It is 1 billion percent the norm around me. I personally have been fined for three different basketball hoops in two states by boomer ass HoA board members. They (boomers and HoA’s alike) are literally the anti fun police.
Same reason I “choose” to work for a shitty employer or do business with a shitty company or live in a shitty city/state/country - sometimes my options are limited and I can’t afford to opt out of society entirely. When it comes to HoAs, in the area I live my options were severely diminished. Choosing a house without one means that I’d just be complaining about some other compromise I felt forced to make.
Its not always that simple. Finding newer construction by me that is not part of an HOA is borderline impossible, and anything older that might predate the HOA-ification of new developments are still priced close to the new contruction because the locations are usually much more desirable, even if theyre literally a full gut or straight up unfixable and have to be knocked down.
My wife and I spent well over a year looking for a house that was within the price range of a “normal” house for here because I told our agent right off the bat that I do not want to live in an HOA due to bad experiences with my last one, which was $1000 a year for literally nothing paid to a corporation based on the other side of the country that literally just manages HOAs.
The 1000 bucks a year for mowing the common areas that never got mowed, clearing the paths of snow that never got cleared, and taking care of the plantings at the signs at the periphery of our neighborhood that were dead withon a month of being planted due to lack of care. So yeah, done with HOAs lol…and I had a “cheap” one.
It’s not really a choice when accounting for location and affordability. Sometimes it’s HOA or renting forever… or renting in an HOA if you’re truly damned.
It is 1 billion percent the norm around me. I personally have been fined for three different basketball hoops in two states by boomer ass HoA board members. They (boomers and HoA’s alike) are literally the anti fun police.
I got a hoop. Kids from blocks around played on it. City shut it down.
What city did you live in?
“Why are you setting up mosquitor attractors? You don’t have a bug zapper.”
“To keep those nosey HOA dipshits from hanging around the edge of my property looking for things to complain about.”
“That’s not nice…”
“No, it’s not. But it’s legal.”
At least it’s not bear lure.
Why do you choose to live in an HOA?
Same reason I “choose” to work for a shitty employer or do business with a shitty company or live in a shitty city/state/country - sometimes my options are limited and I can’t afford to opt out of society entirely. When it comes to HoAs, in the area I live my options were severely diminished. Choosing a house without one means that I’d just be complaining about some other compromise I felt forced to make.
Its not always that simple. Finding newer construction by me that is not part of an HOA is borderline impossible, and anything older that might predate the HOA-ification of new developments are still priced close to the new contruction because the locations are usually much more desirable, even if theyre literally a full gut or straight up unfixable and have to be knocked down.
My wife and I spent well over a year looking for a house that was within the price range of a “normal” house for here because I told our agent right off the bat that I do not want to live in an HOA due to bad experiences with my last one, which was $1000 a year for literally nothing paid to a corporation based on the other side of the country that literally just manages HOAs.
The 1000 bucks a year for mowing the common areas that never got mowed, clearing the paths of snow that never got cleared, and taking care of the plantings at the signs at the periphery of our neighborhood that were dead withon a month of being planted due to lack of care. So yeah, done with HOAs lol…and I had a “cheap” one.
Not all HOAs are bad. You just hear about the bad ones because people who live in good ones don’t complain at every opportunity.
It’s not really a choice when accounting for location and affordability. Sometimes it’s HOA or renting forever… or renting in an HOA if you’re truly damned.
Most new build neighborhoods in the last 2-3 decades are part of an HOA. Finding a house not contractually part of one is not the norm