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Association Maintained Homes are a popular choice
Association-maintained homes can be attached (townhomes, condominiums, row-homes, and the like) or detached (single-family), but at minimum we define them as homes that provide at least some maintenance through the development’s homeowners association. Locally as well as nationally, association-maintained housing continues to be a growing segment of the new home market. While there are still plenty of families seeking the American Dream of a single-family home in the suburbs, there are plenty more that find their dream includes a home that doesn’t include spending so many hours on upkeep or buying all the equipment proper maintenance requires.
In the Twin Cities we can get a sense of how this niche has grown by using data from the Keystone?Reports, which collects residential permit information for the region. They report that attached homes have grown from 27 percent of the total permits pulled in the late 1990s, to about 44 percent in 2007. And those figures don’t include the numerous detached townhomes and single-family homes that offer some level of maintenance.
Why Buy Association-Maintained?
Traditionally, first-time home buyers looking for a low price and retirees seeking freedom from maintenance were the bulk of association-maintained housing buyers. But no longer. While these folks still represent a big market, today you’ll find professionals, singles, single parents, and busy families all enjoying life in an association-maintained home.
One of the main reasons people like association-maintained homes can be stated in one word — time. No one seems to have enough time to do the things they want to do, let alone the things they have to do. With an association-maintained lifestyle, much of the time homeowners have long devoted to chores and upkeep (including
selecting and maintaining the proper equipment, and the time to find and supervise the variety of people hired to do those chores), is now free. Free to spend with the kids, at the office, or on the golf course.
Style, Comfort and Value
Today’s association-maintained homes offer a style and livability that, indeed, rivals that of single-family homes. In many cases you won’t be able to tell the difference between a detached townhome and a single-family home except maybe the townhome’s beautifully manicured landscape. Inside, whether a twin, four-plex, row-home, condominium, or anything in between, style and comfort are the name of the game.
Take a look at the association-maintained homes in our Parade of Homes EasyStreetSM and you’ll find features, finishes, materials, and designs to suit virtually every family’s wants, needs, and tastes. High-tech wiring, networked computer stations, decked out theaters, and state-of-the-art security can be had for technology buffs. The warm glow of wood, the cool elegance of granite, the graceful contour of a Doric column, the stark drama of metal and glass, all abound in association-maintained homes today.
Attached association-maintained homes are definitely filling a need for first-time home buyers with a limited budget. Attached homes, by their very nature, can incur lower land and construction costs, translating into more affordable new homes on the market. It also allows those with a higher budget to put their dollars into the features they want, like that dual walk-in shower, top-line appliances, or the latest in designer lighting.
Life cycle housing — providing homes for a wide variety of families within a single community, like the small towns of a century ago — is enjoying a new-found attraction as people seek a more connected lifestyle. And that means you’ll find association maintained housing of all types adjacent to apartments, single-family homes, senior assisted living residences, retail shops and services, and places of employment.
Another reason for the rise in association-maintained neighborhoods is that municipalities often require them. Cities have found that new development with a homeowners association tends to require less regulatory involvement. They also help preserve home values by requiring association approval for exterior changes (like paint colors and the size and number of outbuildings).
Homeowners Associations
Although a homeowner association’s governing documents and architectural guidelines may sound restrictive to some, they’re actually written in the spirit of preventing homes from deteriorating, not to deter individuality. But that does make it important for association-maintained buyers to carefully review the association documents before buying. Some people may not feel comfortable with the restrictions and rules under which they’ll be living.
Setting up an association is a complex legal process with lots of rules, restrictions and requirements. One of the first things the developer or “declarant” needs to do is set up an association budget that details all the services the association will offer, what the cost of each of those services is and what it will cost each member to live in the community.
Most association-maintained developments are governed by the Minnesota Common Interest Ownership Act (MCIOA). The MCIOA requires the declarant to appoint an association board of directors, which initially, is often comprised of the declarant’s associates. In most cases, when the declarant has sold 50 percent of the homes in a development, it calls a meeting of residents to elect two homeowners to the board. When 75 percent of the homes have been closed, another meeting is held to elect a new board completely made up of homeowners. Attorneys set up the governing documents to require as few as three or as many as nine members on the board of directors; five is by far the norm but it’s not the law.
Association monthly fees are based on the value of the homes and on the services provided. The budget must take into account normal operating maintenance but also future costs such as the replacement of roofs, driveways and other exterior items. The board of directors, with the help and guidance of the management company, needs to review the budget every year to make sure they have the funds to do what they need to do at the time they need to do it. Although management companies can be a great help to association boards by handling the day-to-day matters that crop up, smaller associations occasionally will choose to self manage.
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