By Yasmene Warren
Should or should you not buy a home under a Homeowners Association? Being a part of an HOA can have its ups and downs, but there are quite a few perks that make the membership all the more worth it. Here are nine HOA must-haves!
Read along or watch one of our past lives where we talk about our top neighborhood amenity must haves!
1. A Fitness Center
It’s a prime time for people to be more conscious of their health, but it’s not always convenient — or cost-effective — to squeeze a gym membership into your monthly budget.
Having an on-site fitness center in your community not only eliminates the costs of maintaining a gym membership, but it also encourages people to start being more active.
Encore at Reunion Resort | Fitness Center
Having an available fitness instructor at your community fitness center also makes being an HOA member more worthwhile. Your HOA should offer amenities that you shouldn’t have to seek outside resources for.
It’s much easier to start exercising from the comfort of your own community than it is to find a gym in town and get accustomed to its environment, making an on-site fitness center essential.
2. Outdoor Recreation
This goes hand-in-hand with people’s drive to stay in shape and monitor their health. Having access to outdoor recreation can do wonders for a person’s health — both physically and mentally.
Stoneybrook Hills in Mount Dora | Outdoor Tennis and Basketball Courts
An HOA with hiking and biking trails, sports complexes such as basketball or tennis courts, and swimming pools cannot be missed when it comes to home buying.
Celebration, just south of Orlando near Kissimmee, has communities home to over 20 miles of trails.
3. Child-Friendly Amenities
When you’re buying a new home, you’re not just buying for yourself — you’re buying for your family! As important as it is for an HOA to have amenities that suit your needs, it’s equally as important for there to be amenities available for your children as well.
Encore at Reunion Resort | Water Park
Look for communities that bring indoor and outdoor areas to play, game rooms to keep your kids entertained, water parks, and even on-site educational centers to promote learning and development both in and out of school.
The best part about having child-friendly spaces in your community is it promotes the development of friendship among kids. Sometimes, our neighbors are our first — and best — friends.
4. Pet-Friendly Amenities
Every HOA should have something for man’s best friend as well: our pets. 67% of households in the United States are home to pets, making the need for pet-friendly spaces a great one.
Essential pet-friendly amenities include an off-leash dog park, pet-friendly hiking trails, pet waste stations, pet daycares, and even on-site veterinary salons. Having spaces dedicated to these saves everyone from the trouble of waking up to a smelly pile of waste on their front lawn!
5. Village Center
Gone is the need to find places that embody a home away from home because now, communities are fulfilling the need for on-site village centers. Amenities are meant to make you never need to leave home, and with an on-site village center, you won’t have to!
Village centers can be home to small convenience stores, laundry services, and even coffee shops. How nice would it be to have all your weekend essentials minutes from your doorstep?
Orlando has a multitude of communities that are known for their village centers. Baldwin Park, Celebration, Reunion, and Bellalago are just a few communities around Central Florida that have great village centers.
6. Picnic Tables & Barbecue Areas
Not everybody can have a barbecue grill nestled in their backyard — and not everyone wants to be next to the neighbor who’s always grilling. Communities that have areas to barbecue with complimentary grills, and even picnic tables to dine at, provide excellent solutions to both of these problems.
Watermark in Winter Garden | Pavilion with Outdoor Tables and Grills
Spaces like these help sell the vibe of the community and also allow people to grow closer to their neighbors and get to know them better, making for an all-around close-knit environment to live in.
7. Co-Working Space & Great Connectivity
Remote work has been on the rise since the COVID-19 global pandemic, and HOA communities with on-site co-working and connectivity spaces have been thriving. This includes amenity centers with complimentary internet and computers for daily use, or small conference rooms or offices to rent for the day - which are becoming more commonplace for new communities!
Metropolitan at Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando | Open Work Space
On-site spaces such as these are great for business owners or working professionals in search of a temporary office space that isn’t the desk in their spare bedroom.
8. Environmentally Friendly Amenities
People are not only becoming more conscious of their own health, but also the planet’s. An HOA with on-site amenities that are friendly to the environment are definitely green flags to look for when home buying.
Green amenities can include recycling bins, compost bins, rainwater collectors, solar paneling, water-conserving sprinkler systems, and even a community garden for residents to grow their own produce. Having these readily available minutes from your own home is sure to entice any homebuyer.
9. Concierge Services
This is one amenity that is undoubtedly underrated: concierge services. When you’re traveling and staying at a hotel, one of the many things that helps you feel safe while being away from home is having concierge services — someone to man the front lines while you relish the safety of your comfortable accommodations.
Encore at Reunion Resort | Encore Club Front Desk
Similarly, an HOA with a front-desk attendant in the clubhouse is a luxury that shouldn’t go underlooked when home buying. Golden Oak and Celebration are two communities in the Orlando area that are known for having concierge services, assisting with everything from restaurant reservations to private transportation to the theme parks.
Overall
When buying a new home, you’re not just looking for what the house offers, you’re looking for what the house and the community it’s in can offer you! Many HOAs have benefits associated with them that keep residents happy and draw newcomers in, and in turn make those monthly fees worth the extra cost.
Need help finding a community with amenities that suit your needs? Let our team help you!
The Orlando Real is sponsored by The Pozek Group. If you’re thinking of buying or selling a home in Orlando, reach out and we would love to help!
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