I’ll never understand why anyone would move into a HOA community
I only have one friend who still lives in an HOA neighborhood and likes it-and he and his wife are the type who fit very well there-they cave to any authority figure, even if it will turn out baaaaad.
Our first house was in a neighborhood with an HOA, and my husband and I both hated it-we sold that house within 2 years, moved outside the city where there were no HOAs-and I’d still rather live on my own here where there are junk tractors and cars, livestock and predators than ever go back to a controlled/controlling environment like that...
Agreed.
It’s like voluntarily giving up one’s constitutional rights, and who would do something like tha...?
I’ve lived with both good and bad HOA’s. In the hands of responsible adults, they perform a useful function. Like having the guy remove the three abandoned cars from his front lawn.
The problems usually arise because those responsible adults have better things to do than actively participate in the association. When the sane neighbors won’t get involved, the kind of people who used to volunteer to be hall monitors leap at the chance, and those types routinely misuse authority to bolster their own flabby egos.
In the good HOA, we’d let those people blather on, “deciding” what “we” should do, then we just wouldn’t fund it. They tried several times to get control, we’d just vote ‘em down. Our best campaign tactic was to say, “do you really want to live in a place where whatshisname runs your life for you?”
I’d say, “don’t buy into a project with an HOA if you don’t want to be involved in running it”. First rule in running it is to limit its powers.
Although, I did once rent a house in an HOA-infested subdivision.
The president of the HOA was a petty little tyrant.
We did not hit it off very well.
He did not like to have his “authority” challenged.
I challenged his authority on a regular basis (ONLY in response to his ridiculous demands and complaints though)
It was a lot of fun for me.
Not so much for him.
When I moved away, he actually dropped by “to see me off” (translation: “to make sure that trouble-making bastard is really leaving”).
It keeps the riff raff out. You know, those nasty people who choose not to keep up their yards, put their dog outside on a leash and let it bark for a half hour till they finally bring it in, leave their broken down cars on the street until they either sell it or fix it.
I own a house in what's called a "detached condo" complex and see absolutely nothing wrong with our HOA......It is what it is I guess. You either like them or you don't.