[cuban leaf]

Yeah, I get that. But I just don’t see it as “owning real estate”. Even when I lived in the Seattle area and had a dumpy 3 bedroom rambler on 8,000 sq ft, it was MY 8,000 sq ft lot. I could pretty much do what I wanted on it, outside the laws governing everyone in the area.

BTW, those laws are one of the reasons I left the area for rural Kentucky. Much more freedom with your property here. In fact, I LEGALLY built a 30x60 shop/mancave with no building permit. It’s heated with a wood stove, BTW.

I consider living in a condo, or in a neighborhood governed by an HOA to be too much like living in the old USSR. And since, unlike the citizens of that place, I have the right to not do it or move away...I did.

[Alberta's Child]

All good points. Personally, I never believed it even made sense to own my home until I was running a business out of it.

I happen to live in an HOA whose only purpose is to maintain the storm drainage system and surrounding common area, pay the taxes on that property, and prevent homeowners from letting the neighborhood look like the suburban ghetto half a mile away. My HOA fees are about $100 ... a YEAR.