[JavaBrewer]

Lots of HOAs in my neck of the woods too. I lived in 3 different HOA communities over the last 25 years. The first worked very hard to ensure we were all equally miserable - all HOA horror stories were covered there. The last two were not really all that intrusive though I felt like we were overpaying for what we got.

That all said the resale/equity upside for HOA vs non is indisputable around here. The gated community we left 7 years ago keeps aging better and better. Night and day difference from the non HOA communities you drive through to get there. We are talking $1M+ homes compared to $700K for close to same home.