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What are Florida Homeowners Associations Like? What should you be aware of before buying/building a house in an HOA community?
Homeowners Associations are a hotly debating topic in Florida because some people have great experiences while others do not. What it comes down to is who is on the HOA board for that community that will make the difference.
HOA’s are meant to keep the uniformity of a community/development. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. On the good side, you do not have to worry about one property next to yours getting neglected and decreasing your house’s value, but on the other hand you may have to follow strict community rules.
The other topic about HOA’s are the fees associated with them in Florida. As least here in Sarasota, HOA’s fees range between $100-$350/month, depending on what amenities are offered.
You will not want to miss this episode as we talk about everything to know about HOA’s and also some ways to handle them.
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Noah Ward is a Licensed Florida Real Estate agent that specializes in New Construction and Real Estate Development. Over the past couple years he has grown a large social following by focusing on helping both future homeowners go through the new construction process and also investors with building houses at scale.
Noah is a Managing Partner at JN Development Group Inc, where the primary focus is providing the highest level of service for custom house builds and also helping real estate investors maximize their profits through real estate development.
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So what are HOAs here in Florida and why Do so many people dislike HOAs welcome Back everyone to the Florida real estate Guide with your host No Award in this Episode we are going to be discussing Everything relating to homeowners Associations um some of the fees that HOAs charge and some tips to handle HOA Fees and maybe how you can navigate them Yourself here in Southwest Florida I'm Super excited to bring this topic to you Just because HOAs are a very hot topic Um right now in our our current climate So I'm glad that we are talking about it Today on this episode but if you guys Are new to this podcast thank you guys Very much for checking out our podcast If you guys want to see everything we Are doing behind the scenes in Sarasota And Southwest Florida don't forget to go Check out our Instagram YouTube and Tik Tok as we post daily content on those so Let's kick off this episode talking About what HOA stands for so if you guys Are new to this HOA stands for Homeowners association so what exactly Is an HOA and and why are they really Needed right so the whole point of a Homeowners association is that they are Made up of elected members from a from a Neighborhood that it represents so for Example you have a community of let's Just say a 100 different houses you Could elect five to six different people
To be on the board for HOAs these guys Will be responsible for making all the Decisions within the community talking About you know how the fees are going to Be structured how the budget is going to Be allocated and they're just going to Be making you know they're like your City council basically just for your Neighborhood and the truth is many Condos and neighborhoods here in Sarasota do have a homeowners Association fees related to it because I Call Sarasota just one big HOA some HOAs Are good some HOAs are not so good right Um and these homeowners associations Require that residents pay on a monthly Fee um for the upkeep of all the common Are shared structures and all the Exteriors what do these HOAs really Cover right and I get this question a Lot because a lot of HOAs charge a Ridiculous amount of money I see being a Real estate agent here and they don't Really cover a lot many of these HOAs so If they are good HOAs they are going to Cover a lot of different things they are Going to cover you know maintaining the Common Grounds their insurance policies They're going to cover the community Utilities they are going to have fitness Centers they're going to have tennis Courts they're going to have botball Courts they're going to have pickleball Courts they're going to have playgrounds
They're going to have dog parks they're Going to have sport courts they're going To have all this you know it's not Uncommon to see that there is several Resort style living communities here in Sarasota and I myself live in one of Them um and it is very nice however with All that comes a higher HOA so at least For us HOA is about3 $350 a month um but That you get your basically it's like a Gym membership all included you know Swim pools you know Resort style pools All that fun stuff that you would Typically have have to pay for even Though if you want a private pool which We do um but it's just nice to have Different options as well however a lot Of HOAs in Sarasota will just have the Basics so they will have you know Maintaining the common grounds and Maintaining the sidewalks and all that Kind of stuff and that's usually about $100 a month I would say HOAs really Range anywhere between I would say 100 To about $350 per month um anything Higher than that you would really have To be getting a lot to really justify That additional price and just know that All HOAs do vary some HOAs you know just Cover the bare minimum you know sidewalk Maintenance you know exterior Maintenance um while other communities Like I told you are Resort style Communities so they have all these
Amenities they cover you know it's a low Maintenance Community they call they Cover lawn mowing and all that kind of Stuff there also may need to be you know Additional HOA fee assessments and this Is basically when a major repair needs To be done in the community within the HOA Community the HOA is going to charge The members a one time fee to cover the Cost of the repair is called an Assessment so sometimes it sneaks up on You and the assessment could be a couple Thousand dollar it could be a couple $1 It just depends on the repair that needs To be done all the homeowners within That Community do pitch in to pay for That so the biggest thing I would say When you are looking to buy within an HOA Community is that you want to make Sure that you are reading all the rules And regulations that go along with that Specific HOA before you even think about Buying within that Community the reason Being is because some HOAs are a lot More strict than others in terms of you Know your parking guidelines where you Can park how you can park you know What's your exterior of house supposed To look like they can't tell you what to Do within inside of your house but they Can tell you what to do um on the Exterior of your house so that's the Biggest thing is some H are a lot more Strict than others while HooHa other
HOAs are a little bit more lenient and The biggest thing is that yes you will Get a warning if you do violate a rule However if you continuously do it you Will get fined for violating those HOA Rules and sometimes they can be rather Cheap While others it can be rather Costly it all just depends on you know How bad the violation really was so now You're probably thinking well Noah well Why would I want to live in a homeowners Association Community like what are Really the benefits to that because Everything you just told me just sounds Like absolute trash basically right um But there are some benefits um and Advantages for HOA fees and the benefit Is that when you live in an HOA that's a Maintenance-free Community you don't Have to worry about you know mowing your Yard you don't have to worry about Watering your lawn because a lot of Communities do cover you know your Irrigation so you don't have to worry About watering your grass Watering your Flower beds all that because a lot of Them cover it however some don't so you Want to make sure that you are looking Out for that as well the other biggest Thing is like I just mentioned is that Your lawn services right so you can hire Landscapers you know they can come and Mow your lawn for about $80 to $90 a Month or if you live in a
Maintenance-free community that is Included within your HOA as well and Then fin finally the nice part about Living in an ho is that you do not have To worry about maintaining the Common Ground areas such as like the pools the Pickleball courts the tennis courts the Dog parks the playgrounds all that fun Stuff you don't have to worry about it Because it is all covered within your HOA so you can go there have fun you Know use it and you just don't have to Worry about you know continually Maintaining with like pool equipment you Don't have to maintain the tennis courts All that good stuff cuz that's all Covered by the HOA and if you guys are Interested in moving into an HOA Community or you guys just want to know Where all the HOA communities are I Actually created a YouTube video of Going over a map so a video tour of you Know Sarasota and kind of where most of The HOAs are located so don't forget to Go check out our YouTube channel if you Guys want to go see a visual aid where All the HOAs are located but that would Conclude this episode on HOAs I hope you Guys found a lot of value in this video And I want to hear from you guys about You know what are your thoughts on HOAs Go reach out to us on our Instagram I'm Very curious to see what your guys's Personal opinions are on HOAs but
Remember if you guys want to see what we Are doing all behind the scenes you know On a daily basis go and check out our Instagram YouTube and Tik Tok where we Post daily content about new Construction and real estate development In Southwest Florida and also Sarasota Specifically but once again thank you Guys for listening to this episode and We will catch you guys all next week
