Too late but 9 reasons to avoid HOAs - interesting

Sounds like they hit the nail on the head.

Another thing that the article seems to miss is the reason for all of the legal and financial infrastructure that supports an HOA.

The bottom line is that the only safe way for people to jointly own property with others is through a corporate structure. This structure insulates peoples' personal assets from the risks assumed by the corporation. It's why people who form businesses usually incorporate them. If an HOA weren't a corporation, the deeds and purchase agreements would have to contain language that essentially replicates the protections provided by a corporate structure. There's no getting around this unless you want to risk losing all of your assets, and nobody who understands the facts would do this. The housing market would grind to a halt without these protections.

The downside is that a corporate structure has all sorts of legal obligations. Hence the need for lawyers and accountants and bookkeepers and whatnot. If the HOA has amenities and land, these must be maintained: hence a tribe of maintenance folks and lawn care crews. Somebody needs to manage these folks: hence the community manager. ** Property owners have obligations. Obligations cost money. ** There is no way around it.

The article is correct that property inside of an HOA or condo community generally costs more per square foot than property outside of them. But that's because you're not just buying four walls and a roof and the land they sit on. You're buying a share of all of the other property owned by the community plus the legal protection that limits the risks involved. Of course this is more expensive.

I am not buying this generalization. For many, but not all, condominiums the land configuration is such that it makes sense for just the condo owners to have a legal, ownership interest in the common area. For non-gated, non-condo HOAs it does not. It seems to me for the latter the common areas (e.g. roads, grassy sections of land) the city or county could own the real estate.

I thought the article was quite good. The only part that I thought was over the top was the section with the sentence, "The problem is compounded by the fact that HOA governing documents and management policies are notoriously unconstitutional." No, they are not. Once in awhile some constitutional disputes have arisen.

I would like the backstory on the blog's author, Deborah Goonan. So far nothing to suggest she is both a serious researcher and internet journalist has reached my eyes. I bet CAI hates her. Good.

One of the prime reasons I like HOA's is their ability to "crack down" on an owner if their property becomes shabby. Many will say well I always keep my property looking goo. All well and good but all it takes in one or two bad apples to make the entire neighborhood look crappy. I will add that I avoid HOA's where a declarant is in control and one with amenities.