For people who live in urban or suburban townhome developments where the houses are very much alike and the color scheme for front doors and trim has been professionally designed by the builder, it can be a plus to have the HOA prevent some loon right next door from painting neon pink with yellow polka dots where everyone else has muted earth tones of gray, green, sepia and cranberry, for instance. An HOA can also keep people from operating illegal businesses such as 8 or 10 kids in an unlicensed home day care with all their parents double-parking to pick them up and preventing the actual dues-paying owners from parking in their assigned space to unload groceries, for another example.
As an earlier post noted, it all depends on whether your Board is full of reasonable people or power maniacs; and also how close the homes are together and the availability of parking. People need to check up on the relative benefits according to the features of where they are considering buying in. And if they choose to live in an HOA, one of the best ways to control their individual situation is always to show up for the HOA meetings and volunteer for a few things. This is how to gain some influence.
1. Wants some advantages of home ownership without all the responsibility of maintaining exterior areas.
2. Is flexible enough that he/she can move to another home while keeping the HOA home as a rental property.
3. Is willing to walk away from the property and have it seized by a bank and/or HOA in foreclosure if/when the place is allowed to fall into a state of disrepair.
In other words, an HOA is fine ... but don't ever pay an amount for a home in an HOA that is comparable to an amount that you'd pay for a similar home outside an HOA.