I posted last week about the fact that the HOA for The Lake House (which is also the HOA for The Leak House and The Trifecta House) had complained that we painted the house without getting approval for the exterior colors…
Turns out their main concern was that the house trim was painted white, as they require all houses in the subdivision to have white trim. So, over the weekend, we repainted the trim white at a cost of $450…this put us over-budget on this project by about $450, but I’ll just write it off as a good reminder to check HOA covenants for houses that have homeowner associations.
Anyway, our bigger concern was that we were scheduled to start painting the exterior of The Trifecta House at the beginning of this week, and we hadn’t gotten approval for that one either. So, last Friday, I met with the community manager for the subdivision, explained the situation, gave him our paint color chips and asked when I could expect a response. He told me that it could take up to 30 days to get approval from the HOA board.
I knew that they’d be able to fast-track the decision if they wanted to, so I told him that if we couldn’t get approval by the beginning of the week, we likely wouldn’t paint the house at all. Unfortunately, while this was partly a bluff, it was also partly true — our painters had other jobs starting at the end of this week, and if they didn’t finish by Wednesday, it likely wouldn’t get done before the house was listed.
As luck would have it, the community manager sent me an email at 8:45am this morning telling us that the colors had been approved; five minutes later my project called to say that the painters were ready to start on the exterior repairs and painting. Perfect timing, and after a long day, the exterior of The Trifecta House is complete.
We also have approval for the paint colors over at The Leak House…assuming we can ever get that one closed…
[…] Fix And Flip Tips: Why You Should Always Check With The Local HOA Part 2 Posted by: david | Category: Flipping Houses, Real Estate Investing, Rehabbing Houses […]
I’d like to know their reasoning for why it could take up to 30 days for someone to take a 30 second look at your color choices and say “yea” or “Nea”?
I’m surprised they didn’t say ” we could fast track the decisions for $300″
Scott,
I think we both know the reason… 😉
I know what you are saying. It can be a challenge trying to keep things going so you can be done in a reasonable amount of time and move on to the next project. My brother and I have been in the contracting and real estate investing business for 35 yrs. Keep up the good work and continued success.
One random comment about HOA’s (as you are typically buying/selling, this doesn’t apply to you J)–make sure to get a copy of the covenants and try to find out about the HOA for all the reasons J talked about but ALSO if you think you will ever have to RENT the property at any point. Many HOA’s have restrictions on the number of leased properties in a neighborhood so you may get ‘stuck’ if they find out you have a tenant, etc. Daily fines are the typical penalties tossed around (plus liens, etc.) so be wary of HOA’s and DO YOUR HOMEWORK!
Great point, Bo…
Btw, anyone in Atlanta looking for an amazing closing attorney, check out Bo’s contact info above. His firm has closed pretty much every one of our transactions in the past year, and I expect that to be the case for a long time to come…
Thanks for the plug for a closing attorney, you just saved me some time and potential headaches!
Hey Norman,
Bo is the best…you won’t be disappointed. Let him know you got his name from my blog…