Nearly 20 years and a market increase in my property value,
you couldn't pay me to move.
Annette lives in a large, master-planned community in Texas. Below she reflects on how the community
has changed—and what she'd like her neighbors to know about living in this sprawling 600-home
master-planned community she and her family have called home.
We've lived in our house for 18 years. When we bought our house, the community was about two years old.
Our neighborhood was very stable with original owners for about the first 10 years and there were hardly any
resells of homes, but in the last eight years, we've seen lots of turnovers—multiple times for some houses. As
the second and third generation owners make exterior changes to their properties, many seem unaware of
the covenants or are offended when the Architectural Control Committee (ACC) requests documentation or
questions details of their renovations or when they learn that they must have the ACC's approval for
these changes.
As original homeowners, the HOA amenities and covenants were a selling point from the developer. It's
because of the rules and maintenance of the rules that we were, and continue to be, attracted to our
neighborhood. I think that if newcomers understood a little bit more about the community, they would fall in
love with the community—and the association—just like I did. After all, I swore I would never live in an HOA,
and now I can't imagine living anywhere else.
I SWORE I WOULD
NEVER LIVE IN AN HOA
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