Watching my home value decline as documented by real estate data
Several real estate websites recently posted negative ratings and a decline in average sale prices in my planned community of Civano in Tucson. Long Realty lists a decline of $10,000 in average sales price over the last 6 months of 2023 and that appears to be based on hard data. They list Circle K as a restaurant in Civano, which would be funny if it weren’t so damaging. Safety ratings have fallen to C minus as assaults and property crime have increased by count of police reports. I am not surprised as I have posted twice on this forum alarmed about the steady erosion/ conversion of what once was the award-winning community of Civano to a shabby eyesore of poorly executed DIY modifications and heaps of debris. This has become a hoarders’ paradise as garages and front courtyards are stuffed with belongings and vehicles are parked on front yards and blocking the private lanes. We changed management companies and the resulting low standards, in my opinion, have attracted a socio-economic element of renters and buyers who cannot afford to maintain their property in compliance with the Declaration. There’s a collective delusion on the HOA Board as the community has ‘aged badly’ and the progressive attributes advertised back in 2000 have all become obsolete, but board members continue to make money as the landscaping providers and event hosts. Recently the HOA hosted a Democratic political campaign event and abortion rally in our common area. This activity is all so non-compliant with applicable regulations that I am almost relieved the real estate industry is finally picking up on the decline in value and hopefully preventing buyers from making bad investments. I continue to support all legislative efforts of this coalition and wish I could do more to contribute to the effort to turn back this tidal wave of poor property management standards and non-compliance that is allowed to persist. I appreciate this forum and all that you are doing to unite our efforts.
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Lora,
Thank you for your post, while I have not been shy in describing my fundamental personal convictions of social and political conservatism and that bigger governments have never fixed anything, I’ve worked equally hard to stay out of the political fray on this web site. The issues that occur in HOA’s and Condominiums are for the most part non-partisan and I want to keep it that way. This is about people and the communities that they live in it is not about politics. Property rights and the right to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness are fundamental aspects of constitutional law and apply equally to any part of the political spectrum.
It is so interesting that you describe a clearly political event hosted by the association on community property. When I was working to get what was ultimately passed as HB-2158 in 2022, it was killed in 2021 by the HOA industry’s fabricated argument to the Senate leadership behind closed doors, that the language of the bill would allow homeowners to use common property for radical left- or right-wing rallies and the poor associations would be powerless to stop such use. First of all, the language in the bill clearly limited the informal meetings of the members to only direct community issues and never allowed the use of common property for non-community-based meetings. But in this case your association used your common property for their political agenda and motivations. The common property is awarded to the association for the sole purpose of the use and enjoyment of the homeowners who pay for its maintenance and upkeep, and it was totally inappropriate for the association board to use the common property for the purpose that it did in that case.
As for the social and economic impact to communities based on progressive left-wing policies of cities and counties that is simply fact, and visible throughout the country. It is totally unrelated to HOA issues but can and does have significant impact to all these communities. The greatest power all of us have either within these communities or outside of these communities is to vote. Vote with your eyes and minds and based on the reality of your individual worlds, if you don’t like what is happening in your community, city, county, state or country then vote for a change whenever the opportunity arises.
Thank you for the background story on your legislative experience prior to passage of HB-2158. I do applaud the very honorable basis of your non-partisan replies. You offer us hope that our homeowner rights can be protected. Some of the narratives are so outrageous that if it were not for the repetition on themes – especially refusal to allow access to books and records- I would think we were being pranked. I am mourning my economic loss and have moved the property in to a revocable trust hoping values will improve in the future. I make my living as a regulatory compliance consultant in an industry not related to real estate, ironically. I have deep appreciation for you and everyone in this group who so courageously are willing to participate in the difficult conversations necessary to secure our rights.