A Homeowner’s Association or HOA in California has a structure that is designed to help protect the members.  Let’s be transparent, good people are everywhere.  And not so good people are everywhere.  If you have any concern about your HOA embrace this course and consider the advanced HOA course (release date TBD).

In your community you have governing documents that you likely have not read. Don’t worry too much – you are just like 90% of your neighbors. The first property my family purchased was in 1989.  The governing documents we received were copies of copies of copies of copies… you get the picture.  They simply were trash, unreadable.  We had to sign that we received them.  

I asked what they were and was basically told not to worry.  Sign here…  I learned much by getting involved after 2-3 years of living there.

Fast forward to 2018 my wife and I are buying a new home.  We find several but most have some lame HOA.  Or maybe they have an HOA with a clubhouse and some amenities.  We found one in a 55 and over community.  Loved the home until I dissected the financials – buffoons were running the place.  They had a negative cash flow of $10.00 per member per month to keep a community pub (restaurant on the premises) from closing.  Bad business people.  

Then we purchased a home that has a HOA.  I carefully reviewed every document.  Found some documents were missing, secured them and read them.  Whew – looks pretty manageable.  We completed the transaction.

But I digress.  Owning a home or condo or whatever that has a HOA is not to be taken lightly.  You owe it to yourself to understand what you are buying or what you have bought.  If that is what you want to learn – you are in the right place.

In this entry level course we will study:

• Basic HOA structure
• Governing documents
• Legal concepts
• Financials
• Management company pointers
• Resources Section