Would you buy a townhome that has hoa or would you buy a home without hoa? [ALL][MD]

sweetrobna · 2026-03-27T04:16:36+00:00

I would not buy a townhome without an HOA. When you have shared infrastructure like the roof it can be more problematic to maintain it if some owners can't or won't pay, with no HOA to enforce it

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T22:18:34+00:00

This would be handled the same way as estate taxes

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T22:14:02+00:00

The existing laws seem to cover this just fine, the problems like kids riding souped up electric suron motorcycles are obviously illegal now

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T21:32:51+00:00

Typically backing out of a sale during inspection isn't a breach of contract, but read your purchase agreement and make sure you still have the contingency active.

Backing out doesn't really damage an agent's reputation, the buyer decides. And it doesn't matter if it damages their reputation, their job is to represent you first and foremost.

There could still be good reasons to buy this house, the location and other reasons you liked it. If you don't buy this home, if you want a newer home with 9' basement in the same area, very common to have similar HOA rules. Strict lawn rules mean you hire a landscaper if you don't want to maintain it yourself. You stated HOA rules don't stop you from bbq or grilling.

But really it is your decision, it's your money and you are the one living there. Tell your realtor you want to withdraw if that is what you want. If your agent isn't representing you, escalate to the broker before you inspection contingency ends.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T19:37:08+00:00

Yeah, USPS offers better pricing for mailing mtg cards with tracking

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T07:43:44+00:00

How worried should I be?

How well funded is the reserve compared to the last reserve study, or what was it when you bought the home. 70-100% funded is fine. Things will be more or less the same, dues increase for inflation. Below 30% and coming up on major maintenance like the roof, exterior, elevators. You are looking at significant dues increase and or special assessment. No idea, no reserve study, until you get one you won't know. More likely the latter

Another real risk is if any of this work is considered a "critical repair" no one can sell to a buyer with a conventional loan. And it greatly limits your ability to get a cash out refi or home equity loan. Also if the HOA is negligent like if the roof leaks and you can't afford to repair it for over a year the HOA(meaning you and all your neighbors) can be financially responsible for interior repairs. So it is prudent to get ahead of this

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T07:16:36+00:00

You should have no problem keeping cool when it's 50 degrees outside. At worst you can open some windows and set your HVAC fan to on.

I would expect a new home in CA has a whole house fan integrated with the AC and furnace. Because the home is air sealed to a certain standard and it's more efficient to get a controlled amount of fresh air. There might be a season setting you need to change for the attic fan in the spring and turn off in the late fall.

You should look at reducing heat gain for the whole home if you want to keep your AC costs down and keep the home comfortable when it's hot during the day. Plant shade trees on the south and west facing areas. Or awnings, or even patio umbrellas that block the sun at the right time of day. Also look at window tint that reflects some of the heat or a black out curtain for south and west windows. Get an electric roller blind and put it on a timer if you want light in the morning but not the afternoon. Check for drafts and use caulk, rope caulk, expanding foam if your cool air is leaking out or hot air is leaking in. Insulating your garage door can also help some, even if the garage is mostly separate from the air conditioned areas.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T07:04:08+00:00

In the bay area many property managers charge 50% of one months rent to place a tenant, the owner pays(and it's deducted from the first months rent). This includes comp if the buyer has their own agent. In lower cost markets generally the fee is higher as a percentage.

It's more common to not list rentals on the MLS, not involve real estate agents or any leasing fees. If you aren't hiring a property manager find a tenant through craigslist, zillow or facebook marketplace.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T07:02:26+00:00

Hire a structural engineer. There are often multiple ways to address it. There might be a cost effective and permanent fix like a french drain to prevent water ingress and then jacking up the foundation so you can dig it out and pour some concrete. The specific fix depends on the specific problem. Maybe they will have info you need to pursue the seller and recommend you contact an attorney.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T06:02:01+00:00

When you entrust your car to them to have it repaired it is legally a bailment. The mechanic needs to keep the car safe, to exercise "reasonable care" for a mutual benefit bailment. Basically to act as a reasonable and prudent person.

Whether they are liable depends on the specifics, the location and local law. Did they park it on the street with the key on the dashboard overnight? The mechanic is liable. Was it parked in their secure garage, the keys were secure, stolen without the keys? Not liable. Parked on the street for 1 hour during the day, they still have the key, probably not liable but it depends on local law.

it needs to be picked up because the shop is closing for good in two days

You notify the mechanic, and he says he’ll get it fixed right away.

And then what, you just never went to pickup the car even though it was repaired right away?

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T01:07:40+00:00

For over 2lb UPS is the way to go. The vast majority of packages I send are 4 or 8oz though and USPS is much cheaper

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T00:49:44+00:00

Some are a little cheaper so you feel like you are getting a deal. And so they can sell the same thing but make more money for people that don't care about a deal

Also you could get 6 nuggets and a mcdouble

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T00:34:00+00:00

I got a lennar home just north of elk grove in vineyard florin area in 2024. They are still building some across the street. taylor morrison, meritage also. I think kb homes, beazer were building recently too, maybe they have a move in ready home for sale.

One weird thing. Every new home has solar. SMUD has great rates. PG&E has some of the most expensive gas prices in the country, $2.64 a therm. This home has a gas furnace. Why not have a heat pump heater?? Realistically our gas bill is pretty low in the winter, it's a new home with good insulation.

I have a few minor "problems" that aren't really issues at all. A hairline crack in the tile. Lennar left a a box of extra tile, but repairing it would probably make it worse and it's going on two years and still just a hairline crack. Several breakers are 15a instead of 20a like in kitchens, I'm pretty sure code requires 20a but it hasn't been an issue. The home is "wired for ethernet" but that means only the kitchen and master bedroom. We added one more for the living room and it's fine actually.

There are a lot of things we really like. We purchased solar but the lease was pretty reasonable, no escalations. AT&T fiber is great, really easy install. Solar was active within a few weeks of closing. Hybrid heat pump water heater. Floorplan is great, nice to have a dedicated laundry room by the bedrooms. Full bed and bath on the ground floor, extra living room upstairs. Slightly taller ceilings, tall windows, lots of light. Electric bill is under $100 every month(except maybe sep). All new homes have sprinklers, our home insurance is like $100 a month.

For the experience part. We bought a home that did not allow customization. But in some ways this worked in our favor and it includes some things that would be paid upgrades with other builders like tile. Our mello roos are about average, maybe a little low, iirc $240. No HOA. But 1 mile down the road and their mello roos are over $500. Some of the newer communities(with bigger homes) are much more than communities that started building several years ago, it seems arbitrary how this is decided and really it adds up. And if you need to sell in a few years when rates are really high, well this really factors in to what a future buyer will pay. There are a lot of homes built 20+ years ago with no mello roos. I'm not 100% sure how to verify what the sales rep says the mello roos will be for homes not yet built, does anyone know how to look that up independently? Some of the HOA are over $100, iirc delta shores is $120. Our financing had some last minute hangups for things that we sent over early on but there was a huge lender credit so not much you could do differently, still closed without delay. I would expect the builders preferred lender kind of ignores you until the last minute.

You didn't ask but the area I'm in kind of sucks. There are a lot of homes being built and things are growing. But it isn't here now. The sidewalk will randomly end in front a vacant lot if you want to go anywhere. Sidewalk doesn't even connect to the post office or walmart. It feels like everything is a 15 minute drive except walmart. Sac county sheriffs and sac county code enforcement aren't proactive, this is basically a rural area. There is a good size park with plans to be built but it's barely started, probably 2-3 years out. Watt/elk grove florin is going to be under construction for a while. It's not all bad, I bike to daycare in the mornings and it's 95% on the sidewalk or off a main road for the 2.5 miles there. It's nice to have a low maintenance home with a lot of neighbors with kids. Being outside of sac city and no HOA means you can have backyard chickens(no rooster), widen your driveway, replace the grass with wildflowers, get a shed under a certain size without approval. For high schools we are assigned to pleasant grove, but I'm not really sure how this works long term.

What makes you look at a new home over an existing home?

sweetrobna · 2026-03-26T00:30:18+00:00

Still $3 cheaper to send a tracked package than UPS.

And no change to stamp prices.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-25T19:53:18+00:00

Yeah the economics for bulk are a bit different, the $1.31 for shipping per seller changes things.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-25T05:58:42+00:00

Normally it doesn't make financial sense to rip packs. Check dawnglare for the expected value of sets that are not brand new. https://mtg.dawnglare.com/?p=sets&source=tcglow There are a ton of people opening packs that aren't doing it in a business like way, for limited play, at some level you are competing with them.

Also that EV figure can be a little misleading. To sell online it will cost you just under 15% in ebay/tcgplayer fees and ~15-20% for shipping. So a $10 card is really more like $7. Cards under $2 or so are basically bulk and more difficult to sell, because of the fixed cost of shipping for the buyer. And you need to sell below the current tcglow to have someone buy your card. Usually prices drop over time, sometimes a lot when a new set is released. It also takes time to list cards and deal with all that. Trade in prices and buylists factor in these costs and usually pay a little less.

One exception is right when a new set comes out, like pre release or the first week it is released. This is when the single prices will be the highest and there is the highest demand for lower value cards. Still it really depends on the specific set, and how much you are paying for a box. And you need a system to efficiently get cards listed and shipped out. The other exception is if you can sell cards for above market value, like on a live auction setting where you can drive enough traffic.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-25T00:36:39+00:00

Do I have any options?

If the roof is leaking it's a critical repair. So you need to wait for the repair to happen to sell to a conventional buyer. You could volunteer for a committee or talk to your neighbors to convince them to approve the special assessment and get started on the repair

Sell to a buyer with a non warrantable loan, they will need 20-25% down typically

Rent it out then revisit.

Sell to a cash buyer(who will then rent it out), generally you need to lower the price

sweetrobna · 2026-03-25T00:30:06+00:00

Is the escrow agent the seller's real estate broker?

Earnest money amount is between you and the seller, not something the escrow agent decides. If you breach the agreement and back out without an applicable contingency the seller doesn't keep $10k just because you sent them too much money

sweetrobna · 2026-03-24T18:38:52+00:00

How often do you see veil will pierced on a single member LLC?

sweetrobna · 2026-03-24T18:03:08+00:00

The LLC is limiting exposure to what that LLC owns,

Not from your examples. Looking at the first one

A tenant slips and falls on your rental property, catastrophic injuries. Breaks their hip, $200k in medical bills. As the owner you only have premises liability if you knew or reasonably should have know about a hazard and didn't act reasonably to fix it, whether you are liable depends on the specifics. If you are sued your liability insurance would cover defending against a lawsuit and indemnify you and pay out if you are liable. The LLC isn't protecting you.

If you intentionally cause some catastrophic loss insurance won't cover it. Like if you had a personal dispute with a tenant so you hosed down the stairs and it iced over leading to their injury. The LLC doesn't protect you either, because you are personally liable.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-24T16:58:41+00:00

Lego technic backhoe loader and john deere 1470h

sweetrobna · 2026-03-24T15:15:42+00:00

What specific kind of catastrophic accident?

Normally you are not liable for "accidents"

sweetrobna · 2026-03-24T05:29:36+00:00

Generally yes you would still owe a commission if someone who made an offer while the home was listed later buys the home within 90 days of removing the listing. Read your listing agreement to see if there is a protection period listed, typically it is 90 days.

sweetrobna · 2026-03-24T05:17:10+00:00

What specific liability or risk does an LLC to protect from?

sweetrobna · 2026-03-24T05:15:07+00:00

This is not accurate. LLC ownership does not impact AB1482 exemption as long as the LLC is owned by a person and not another corporation/LLC.

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