My parents live in a small HOA (11 properties, currently 5 homes and 7 owners), and have done so for 15 years now. They generally haven't had any problems since move in.

They did however run into issues when they were designing and building the house. The house my parents wanted to build required that a utility easement that ran through the center of their lot be abandoned. This easement contained a single underground power line that was better located in the nearby utility easement on the edge of the property.

Two owners that combined owned 6 of the lots voted no since this would allow my parents to place their house 30 feet closer to their houses (which were otherwise 200 feet away). It was also a political move since their vote made my parent's narrow and hilly lot difficult to build any house on it at all. Apparently these two owners never wanted to see a house built there, but neither bothered to actually buy the lot to keep this from happening because they saw it as unbuildable..

But my parents prevailed and managed to perch a new house design on the steep topography of the remaining lot area. And I guess now that they are there, they have had no further issues from the neighbors or HOA.

As for me, we currently live in a city neighborhood with no HOA. As another poster said, you see things that would make many people cringe: on our street there is one owner with a wood sided house that was stripped years ago and never repainted, another who's landscaping and vines are devouring the house, and another who's roof must be 40 years old and recently patched a hole in the eaves with a plastic bag, duct tape, and spray foam insulation. But these are the exceptions. Most people are courteous and take very good care of their properties. And if things get too out of hand (like the previously mentioned properties), there is a code official who is always keeping check on the conditions of yards and structures.

My HOA dates back to the 1950s. It maintains a few parks and swimming pools and has some rules which are pretty much in accordance with city codes with a few extra things tacked on that aren't enforced unless someone makes a stink (and nobody does). Not a big deal.

One thing the HOA has managed to do is get the city to enforce the HOA's no tear-downs and no second stories rules which is great. No additions shading the neighbor's house. No McMansions getting stuffed in. No additions stuck over the garage like in un-HOAed neighborhoods. Gah, those are unsightly.

Oh, and I can cite the HOA when my kid really really wants a chicken. "Sorry son. Against the HOA rules." That's worth my $130/ year.

It depends... I suppose if one lives in a neighborhood where people don't all have the same taste, it could be a godsend - no lime house, no RV in the driveway or huge boat. But, they can become the fiefdom of some self-important directors of such. Can't paint your shutters any color but one, can't have a house the same color as the one next door...the list goes on and on.

I live in a subdivision that is also a 6th class city. The subdivision was started just before WWII, but most of the houses were built in around 1948 or so, and then some rebuilt after a terrible tornado hit in 1973. We have rules that limit parking and other things, noise, nuisance, pets etc, but it's very different from an HOA. It's a nice compromise- some protection without intrusiveness.

I never thought I'd want to live in an HOA either.

The neighborhood where I grew up used to be a nice, stable, middle-class sort-of place. So my first foray into home ownership was in the same place. I poured my heart and soul into making my cute little starter home so pretty, both inside and out.

Neighbors on one side retired and turned out to be fascinated with old lawn mowers. He would sometimes have 30 of them in various states of disarray scattered across his front yard. Pretty! Maybe he'd move them to mow, maybe not. RATS took up residence. I am not kidding.

Neighbors on the other side also started letting their property go to hell. In-ground swimming pool was never used, so started falling into disrepair. Lawn was never mowed on a consistent basis. Then the garden sheds made an appearance. Beautiful things, slapped together with texture 111 siding, right on the property line.

I'm in an HOA now. I love it.

No I can't paint my front door neon pink with highligher yellow trim. (Nor do I want to.) I read all the rules before I bought into the community and I would not have purchased the home if I didn't like what I saw.

All the homes are reasonably well-maintained, no rats, no garden sheds or lawn mower carcasses in sight.

All is good in my world. ;)

We unfortunately bought our first house in an HOA in California and we will never buy in an HOA again unless it is beachfront income property in Hawaii and the board seems to consist of reasonable people. The HOA we lived in had non-uniform enforcement of regulations and a board full of passive-aggressive personality types. Once there was a decree that everyone had to replace their garage doors because all of the board members had converted their units to a different door style. Another time they decreed everyone needed to have their units painted and originally said only one contractor could do it for the entire (48 houses with some sharing part of a wall with another) neighborhood at a steep price of $5000 per home and these were small 1400 sq door one story stucco buildings with minimal trim work. After protests and legal threats it was discovered the contractor the board said would paint everyone's was a friend of the board president. I painted my own unit for the cost of paint and results were good. Others violated rules with no consequences. I would get a nasty letter if I was out of town for work and had cob webs near my front door (that could only be seenif you were standing next to the door.) Some units were allowed to be rented but not ours so when we moved out of state due to a job change we couldn't rent it out after the real estate crash and it took 4 years to sell it because there were so many foreclosures. Never again!

When we first married we were second into a 57 unit townhouse HOA. DH was the first President when it was taken over from the developer. Our phone would ring from neighbors asking to have their front porch bulb replaced since it had burned out. Not something the Board was responsible for. When he got off and a new crew was elected, they imposed rules which we felt were ridiculous—only 10 plants in front bed that were not taller than 12”, single white candles in front windows at the Holidays, and mandating where wreaths could be hung. We moved after 10 years.

In 2014 we built a new home in a 55+ HOA. Surprising, most of the very successful, intelligent owners had not read the condo docs, or thought they didn’t apply to them.

DH was on the second board and heavily involved with dealing with ensuring the developer completed all infrastructure items as mandated by the City. We found out that City inspections had not been done. After the HOA hiring an attorney and a civil consultant, things finally are getting done and the City is on our side—$30K+ later.

We have owners that just ignore the Architectural Review Committee (ARC) rules and procedures, including board members. When DH was on the board, we always went by the letter of the law and then some. Not so with our current board.

Love our house and the neighborhood. We have numerous block parties throughout the year with probably 40-50% participation.

I have not yet lived with an HOA, but we are considering buying a second home in Palm Springs, and I am thinking that we might want to buy a condo that we will not have to spend much time taking care of. Also, I'm not sure yet whether we can afford to buy a single family home with a pool, and a pool is a necessity in PS. I am only partially retired (working alternate weeks), and so I would want to be able to rent the second home as an Air B&B part time in the beginning, as I would not need to be in Palm Springs most of the time. Eventually, I would like to live there full time, but my brother will not retire for another 15 years (he is that much younger than me), but he does like visiting PS and wants to move there full time in 2031 or so.

I would like to find a house with a pool and an HOA if possible, and I think that whatever we buy, we could resell it if we want something else. Eventually we will sell the house where we live now in Los Angeles, but that won't be for another 15 years.

Lived in a gated townhome HOA back in SoCal previously; when I noticed only one unit on the entire property out of 255, I read the CC&Rs then inquired with the board president what needed to be done in an application for an architectural variance only to be told I could not make such an application - the person with the only fence was permitted to build it because he made the board members lives miserable until they let him do it and afterwards they immediately added language to the rules but never bothered to add it to copies available to prospective buyers (!) which stopped anyone else from even submitting an application for a fence in the exact same design or any fence that is ‘permanent in type’. The guy with the fence was allowed to keep it and was generally considered an a-hole by all. A few months after I moved in, the decision that termite tenting and wood replacement on the outside of units needed to be done, and a special assessment levied to pay for it - even though the budget documents showed there was supposed to be a substantial amount already collected and held for that purpose, somehow we still had to pay the assessment. They never did get around to replacing the damaged areas of wood on all units, just the ones belonging to board members and on the buildings in the front section. In late 2015 through 2016 the roofs were replaced, it took OVER A YEAR to complete and the special assessment for that was still being tacked on to the $360 HOA dues when we sold and closed the first week of August 2017.

We moved to a HOA that we pay $110 for lawn care, snow removal, and exterior painting. If we want to do landscaping they just want us to submit the finalized plan and have us contact the utility companies before digging in areas where the underground lines and other utility owned equipment is - no need to ask their permission to add plants, edging or trees as long as it’s all on our lot. This year we didn’t have to pay dues for December because the reserves was OVER by twice the minimum amount. Imagine that! Having twice the amount of funds already set aside in reserves!

We moved from an older, mature neighborhood of single family homes without HOA to a downtown highrise condominium last year. The convenience factor aside, I'm in favor of HOAs. I understand they aren't for everyone, but I like them.

Our previous neighborhood was on a western slope (very steep), overlooking Puget Sound. Naturally, many homeowners wanted to clear mature trees to improve their views of the sound. Unfortunately, many were also unaware of soil erosion control efforts by the city and had contributed to landslide risks by cutting down mature trees. I wish an HOA had been around to regulate their behavior a little. Another property that was kitty corner from ours had a retaining wall (again, we lived on a very steep slope) on their property line where the concrete literally fell apart and soil spilled down to the side walk. It was in that condition for over a year before something was done about it - the property was sold, completely demolished, and rebuilt. Again, would have been nice if there was an HOA to pester the owners. Across from us there was this house that hosted dinner parties at least twice a week. Their guests were loud and they usually hung out on the patio. I learned to live with these little annoyances but it would have been nice to have an HOA.

We live in a new highrise condominium now with a very strict HOA. For a thousand a month, the common elements are always kept clean, the exterior windows are cleaned, gas and central AC/heat/trash/recycling/compost are covered by the HOA, the rooftop amenities, pool, exercise facility, movie theater room are always sparkling clean. When a house guest recently broke the door handle on our balcony door, I just emailed the building management and the problem was fixed by the time I came home from work. The air filters in the unit HVACs are changed by the HOA. I enjoy the aesthetic of the building and the HOA is stringent in maintaining it. I don't hear my neighbor because of thick concrete walls that separate us. If people in common space or even in their units get too loud or rowdy, I can just let the concierge know and they'll handle the situation. I haven't had to report anyone yet but this option does take the awkwardness out of confronting a lousy neighbor.

Living with community rules is not going to be for everyone, but HOAs aren't all bad, especially when they are well run, fiscally responsible, and tough but fair.

Our second home is an HOA community. It's a lake community, only about 35 homes, and most of the owners like us, are part-timers.

The lots are all at least 1 acre, and the homes can't be built within 20 feet of the property lines. Most are at least 50 feet away.

We haven't had any issues other than a fence we wanted that had to be approved by a board. But they that made it very difficult.

My next house will not in an HOA. Getting approval for everything is exhausting. It requires pictures, dimensions on graph paper, contractor info etc. Having to do an entire proposal every time I want something done is too much for me.

HOA's are great if you want conformity and have a good board - but if you're the creative type, with the mindset of "this is my house and land and I can do what I want", an HOA is definitely not for you.

Eventually, when we retire, I just want to buy 50 or so acres, build a small cabin and be done with it. Don't want neighbors, or an HOA.

Exterior of home had to be HOA "inspected and passed" prior to sale. I was informed that the masonry BBQ was built too close to the property line and must be removed. Fortunately, I had kept the original landscape blueprints which had been ok'd by the builder (before there was "A Board"). Ditto the gutters. Ditto the water feature. "Too many plantings"??? And so on... Finally had to file a legal action for delay of sale. I won the suit, my costs covered, along with a very nice "mental anguish" penalty.

Never again.

Currently we live in a community of 1500 homes, the HOA is the largest in the state that still has a board elected among members { most HOAs are managed by private firms] This neighborhood has been around for 50 plus years and looks pretty good by anyones standards, HOAs are not for everyone of course, but I am pleased that we are in one. Oh and its a good idea to attend the monthly meetings from time to time.

NOPE!!! Because after seeing one nightmare after another through friends and even the news, I refuse to ever buy into a subdivision that has one! No house would EVER be worth it to me. :c)

No HOA here. Just landscaped, got a new roof, painted, new front door, and a new fence and needed no ones approval but my husband's :-)

I live in an area that doesn't even have zoning, so there is no way I could ever live anywhere with a HOA. I could see the appeal though, back in the day I had really awful neighbors who took zero pride in their home/yard.

Some years ago, before we were even here, our little township decided to implement some basic “standards” that everyone needs to abide to. Grass can’t get outlandishly over grown, you can’t have beat up cars and trash out for months on end. We were unaware of it when we bought our foreclosure home, but sure enough a week or so after moving in, there was a notice on our door. The overgrown grass left by the bank had to be cut within 2 weeks (I think) or the city would do it for us and send a bill. We hadn’t even finished unpacking or bought the mower yet!!! In hind sight, maybe they did jump the gun a bit however, even though we have no HOA, our community continues to always look presentable and I think it’s a much better alternative to the HOA’s.

I have lived in both. I now live in an HOA but before this I always said I never would. There are plus and minuses to both. In my last house, non HOA, my neighbor didn't take care of his home or property. Luckily the overgrown trees/bushes hid most of that and the deteriorating boat on his side yard. Still, it was annoying. I now live in an HOA neighborhood and like it. It's not real strict but just enough.

Curiously there was much hoopla a while back by some that wanted the rules changed because they felt like buying a Big truck.

Why buy in an HOA and then want all the rules changed because you have a whim? I don't get that. There are other places to live. I have nothing against trucks, nothing against pretty new ones but this neiborhood doesn't allow them overnight in the driveway. Don't move in if you want one that will not fit in your garage.

I could see where someone's life could change and they now need a truck when they never thought they did. And seriously, a neighborhood has a clause stating what vehicles you are allowed to own?

Yes. Some HOA's allow trucks but do not allow them parked overnight in driveways, they must be kept in the garage. No vehicles of any kind can be left on the street overnight. Some HOA's do not allow trucks at all but do allow soccer mom type vans but no commercial vans. Few to no HOA's allow boats or motor homes parked overnight. Many do not accept motorcycles.

In my HOA you can have trucks but you can not leave them in the driveway overnight they must be put in the garage. The garages are a standard two door size and the big trucks are too high and close to too long. Some people have so much junk in their garage they can't get any vehicles in. This is what all the hoopla over trucks was about in my neighborhood. It is not truck friendly. A few were mad because they were either too lazy to clean out their garage or they wanted a big monster truck that wouldn't fit. So, they wanted all the rules changed.

A former boss of mine lived in an upscale neighborhood with lots of rules. Pickup trucks were not allowed to be visible. So, her teenage son parked his truck in the garage, and she parked her Jag in the driveway. SMH.

I was renting in a HOA neighborhood in SoCal a few decades ago. It was not a particularly upscale neighborhood but nicely kept. Well, some years into a severe drought, where the county had imposed watering restrictions ( ignored by the development, I noticed -- watering runoff poured down the streets daily), some of the homeowners wanted to convert their mandatory grass lawns to xeriscaping -- very logical, I thought, and potentially just as attractive, but what a kerfuffle that caused! As I recall those owners never got approval. Some people really do value uniformity over all! I've not been back to the area to see for myself, but I sincerely hope the HOA viewpoint has changed since then.

My brother briefly lived in an HOA where no vehicles could be in a driveway for more than six hours.

Stupid rule. Fortunately when I visited him for a week, I flew in and he picked me up at the airport.

It would have been intolerable if I'd driven from my home, or had I rented a car from the airport.

I don't care what other people do to their own houses or yards. If nothing else, it will just make mine look the better in comparison. Town noise restrictions take care of that other problem.

I lived in a condo with a condo association for a few years. They weren't able to handle the putative coke dealer and his midnight out-the-window tirades against officials of that organization. (This took town police, and not very efficiently, either. )

No HOA for me.

I never wanted an HOA, and since I'm in my forever home, it will never happen. However, like Dedtired, my next door neighbor with seemingly a lot of grown kids living there is getting worse. They have an abandoned vehicle on the other side with a bunch of miscellaneous stuff cluttered about, an unregistered pick up which they park on the grass in the side yard on my side, a large chain link enclosed dog run fenced area off their back deck along which tall grass grows, they often park multiple cars on the grass in the front, I mean on dirt, now, and cars are often being repaired sometime on blocks, in the drive. Way in the back, there are two 3-sided (opened front) covered 'sheds', the larger, particularly dilapidated one totally erupting probably 5-10 feet in front with ceiling height stacks of old PALLETS. The old pick up is used to haul the 'wood' back and forth, as they BURN these both on the deck in the fall, making for a smokey choking experience at my house, and they heat their home with them in the winter. From what I understand, pallet burning can release hazardous chemicals into the air. In the fall when burning outside, they are very loud and noisy, and there are "periodic explosion" sounds. Yikes. The woods behind the sheds have junk strewn about. Nearly all the above clearly viewed from my home. In all fairness, much of the above is probably in violation of of various town codes, but I am not ready any time soon to complain. They have been cordial enough neighbors and I don't want that changing, plus I'm hoping they will change or move. Sigh. The other homes in my small neighborhood are mostly all well kept.

not minding what neighbors do is fine, til you want to sell your house. any buyer now will have run up and down the neighborhood using street view before making an appointment, so you wont ever even realize you've lost them as a buyer. the rest will look out a window and go, hmmmm.

i'd buy a dated bathroom before i'd buy a pristine house next to a 'junkyard'. one i can fix, the other, i'm powerless against.

My wife and I purchased a townhome in California last year. It was a great find because it included the land underneath and around the unit. Recently, our HOA called a meeting to share a long awaited update to our CC&Rs. They hired the best CC&R lawyers in the state. They had NEVER had a community fail to pass a CC&R revision.

While we were thumbing through the changes, we noted that the new document called all of the homes "Condos" and stated that we only owned the air inside of the walls, which were designated common property. We pulled up the county assesor's website and sure enough, it stated that we were a single family residence, or a "not-condo," and it included a lot of land.

We called them out on their error, but the HOA and its lawyer said flatly, "the county is wrong, you don't own any land." The next day we called the county and the city and obtained the official documentation on our plot of land, including the original surveys. I contacted my lawyer who reviewed them. Then we contacted the lawyers who told us they would look into it, but they would still be sending out the ballots to vote for the CC&Rs. We didn't hear back.

So we took to the streets of our HOA, and rallied the community. We told them not to sign the CC&Rs and to vote no on the ballot. While we were talking to some residents, I received a VERY nice call from our HOA manager who said, "I heard that you have some objections to the CC&Rs - is there something that I can help with?"

They removed the condo clause.

HOA stands for horror.

We have had good experiences with living in 4 different homes all under HOA. I like the protection the reasonable HOA laws provide.

When house shopping the first thing I do to eliminate homes is see if they have an HOA. No way would I live under such an archaic idea.

Archaic? How so?

HOAs are the norm in new housing areas where I live. You'd be extremely hard-pressed to buy a new house that didn't come with the requirement of an HOA; in fact, I can't think of a single new neighborhood where you wouldn't have one. I used to think they were ridiculous, intrusive and unnecessary -- and perhaps some are. For the most part, however, they are designed to ensure that a community retains its value and THAT is a service to the homeowners residing within. I often think our HOA doesn't enforce the CC&Rs closely enough; for instance, repeated/long-term street parking is prohibited in our neighborhood, yet people do it constantly. I've discussed with our HOA president who takes a slightly disinterested stance, and have just decided I have better things to focus my time and attention on. That said, I'm glad that there are at least rules in place that would help ensure I'm not living next door to a fuschia paint job and a backyard full of pygmy goats.

ETA: Just realized I already posted in this thread..oops.

"and a backyard full of pygmy goats."

Yes, please!! I'd much rather have a herd of pygmy goats in my backyard than live in a development where my garden was in full view of all the neighbors and some self-important board decided arbitrarily what I could plant and where, that I had to have a lawn (when it made no environmental sense) and how often and how short it should be mowed, what kind of fence, if any, I could erect and where and what colors I could paint my house!!

Some HOA's are very reasonable and practical.......others are nothing more than petty little dictatorships.

I would never NOT have an HOA. First home I lived in did not. Neighbors sold their beautiful home to a young couple who started to tear it up to renovate but ran out of money. House was left unfinished and an eyesore. Neighbors tried everything from pleading with the town etc to get them to finish or at least make it less of an eyesore. When we moved the realtors who came to price my home (4 different companies) all toof me they’d have to price my home much less because of this eyesore. I lost $40,000. Never, ever again. Never.

I like my HOA. Just like IdaClaire above, I actually wish mine took a little more forceful stance against people who appear to believe the rules don't apply to them.

The really neat thing is that if someone has such an aversion to an HOA, there is no law forcing them to buy property under such an arrangement.

I lived in an HOA for 11 years when we owned a condo, and I would never do it again. Our biggest issues were: not enough funding to repair aging buildings (we were a small 20 unit HOA with many people who had been there since the beginning, and dues did not rise steadily over the years, leaving a deficit); and diffused responsiblity - NO ONE wanted to be president, and many were reluctant to serve on the board.

I ended up being the secretary for a few years. One thing I hated was that in a situation like that, you are in a financial relationship with strangers/acquaintances. I didn't want to wait for all my neighbors to agree something needed to be fixed - I wanted to make decisions on my property upkeep on my own! I hated the long meetings when people would argue and stress out. It's really hard to maintain a good neighborly relationship when you're arguing over assessments or rule violations, etc. I also never felt I could be off the clock as a board member. I'd go outside in the greenspace in front of the building to watch my kids ride their bikes, and if any neighbors came out of their buildings, they'd say hello, and then start talking to me about the HOA drama of the week.

We thankfully lived in an HOA that was pretty hands off about things like plantings on your balcony, drapes, light fixtures, etc., but with that came them being too hands off about other things like potholes in the parking lot and roof leaks.

I now own a single family house in an older city neighborhood with no HOA and it is so much better for my personality. My neighbors are just my neighbors, and what we do with our house is our own choice.

We've lived in four HOAs—three suburban developments, and one urban high-rise.

We did get in minor trouble with one suburban HOA when my wife did some landscaping along either side of the driveway. We received a letter from the HOA admonishing us for not getting approval, and that the bushes that she planted could grow tall/big enough to block the views of cars at the intersection by our corner-lot house. So she moved the offending bushes elsewhere and planted foliage that wouldn't grow so large, with the HOA's approval. Ultimately, it was no big deal, and we were in the wrong in creating a situation that could've been dangerous.

The high-rise HOA actually helped out with one unusual situation. Now, this was a board that had some significant power, and seemed more like a co-op board in that they held approval over all sales in the building. Before we could buy our unit, we had to interview with the board, provide them financials, and provide them with references attesting to our character.

Not long after moving in, we had met quite a few people, including a gentleman at the end of the hall on our floor. One day, as my wife got off the elevator on our floor, he approached her buck naked, covering himself with his hands, apologizing profusely, saying he had accidentally locked himself out of his apartment, and asked my wife if she could call his mother to bring a key and open his door.

My wife thought this a very funny, if embarrassing story. Then she mentioned it to someone else in the building—it turned out that this wasn't the first time this had happened. In fact, it was the third time, which now freaked my wife out a bit. The board evicted him and forced him to sell.

Epilogue: we're not in a HOA now, but we've got no problems with them at all.

As Karen Rose attests, I suspect that there is a marked difference between condo associations and HOAs in single-family communities.

Ours is a small neighborhood without parks and pools, so our assessment is small. It did go up this year (first time in over 3 years), so instead of paying $500 annually, it's now $625. I'm not about to complain, as this gets us lawn service weekly in all months except the darkest of winter, in addition to maintenance of our shared green spaces and other routine HOA oversight. THAT is a bargain, and I appreciate the fact that we don't have to worry about lawn care, which gives me more free time to enjoy creating my gardens. HOAs are not all bad. To paint them as such is myopic.

A quick glance at the comments in this post will tell you that there are many Houzz readers who’ve had positive experiences with HOAs.

If you do a quick search for HOAs, you’ll see mostly negative titles. IdaClaire, I agree that it is myopic to make generalizations about HOAs based on personal, anecdotal experiences. We also need to be cognizant of the “an-axe-to-grind” bias that permeate review/discussion sites. I’m so glad people are willing to speak up about their positive experiences to provide some balance.

We just moved out of hoa in florida. It was a nightmare. If one person in their clique didnt like you they would turn others against you. Believe ne3 we are 65 plus we dont party no drugs we never sat outside like some and spoke or yelled loud ect. We did not fit their mold. They actually some laughed thought it was funny we moved and we lived there 2 yrs. We will not rent ir buy in an hoa its too political and we were in a people packer. What a mistake. Some whom we thought were our friends were not. Need to be careful.

I'll be damned if I'm going to make giant mortgage payments and you're going to put a Chevy up on blocks for 6 months in your driveway. HOA all the way.

We had a situation this year where next door neighbors were knowingly and willfully infringing on our property with noxious behavior, and while the HOA did issue violation warnings, their process moved at a snail's pace. During the slow crawl where the noxious activity continued, the neighbor was actually seeking an exemption that they thought would allow them to continue damaging our property. Unwilling to wait, we hired an attorney who swiftly brought about a remedy, to our satisfaction.

Know that anyone who has entered into an HOA has the right to legally enforce its provisions in a court of law. You are not at the mercy of the HOA to take action; you and your neighbors are contractual parties with rights of your own to enforce.

Just saying, in case anyone might think that the association itself holds the power to enforce.

HOAs aren't really a thing in Canada. Apparently it has to do with our different municipal structure. But in any case, I've always lived in urban residential neighbourhoods, where city bylaws address things like zoning, what construction is and isn't allowed and basic home and property maintenance. I live in a 110-year-old house on a street of tightly-packed semidetached brick homes, almost every one different from its neighbours, and the eclecticness of landscaping and exterior decor choices is an important part of the neighbourhood's character. It sounds like HOAs are needed when you don't have the necessary government structures to properly support and regulate housing in an area, but the fact that they push that authority as far as enforcing visual homogeneity to some arbitrary aesthetic sounds totally nuts to me!

In Canada there are residential covenants that you sign when you buy your home. There are also local by-laws that are enforced when a complaint is made. It works.

Having my neighbours decide on whether the shade of blue I like meets their arbitrary standards just sounds like a nightmare. If I wanted a landlord, I would rent.

Seems to me that many who have never had any personal experience with an HOA often hold strong, "worst case scenario" views. As with any form of governance, HOAs can have positive and negative aspects, and it's not entirely an educated opinion to lump everything together and pronounce it "bad".

I have never lived with an HOA and no desire to. When we bought 23 years ago, I also refused to live in any kind of neighborhood. It isn't my cup of tea. All the rural properties around us are well kept.

Sometimes I wish for an HOA. I took this picture while standing on my driveway looking next door. It’s a rental. That’s a commercial meat smoker in the driveway. This is by far the worst house in my neighborhood. I understand the absentee landlord would like to sell and I’d dearly like to buy just to tear it down. DH, however, doesn’t agree. 🙄