What to Do BEFORE Moving to an HOA??? DON'T K0UO Rhombic Antenna Farm is located at the Kansas QTH with over Two miles of Wire in the Air & On the Air, “The RF Gotta-Go-Somewhere"!
HOAs can be highly variable. I've lived in this one for 20 years and haven't had many issues (and all of those resolved in my favor after a quick conversation). In my specific case, I'm more restricted by the size of my lot (antennas have to be vertical or nearly so) and the population density (townhomes) than the HOA. Over the 15 years I've been a ham, I've had a number of antennas and not once have I been told to take them down. The rule is they can't be seen from the street. You can hide a lot behind a 3 story TH. Chris
Yes, some don’t care, some have leeway, and some absolutely ban outside antennas - like the one I used to live under before I renewed my interest in radio. Otherwise it was a reasonable HOA (and I was on the board). I plan not to be in an HOA again if I can possibly avoid it.
Nor do I, but I have other concerns and interests aside from radio. If it takes moving to an HOA to address the other concerns, then I'll find another way to do radio. I'm probably 80% portable anyway (mainly because I prefer that mode of operating to sitting indoors). Chris
Sure, few of us are one dimensional. We have (and had) other activities that require no restrictive covenants which is why we opted to live where do now after 14 years in the HOA house. However, life changes and one must be flexible, especially as one contemplates downsizing options or the eventual “assisted living”…
I'm here.... I've not seen any worthy new anti HOA comments... just variations of the same old claptrap! Commenting would just be a waste of bandwidth...
I don't live in an HOA area and wouldn't because of the horror stories of just a very few that didn't even deal with antenna installations. We haven't even had deed restrictions/covenants since 2001 which was 14 years before I bought the land. This is a rural area in Texas and most Texas counties have few restrictions. We have a few problem residents. Some folks tried to form an HOA a few years ago to address these people but it was resoundingly shot down. If you could make a minimally restrictive HOA and make it very hard if not nearly impossible to change the bylaws maybe it would work. About 35 years ago, I was looking at houses and found one subdivision that did not permit radio emissions and found another that did not allow outdoor antennas and radio output of over 250 watts. I ended up in one that had no HOA and few deed restrictions. But currently, I understand that in most areas all new developments have HOAs. I have even heard that local governments will not give the go-ahead unless there are severe restrictions on the properties. The last town I lived near and could possibly annex me, was anti-Amateur Radio. They stated twice in their zoning that getting a permit to install a tower had to do with appearance and only once for safety. I never saw any towers in their city limits even in semi-rural areas.
Not Really; there are many non-HOA housing out there for folks to choose from. Matchbox, over-regulated, restricted community living isn't for everyone.
