When you decide to buy a home in an HOA, there are several things you need to consider like the benefits of buying a home in a specific HOA. Remember that HOAs tend to be different. This can include the fees billed, the amenities shared, the agreed guidelines you need to follow, and many more. As you can see, there are various variables in communities and the benefits can also vary depending on the homeowner.
The good news is that most associations usually have architectural control committees that can review architectural changes in the community. For any homeowner living in planned communities, it’s a good idea to know this committee so that you can know how it may affect you. In this article, you will learn everything about HOA architectural committees.
Understanding an architectural control committee
As the name suggests, it refers to a committee that can look after all the architectural requests and compliance. It’s worth noting that you can find this form of committee in planned developments like condominium and homeowners associations.
However, it doesn’t mean that all associations need to have an architectural control committee. This is because the HOA board can take these responsibilities for smaller associations. With fewer property owners and properties in the community, there tend to be fewer violations or requests to manage.
On the other hand, HOA boards for larger associations tend to have more work to handle regularly. Therefore, these boards can assign some committees to handle the work, and one of these committees is the architectural control committee. Keep in mind that an architectural control committee also uses the other names to mean the same thing. These include the architectural committee, architectural review committee, environmental control committee, and many more.
The work of an architectural control committee
Many homeowners associations consider uniformity to be important, especially when it involves your property’s external appearance in the community. Hence, the associations can have particular deed restrictions stating what you are allowed or not allowed to do with your home, such as how your property should look. No wonder, most homes that are in planned communities tend to look similarly.
If you decide to live in HOA communities, there is little room to use your creative skills through exterior design. The good thing is that this uniformity can benefit many homeowners in the long run. This is because there is consistency in the looks of the properties that improve the general appeal of the community. As a result of this, this can increase the value of your property.
Therefore, if you decide to make significant architectural changes to your home, then you have to ask the architectural control committee for permission. You should remember that one of the key HOA architectural control committee’s responsibilities is to manage the requests and approve them. This committee can also do other things like checking the violations concerning the HOA architectural committee guidelines it has imposed. Aside from this, it can also enforce the standards that are in the governing documents.