Why You Should Consider The Owner Occupancy Rate In An HOA

Real Estate Blog

When buying a home that is in an HOA, or homeowner's association, it will cause you to consider many things that you never had to think about with a non-HOA home. While many potential buyers know that they must look at the HOA fees and community guidelines before they buy, they may not have thought about looking at the occupancy rates in the HOA.

What Are Owner Occupancy Rates?

The occupancy rate of an HOA states the amount of homes in the community that are both owned and currently used by the owners. It does not count people that are renting a home in the HOA community, but the home is actually owned by another person.

Why Do Owner Occupancy Rates Matter? 

You need to pay attention to this statistic for a couple of reasons. An HOA that has a high percentage of homes occupied by the original homeowner, it will be viewed favorably by lends and other owners that are in the community. This is because people that own a home in the community will take care of their home more than those that do not.

Renters tend to do the bare minimum necessary to make their home look nice, with many of the crucial things falling on the owner's responsibility. With them not being there all the time, these things may not get done within a reasonable time frame.

HOAs that are mainly filled with renters can suffer as a result, and may not live up to the standards you would expect from living in an HOA. You'll notice that the community itself becomes less clean and beautiful over time when renters make up the majority of people living there.

What Impact Does Low Owner Occupancy Rates Have?

You will want to select an HOA with an owner occupancy rate that you are comfortable with. For some homeowners, this may mean more than 50% occupancy.

One of the consequences is that you will have difficulty getting the loan that you need to pay for the home. It is surprising, but some lenders do look into the occupancy numbers and may feel that an area with many renters could have the home lose its value over the years.

Thankfully, properly managed HOAs typically have high occupancy rates with owners. Your real estate agent can help you find the right community in an HOA that will meet all of your needs.

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4 October 2017

Investment Property Purchases: What You Should Know

Once I paid of the mortgage on my house, I decided I wanted to buy an investment property. I had no idea that the buying process would be different, but it really was. There were so many things to consider that I hadn't thought about, and even the loan application process was different. It occurred to me that if I didn't know about it, others likely didn't either. I built this site to help others see what I went through buying my first investment home. I hope that it helps you to approach the process with more confidence and understanding.