Tag: hoa problem

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The HOA Facebook Group Gets Heated – Time For The Popcorn!

I honestly thought the HOA facebook group wasn’t going to have much more fun stuff to post about, but boy was I wrong. The below is a full unedited version of the conversation that spun up the other day in the Facebook homeowners group. The hilarious part of this story is the fact that the individual who spun it up was one of the individuals who complained about me wanting to rent my place long term. And now she had the nerve to make this comment, and it lit a flare and a lot of fiery conversation!

Before hopping into this incredible exchange on Facebook, get caught up on everything that is going on! If you haven’t caught up yet, start from the beginning of the story to get the full craziness of this saga with my HOA!

Time For The Fun!

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The Message That Kicked Everything Off!

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Now the fun shall begin!

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First they begin complaining that the HOA turned off the lights at night at that was causing a large safety risk for the people who live onsite. Hmmm…interesting. Someone even mentioned they wondered what happened to the guests that arrived at the gate from my home. Since I haven’t posted anything in the FB group stating what happened, I am for sure certain people think I am still trying to force people in.

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Now the accusations begin coming in with accusing homeowners for breaking guests in “illegally” to the resort. Again, it isn’t illegal. I am allowed to rent my place 30+ days. Period. And this stall that the HOA on is insane.

 

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More accusations accusing homeowners in the resort who are investors whom are still renting out their homes.

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Okay, this is where I have to step in. This lady who is the one who posted on the top of the above picture is full of s**** and the biggest hypocrite I think I have ever seen. So first she complains for people’s safety in the resort for having strangers come in and stay for extended periods of time.

The day after she said all that, someone reached out to me with a link to a Facebook group and told me to check it out. The link ended up taking me to a Garage Sale Facebook group in the Orlando area where this same lady had posted 5 things every day for the last two weeks to sell. Not only had she posted 5 things, but she was openly telling people where they could meet up to complete the sale of her crap. 

Yeah, I laughed out loud for a good hour after I heard and read all that crap.

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More fun accusations!

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And now the head of the board weighs in. I lolled at this one as well.

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I won’t even give me 2 cents as to the nonsense I just read over again. The way they are going about handling this situation is, pathetic.

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Ok, there was my one comment above. I just couldn’t hold back anymore. My one and only comment in thread though! It was extremely hard to keep my fingers from hitting send on a few different comments I had queued up.

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So that is where this part of the story ends, but my fight and battle with the HOA is not over yet!

In tomorrow’s post, I will post a few different back and forths I have had with the HOA now. These back and forths have been extremely frustrating to say the least and how they have handled responding to email has been horrible. 48 hour response times is not acceptable. They continue to try to just drag this out till they have to let me rent my place out because then the “ban” will be lifted.

More to come…don’t worry. This is not where the story ends!

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Thanks again for all the support and continuing to come back each day for new updates in this saga!

Checkout the next part of this saga at the link below!

How Much Clearer Do I Need To Make Myself – Asking The Same Question For The Third Time

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My Response To The HOA Clearly Asking To Rent Long Term

The HOA had their chance to email the homeowners to keep us up to date on all the things going on. Now time for some fun in my response back to them. Sometimes I feel the email etiquette I have learned from work makes some people surprised about how I well I format some of the stuff I say. I would love to deal with these things over the phone or in person, but the HOA and board have yet to want to speak in person or over the phone.

So now, I am stuck with email to try and get responses.

If you haven’t caught up yet, start from the beginning of the story to get the full craziness of this saga with my HOA!

My Email Response To The HOA

I wanted to make sure the HOA understood that I was taking my time before responding to their emails. Do I think they read the entire email response I sent, no. Absolutely not. If they did, they would have responded to my question the first time.

So here is my response in all of its glory:

Good afternoon HOA and Board Members,

I would like to address your email to the homeowners. First thank you for finally sending an email. Communication should be sent out once if not twice a week to update all homeowners on the situation. 
Now, to address the actual content of the message. It was honestly laughable. 
First, let’s discuss the difference between EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency and EO-87  (Emergency Management – COVID-19 – Vacation Rental Closures). 
  EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency is an EO that speaks directly to essential services. The only three references to vacation rentals pertain to Miami Dade County, see screenshot below. 
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Yes, that is right, I hit Crtl+f and typed in vacation rentals to see exactly where it popped up. 
 EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency was extended and set to expire on 4/30 2020 unless extended by subsequent order. 
Now, let’s touch on  EO-87  (Emergency Management – COVID-19 – Vacation Rental Closures). As of 2:30pm EST on 4/8, this executive order is set to expire on Friday, 4/10. This means, vacation rentals, as of 4/10 can go back to business as normal and the HOA and board would be in direct violation of the law if you were to not allow guests to check in. This is pending any potential extensions of the EO that may happen from now till 4/10. 
This is how I would have worded this communication to homeowners. 
As of right now (enter current time),  EO 20-91  Essential Services and Activities During COVID-19 Emergency was extended through 4/30 unless extended by subsequent order. EO-87  (Emergency Management – COVID-19 – Vacation Rental Closures) preventing us from allowing new short term rental guests is set to expire this Friday 4/10. This is pending any subsequent order that could be signed into law between now and Friday. If no extension is signed to this order, we will be allowing new guests to arrive beginning on Friday 4/10. 
On another topic, would the HOA not permit me to rent my place out long term to abide by the law? Again, there are no options the HOA has offered for investors like myself, and the fact that there are no options and the email above asks for our money is well…a joke and very inconsiderate. I have paid and always will pay my HOA dues on time in full every quarter. Period. But asking for my money in an email communication like this is not a good look. 
My Thoughts On The Above Response
I am obviously biased in my response, but I feel I am being fair and pointing to straight facts. I am simply trying to find a way to rent my place long term that abides by the law. Period.
I am not trying to be difficult even though I know the HOA feels like I am just trying to be an ass.
What they need to understand is this. The resort is made up of 80% investors. Yes, this is an investment property. Not a vacation home or something that I have budgeted to just take money out of my pocket every month because I can’t rent it out. This has and always will be an investment property for me.
I don’t buy real estate to not produce cash flow for me. I only plan on buying assets in my life, and not liabilities. An asset to me means something that puts money back into my pocket. Right now, this investment property has become a straight liability. Normally, I wouldn’t be upset about this as I would say I would have control over most of my assets, but the fact that the HOA still feels like they have the authority to just stop me from renting has continued to frustrate me.
Why I Feel How I Feel
Again, I have never dealt with HOA issues in the past. Part of real estate investing is having to deal with the punches and things that come up from time to time. The main things I have accounted for are the most common capital expenses that will come up. Something I have not factored into my investment strategy is the fact that a HOA can just shut down the main entrance and prevent me from having any income. I still believe what they are doing is not abiding by the law.
Even more frustrating is how they talk about having to create an Emergency Budget to be able to handle these tough times. When, the reality is they should be saving money due to everything being shut down and people still paying their dues.
Something Hilarious Was Posted On The FB Group
Even more hilarious about the entire situation was something one of the homeowners who lives in the resort full time posted in the Facebook group.
Now, before I post exactly what they posted in the Facebook group, here is a little context on this owner.
This owner was one of the ones who belittled me saying how inconsiderate I was for wanting to still rent out my place long term and put the other homeowners in the resort at risk.
In tomorrow’s post, I will post the ridiculous comments made by this owner and the proceeding shenanigans in the Facebook group.
Things got out of control. And there was a ton of bickering. This one, I decided to stay out of. I will continue sitting on the sideline until I determine what I plan on doing with the property!

If you aren’t already, don’t forget to follow me on Instagram!

Thanks again for all the support and continuing to come back each day for new updates in this saga!

Checkout the next part of the saga at the below link!

The HOA Facebook Group Gets Heated – Time For The Popcorn!

 

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What I Think Of My HOA – The Unedited Version

My views on HOA’s before and after this saga is definitely interesting to look at right now. To give an update on where we are at in the story. I have been told that the Executive Order in place prevents me from renting my home as a traditional short term rental investment property. There are still other avenues that I have yet to explore which I will detail out in tomorrow’s post. In the meantime, I wanted to provide some insight into how I view HOA’s. Real Estate investing is fun and there is so much that goes into it. Just when you think you have the hang of things, COVID-19 hits and the economy gets flipped on its head.

Before jumping into my unedited thoughts on the HOA, get caught up on all the craziness in the saga! Links below to all the articles so far!

What I think of my hoa

Here Are My Unfiltered Thoughts On HOA’s Prior To The Saga

Okay. You waited for it. Now you are going to get it. Here are my unfiltered thoughts on my HOA’s prior to the saga.

I paid my dues on time in full every month. I never had any complaints from the HOA and life felt normal. No issues. No concerns. All things were good and I was happy to continue paying my dues.

What Are My Thoughts Now? I Thought You Would Never Ask 😉

Here are my thoughts now on HOA’s. Do I think HOA’s can be good? Absolutely, I think they can be good.

Do I think HOA’s can have the ability for the board members to have power trips and think they are above the law and can do anything they so please to do? Absolutely, I feel like many members of HOA boards are just yearning for a sense of power. They maybe have never had a position of authority prior and love the power being on a board gives to them.

Do I think HOA boards are typically made up of the right people? Generally, I would say no. I don’t believe HOA’s are made up of the right mix of people. I feel like there are cliques that are created in communities and usually one clique will try to gain all the control on the board. They typically are the group who is the most vocal and has nothing better to do with their time than complain about things to people until they get their way. Oops, yeah, I guess I said it. That is how I view HOA’s.

How I View This Saga

Here is how I view the current saga I am in. This HOA is on a power trip. Here is where I believe the true problem lies though.

This community was originally designed only for short term rental properties. So 100% of the owners in this community were investors. In 2014, a new Bylaw was updated allowing people to live in the community long term as a owner occupied property. Since 2014, 20% of the homes in the community are now owner occupied. That means that 80% of the homes in the community are investors.

I am a firm believer the 20% of owner occupiers have been and are banding together. They have all lived there for many years and they have all made a pact to always do what is best for them and not the investors. I caught word the other day that they once tried to get the HOA to put in a $150,000 dog amusement park in the resort, until logical investors flipped and told them no.

I have an opinion that these 20% of individuals got together and immediately went to the front desk to speak with the GM of the resort as the COVID-19 break started to worsen. I have an opinion that they begged and pleaded to the GM to no longer let any new guests into the community no matter what. They wanted to keep their own “fortified” neighborhood where they were the only ones allowed in and out of the property. They continued to go to the GM everyday until they finally sent an email out telling all homeowners that no new guests would be allowed to check in effective immediately.

Detailing Out The Three HOA’s I Currently Have

I want to clearly articulate my thoughts on HOA’s before and after everything that has been going on. So time to clearly articulate the before.

I currently own 4 different homes. Three of the homes have HOA’s and one of them (the new triplex I just purchase) does not. The first home I ever purchased had an HOA.

The community is a nice community. It has a community pool, playground, dog park, softball field and small soccer field. The HOA charges $150 per month, but here is the amazing thing. The $150 a month pays for all lawn and pest control on my home so that is something I have never had to worry about! The HOA also provides access to all the amenities and maintains each. For $150 a month, I think this is well worth it. I have never had any issues with the HOA and I pay my dues on time every time each month.

Now comes my other two communities I own in, the first two sole Airbnb properties I purchased. The first property has an HOA running at $351 per month. This HOA is a little bit different though. It includes:

  • High speed internet in my home
  • DirectTV in my home with HBO and over 1000 channels
  • Clubhouse with a sauna, movie theater, workout facility and staffed front desk
  • A resort pool with a tiki bar!
  • 24/7 gated security
  • Exterior maintenance, exterior paint, and replacement of roof once needed

For $351 per month, I feel like it is a steal. A bunch of things that are add ons for the property, and internet and TV provided. Not too bad.

The last of my properties costs $251 a month which includes 24/7 security, clubhouse workout facility, resort pool, resort hot tub and resort kids water play area. A little pricey all things considered for what it offers, but I wanted to try a different community in the area.

Read the Facebook posts again. It is clear to see who the owner occupiers who live there are versus who the investors are.

I leave you with this cliffhanger.

Less than 5 hours after I sent my political response email back to the HOA (can be read again at this link), guess what happened?!?

Magically, they sent out an email to all the homeowners. MAGICALLY! Hmm…looks like my coaching up that I am doing for them is in the smallest way working.

In tomorrow’s post, the fun continues…you will not believe what they had the nerve to end the email with!!!!!!!

And you thought things had just settled down! Oh no, no no no. You are thinking wrong now!

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Thanks again for all the support and continuing to come back each day for new updates in this saga!

To checkout the next part to this saga, click the link below!

Part X: HOA Sent An Email To All Homeowners To Pay Up!