Neighborhood associations

Last night our neighborhood homeowners association held its annual get-together at a local pizza place. We have lived in our house for six months and have so far only actually met our immediate next-door neighbors on either side, so we were looking forward to meeting some more people in the neighborhood.

And the dinner didn't disappoint. It was interesting, actually. I had been hoping to meet a few younger couples but there weren't many there. I was definitely the only 20-something present. A huge majority of the people at the dinner were elderly, well beyond retirement age. There were a few young families there, with small children and parents in their thirties. And we did enjoy talking to everyone we met, including the older people.

In fact, we made a couple good connections. One neighbor offered to lend us the dog-training tool we'd been planning on buying, while another is a retired financial planner and gave us the name and contact info for another financial planner he recommends. We also talked to people who've been living in the neighborhood for thirty years or more, and got some perspective on the history of the neighborhood.

The two most interesting things, as far as I was concerned, were a) talking to some of the parents about the local schools, and b) talking to the president of the association.

The school stuff didn't really teach us anything new, per se, but it was interesting to get some different perspectives on the school situation from people who are very aware of the current issues with our school district.

But talking to the HOA president was really fascinating. Our HOA is pretty laid back, thank god--although actually we looked into that a bit before we bought the house. We were concerned about having the type of HOA that severely limits what you can do with your house and sends you angry letters every time your grass gets more than a quarter-inch long. So we drove around the neighborhood and saw houses of all different colors, including one that's bright blue, and lawns in all different states, and figured that the HOA couldn't be that bad. And it isn't.

The guy was telling us, though, that the biggest problem came from this one house that was being fixed and flipped by someone who wanted to put on a 30-year roof when the HOA demands at least a 50-year roof. Apparently they got into it and finally the HOA won and the house was given a lifetime roof. Which is not that interesting... until we realized that he was talking about our house. So now we have a better roof than we otherwise would have! Thanks, HOA!

The funniest moment of the night came from one of the young mothers who told me that when she and her husband bought their house, their realtor described the neighborhood as being made up of "newlyweds and nearly-deads." And that's exactly right.

Not to be crass, but there will be a lot of turnover in this neighborhood over the next ten years. And while it's lovely to see all the original owners of the homes and talk to them, it will be nice when they start moving out and downsizing and a lot of young families closer to our age move in. I think this neighborhood is going to be an awesome long-term choice for us.

What about you? Do you have an HOA or condo association or anything placing any limitations on your homeowners' choices? Do you know your neighbors? Do you like them?