My last place didn’t have one and I had to deal with stupid redneck neighbors swilling beer, blasting Skynard, having half-disassembled cars all over their lot from the “body shop” they were running and a few other goodies. Generally speaking it wasn’t as much of a bother as one might expect since it was rural and it was about 200+ yards to that property line - the other one was about twice that far , the third was conservation land and the fourth was a roadway that had vacant land (woods) across. So it generally was ok and didn’t bother me but just seeing that some people could and really did live like that was enough for me to understand that in denser situations HOAs do have their role to play.
That said, anyone who buys a place with an HOA and doesn’t thoroughly read the by-laws before signing on the dotted line is asking for it. I walked away from a couple of accepted offers in the mid-2000s for precisely that reason. A low stress HOA that has common sense bylaws that were revised 5 or 10 years ago is what I’d look for. One that’s got an “active” HOA that’s constantly tweaking / rewriting rules is a HUGE red flag (busybody alert!)
I rent now (happily) but still familiarized myself with the HOA bylaws from the guy I rent from - firstly because I want to be good to him and not land him in trouble and secondly for the reasons above (I didn’t agree to become his tenant until I knew and understood what the rules were...). The bylaws were last updated in I think 2007 and that was to impose a rule prohibiting people from having dogs more than 25 pounds in the complex - something I’m totally fine with. I’ve never had an issue. If things go well maybe I’ll buy the unit from him or grab another one in the same complex (they come up from time to time). Pleasant place, quiet, no hillbillies, a few neighborhood kids that are generally good, etc. The way things should be.
I echo what the others said about getting on the board. Then be someone else’s pain in the rear for a change.
