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Southern Walk Lawn Maintenance

Discussion in 'Broadlands Community Issues' started by Carol Al-Ajroush, May 27, 2005.

  1. BelindaTH

    BelindaTH New Member

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    Carol - thanks for calling around and obtaining input regarding other services/options. This information will be useful when 2006 negotiations begin. If the decision to keep any service(s) at all is made.

    Has anyone voiced their complaint(s)/concern(s) to the current provider or to the HOA?

    I have called and talked to them when something was not done to "my standards" and they came out within two days and resolved the matter.
     
  2. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    FYI...if you are not aware, the lawn care service is only applicable to the SINGLE FAMILY HOMES designated as Courtyard homes by the builder -- these are the homes in some of the Broadlands Southern Walk homes and some of Overland Park. Townhomes are not affected and remain status quo. If in doubt if you are in a Courtyard home or not, you can call: 703.729.9704 (HOA office)
     
  3. broadlandshabitatteam2

    broadlandshabitatteam2 New Member

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    Off topic:

    With all due respect, I already received a phone call asking about this: no, I'm not the same person as "amye". We are two separate and different people. I'm Amy M., I have lived in a Courtyard home for just over 3 years now, so you'll see me at the meeting on June 7th, too.

    From what I understand, there are no decisions set in stone yet. The meeting on June 7th is for collecting opinions, discussing options, brainstorming solutions, and deciding next steps in the research process.

    Because I'm also a Habitat volunteer, I restrict myself from giving an opinion on this topic (due to possible conflict of interest), however, I can help research options and offer additional solutions for Courtyard homeowners if a small volunteer committee is formed out of the June 7th meeting.
     
  4. veronicasmommi

    veronicasmommi New Member

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    Just remember, everyone who moved into the southern walk homes knew this was part of the package and should not act shocked. This package is one of the reasons we moved here. Alot of what I hear is poor quality of service, well maybe we should have the HOA oversee quality control of the service and make sure we are getting decent service. Personally, I don't want to waste time on the weekends doing yardwork and aggravating allergies, when I can be spending the time with my family at the pool or something.
     
  5. Pats_fan

    Pats_fan Former Resident

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    If you don't want to have to "waste time" doing yardwork, then hire someone to do it. No one is preventing you from doing this.

    And yes, everyone who moved into these Southern Walk Courtyard homes knew it was part of the package. But it was a package that, last year cost something like $85, costs $105 this year, and will cost at least</u> $130 next year. We didn't sign up for that, and, frankly, we have a right to be "shocked" at the rate that the price for the service has increased.

    You people cannot look at this cost increase in a vacuum. When you place it in the context of the proposed Openband cost increases, we are looking at over $300 in HOA fees next year. Believe me, at some point it will start to effect the resale value of your homes. I know for a fact that the current $250 fees have potentially cost a sale of one Courtyard home.

    If we don't want to hurt ourselves down the road, we need to reduce</u> the amount of mandatory fees that we (and all new buyers) are subjected to, not increase them.
     
  6. veronicasmommi

    veronicasmommi New Member

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    Its basic economics, cost of living goes up for everyone, not a select few, I would be very surprised if other landscaping companies do not raise their cost each year. And I do pay someone to do my lawn service, through my hoa. I don't feel it should be cancelled because some did not figure a cost increase each year as the cost of everything else in the country goes up.
     
  7. Pats_fan

    Pats_fan Former Resident

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    Those who would force this service on others are just plain selfish. Just because you have no problem paying these increased costs doesn't mean that others, including maybe your next door neighbor, won't be hurt financially by these runaway cost increases. And we're not talking minor increases. These are consecutive 25% annual cost increases. That's what happens in a monopoly, people.

    Courtyard homeowners are hurting themselves with these mandatory fees. Think about it. If you are trying to sell your house, and you have a buyer considering your $700k home and a similar $700k home somewhere else in Ashburn, for example, which one will they choose? In order to choose yours, they:
    1. Cannot enjoy doing their own lawn work, and must be willing to pay a premium to have someone do it for them.
    2. Either cannot use other TV services, like OTA or DirecTV, or must be willing to throw away money paying for two services (e.g., DirecTV and Openband).
    3. Must accept high speed internet at ultra-premium prices, even if they would be completely satisfied with dial-up, a cable modem, or DSL (all of which are cheaper than Openband).
    4. Either cannot use the internet or a cell phone for their local phone service (growing trends) or be willing to throw away money on two local phone services.

    Ask sasha j (who would never pay Openband for TV), brim/boomer/neilz/dwarflord/Mr. Linux (who seem to be happy to have a choice in their internet options), t8erman (who actually enjoys</u> doing his own lawn care) and others which house they would choose?

    When you force more and more services into the "mandatory" category, you narrow the pool of potential buyers for your house.

    Look, we are selling our house and moving to Atlanta (so you all won't have me to kick around anymore, unless I sign on from out-of-state). So I won't have to deal with the most dramatic after-effects of this decision. Let me tell you, however, that the market has slowed considerably in the last few months. Anyone notice how long the "For Sale" signs have been up on the houses on Ridgeway? We have possibly lost one buyer because of the high HOA fees. I honestly believe that if you keep letting these fees escalate without giving homeowners alternative choices, you will</u> hurt the market value of your homes.

    This issue won't effect me after the next month or so. But I hope that, for your sake, those of you who are too lazy/unwilling to hire a service on your own or to do your own lawn care will reconsider when you think about the potential impact on your home values.
     
  8. beahmer

    beahmer Member

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    I have to agree with Pats Fan - the more "mandatory" fees we have the more people will look elsewhere. Actually someone who doesn't care about having to do their yard themselves could buy on the cross street near me (a non-Courtyard home) and pay ~$50/month less in HOA related dues right now. That's before the cost increase that we're talking about. Let's assume (in a vacuum) that there are no more cost increases next year for anything but the yard service - now we're talking ~$75-85 more. For some (apparently not those that have these 20%+ increases factored in) this might make a big deal. Wait until the first realtor comes back and says "they went elsewhere for the cheaper HOA fee". Keep in mind mortgage lenders look at the HOA fees too when deciding how much someone can qualify for, therefore higher mandatory fees like Openband and the HOA fee will eliminate some folks.

    Of course maybe we are approaching this wrong. If you don't like to do anything that "wastes your time" maybe we should contract for snow shoveling, flower planting, all exterior maintenance, housecleaning, etc and make Courtyards the non-maintenance home in Broadlands - wait that's what a condo/apt is.....
     
  9. sasha_j

    sasha_j New Member

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    I feel honored to have been mentioned. And yes, I think you're right. Knowing what I know, personally, I would not buy into any home with a community mandated communications provider with a long term monopoly contract. And Pats_fan's point on phone (POTS) service within the overall context of the OB contract is well taken. A long term contract like this does not anticipate future user changes and requirements. More folks are ditching POTS in favor of piggybacking VOIP on their choice of IP connection. Or perhaps using their cell phone as a landline replacement. Those with a long term HOA contract will be paying for that POTS service for decades to come.

    Now back to your regularly scheduled lawn maintenance discussion...
     
  10. brim

    brim Member

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    For once I agree with you entirely. You start signing contracts with companies and raising all of these fees, you're asking for trouble. Once they have you in a monopolistic contract, what do they care? Sure, they're contractually bound to provide some level of quality service, but if they don't where are you going to go? It's bunk and caters to lazy, elitists that can't be bothered with humping a mower around thier postage stamp (comparitively speaking) sized yards once a week. I realize the SFH yards are bigger, but, come on...get out there and do it yourself. Get some exercise and fresh air, involve your children in it if it's quality time you value, meet some neighbors, and get it done the way that suits you rather than being stuck with some faceless robot's idea of what a good job is.

    I'm moving too, back home to Knoxville in two weeks. I will be singing on tho, I enjoy the insanity that this place breeds...I like to think I provide some sort of makeshift check/balance system around here. :)

    What neighborhood/area of Atlanta are you moving to?
     
  11. Pats_fan

    Pats_fan Former Resident

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    You agree with me entirely? I guess we are mellowing in our old age (or maybe it is because we are short-timers)...

    My new job is in downtown Atlanta (Mid-town), and we are probably going to live in the city proper. I currently commute 34 miles one way, and won't be doing that again! Good luck in Knoxville. Assuming we still have them, our debates on these forums won't have the same flair, since neither of us will be "locals" anymore. I wouldn't want us to become the AFGM/Barbara of the *.CHILD or *.HOUSEKEEPER threads! (No offense intended, AFGM and Barbara!)

    Now back to the lawn care discussion...
     
  12. brim

    brim Member

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    I got robbed in downtown Atlanta in 97 on my way to an AC/DC show at The Omni. In 99 I almost got assaulted by a 'street vendor' trying to sell me fake Mont Blanc pens out of his trench coat (I told him they were either fake or stolen and my Bic pen worked just as well...he didn't like that). Good luck! :)

    My commute is going the other way...2mi commute now goes to a 24mi commute back home, but the traffic is non-existant and it'll actually be nice to drive a little (70mph limit on the interstate there). I'm sure you know, but Atlanta has some of the worst traffic in the country, but it sounds like you won't have to deal with much of it.
     
  13. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    A point I wish to stress is that the lawn maintenance came as a package deal to Courtyard homes. However if it is discontinued homeowners cannot get the same all-inclusive package at the extremely reasonable rates which are now being offered...and even with the proposed $20/mo increase, this is still way way below the price if one has to pay individually.

    Right now we pay $35 per month and the suggested increase in 2006 will be $54 per month. To start a similar service now as an individual homeowner will cost in excess of $200 per month.

    This is another factor which needs to be taken into consideration before making decisions which cannot be retracted.

    Bottom line, if this issue is important enough to you, be at the meeting on 7 June to express your views.
     
  14. brim

    brim Member

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    I think you're missing the whole 'do it yourself' point. Sure it may be higher if you decide to continue using a lawn service, but you've failed to compare this with the cost if you do it yourself...plus all the other benefits of doing it yourself. You're assuming everyone is going to want to continue having someone else do it for them (which may not be that far out of line, considering the throw-money-at-it-and-it'll-go-away attitude of a lot of people in this area).
     
  15. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    In response to Brim, the point of 'do it yourself' is not being missed. However, we are among those with a valid reason that we cannot "do it ourself." Hence, a primary reason we chose Courtyard when we bought our home was the inclusion of lawn maintenance service. I do hope that at the upcoming options will be presented to find various scenarios that can be palatable to all those homeowners within a Courtyard home.
     
  16. T8erman

    T8erman Well-Known Member

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    "palatable to all those homeowners" Carol, you make me laugh! :D

    Carol, I am with you on finding some middle ground. Yes, when we purchased we were well aware of the lawn maintenance contract. But unlike the Openband contract, we were told that is was mostly a year-to-year basis.
    I think the price we currently pay for the services we receive are just fine and I do not mind paying a FAIR increase. But it is the significant price increase that has me worried. Depending on the $20-30 a month increase per household (I guessed 90 for SW) it will be an overall increase from $21K to $32K increase. Will future increases be the same?

    As Pats stated, our combined HOA fees are going to be a real hinderance in the re-sale world. People mostly like to have choices too.

    If prices do jump as high as they are likely to, I for one will hold HLS to higher standards and voice my concerns if not met. We already have an Openband committee, will we need an HLS committee too? Wait, we already have one as of the 7th! :)
     
  17. Carol Al-Ajroush

    Carol Al-Ajroush New Member

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    At least I'm good for something....[8D]


     
  18. Thu

    Thu New Member

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    I too bought a house in the courtyard sfh's. I absolutely hate doing yardwork and was happy to find a place that had it included in the HOA fee. I looked at houses in Lansdowne and altho maintenance is not included the HOA fees are high, but amenities are top notch. This was a factor in choosing not to live in Lansdowne. Now if ur charging Lansdowne Prices lets get out damn olympic pool and workout facilty...

    I dont like high HOA's , its already high enuf. IT will hurt resale in my opinion. Not to mention courtyard homes most dont have basements, another hit to the resale time. Lets not make it worse. I'm for a compromise, i'll pony up for a hike in lawn maintenace bc at least its negotiated yearly. And maybe we can back out later. But openband needs to go down in return. Two different things but i work for a telecom and most prices go down year to year for services, and this is bulls***when Openband has a 30 yr contract. yeah we all signed up for it. But when u try to sell your house later, u could regret it.
     
  19. neilz

    neilz New Member

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    Actually ... you have the entire set of homeowner board members who watch HLS ... we are on your side ...

    Neil Z.
    Resident since 1999
     
  20. neilz

    neilz New Member

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    The Openband contract has nothing to do with the lawn maintenance contract. There can be no reciprocity here.

    The Lawn Maintenance contract is negotiated by the Broadlands HOA, the Openband contract was setup by the developer, and the Broadlands HOA has no input into it.

    The Southern Walk HOA may have some clout with Openband, but how much remains to be seen.



    Neil Z.
    Resident since 1999
     

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