TG: Marion, the tax rate/mello roos is probably more important for resale than HOA. When looking at two or three competing houses and one has $50 more per month in hoa but the other has $2000 more per year in taxes, most buyers will pay the hoa and get the pool, you get nothing for the extra taxes. Up here 1.5 tax rate is about average but some of the tax items on the bill are of a fixed value so the rate can fluxuate based on the selling price so with two equally priced homes, check the actual tax bill difference, add in the hoa and make an informed decision.
Great information. In considering HOA dues, I had forgotten to consider tax rate.
In favor of HOA dues and/or adequate CC&R’s, here’s my personal experience for the last two years regarding the neighbors next to the house I rent. I live in Rancho Bella Vista (for only 3 more days, Thank God!) Anyway, my neighbor to the left has kept her property unkempt ever since I moved here.
1. After I had been here for 3 days, she put up a dirty-looking sheet, complete with a very visible stain in her garage window.
2. Her driveway contains greasy stains from broken down cars of her relatives that live in the house and park there. She hasn’t cleaned them up in two years.
3. Frequently, she keeps trash bags outside of her cans on the side of the house. It’s an eyesore and it draws pests.
4. She regularly loads up the recycling can with regular trash. She did this until the waste company found out; now her unemployed son stands out there on trash day and buddy-buddy talks the trash guys to empty the recycling can onto the truck that takes the regular trash.
5. Oftentimes, there are broken down vehicles (e.g. flat tires, windows broken out) parked in her driveway. One time, her son’s car was TOTALED and she had a tow truck deliver it to her driveway where it remained for several days. It could have been used in one of those “don’t drink and drive ads”; it actually looked like it had been wrapped around a lightpost TWICE.
6. She has her garage door up frequently, either all or half-way. It looks nasty, there are grease stains on the concrete and it contains dirty, worn furniture and stained blankets and clothes. She does clean it up from time to time, but the nasty look remains.
7. There is a parade of foster kids that come and go from her house-although there haven’t been any in the last year. Actually, I think she’s not allowed to keep them anymore.
8. One night her relatives blasted the music so loud-past 12:00 midnight, that one of Temecula’s finest (he lives on the next block) had to come and bang on her door until the music ceased. It sounded like he was barreling her door in.
Something to think about.
P.S. I will admit, I confronted her once, an unpleasant exchange of words ensued and the upshot of that was her swiveling her neck and declaring, “I ain’t going nowhere!!”
