everyone would have to comply with

Jane,

You have quite a sense of humor: an "affluent" HOA with strong requirements for matching stucco! Hah!

Seriously, you seem to have a mistaken belief that trivial matters have some sort of effect on home values. The fact is that there is absolutely nothing that your association can do to cause home values to increase. On the other hand, your HOA can cause your property values to fall.

Property values in Arizona are established by state-licensed appraisers. They use recent sales of similar homes in the general area to determine what a home is worth. The properties they compare a home to are seldom in the same subdivision and often several miles away. Mortgage lenders use the appraisals to determine the maximum amount they will lend on a particular home. There are many things that appraisers ignore: landscaping, "curb appeal," and sheds. (We had an appraisal on our home two years ago and there was no mention in the report about the rusty metal shed in my backyard nor about all the sheds that can be seen in my neighbors' yards.) Those items have no effect on the appraisal.

Your association can definitely cause property values to fall by adopting a policy of "Harass Thy Neighbor." Get into some nasty fights over trivial matters, such as the height of a shed, and the whole world may know about it. Word gets out too easily. An appellate court opinion in a Pennsylvania case questioned in a footnote the wisdom of an association that was trying to collect $45,000 in fines for a metal fence in a backyard; the court asked how excessive fines could possibly attract future buyers.

My advice would be to find a hobby and quit worrying about sheds.

All else being equal with respects to price, construction quality, style, HOA fees, etc., I'd sure buy in the HOA where I wouldn't see sheds at all let alone rusty ones. Assuming I wasn't the only prospective buyer who felt that way, we'd all buy in the better-looking HOA & the asking prices with the visible sheds would fall.

Just curious Larry--is the rusty shed on your property that 7+ acres out among several other rural large create houses? Or the one you live in?

We bought our current house with the rusty shed in May, 2011. When we refinanced two years ago we discovered that our house appraised for twice what we paid. Last fall we took out a home improvement loan and found that our house had tripled in value. The rusty shed is still there and does not factor at all into the property value.



The rusty shed is in the backyard of my home in Phoenix. My property in Yavapai County is 40 acres and the only structure on it is a port-a-potty.

I disagree.

The question, as I understood it, was how do sheds impact home value.

Larry's experience with, what he describes as, a rusty shed (an example of what many would prefer not to have in their development)is that it had little to no impact on the homes monetary value.

Yes, but in this case the OP says the board granted waivers to allow the offending sheds, which are apparently allowed up to a certain height. The OP does not indicate whether she made any objections to the requests for waivers but she still has the option of going to court to enforce what she believes to be the restrictions.

John, as an addendum...an email I received yesterday from HOA Prop Mgmt said the maximum height of backyard structures is 10 ft., but that the BoD considers storage sheds on a case-by-case basis. Our walls are 6 ft., offering a 4 ft. height OVER the adjacent wall. CCRs (per above) state unequivocally that the sheds should be LOWER than adjacent wall.

CCRs have one section addressing backyard gazebos, patios, awnings...etc...which gives the BoD greater latitude in approval. Perhaps this generates the 10 ft. restriction.

CCRs have a different section addressing sheds: must be lower than adjacent walls.

First, Larry's example of the increase of his home's value may have nothing to do with hihgly-visible backyard sheds. For all we know, neighborhoods without sheds, especially unsightly ones, property values may have increased fractionally MORE than his---all else being equal. We do not know.

If I had a choice between an HOA with limitations on sheds re: appearance, etc., and one that had none--like Larry's, all else being equal, I'd stay away from views or potential views of trashy, visible sheds. Pretty sure I'm not alone in that preference.

IMO, Jane, you & like-minded neighbors need to put pressure on your Board to adhere to your CC&Rs re: sheds.

The OP also specified that the authority to provide waivers was within the governing documents.

During my house search, I was looking in one Association that had a similar provision. I chose not to purchase there because of that provision.
As John pointed out, had I purchased I would have to expect that some variances would be granted at some point in time. I was also aware that once a variance is granted for one, it would have to be granted for others and thus make several provisions of the CC&Rs mute.

Larry wrote: "One hundred percent of the discussions on this site involve homeowners who have problems with their HOA." That's simply not true. My false fire alarm subject seeks ways to understand it, but it is not a "problem." Many posts here are about getting clarity or knowledge about our HOA,s not problems we have.

I have owned in many non-HOA neighborhoods over many years and have seen many "problems" that I see on this forum often having to do with dogs, trash, parking, noise etc. Those are not unique to HOAs. But, IN GENERAL, the solutions are available more readily in an HOA than a non-HOA.