BLOG: Mitch Wilson, Austin TX Web & Multimedia Developer – Austin, TX

Sendera Homeowners Association

As a member and resident for many years in this South Austin neighborhood, I'll tell you about Sendera Homeowners Association. The first thing I'll say is: don't move here. I live here and regret it. This place is so impersonal and the homeowners association for some reason doesn't actually care about the masses of members they have. That's the problem. It's too big. You're just a number here. All but one of my neighbors has moved, and all the HOA cares about is that everyone is mowing their lawns on time. LOL. Sad. Truly, amazingly sad. At least in my case, they just send me occassional fines because a weed grew in my yard. I swear, I just get a letter and a fine with expectation of a check. Do they actually try to resolve the lawn maintenance issue? No. Just pay them and they go away. Funny. Where is the property management in that, Goodwin Management, Inc.? These people have no idea about service or respect for a client. Just because I violated some maintenance issue doesn't mean I'm not an association member. I deserve some respect. Some schmoe at Goodwin just takes creepy, stalker-like photos of my house/lawn (kind of creepy, really, like I'm being stalked), followed by a "courtesy violation notice" then a bill. Wow. I feel real welcome here. Constantly having my lawn maintenance monitored. Who cares that Austin is a great place to live and there are things to do, in life, no one cares that there is a weed in my yard. At least no one with a life.

I went to a Sendera Homeowners Association meeting once. I'm about to go another one, though I truly would almost rather get a root canal. At least I like my dentist. I don't like my homeowners association board. At least not the last one, the last time I went. No discussion about having a good time or being neighborly. Just a lot of complaints and arguing. Sad, sad people. No wonder people move out.

I'm sure most of them individually are nice, hardworking decent folk. They just turn into a mindless mob at little too quickly for my taste.