“If it hurts, it must be good for you”.  Remember that one?  Fortunately we got smart and realized that if it hurt it really was not good for us.  Along the same lines of thinking is the other oft repeated canard which is that homeowner associations protect property values.  “If your HOA makes you miserable and physically ill, is abusive, is grossly mismanaged, is secretive, etc. etc. etc., it is OK because it protects your property values.”  This makes about as much sense as “if it hurts, it’s good for you.”  Despite the fact that protected property values claim is totally unsubstantiated, we hear it over and over again.

Maybe it is time to get smart and to stop being so gullible.  Next time you are told HOAs protect property values, insist on tangible proof.  Preventing a neighbor from painting their front door red is not acceptable and it really doesn’t prove anything.

Joining us On The Commons this week is Jill Schweitzer.  Jill is a Real Estate Broker in Scottsdale, Arizona where there are a lot of mandatory membership HOAs and condominiums. She is concerned about all the problems in these kontrolled properties and has taken it upon herself to try to understand what is going on.  She actually put pen to paper and did the math.  She tracked and analyzed property values in 10 condo projects in Scottsdale over a period of 10 years.  Her findings are on her website hoasavers.com.  It might come as no surprise that contrary to protecting property values, HOAs can actually devalue property.  Tune in, we’ll talk to Jill about a myriad of problems that seem to be part and parcel of HOAs, find out why she decided to look into HOAs and what she is planning on doing to protect her clients’ property.