What does your HOA do that is great?

October 5, 2022 12:43 PM

Our neighborhood homeowners association is talking about spending a large sum of money (tens of thousands of dollars) to replace signs with the neighborhood name on them. I'd like to push back and suggest other uses for the money that would actually improve quality of life for residents. Some examples I have thought of include: more streetlights in dark areas, or planting trees in a common ground. What are some things that your HOA spends money on that you really think is worthwhile?

More info: It's a suburban neighborhood with 200-ish houses. The HOA is chill, and doesn't harass folks, they mostly just keep up with the common-ground landscaping. The neighborhood pool is a separate entity, so can't use the money there. The neighborhood has recently flipped and has gone from mostly elderly to having tons of young kids. There is some common ground, though I don't know about the feasibility of constructing things there. Assume a budget of maybe 25k.

posted by chrisamiller to Home & Garden (18 answers total)

Best answer: I also have a small, chill HOA in a hippie-ish college-adjacent town. Our (minimal) dues mostly go toward planting/maintaining common spaces, taking care of the mail house, managing the connecting path down to the University-owned forest, upkeep on a small playground, and mostly maintaining the pond, which is at the middle of our neighborhood (we're going to be assessed for a state-mandated dam repair, but that is outside of HOA dues). I think these things are all worthwhile expenditures. There are a lot of kids here that enjoy the trails and the playground.
posted by thivaia at 12:52 PM on October 5, 2022

Best answer: I suggest using the money to remove common-area lawn and non-native plants and replace them with plants that are better suited to the local ecosystem. You'll save money on the water bill in the long run and it's frankly the right thing to do.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 1:09 PM on October 5, 2022 [25 favorites]

Mine spent a lot of money a few years ago on replacing signs with the building names on them... but that's because the existing signs were very confusing, and the new ones are much better at directing couriers etc. to the right addresses.
posted by offog at 1:23 PM on October 5, 2022

Replacing street lamps with solar-powered street lamps. (They charge up from solar panels during the day.)

Will save on power bills.
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:26 PM on October 5, 2022 [2 favorites]

If lighting is on your mind, you might also see about ensuring that new and existing lighting doesn't exacerbate light pollution.
posted by xueexueg at 1:26 PM on October 5, 2022 [14 favorites]

Best answer: Investing in native gardens in common areas will give you cleaner air, beautiful flowers, and save in upkeep fees compared to grass. It will also help wildlife, store carbon, and reduce air and noise pollution. Trick is to find a good contractor who can give you a bid for installation and and annual upkeep fee. If you tell them what you pay the mowing people, they can almost surely come in under that.
posted by SaltySalticid at 1:28 PM on October 5, 2022 [7 favorites]

How's the wheelchair access in your area?

Could you do with some ramps or some kerb cuts?

Ramps/kerb cuts are great for prams and strollers, too!
posted by chariot pulled by cassowaries at 1:30 PM on October 5, 2022 [18 favorites]

If it makes sense for your location and you have the space, consider a rain garden. It would be especially nice if you could put in a bench nearby. My HOA did this.
posted by FencingGal at 1:41 PM on October 5, 2022

Best answer: We live in a 300-ish home community with two lakes and $150 annual HOA dues. Thanks to our resident gardeners and the HOA, we now have Pollinator Pockets and little oak trees and butterfly gardens in the common areas around the neighborhood. There is also discussion of establishing a dog park in one of the common areas. In years past, the HOA funded some pretty cool playgrounds and upgraded our lake beach.
posted by DrGail at 1:44 PM on October 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

I would pursue some of the lawn replacing suggestions as well, but a different track to take, (I have no idea how much something like this may cost) is exploring starting your own ISP cooperative. They can often get much better speeds than other private options and cost residents less coin in the long haul.

Other cooperative adjacent ideas could include tool libraries of any type (think; thinks you only need once or twice a year, but are extremely valuable to just have around).

Is your area prone to any natural disasters or problems exacerbated by climate change? Hardening your community against those to any degree is good. If you’re in an area prone to drought, building cisterns to hold excess water for gardening or emergencies may be a solid move. Purchasing emergency supplies may be viable if a storage location is viable. This type of action is pretty location dependent though.
posted by furnace.heart at 1:56 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Best answer: As a past HOA board member, kudos on your attention to what the board is doing! I would ask you consider concentrating your request on an item the HOA can accomplish relatively quickly and without need for buy-in from the city/other entities. Also have a preference for one-time projects vs those requiring additional annual funding from the budget.

And be aware that once it's widely known that 25K of budget are available and neighbors are giving input on its use, there may be push back to solicit other ideas from the community and/or hold a vote among competing ideas. I can see for instance residents on limited incomes wishing the money be put toward holding dues stable. And the city may need involved/approve/be in charge of items such as new lights or curb cuts (or they would around here).

That said, local HOAs have used excess funds for review with update of the HOA deed/bylaws, gardening/beautification/nativization of common grounds including benches and water fountains, accessibility projects for the parking lot and clubhouse and play areas, "kids at play" signs, and updating the HOA's website -- all of which had some budget/timeline already but the excess funding allowed better quality and more rapid action.

And yes, some have chosen to do new entry signs to help build neighborhood recognition to help further develop interest in the neighborhood. If your HOA does do this, please make sure the new designs are not dangerous to those who hit them in car or bike accidents.
posted by beaning at 2:44 PM on October 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

Make sure that there aren’t significant capital costs coming down the pike. What is the HOA actually on the hook for? It’s always fun when an HOA finds out they are actually responsible for, say, the sewer lines as they reach end-of-life.
posted by rockindata at 5:33 PM on October 5, 2022 [1 favorite]

Also, undercapitalized HOAs are super common when everyone on the board is older- “why would we save for this expense that’s 10 years out, I’ll be in Florida/dead by then! Let’s keep the HOA fees minimal so it is good for ME!”
posted by rockindata at 5:42 PM on October 5, 2022

Seconding the advice that if you focus on lighting, try to ensure that it minimizes light pollution. I've visited a couple of Dark Sky areas in New Zealand, and it's possible to provide useful light where it's needed while avoiding casting light where it disrupts wildlife and stargazing.
posted by brianogilvie at 6:50 PM on October 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

When I lived in a townhouse complex with an HOA, we got them to add a community garden. They erected a fence, charged $10 in rent for a raised bed per season, built a shed where we kept shared gardening tools, and ran water to the area and provided a hose. Some of us volunteered to help with digging the beds, spreading mulch on the pathways, and managing the plot rental - it was great and made use of a huge sunny area that was just an open space. Later I heard they added benches and planted some trees adjacent to the plots.
posted by XtineHutch at 7:13 PM on October 5, 2022 [3 favorites]

Are there things like ramps, side walk cutouts, noise reduction, etc. that would make your neighborhood more accessible? Do you have a library that needs funds? Would your neighbors benefit from a community fund for paying for maintenance of their own property? For disabled people being able to hire someone for lawn clipping, weed pulling and the like is a necessity and benefits everyone to have a nicer yard in the neighborhood. Or a community fund for interest free loans if someone suddenly has a pipe burst or a window break. Especially if it’s an HOA with a lot of young kids, people’s budgets can be surprisingly tight and might benefit hugely from a fund that allows them to spread the expense over six months instead of putting it on a high interest credit card.
posted by Bottlecap at 12:57 AM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]

I live in a condo where HOA responsibilities are different. My HOA has done alot about fire prevention and checking existing things, like sprinklers and hiring a firm to empty and clean dryer and heater exhausts. It resurfaced the building (some would say painted it) and is resurfacing the parking. It has replaced the elevator machinery and will soon replace the heat exchanger on the roof--the building is 37 years old. There is always controversy but over all I think our HOA is doing a great job. Regarding controversy: it recently upgraded the plantings about the building which I and a number of other tenants thought was overpriced and underwhelming. But that's living with others.
posted by tmdonahue at 5:29 AM on October 6, 2022

Best answer: Former HOA President suggesting that you take a very conservative approach. (And if you've done this, good on you!)

Do an inventory of anything that the HOA would have to replace because it breaks, wears out, or (in the case of landscaping) dies. Once you have funds set aside to cover those contingencies, then you can start to think about what else you might spend the money on.

Failure to plan for these expenses can expose homeowners to a special assessment. If that happens, there will be plenty of folks asking why you burned through the $25K.
posted by John Borrowman at 9:50 AM on October 6, 2022 [1 favorite]