Holiday Decorations: Tips To Keep Compliant With Your New Homeowners Association

Posted on: 29 November 2015

If you recently moved to a community regulated by a homeowners' association, you must abide by certain guidelines and rules in order to stay compliant with the association. One of the things you should consider is how you plan to decorate your home and property during the holidays. A number of homeowners' associations expect its members to be courteous to their neighbors by not installing bright lights on their properties. Before you go all out this holiday season, here are things you may wish to do instead to avoid violating your homeowners' association's guidelines.

Keep It Simple

Although the holiday season is a festive time for many families in the United States, a homeowners' association may place limitations on how you install your outdoor lighting. There's a reason for this. 

A number of homeowners place excessively bright seasonal lights on their properties as a way to celebrate the holidays. However, the lights can become problems for other members of the neighborhood if the shining lights invade their homes and keep them up at night or cause health problems. Excessive lighting can also cause health problems in people who suffer from seizures, migraines and other complications. Your homeowners' association may wish to avoid these issues by limiting how much lighting you can use during the holidays.

You may want to keep it simple by using warm white or colored lighting instead of bright LED lighting this season. Warm lighting gives off a soft glow that doesn't produce excessive glares at night. However, warm lighting may place a strain on your utility expenses because they use more energy to burn. It's a good idea that you turn on your lights for a few hours each night to save energy in your home.

If you still have concerns about what types of seasonal lighting to use, contact your homeowners' association directly.

Consult With the Association

One of the things you don't want to do is rely on your neighbors for answers, because they may have their own issues and concerns about the holidays. It's safer and better that you ask the association to come out to your home and discuss the issue in person. In addition, the association may direct you to a store that sells the seasonal lighting and decorations you can use on your property without violating its guidelines. 

Also, keep in mind that the association may have rules on how long you can burn your seasonal lights during the holidays. For example, the association may expect you to turn off your lights and decorations around 9 p.m. each night out of respect for your neighbors. If you don't follow the guidelines, you may incur membership fines.

For more information about holiday lighting and decorations, contact an HOA like Cornerstone Properties Inc

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