So you live in a wonderful single family home in Eagan, MN and you are very comfortable in your house, however that white stuff is continuing to pile up on your drive.  So, many people who find themselves being empty nesters in a larger family home with a large drive, sidewalk, deck or patio and during the recent snowfall, have noticed that there is a lot of snow this particular year.  It dropped another foot of snow over the past couple of days.

As a REALTOR in the Eagan area, I hear the comment all the time that like minded empty nesters  would like to down size and move into a town home where they don’t have to worry about the snow/lawn care anymore.  Or maybe you are worried  about your parents who are aging and possibly you feel it would be good to move them to a place where they do not need the chores of shoveling snow, mowing lawn, raking leaves, etc etc.   So maybe we should sell that home, and buy a town home where the snow/lawn care is taking care of for the residents of those properties.

In Eagan, MN and the surrounding area there are many Common Interest Communities – CIC that operate through a mandatory home owner’s association (HOA).  The residents pay a monthly fee to the HOA and that association board, which is made up of your fellow residents, may or may not elect to have professional management company that make decisions concerning the details of providing for several home ownership chores such as snow/lawn care, building exterior maintenance, hazard insurance, common areas of the community, etc. etc.  With each individual HOA there are different sets of rules and bylaws that are set up when the HOA is Incorporated, and as amended by HOA as time passes.

Just a bit a information about purchasing a property that has a mandatory HOA and then we will return to the problem of removing the snow.  Those homes that are subject to the Minnesota Common Interest Act (MCIOA) are required by MN Statue to provide disclosure to a buyer of the rules and regulations that govern the HOA.  If you are interested in purchasing a town home, condominium, planned community your real estate professional helping you with that purchase should explain these requirements to you in detail.  I always make it a point to use the snow removal as an example of how different those rules and regulations can be from one HOA to the next.  The rules and regulations should state when snow/lawn care will be handled.  Contact me if you need further info concerning the MN Statues concerning town homes, condos, having a mandatory HOA.

Many of my buyers are surprised that those rules that govern snow/lawn care can be so widely varied.  I have found snow removal rules that say the snow removal will be provided if there is more than 1/4″ of snowfall and others that state there will not be any snow removal unless there is more than 1″ of snowfall reported in the past 24 hours.  The typical rules about snow removal is usually around 1/2″ of snowfall will trigger the snow removal from the properties.   Could it be that you could have 1/2″ of snowfall yesterday, and another 1/2″ today and that will not trigger snow removal?  Yes, that can be the case.  Another detail of the snow removal that we find is that snow removal is limited to driveways and walkways.  The HOA does not provide for snow removal from decks or patios.  So you need to read those rules with care and understand their implications.

So what happens after you have made an offer to purchase a town home, and find that the rules governing snow/lawn care is NOT to your approval?  What happens then?  In a nut shell, the buyer will have a 10 day period to review those rules and regulations and make a decision for themselves concerning the details of the snow removal rules.  If before that 10 days have passed the buyer decides they cannot accept those rules or regulations, they can cancel the purchase agreement contract and receive their earnest money returned without any liability to the seller.  The buyer is not able to change those rules as a condition of an offer to purchase the property because that is in the hands of the HOA governing body.

Just contact me and I will be happy to help you locate a home for sale in the Eagan area that has snow/lawn care details already set up by their HOA.  And when you do receive the documents required by MN State Statutes as a buyer,  take some time in reviewing them and understanding the details of those covered services.   A good real estate professional should be able to help you with those kinds of details, but in any case you should consult with professional legal help if you need a concrete definition of those rules and regulations.

Well, I need to get out and move some of this snow.  It looks like it might actually be ending soon.   Have fun shoveling!!

Tags: Eagan Minnesota, Eagan townhomes, HOA, snow/lawn care