THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, February 17, 1996 TAG: 9602160412
SECTION: REAL ESTATE WEEKLY PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JEANNE MOONEY, SPECIAL TO REAL ESTATE WEEKLY
LENGTH: Long : 134 lines
Imagine living in a neighborhood where, for less than $250 a year, you have full use of a members-only pool, clubhouse, playground, tennis courts and nature trails.
The neighborhood is clean and landscaped, laced with open greens that are professionally tended.
The homes and yards are uniform. The architectural styles, paint colors and fencing hold to a master design and don't clash. Furthermore, residents must abide by rules that prohibit them from, say, running an auto body shop out of their garage, or painting their home purple, or raising livestock in the yard.
And the neighborhood is democratically run. As a homeowner, you have a say about what goes on within your community, whether its about prohibiting satellite dishes or allowing flower gardens. You also vote to elect a governing board of directors. Or serve on the board yourself.
If you can picture such a neighborhood, then you can begin to understand how at least 32 million people nationwide - roughly one in eight Americans - live. They do so as members of a community association, a legal entity that offers its residents amenities they otherwise might not be able to afford.
What's that you say? You've never heard of community associations? Well, they are here in Hampton Roads in neighborhoods of every stripe and they are more prevalent than you might think.
River Walk on the Elizabeth, a mix of nearly 1,000 condominiums, townhomes, moderate and exclusive single-family homes in Chesapeake, is a community association. The development - one survey picked it in 1992 as one of the top 99 places to live nationwide - also has a city recreation center and a 40-unit assisted living residence run by Chesapeake General Hospital for older adults within its 450 acres.
In Virginia Beach, the Green Run Homes Association and its 4,800 condos, townhouses, apartments and single-family dwellings also is a community association. With 15,000 people, three elementary schools, a high school and 34 diverse neighborhoods, it is one of Virginia's largest community associations. And it is probably the oldest in the state.
In Virginia Beach alone, an estimated one in four people live in community associations, says G. Robert Kirkland, a columnist for Real Estate Weekly, consultant and professional community association manager.
Very few people realize how popular community associations are, Kirkland says.
Financially, they are not to be trifled with. Nationwide, community associations spend $17 billion a year to maintain or improve their neighborhoods, be it to mow lawns, build bathhouses or fix commonly owned property, Kirkland says.
On average, an average community association controls an annual budget of about $350,000, Kirkland says. The Green Run Homes Association easily tops that sum with a budget of about $725,000. Almost one-third of its budget is poured into youth recreation programs, says Mike Sprangers, executive director of Green Run association.
Green Run's budget is generated by its members, all of whom are homeowners. They pay $164 in dues annually. In exchange, the association provides and maintains four pools, 15 playgrounds, four double sets of tennis courts, a clubhouse and an athletic complex.
Ask Priscilla Beede why she has lived in Green Run for 21 years and she may tell you about the friends she has made there, the Fourth of July parades she used to organize and the development's amenities.
``We have a lot of activities for children,'' says Beede, who is association president. Among the activities are football, cheerleading, swimming and basketball programs. Green Run fields 19 basketball teams alone. League play begins at 7:30 on Saturday mornings and runs until 5 p.m.
``We could have had more (teams), but we ran out of coaches and places to play,'' says Sprangers.
At River Walk, residents pay $228 in dues annually. The money helps maintain the community's natural setting, its well-appointed clubhouse, Olympic-size swimming pool, lighted tennis courts, nature trails, playground, boat ramp and gazebo.
Jim Brock bought into River Walk because he thought it was an attractive wooded community within easy reach of Norfolk. He also wanted to make a wise investment.
``We felt, because of the association, (the home) would not only maintain value, it would appreciate,'' says Brock, who is president of the River Walk Community Association Inc.
Property values are appreciating, assures Kathleen Shelton, an associate broker with Rose & Krueth Realty and a resident of River Walk.
On a tour of River Walk, Shelton drives past copper-topped brick pillars inset with marble slabs that bear the name of each residential village within the development. She points out a single-family home that was purchased for $199,000 and sold for $239,000 about 18 months later.
``I feel it's a tremendous investment,'' Shelton says of River Walk. She says she's never known anyone to lose money when selling a home there, not even when real estate sales slowed regionally.
If community associations have a shared mission, it is to maintain the properties they serve and help their values appreciate.
``The ultimate goal is to protect, preserve and enhance property values,'' says Laura Wenslaff, president-elect of the Southeastern Virginia chapter of the Community Associations Institute, a national, not-for-profit group that serves condominium, co-op and homeowner associations.
And that goal is a reason why community associations set out rules, or covenants, for their residents.
The rules are not taken lightly. For instance, state law requires that anyone who signs a contract to purchase a home in a community association be given a disclosure packet that contains a copy of the association's rules.
The home buyer then has three days to cancel the contract and walk away from the deal.
State law also gives the board of directors of a community association authority to make rules for its residents.
And if residents do not heed them, a board can levy fines not exceeding $50 for a single offense or $10 a day for an ongoing offense.
``If you buy into a community association, you need to realize you're going to have rules that must be lived up to,'' says Michael A. Inman, a Virginia Beach-based lawyer who represents community associations and co-author with Kirkland of the ``Common Ground'' column in this publication. ILLUSTRATION: Color photos by Richard L. Dunston\The Virginian-Pilot
The boat ramp and gazebo are among the many amenities to the 1,000
households in River Walk in Chesapeake.
River Walk homes range from condos to houses to assisted living
residences.
Color photos by Jim Walker
[Kids playing basketball, color cover photo]
Coach Alton McCain discusses hoop strategy with his Green Run team.
Staff photo by RICHARD L. DUNSTON
The River Club in the River Walk community in Chesapeake is
supported by the residents.
Staff photo by JIM WALKER
Coach Laura Patterson peps up her team during a recent Saturday
basketball game sponsored by the Green Run Homes Association.
by CNB