What Does the HOA Actually Control in a Las Vegas Master-Planned Community?

A lot of the valley is master-planned. Summerlin, Anthem, Southern Highlands, Inspirada, Cadence, most of the newer parts of Henderson. If you buy in one, you are buying two things: a house, and a set of rules about that house.

People who move here from places without associations are often surprised by the second part. Not by the dues, which they expected, but by what the rules reach. So here is what an HOA in this valley typically controls, how to find out before you buy, and how I would think about it.

This is the big one. The association usually controls what the house looks like from the street.

That means exterior paint colors, from an approved list. Roof materials. Fences and gates. Front yard landscaping, including what you can plant and whether you can convert grass to desert landscaping without approval. Solar panels, which are protected by state law but still go through an approval process. Basketball hoops, flagpoles, holiday lights and how long they can stay up.

Want to paint the front door red? Check the list. Want to put in artificial turf? There is probably an application for that. Most of these are approved without drama. The point is that you ask first.

Nearly every valley HOA has rules about where vehicles go. Street parking overnight is often restricted or banned. Boats, RVs, trailers and work trucks usually cannot be parked in the driveway, sometimes not even for a night. Garages are meant to hold cars, and some communities say so in writing.

If you own an RV or a work truck with a rack, this is the first section to read, not the last.

Some communities restrict short-term rentals outright. Some require a minimum lease term. Some cap the number of homes that can be rented at once. If you are buying a house you might one day lease out, or a house you plan to leave for a few years and come back to, know the rental rules before you write the offer.

The association generally does not control the inside of your house. Kitchens, floors, paint, finishes are yours. The exceptions are things that affect neighbors or the structure: window coverings visible from the street in some communities, noise, and anything that changes the exterior, like adding a window.

In the bigger master-planned communities you may have two associations. The master runs the parks, trails and common areas for the whole community. A sub-association runs your specific neighborhood, sometimes with its own gate, pool and rules. Two associations mean two sets of dues, two sets of rules, and two resale packages. It is normal here. It is just something to budget and read for.

Nevada requires the seller to provide the buyer with a resale package from the association. It includes the CC&Rs, the rules, the current dues, the budget, the reserve study, and any pending assessments or violations on the property. You get a short window after receiving it to cancel the purchase if you do not like what you read.

Read it. All of it. I know it is long. The three parts that matter most are the rules section, the financials, and the reserve study, which tells you whether the association has saved enough to replace the roads and the pool when the time comes. An association with thin reserves is an association that will assess its owners later.

An HOA is not good or bad. It is a fit question.

Communities with strong rules keep their look, and that protects your resale. Communities with light rules give you more freedom and a wider range of what your neighbors do with their front yards. Neither is wrong. What is wrong is buying into one without knowing which it is.

So before you fall for a house, I want two things in your hands: the dues for that specific community, and the rules section of the CC&Rs. Ten minutes with those tells you more about whether you will be happy there than any tour.

Call 702-881-6562 or email JArendt658@gmail.com. Tell me which communities you are looking at and how you actually live: the cars, the pets, the RV, whether you might rent the house someday. I will tell you which associations fit that and which will fight you every month, before you are attached to a floor plan.

John Arendt has sold homes across the Las Vegas valley for 20 years, in Henderson, Summerlin, Southern Highlands, Anthem, Boulder City and North Las Vegas.

This article is general information. Every association has its own documents, and those documents govern. Read the resale package for any home you are buying.