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| This is how a Washington Trace homeowner feels about Gold Key Realty. |
While I was doing this Amy was at the annual HOA meeting. Even though we did not close on the house, we thought that it would be prudent to go WOW. Lots of problems with the association. The homeowners were thoroughly pissed off at Gold Key Realty--the folks that developed this neighborhood. Among the problems.- Pool in disrepair
- Clubhouse requiring a $1000.00 deposit for rental
- Workout facility crowded in disprepair
- The HOA dues were going up and services were going down.
- HOA dues were highest in the area.
- HOA dues continues to climb despite more paying homeowners
Neighbors were citing mismanagement as the cause for the raising of the dues. Here we are not even moved in and the area isn't even 40% developed but it's common facilities are at capacity--not a good sign. I am expecting some lawsuits against the developers soon. As for Ryan, they have stated the amenities of the neighbornood as a matter of factly, but need to be careful that Gold Key doesn't get them tangled in this mess. Maybe since Ryan has more extensive development experience, they can help them with this. Else, if these problems get out into the open, Neither developer will be moving houses.
Anyway, tomorrow's going to be a late day since I am going to the college for some advising appointment. Probably won't see the house until Friday.
Hey John -- I have been meaning to respond back to your comment. Also, I thought I saw you at the HOA meeting walking in. It sort of looked like you based on the 1" profile photo.
ReplyDeleteThere were a lot of pissed off people, but things aren't as bad as it seems -- just that they need to be better for what we are paying. The gym sucks but supposedly is getting fixed. The pool is great, but had minor repairs neglected, and the landscaping was pretty rough last year, but different company this year. Hopefully it will get better. My concern is why the rates went up if they sold 40 lots, but I guess the developer was paying the HOA fees for those lots for a few years, so there wasn't much new revenue yet. The new section in Benham and the Gold Key side will bring more revenue. I really think the previous manager didn't care, didn't oversee the contractors, and just let things get out of hand. Hopefully the new people will do better.
We started an email group for the neighborhood (not related to HOA). So far there is only like a half dozen of us, but it's growing. Email benhamestates+subscribe@googlegroups.com to join. I hate posting my personal email online (spammers troll blogs) but if you join the group you will get it that way, as well as the other neighbors you can meet. I would be happy to answer any questions you have, but reading through your blog it seems like you are on the right track.
My only parting advise would be to never trust NVRM when they tell you something. They were the worst part of our experience and I had to stay on them daily to make sure they had all of the insane info they keep requiring. Most of the neighbors had the same experience. Dean was great, but my feeling about our processor (Annette) are not suitable for a public forum :-D
Hello Mike!
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you. Sri I missed meeting you at the HOA meeting. Hopefully we can meet soon. Thanks for the invite to the group email for the neighborhood. Having neighbors united is a good sign that Benham estates is going to be a great and cohesive neighborhood. I am looking forward to meeting the other members of the email group as well. I have a friend who lives across the street from you, do you mind if I let him know about the email group?
Thanks for clearing up all of the information about the HOA meeting. From a first timer's point of view, this HOA was looking like a soup sandwich but it is good to see that things are not as bad as it seems. Hopefully, the new folks managing it will look after it better.
NVRM has been OK so far, and from your advice I am bracing myself in case the experience gets crazy over there as well. Right now, we are 4 days from our 30 day lock so, I'm waiting it out and monitoring the rates. One good thing, Annette is not our processor. We have Pam and she seems good. Hopefully, the trend will continue. Again, your blog has been a great help to us. We welcome any suggestions you may have. We will be in the house the middle of April. Hope to see you around soon!