Neighborhood amenity- opt in or not?

[ECB]

As the builder has lied before, I’d probably opt out. $2,000 to opt in in my area wouldn’t raise much of an eyebrow.

[waverly]

I would opt out.

I don’t trust the builder either and what they do build doesn’t seem that exciting.

I don’t know why a builder would be in charge of opening or closing a restaurant though. If a builder was involved I would assume only as a landlord and restaurants have a high failure rate etc. There are many factors out of their control for restaurants. So I wouldn’t hold that against them but I would all the other stuff especially the lying.

I also don’t like the idea of being locked in forever.

[red]

Dec 15, 2022 19:13:37 GMT -5 waverly said:

I would opt out.

I don’t trust the builder either and what they do build doesn’t seem that exciting.

I don’t know why a builder would be in charge of opening or closing a restaurant though. If a builder was involved I would assume only as a landlord and restaurants have a high failure rate etc. There are many factors out of their control for restaurants. So I wouldn’t hold that against them but I would all the other stuff especially the lying.

I also don’t like the idea of being locked in forever.

It was a restaurant/bar/coffee shop they subsidized as an amenity here. They closed the other one and promised a new one but keep saying they have supply issues in getting the kitchen equipment.

[waverly]

Dec 15, 2022 19:40:51 GMT -5 red said:

Dec 15, 2022 19:13:37 GMT -5 waverly said:

I would opt out.

I don’t trust the builder either and what they do build doesn’t seem that exciting.

I don’t know why a builder would be in charge of opening or closing a restaurant though. If a builder was involved I would assume only as a landlord and restaurants have a high failure rate etc. There are many factors out of their control for restaurants. So I wouldn’t hold that against them but I would all the other stuff especially the lying.

I also don’t like the idea of being locked in forever.

It was a restaurant/bar/coffee shop they subsidized as an amenity here. They closed the other one and promised a new one but keep saying they have supply issues in getting the kitchen equipment.

My general experience which is not a ton is that these don’t make very much money and are hard to get companies to come in for that. That was the coffee shops maybe the bars/ restaurants are more successful.

[starlily]

Dec 15, 2022 13:36:47 GMT -5 red said:

Dec 15, 2022 12:23:10 GMT -5 statgirl said:

I would opt out. When I sold, I would offer to pay the initiation fee if it was a deal-breaker to not have access.

That’s what we were leaning toward. They keep saying it’s not guaranteed that your property will be able to join, but I’m sure they’d gladly take the money. I think they’re just trying to put pressure on us to commit now.

This feeling, plus their lack of willingness to answer questions, AND their failure to hold the informational screams major red flags to me. I'd opt out.

[wildrice]

If it's $1200 a year to belong, a 2k initiation fee doesn't seem crazy - that's just over 1.5 years of dues. I personally would probably not join something like this as a child free household - I usually expect community pools to be family focused and overrun with children/teens so not really my thing. So I probably wouldn't buy a house that committed me to $100 a month in fees to use a pool.

Though between our HOA and our community association fees (which go to the city) we pay something like $1400 a year and don't actually get access to any sort of pool/rec center with that fee, so maybe I'm talking out of my ass - I guess really to me it depends on what other benefits there are to living in your community and if there is a fee associated. For ours I think the fee goes to plowing/concrete maintenance/landscaping with the HOA and to community amenities like walking trails and nature for the city fee.

[mokes]

I wouldn't opt in.

I think there will be buyers who'd like it and just as many who wouldn't use it and wouldn't want to be committed to paying the fee. The buyers who want it could likely join with the $2k fee, but the buyers who wouldn't like it couldn't get out of paying it -- so it seems safer to stay out.

I had a friend who was in a similar situation — the community kept delaying construction for one reason or another and my friend ended up moving way before it was even built. So potentially your future buyers would still have an opportunity to get in on the "pre-construction" deal if the same happens.

[sillygoosegirl]

I have a hard time imagining buying into an HOA with almost $75/month of fees, but I think I'd be more likely to be okay with $125/month for amenities including a nice pool, than $75/month not including a worthwhile pool.