I understand what HOA’s do, and was first introduced to the term in a condo building (not mine). I understand in a condo building, or high rise, you’re all sharing one building and need to contribute to that building’s maintenance. But I don’t understand HOA’s in neighborhoods…when you live in your own house. Is it only certain neighborhoods? I know someone who lives on a nice street in a suburb and there’s no HOA. Who decides if there is one, and what do neighborhood HOA’s exist for? Are you allowed to opt out?
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Back in the Midwest, I didn’t see a ton of HOAs, except for in the super ritzy neighborhoods with million-plus dollar homes. They were usually the stereotypical HOA that people imagine when envisioning an HOA: nitpicking every little thing, enforced conformity for conformity’s sake, etc. Seeing them, I vowed to never live in an HOA.
Then I moved to California, and at least in the area of Southern California where we were looking to move, there was a stark difference between neighborhoods with HOAs and neighborhoods without them. Almost every single neighborhood we visited without an HOA looked trashy. Overgrown weeds, rusted-out broken-down cars all over, houses that were falling apart or in dire need of a paint job, etc. I can only imagine how that affects home values in those neighborhoods, and the type of people that they attract.
I don’t know if people in my area of the Midwest (northern Illinois) just had more pride in their homes/yards/neighborhoods or what. But it was eye-opening, that’s for sure.
I started to come around on HOAs a bit after seeing that. The house we ended up buying was new development, and had an HOA that you had to join to live there. I looked over the rules, though, and honestly, none of them were egregious, IMO. That said, I still got myself on the HOA board, because I wanted some say in making sure that the HOA stayed as hands-off as possible. HOAs can be used to great effect, IMO, to keep the neighborhood from looking like shit, and keeping home values up. They can also be easily abused by the type of people who want to power-trip. So it’s a balancing act.
One other use for HOAs is maintenance and upkeep of communal areas. In my neighborhood, that’s basically just a park and the flowers/trees around the neighborhood. But there are plenty of neighborhoods that have a community pool, gates and/or guards, clubhouses, and things like that. HOAs are responsible for all of that stuff.
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