The New Home Owner
New member
When shopping for a new home I looked at several developments and was impressed with one in particular due to their pleasant sales staff and well designed model homes. These homes also had lush landscaping designs on display that I liked such as this one showing a full awning covering a big portion of the patio area:
I subsequently purchased a home in this development and started about getting my landscaping designs approved by the HOA. Along the way I heard various horror stories about how hard it is to get designs approved by the HOA board, but I did get approval for our plans within a few months.
Rather than the more contemporary look of the awning on display at the model I chose something more suitable for my home style like the following:
A few days before awning installation, it occurred to me that one aspect of this awning might conflict with the HOA guidelines. The guidelines state ?The roof must be 50% open?. In the awning I was planning on installing, there is a small covered portion near the patio door to allow me to put my shoes outside and out of the rain. It?s hardly noticeable and I thought it would be a trivial matter. I probably shouldn?t have, but I decided to email the property manager before construction thinking she would reply quickly with an approval. Her initial response was to just parrot back the HOA guidelines and deny my request. I subsequently pointed out that the New Home builder had violated this guideline already in their model homes. In the past few weeks I have left voicemails with the HOA board members (2 of 3 are put in place by the New Home builder) and have yet to get a response from either of them. The property manager did mention that I should cough up $175 to apply for a variance. I told her it was unreasonable to pay to request a variance for rules the builder has already violated and demonstrated in their model homes.
Now I know there are disclosures we sign when we buy, but it should have been pointed out to me that there are aspects of the model homes that violate the guidelines put in place by the builder and that it will be a pain in the neck and money out of your pocket to get them approved after purchase. I?m sure the New Home builder didn?t have to wait weeks to get approval for their 100% covered awning when they were constructing their model homes. They had carte blanche to break every rule in the book due to their controlling majority over the HOA board. Meanwhile, back at the ranch I?m roasting in the sun on my back patio waiting for some execs at the New Home builder to make a decision that should take all of about two minutes in my opinion.
I really found the sales staff to be an absolute pleasure to deal with, but trying to get a human response out of this HOA board is maddening.
Enjoy the feng shui,
The New Home Owner
I subsequently purchased a home in this development and started about getting my landscaping designs approved by the HOA. Along the way I heard various horror stories about how hard it is to get designs approved by the HOA board, but I did get approval for our plans within a few months.
Rather than the more contemporary look of the awning on display at the model I chose something more suitable for my home style like the following:
A few days before awning installation, it occurred to me that one aspect of this awning might conflict with the HOA guidelines. The guidelines state ?The roof must be 50% open?. In the awning I was planning on installing, there is a small covered portion near the patio door to allow me to put my shoes outside and out of the rain. It?s hardly noticeable and I thought it would be a trivial matter. I probably shouldn?t have, but I decided to email the property manager before construction thinking she would reply quickly with an approval. Her initial response was to just parrot back the HOA guidelines and deny my request. I subsequently pointed out that the New Home builder had violated this guideline already in their model homes. In the past few weeks I have left voicemails with the HOA board members (2 of 3 are put in place by the New Home builder) and have yet to get a response from either of them. The property manager did mention that I should cough up $175 to apply for a variance. I told her it was unreasonable to pay to request a variance for rules the builder has already violated and demonstrated in their model homes.
Now I know there are disclosures we sign when we buy, but it should have been pointed out to me that there are aspects of the model homes that violate the guidelines put in place by the builder and that it will be a pain in the neck and money out of your pocket to get them approved after purchase. I?m sure the New Home builder didn?t have to wait weeks to get approval for their 100% covered awning when they were constructing their model homes. They had carte blanche to break every rule in the book due to their controlling majority over the HOA board. Meanwhile, back at the ranch I?m roasting in the sun on my back patio waiting for some execs at the New Home builder to make a decision that should take all of about two minutes in my opinion.
I really found the sales staff to be an absolute pleasure to deal with, but trying to get a human response out of this HOA board is maddening.
Enjoy the feng shui,
The New Home Owner
