The 5 Most Common CC&Rs When You Buy a Home in Lakewood or Long Beach

When you buy a home for sale in Lakewood, Long Beach or another community in California, there’s a good chance that you’ll purchase in a community that has a homeowners association.

And homeowners associations have rules.

The 5 Most Common CC&Rs When You Buy a Home in Lakewood or Long Beach

These rules are called CC&Rs, which abbreviates covenants, conditions and restrictions. The most common CC&Rs involve:

• Colors for exterior house paint

• Landscaping standards

• Pets

• Noise regulations

• Types of window treatments allowed

The main purpose of an HOA is to preserve property values, so let’s take a closer look at how each of these common CC&Rs does that.

#1. Colors for exterior house paint

HOAs often restrict the colors you can use for exterior house paint. That’s typically because they don’t want one house dragging the property values down throughout the neighborhood. While that’s not fantastic news if your beautiful shade of blue gets turned down, it can be tremendously helpful when the guy across the street wants to paint his house like a green, fuchsia and orange tortoiseshell pattern.

#2. Landscaping standards

Your HOA will probably have minimum standards that your landscaping has to meet, such as grass not growing more than 8 inches high. They may also require you to pull weeds and ensure that you prune away dying tree branches and dead flowers from your landscaping.

#3. Pets

In many cases, HOAs dictate what types of pets you can have in the neighborhood. Sometimes HOAs ban certain dog breeds, or restrict the number of pets you’re allowed to have in your home. They’ll also require you to walk your pets in certain areas and typically provide regulations on picking up pet waste - both within the community and in your own backyard.

#4. Noise regulations

Nobody wants noisy neighbors, so HOAs often have noise restrictions in place. For example, your HOA may have a rule that says there’s no loud music permitted after 10 p.m.

#5. Types of window treatments allowed

Because HOAs have the goal of preserving property values, they often want homes in the neighborhood to look neat and somewhat similar. That may mean they place restrictions on the types of exterior-facing window treatments allowed (such as not hanging flags to cover the windows or using only drapes and blinds with white backs).

Are You Buying or Selling a Home in Lakewood or Long Beach?

If you’re buying or selling a home in Lakewood or Long Beach, we can help. Call us at 562-882-1581 to find out how!