I get asked this particular question all the time, so that tells me it’s something many of you are interested in. And today, you’ll get your answers. What’s that question I get asked over and over? What’s the deal with all the HOA’s in the Boise housing market?
The Boise area does have many, many more communities with HOAs than without, which I know is unusual to many of you coming from other states.
So, I’ll answer that question, explain what they are and what their purpose is, and let you know where to expect the most expensive HOAs along with what to expect if you don’t have an HOA. This is also helpful to know if you are a first-time home buyer and are learning what to expect with homeownership.
Let’s talk about HOAs – so exciting, I know.
First, an HOA is the Homeowners Association. It is the collection of everyone who lives in a community, and those members vote in board members. Usually, the board not only has a President, but also has someone in charge of the Architectural Committee or other things like that. These board members are there to help make sure everyone in the community is upholding the rules that they agreed to when they moved in. There is also usually an external property management company who helps oversee the rule keeping and takes care of collecting the HOA fees.
The Rules:
The rules are called the CCRs, which stands for the Covenants, Codes, and Restrictions. As the word Covenant implies, you make a promise, and the other party makes a promise in return. In the case of an HOA, you are promising to keep the rules, and the HOA is promising to make sure everyone else upholds them, as well as they promise to upkeep the green spaces, parks, pools, and whatever else is in your community they are responsible for.
And, as the words “codes” and “restrictions” imply, most of the CCRs are a list of things you can or cannot do. Some examples of incredibly common rules that people are concerned with when purchasing a home are how many dogs does the community allow, and can you have an RV and if so, where can it be parked? I’d say those are the two that we typically look for when someone is deciding if they should buy in a particular neighborhood or not.
Sometimes there are odd rules thrown in there. There is a neighborhood in Eagle that says you cannot park your logging trucks on your property. So, I’m guessing there was a logging truck driver that really ticked people off in that neighborhood, so they added the rule. Don’t be that person that the HOA has to make a special rule for.
Many people assume that if there is an HOA, then the CCRs are all very strict. The reality is that here in the Boise area, the CCRs can differ quite a bit from community to community. Oftentimes, there are homes on land that do have an HOA, and its sole purpose is to monitor and oversee the irrigation for the community, so there really aren’t any other rules. Most of your typical subdivisions will have typical rules as discussed, such as rules limiting dogs, how many days you can park a car without moving it, and what kind of fencing you can have. And then there are a few communities here that have very strict CCRs.
I say all of this because some of you feel like a community with an HOA is a deal breaker, and when you see that there are very few communities without HOAs in the Boise area, you look for other places to live. But I want to help you understand how they work here so it won’t be a deal breaker for you.
Many of you assume that if there is an HOA, it will be expensive. I know that if you are coming from other states, they can be very expensive. There are a few here that are more expensive, but most are quite reasonable. Of course, the more amenities that your funds are going to, the more expensive it is. But one reason our HOA fees are less expensive than you might expect is because our water is less expensive than in other states. So, a community with lots of greenspace and water features doesn’t automatically mean it will be a community with high HOA fees.
Most HOA fees here are between $200/year and $1200/year, $1200 being on the high side. The communities with fees closer to $200/year are communities that are older, maybe communities built up in the 90s, and the fees might cover irrigation and property management fees.
Okay, so why do I keep mentioning irrigation and what does that mean? Many of our neighborhoods have irrigation water that is pumped into the sprinkler systems, and so your yard is watered with that irrigation water. If the community is responsible for the irrigation pumphouse, then it will be included in your HOA fees most often, which means you are only paying a water bill on the city water that comes into your house, making it very cheap to water your yard. If the HOA is not responsible for the irrigation pumphouse, then you will pay a separate irrigation fee every year, but it is still very cheap, usually under $100 /year for watering your yard all season. And if your community has neither option, then you have city water for your yard, and that is more expensive…
Okay, back to the other fees. So, communities that are closer to that $1200/year have pools, parks, greenspace, etc… There are a few communities that I can think of that are on the high end for our valley. Some examples are Legacy and Riverstone, master planned resort like communities in Eagle…they are currently around $2000/year, the gated sections of Two Rivers in Eagle is just under $6000/year due to all the waterway maintenance, and the new 55 and over gated resort style community of Valor in Kuna is currently just under $4000/year and will increase as they expand. But as I said, those are the outliers and most hover around $400-$600/year.
If you really don’t want an HOA here, then you have a couple of options, and of course these are generalities as there are always exceptions here and there. One is to live in a house that was built before the 1990s – most of these homes don’t have HOAs, as long as they are not in higher end, custom home communities. Another option is the homes built pre-1990s that are on acreage properties, these are mostly in SW Boise, scattered throughout Meridian, Nampa, Kuna, and Caldwell. And a third option is to custom build a home out on land that is not in a subdivision and therefore not subject to HOAs, and that is pretty much the only way you can get a new construction home in our valley without HOAs as pretty much every single new construction community will have HOAs.
So here are the pros and cons to no HOA communities here. Well, of course the big pro is that you can do whatever you want on your property as long as it is within city and county regulations. The big con is that everyone around you can also do whatever they want on their land as long as it is within city and county regulations.
So, I know that in places like in California or in Washington where it is much easier to find homes without HOAs, oftentimes those communities are kept up pretty well by the homeowners. One thing you will find about Idahoans, especially native Idahoans, is that they are freedom loving, resourceful, down to earth, non-judgmental people. They don’t tend to judge you or your house, but they don’t care what you think about them and their house either. While there are certainly areas with no HOAs where all the neighbors are doing their best to keep up their homes, you will find, especially on homes with acreage, that people will live as they please and expect you to do the same.
I have had people call me with interest in homes for sale, people that don’t want an HOA, and say, well, I really like that home, but I don’t like that the neighbor has some old cars in the backyard, what can I do about that? Uh…nothing…that’s literally the point of not having an HOA, so you can live as you please (again within county and city regulations, of course). So, if you think you don’t want to follow rules but you want everyone around you to follow rules, then maybe you really don’t want to live where there are no HOAs.
What I hear most from you guys is from people who don’t want an HOA but want to live in a very nice community where people want more custom homes on an acre or two. They see that most often, those types of homes here do have an HOA. But those HOAs are often quite minimal. They may tell you how many animals you can have, they may regulate a community well, and they may have an architectural committee so that homes being built there are relatively similar in size and style to upkeep the look, but make sure you don’t assume that just because the community has an HOA, it will have super expensive fees or be super restrictive.
And of course, some people absolutely have to have a community with no HOA because they have a shop they run a business out of, or they are going to breed dogs, or they want goats for 4H, or whatever their need is, and if that is the case, then we make sure to find you a place that meets your needs.
But even within the communities with HOAs, let’s say you have an RV and need to find a home where you can park it, then there are plenty of communities that will allow it, we just have to find the right one.
And as a side note, we always try to get you a copy of the CCRs for an HOA on any home you are seriously considering making an offer on, and it is your responsibility to read through them so you are aware of what you are agreeing to before you close on the home and move into it. So, make sure that you tell us, or your realtor wherever you are, of any “deal breakers” so that you don’t get your heart set on a home that’s in a community with a rule that says you can only have 2 dogs when you have 4.
So yes, with HOAs, you can get a community that has that one neighbor who thinks their main purpose in life is to force everyone to keep the community rules, and if that were the case, you can always get on the board to help make some changes, but for the most part, people here are happy with their HOAs, don’t find them too restrictive or too expensive, and enjoy that it helps keep up neighborhood home value, it keeps up the parks, walking paths, and pools.. for everyone’s enjoyment.
So, I hope that helps you understand HOAs here in the Boise housing market. It is true, it is hard to find a home here without an HOA unless you are willing to live in an older home, or custom build a home on land that is not in a subdivision, which usually means it is surrounded by farmland. But the HOAs here are easy to work with once you understand them.
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Thanks so much for watching my super exciting video about HOAs in the Boise area, and I’ll see you next time friends.
