My HOA is reasonable. Mostly, they just handle the landscaping negotiations. Everyone’s yard looks great. No cameras, no Draconian rules. Just stopping people from doing shit no one wants to live next door to.
What counts as “shit no one wants to live next door to” might be completely different for you than it is for me. And even if you happen to agree with your HOA today, that could change the moment someone else takes over.
Relying on being lucky enough to have reasonable people in charge, and hoping that luck lasts for the entire time you live there, seems insane to me.
Of course, there are things that shouldn’t be allowed, like turning your front yard into a garbage dump. But those are the kinds of things that should be regulated by laws or local ordinances, not left to an HOA board that you just have to hope consists of reasonable people…
Yeah, “no one wants to live next to a yard full of broken stuff” can very easily turn into “nobody wants to live next to a house displaying a Pride flag” or “nobody wants to live next to a house that has a car older than 2 years” or even just minor shit like “we don’t want bird feeders anywhere in the neighborhood because birds reduce property value”.
My HOA is reasonable. Mostly, they just handle the landscaping negotiations. Everyone’s yard looks great. No cameras, no Draconian rules. Just stopping people from doing shit no one wants to live next door to.
What counts as “shit no one wants to live next door to” might be completely different for you than it is for me. And even if you happen to agree with your HOA today, that could change the moment someone else takes over.
Relying on being lucky enough to have reasonable people in charge, and hoping that luck lasts for the entire time you live there, seems insane to me.
Of course, there are things that shouldn’t be allowed, like turning your front yard into a garbage dump. But those are the kinds of things that should be regulated by laws or local ordinances, not left to an HOA board that you just have to hope consists of reasonable people…
Yeah, “no one wants to live next to a yard full of broken stuff” can very easily turn into “nobody wants to live next to a house displaying a Pride flag” or “nobody wants to live next to a house that has a car older than 2 years” or even just minor shit like “we don’t want bird feeders anywhere in the neighborhood because birds reduce property value”.
I genuinely hope that remains the case for you.