I'd rather live in a "trashy"-looking area where neighbors are a community, friendly, helpful, allowed to express themselves, than a samey-looking neighborhood that's preoccupied by appearances. Any HOA I've lived in (I think two different ones?) didn't have that neighborly feel. Lots of snobs. A couple nice neighbors but mostly not. In Arizona there was a stark difference between our neighborhood (newer builds, very uniform, nobody interacted with each other) and the one just across the busy road (a bit older houses, more character, they held lots of community events and clubs).
When we lived in Cedar Springs, most properties on our road were trailers and worn down old houses. Some newer builds but not many. My grandparents didn't like some of the properties, because there was a bunch of "junk" and whatnot in the yards (old cars, scrap metal and wood, stuff like that). But I love that. It means the place is lived in, and probably for a long time. There are stories there! That's not ugly to me, ugly is streets upon streets of houses that all look the same.
I can't see any appeal or benefit at all in HOAs. Sure home prices stay relatively steady, but it's because of all of the strict rules and regulations that I just can't get behind because they take away our rights, basically. It's honestly like glorified property rental. What's the point in owning a house that you can't express ownership over? You're actually paying that much money for a home with a committee that controls how you live down to what color you're allowed to paint your shutters or how high your grass is allowed to get before you cut it, or what types of decorations you're allowed to have in your yard? You don't own that house.
When we lived in Cedar Springs, most properties on our road were trailers and worn down old houses. Some newer builds but not many. My grandparents didn't like some of the properties, because there was a bunch of "junk" and whatnot in the yards (old cars, scrap metal and wood, stuff like that). But I love that. It means the place is lived in, and probably for a long time. There are stories there! That's not ugly to me, ugly is streets upon streets of houses that all look the same.
I can't see any appeal or benefit at all in HOAs. Sure home prices stay relatively steady, but it's because of all of the strict rules and regulations that I just can't get behind because they take away our rights, basically. It's honestly like glorified property rental. What's the point in owning a house that you can't express ownership over? You're actually paying that much money for a home with a committee that controls how you live down to what color you're allowed to paint your shutters or how high your grass is allowed to get before you cut it, or what types of decorations you're allowed to have in your yard? You don't own that house.
