the recent thread about HOA reminded me to ask a question that came up lately but I didn't have time to look into.

If you own a single house, it is up to you when you fix it and how you fix it (more or less, within the local codes and regulations). what happens to these HOA townhouses or condos when they are too old to fix, who decides it is time to tear them down and rebuild? when I bought the townhouse the paperwork from the appraisal company said the estimated lifetime of the house is 60 years, and the house being 20 years old it means it still has 40 years left, but eventually close to those 60 years what do you do? I won't be here for sure (I may not even be alive in 40 years) but still curious about what happens when the townhouses are close to their estimated life time. would you buy a townhouse about 40-50 year old if they told you the estimated lifetime was 60 years?

The HOA would have to follow building code. If the house is falling apart local code would trump any and all HOA restrictions.

Edit: it's an estimate for insurance purposes. If a city building inspector condemns the property. Then it would require a modification or tear down and rebuild.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/11/2013 07:23PM by Carm.

Worst nightmare ever in Seattle is there are hundreds, if not thousands of duplex condos where there are no covenants or HOA types of agreements. If your neighbor's roof, which is your roof too, is leaking. Will they fix it? Maybe. What about painting only half of the duplex. What if they want puke green or Pepto Pink? You have NO recourse.

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Racer X
Worst nightmare ever in Seattle is there are hundreds, if not thousands of duplex condos where there are no covenants or HOA types of agreements. If your neighbor's roof, which is your roof too, is leaking. Will they fix it? Maybe. What about painting only half of the duplex. What if they want puke green or Pepto Pink? You have NO recourse.

The neighborhood I grew up in had a lot of duplexes, when I was young they pretty much retained their "as built" look, but over the years you see some where 1/2 has aluminum siding, and the other 1/2 is painted with a seam straight down the middle of the front wall.

An appearance something like this.

We had a house burn down in my community, and the older home owner had no mortgage and no insurance. The owner left, the HOA had for foreclose, spend about $10,000 in legal fees to do it, then sold the burned out house. The new owner had to submit plans for the new home and since the rest of the community is 20+ years old, wood framed homes, and on FL wood frame is not allowed anymore, obviously they have to do something else. The new home will look different, but still in the style of the other homes.

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"No Comment"

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space-time
the recent thread about HOA reminded me to ask a question that came up lately but I didn't have time to look into.

If you own a single house, it is up to you when you fix it and how you fix it (more or less, within the local codes and regulations). what happens to these HOA townhouses or condos when they are too old to fix, who decides it is time to tear them down and rebuild? when I bought the townhouse the paperwork from the appraisal company said the estimated lifetime of the house is 60 years, and the house being 20 years old it means it still has 40 years left, but eventually close to those 60 years what do you do? I won't be here for sure (I may not even be alive in 40 years) but still curious about what happens when the townhouses are close to their estimated life time. would you buy a townhouse about 40-50 year old if they told you the estimated lifetime was 60 years?

It'll be up to each homeowner. My guess is that some development minded company would buy them up, tear them down, and create a new development.

The 60 year figure is only without maintenance and without addressing of any structural issues that may arise on an ongoing basis. Not likely it'll be teardown-ready short of a catastrophe.

A house—even an American tract house—is not a wasting asset. Everything about a house can be rebuilt or replaced. That 60-year figure is probably something used for a reserve study.

HOAs and condo associations are a 20th century invention for the most part, so I don't know that we have a lot of experience with what happens legally as the houses deteriorate and have to be rebuilt. But communities like the private parks in London, Manhattan's Gramercy Park, or St. Louis's private places have had associations of some type that have maintained the common assets for centuries.

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Worst nightmare ever in Seattle is there are hundreds, if not thousands of duplex condos where there are no covenants or HOA types of agreements. If your neighbor's roof, which is your roof too, is leaking. Will they fix it? Maybe. What about painting only half of the duplex. What if they want puke green or Pepto Pink? You have NO recourse.

Fear of this kind of thing is why I've never even considered a "duplex condo" which I think is the same as what some places is called a "zero lot line." You are essentially entering in to a business and property ownership arrangement with one other party, who you likely do not know nor know anything about. Sounds terrible. I'd rather own a duplex in its entirety, or own a condo in a larger complex with professional management and elected board.

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thermarest

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Racer X
Worst nightmare ever in Seattle is there are hundreds, if not thousands of duplex condos where there are no covenants or HOA types of agreements. If your neighbor's roof, which is your roof too, is leaking. Will they fix it? Maybe. What about painting only half of the duplex. What if they want puke green or Pepto Pink? You have NO recourse.

Fear of this kind of thing is why I've never even considered a "duplex condo" which I think is the same as what some places is called a "zero lot line." You are essentially entering in to a business and property ownership arrangement with one other party, who you likely do not know nor know anything about. Sounds terrible. I'd rather own a duplex in its entirety, or own a condo in a larger complex with professional management and elected board.

We just visited some friends in FL who owns one side a rental duplex condo in a non-HOA neighborhood. I asked him what he will do if/when he decides his side needs to be reshingled and his neighbor doesn't want to do the other side. He said that his neighbor was a nice guy and that they had agreed to agree on those kinds of things. I hope he's right and I wish him good luck with that one!

agreed to agree until they disagree.

My ex-wife and I originally agreed to agree. Wanna hear the rest of the story?

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agreed to agree until they disagree.

My ex-wife and I originally agreed to agree. Wanna hear the rest of the story?

why not

And even if the two neighbors are nice guys and agree on everything, at some point one of them is going to sell their half of the duplex and you'll wind up with a new neighbor who might have very different behavior.