Well, just closed on the sale of our last house (investment property) in Virginia. We put the house on the market a few weeks ago. Had an open house on a Saturday and got seven offers - two above list price - by the following Monday. I expect that will be my last visit to the DC area for quite some time.
I'm not sure how much you guys enjoy dealing with an aggressive HOA, but I just love it! One of the requirements of the sale was to transfer HOA documentation to the new owner. At a cost of $325! After I heard what the charge would be, I told the HOA chieftain that I understand that there is a cost for 40 sheets of paper and having someone push the "print" button, but where does the other $324 go?
Then last week I got notified that we were behind on the HOA dues and that the fence in the backyard was non-compliant. We would have to remedy both (paying a fee for the fence would be acceptable) before selling the house. I informed the guy that we were paid up on our dues and asked why he didn't have his records updated? I also informed him that we've owned the house for about 14 years, and we had never been informed that the fence was non-compliant. More importantly, the fence is not ours; it belongs to our neighbor. Funny how the HOA gestapo would miss badly on these two issues. I told the guy to pound sand.
After talking to some of our friends/neighbors, they confirmed my suspicion: this is SOP for the HOA. They make up some transgressions knowing that the sellers will often stroke a check to make an issue go away so they can get the house sold. One wonders, if the HOA collects dues to cover their enumerated services, why do they need to extort more money from their exiting citizens? What are the extra denarii for? Even the smallest, most quasi of governmental entities suck.