Almost every neighborhood in Lehi has a homeowners association. For most buyers, the HOA conversation goes something like this: the agent mentions a monthly fee, the buyer nods, and everyone moves on. The details get glossed over — until after closing, when someone gets a violation notice for the gravel in their front yard, finds out they owe a reinvestment fee they didn't budget for, or discovers their landscaping had a completion deadline they blew right through.
This post is the conversation I wish every Lehi buyer had before they went under contract. Not to scare you off — most HOAs here are well-run and protect property values in real, meaningful ways. But the specifics matter a lot, and they vary significantly from one community to the next. Holbrook Farms, Inverness, Beacon Pointe, Morning Vista, Eagle Summit, Ivory Ridge Parkside — they're all in Lehi, and they all operate differently.
A real Lehi story that every buyer should hear
Before we get into the details, this one is worth knowing.
A Lehi homeowner in Holbrook Farms installed a xeriscape front yard — water-wise plants surrounded by decorative river rocks and gravel. He was trying to do the right thing environmentally, heeding Utah's well-publicized water conservation message. His HOA told him he'd likely have to rip it out.
KSL covered the story in 2022 and it got significant attention — in part because it happened right as the Utah Legislature was passing new laws protecting homeowners' rights to install water-wise landscaping. Under Utah law today, HOAs cannot prohibit water-wise landscaping on a single-family lot. But the Holbrook Farms story is a good illustration of how real, how personal, and how expensive HOA conflicts can get — and how much easier it is to know the rules before you buy than to fight them after.
Holbrook Farms is a well-regarded master-planned community in northern Lehi with active HOA management, a lifestyle calendar, and strong architectural standards. It's also an HOA that enforces its rules. Know that going in.
Wait — are there two HOAs?
In many Lehi communities, yes — and this surprises buyers more than almost anything else.
Newer master-planned developments like Holbrook Farms, Inverness, and Beacon Pointe typically have both a master HOA and a sub-association (neighborhood or community HOA). The master covers the development-wide amenities, common areas, and overarching rules. The sub-association covers your specific neighborhood within that master plan — with its own fees, its own amenities, and sometimes its own additional layer of rules.
You pay both. And the combined total can be meaningfully higher than the single fee number you hear from a builder rep or listing agent.
Holbrook Farms, for example, is a master-planned community with a Master Association managed through a third-party community management company. Assessments are due quarterly. If your home falls within a neighborhood inside that master plan that has its own sub-HOA, you'll be paying both. Always ask: How many HOAs does this property belong to, and what are the fees for each?
What is a reinvestment fee — and do you owe one?
A reinvestment fee is a one-time charge collected by the HOA when a home changes hands. It's due at closing — paid by the buyer, the seller, or negotiated between them — and it goes into the HOA's reserve or general fund to benefit the community.
Not every Lehi HOA charges one, but many do. On a $595,000 home (right at Lehi's May 2026 median), even a modest ½% reinvestment fee adds nearly $3,000 to your closing costs on top of everything else. Buyers who don't know about it in advance get caught off-guard at the title company.
Under Utah's 2025 HOA legislation (House Bill 217, effective May 2025), reinvestment fees must now be authorized in the CC&Rs and approved by a majority of homeowners. Late assessment fees are also now capped at 10% of the unpaid amount or $50 — whichever is greater — plus 1.5% monthly interest. These are real consumer protections that didn't exist before.
But the key point for buyers: ask about reinvestment and transfer fees before you go under contract, not at the closing table when it's too late to renegotiate.
Has the HOA fee gone up? How often?
Lehi is one of Utah County's most established and fastest-growing cities simultaneously — a combination that puts real pressure on HOA budgets. Insurance costs, management company fees, landscaping contracts, and maintenance costs have all risen significantly over the past several years. Those increases flow through to homeowner assessments.
The question to ask isn't just "what is the fee right now?" — it's "what has it been over the past three to five years, and what does the current reserve fund study show?"
A healthy HOA reserve fund means the association has been systematically saving for future capital expenses — resurfacing parking areas, replacing pool equipment, maintaining entry monuments, repairing common area infrastructure. An HOA that has been spending down its reserves without replenishing them is a yellow flag that often precedes a special assessment — a one-time charge to all homeowners when the HOA needs money the reserves can't cover. These can arrive with little warning and range from a few hundred to several thousand dollars per household.
When you receive the HOA document package during your due diligence period, pay attention to the financials and the reserve fund analysis — not just the rules.
The questions that actually matter — and that most buyers never ask
Can you park your boat or RV in the driveway?
Lehi has a lot of outdoor families — boats, trailers, ATVs, campers. And Lehi HOAs have a wide range of rules about where these can be stored. Some communities prohibit all recreational vehicle parking in driveways or on the street. Others allow it for short loading windows but not long-term storage. A few are more permissive.
If you own any kind of recreational vehicle, look up the CC&Rs before you fall in love with a house. This is not a detail to negotiate after closing.
Can you park on the street overnight?
In most Lehi HOA communities, overnight street parking is restricted or prohibited. This is consistently one of the most enforced categories of HOA rules in newer Lehi neighborhoods. If you have a large family, teenagers who drive, or guests who visit regularly, ask specifically about overnight street parking rules before you commit.
Can you park your work truck or commercial van in the driveway?
This catches a meaningful number of Lehi buyers off guard — particularly the contractors, tradespeople, and self-employed business owners who make up a real part of this community. Many Lehi HOAs restrict or prohibit parking commercial vehicles, company-lettered vans, or work trucks in visible driveway or street locations. Some CC&Rs define "commercial vehicle" broadly.
If you bring a work vehicle home every day, read the CC&Rs carefully. Ask the question directly. Don't assume.
Can you change the color of your house or front door?
Almost certainly not without prior approval. Every established Lehi HOA has an Architectural Review Committee (ARC) or equivalent process. Exterior changes — paint color, front door color, added landscaping, fencing, sheds, solar panels, additions — typically require written approval before you act.
Holbrook Farms states this explicitly: "Approval is required for landscaping and any exterior or architectural changes." That's standard for Lehi's newer master-planned communities. Submit first. Act second. Unauthorized changes can result in mandatory reversal at the homeowner's expense.
Is there a deadline to complete your landscaping?
Yes — in virtually every new construction community in Lehi, there is a hard deadline for front yard landscaping completion. This surprises new-build buyers more than almost anything else.
You close on your home, move in, and somewhere in the CC&Rs is a window — commonly 90 to 180 days — to install front yard landscaping that meets the HOA's standards. Miss it and you face fines. The back yard often has more flexibility, but the front is typically enforced.
And here's a Lehi-specific wrinkle worth knowing: what counts as compliant landscaping is not always obvious. As the Holbrook Farms xeriscape story shows, even well-intentioned, environmentally responsible landscaping choices can run afoul of HOA standards if they don't match the community's approved aesthetics. Ask for the HOA's landscaping guidelines and approved materials list before you close — not after you've already hired a landscaping crew.
Note: Utah law now protects homeowners' right to install water-wise landscaping on single-family lots, and HOAs cannot prohibit it. But they may still have requirements about how it looks, what materials are used, and how it's arranged. When in doubt, get ARC approval before you plant anything.
What about xeriscape, gravel, and water-wise landscaping specifically?
This deserves its own mention given what happened in Holbrook Farms. Utah state law (updated in 2022) prohibits HOAs from banning water-wise landscaping on single-family lots. So your HOA cannot outright refuse to let you xeriscape your front yard. However, they can still have aesthetic standards about what it looks like — approved plant lists, gravel types, coverage ratios, and design guidelines.
The practical takeaway: you have more rights than you did a few years ago, but "you can do it" doesn't mean "you can do it however you want." Get the HOA's landscaping guidelines and get ARC approval for your plan before you start work.
What amenities does the HOA actually cover?
This varies significantly across Lehi communities — which is why comparing HOA fees without understanding what they cover is meaningless.
Holbrook Farms is one of Lehi's most organized and amenity-rich master communities, with a lifestyle calendar, neighborhood advisory committees, and architectural standards that actively protect property values. Their management office is local (4350 W 2360 N, Lehi) with regular office hours, which means enforcement is real and responsiveness is generally good.
Beacon Pointe is an architecturally controlled neighborhood with a pool, pickleball courts, parks, and walking trails — with four builders simultaneously constructing homes. The HOA here is integral to the community's identity, not just a maintenance function.
Inverness by D.R. Horton and communities like Morning Vista, Eagle Summit, and Ivory Ridge Parkside each have their own HOA structures with varying levels of amenities and enforcement cultures.
A $50/month HOA in a neighborhood with no pool and a single playground entry monument is a very different value proposition than a $150/month fee in a community with a clubhouse, pool, and active lifestyle programming. The question to ask for any community: What specifically does my HOA fee cover, and what will I actually use?
The best research tool no one tells you about
Find the neighborhood's Facebook group and read it.
Every established Lehi community has a Facebook group or Nextdoor page where homeowners talk about everything — HOA enforcement notices, fee increase discussions, special assessment announcements, landscaping disputes, parking complaints, and board election news. It is unfiltered and often more honest than anything the HOA's official website will tell you.
Search the community name plus "Lehi" on Facebook. Join the group. Scroll back six months. You'll get a real sense of what day-to-day life looks like in that neighborhood and whether residents feel well-served by their HOA or consistently frustrated by it. The collective experience of current homeowners is information you simply cannot get from any official document.
What to actually do during your due diligence period
When you go under contract on a Lehi home, you'll receive an HOA document package — CC&Rs, bylaws, rules and regulations, annual budget, reserve fund study, and recent meeting minutes. You have a limited window to review them before your right to cancel may expire. Most buyers skim these or skip them entirely.
Don't.
Specifically look for:
- The complete fee schedule — master HOA fee plus any sub-association fees
- The reinvestment or transfer fee — what it is, who pays it, and when
- Fee history — has it gone up? By how much, and how often?
- Reserve fund health — is the HOA adequately funded for future maintenance?
- Special assessments — has the HOA levied any recently, or is one being discussed in meeting minutes?
- Parking rules — boats, RVs, commercial vehicles, overnight street parking
- Exterior modification and landscaping approval requirements
- Landscaping completion deadlines and approved materials for new construction
- Whether there is a master HOA in addition to the community HOA
"The HOA documents are the most important paperwork you'll receive and the ones buyers spend the least time reading. That's backwards."
Utah also now has an Office of the Homeowners' Association Ombudsman, created by House Bill 217 in 2025, which can issue advisory opinions if you have questions or disputes about HOA compliance. Most buyers don't know it exists.
The HOA is part of what you're buying. Understanding it before you close is how you avoid the situation where you're pulling out perfectly good gravel because your HOA didn't approve it.