4 ms·

This is a weird comment. You acknowledge that people enter these arrangements willingly, yet call the arrangements oppressive and wonder why anybody would sub

This is a weird comment. You acknowledge that people enter these arrangements willingly, yet call the arrangements oppressive and wonder why anybody would submit to them. People form or join HOAs because they want to. You ask whether the benefits are worth it... surely you realize "worth it" is inherently subjective and is up for any individual to decide themselves. > "I keep hearing how Americans love their freedom and hate being told what to do and how to behave" Consider that most Americans do not live under HOAs. Don't you think it likely that the Americans who exemplify the stereotypical traits you list are likely not the ones choosing to live under HOAs?

bawolff 5y ago
It doesn't seem like they do it that willingly. You can't just buy a house in the HoA area and opt out. If that's the definition of willingly, than i suppose most citizens of dictatorships are willing participants.
- pixl97 5y ago
  Are you telling me that you can just opt of the democracy you currently live in? HOA's have rules and votes. The bylaws can be changed. It just may hurt your idealisms that most people in them are either apathetic or like the rules the way they are.
shakezula 5y ago
It's not always willingly, there are plenty of times I've been forced into moving into an HOA because of lack of choice and availability, or them being the only option in a given area, etc...
- WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
  > It's not always willingly, there are plenty of times I've been forced into moving into an HOA because of lack of choice and availability, or them being the only option in a given area, This is exactly the reason we're in our current HOA home. It was the only viable option at that time. It's been a fairly terrible experience w/ the HOA inventing absurd crap some times (non-existent shed on thimble-sized front lawn) and selectively enforcing other times (reporting my kid's grad sign & residents' Biden signs but not Trump signs).
  - midasuni 5y ago
    Surely there’s a separation of powers between those that make the rules and those who judge if they have been broken?
    - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
      No. Just one board doing both. It's also common for HOA boards members to post their friends for elections. I was on the board in our last neighborhood. All members are pals after a few months.
  - pixl97 5y ago
    Report both signs and then sue for civil rights violations if one side is ignored.
filoleg 5y ago
>People form or join HOAs because they want to Not from my experience. Try finding a non-HOA house near any major city. From all the friends I know who are homeowners, not a single one got into HOA willingly. One managed to find a home about 20 miles from Seattle that wasn't HOA-managed. The others had to settle for an HOA house, because there were none available within a reasonable driving distance from the city that weren't HOA. Sure, this is just my anecdata. But you should check how many people explicitly are looking for HOA vs. how many just settle for it. I hate HOAs with passion, but when I decide to buy a house, I am already mentally getting ready to settle for an HOA one, simply because of the location.
- Mountain_Skies 5y ago
  Done it many times, no problem. People who say "there are no HOA neighborhoods" typically mean there are not any neighborhoods that don't have HOAs but look like those that do have HOAs.
- wearywanderer 5y ago
  Who do you think you're fooling? HOAs are not termite damage concealed from buyers at the time of purchase. The existence of HOAs is disclosed before the sale and every single person who chooses to buy a home in an HOA neighborhood has weighed the pros and cons and decided the pros outweighted the cons. I have never lived in an HOA neighborhood and, for as long as my preferences remain the same, I never will. I have never and will never be forced to buy a home in an HOA neighborhood against my will. Somebody living in an HOA neighborhood might reasonably claim to regret their decision, but it was their decision. Some people want to have their cake and eat it too; they want to live in that nice pretty HOA neighborhood but don't want the HOA that made it a nice neighborhood. Such people are immature. You may as well choose to live in the woods, then complain about trees.
  - filoleg 5y ago
    > Who do you think you're fooling? HOAs are not termite damage concealed from buyers at the time of purchase. At no point I claimed it was concealed ahead of purchase. It wasn't, it was known. >Somebody living in an HOA neighborhood might reasonably claim to regret their decision, but it was their decision. Yeah, it was their decision. They did it, despite hating the idea of joining an HOA. Simply because there were no houses for acceptable prices within a driving distance from the city. That's the complaint. No one is saying "they got tricked into it" or something.

bawolff 5y ago

It doesn't seem like they do it that willingly. You can't just buy a house in the HoA area and opt out. If that's the definition of willingly, than i suppose most citizens of dictatorships are willing participants.

pixl97 5y ago
Are you telling me that you can just opt of the democracy you currently live in? HOA's have rules and votes. The bylaws can be changed. It just may hurt your idealisms that most people in them are either apathetic or like the rules the way they are.

shakezula 5y ago

It's not always willingly, there are plenty of times I've been forced into moving into an HOA because of lack of choice and availability, or them being the only option in a given area, etc...

WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
> It's not always willingly, there are plenty of times I've been forced into moving into an HOA because of lack of choice and availability, or them being the only option in a given area, This is exactly the reason we're in our current HOA home. It was the only viable option at that time. It's been a fairly terrible experience w/ the HOA inventing absurd crap some times (non-existent shed on thimble-sized front lawn) and selectively enforcing other times (reporting my kid's grad sign & residents' Biden signs but not Trump signs).
- midasuni 5y ago
  Surely there’s a separation of powers between those that make the rules and those who judge if they have been broken?
  - WarOnPrivacy 5y ago
    No. Just one board doing both. It's also common for HOA boards members to post their friends for elections. I was on the board in our last neighborhood. All members are pals after a few months.
- pixl97 5y ago
  Report both signs and then sue for civil rights violations if one side is ignored.

filoleg 5y ago

>People form or join HOAs because they want to Not from my experience. Try finding a non-HOA house near any major city. From all the friends I know who are homeowners, not a single one got into HOA willingly. One managed to find a home about 20 miles from Seattle that wasn't HOA-managed. The others had to settle for an HOA house, because there were none available within a reasonable driving distance from the city that weren't HOA. Sure, this is just my anecdata. But you should check how many people explicitly are looking for HOA vs. how many just settle for it. I hate HOAs with passion, but when I decide to buy a house, I am already mentally getting ready to settle for an HOA one, simply because of the location.

Mountain_Skies 5y ago
Done it many times, no problem. People who say "there are no HOA neighborhoods" typically mean there are not any neighborhoods that don't have HOAs but look like those that do have HOAs.
wearywanderer 5y ago
Who do you think you're fooling? HOAs are not termite damage concealed from buyers at the time of purchase. The existence of HOAs is disclosed before the sale and every single person who chooses to buy a home in an HOA neighborhood has weighed the pros and cons and decided the pros outweighted the cons. I have never lived in an HOA neighborhood and, for as long as my preferences remain the same, I never will. I have never and will never be forced to buy a home in an HOA neighborhood against my will. Somebody living in an HOA neighborhood might reasonably claim to regret their decision, but it was their decision. Some people want to have their cake and eat it too; they want to live in that nice pretty HOA neighborhood but don't want the HOA that made it a nice neighborhood. Such people are immature. You may as well choose to live in the woods, then complain about trees.
- filoleg 5y ago
  > Who do you think you're fooling? HOAs are not termite damage concealed from buyers at the time of purchase. At no point I claimed it was concealed ahead of purchase. It wasn't, it was known. >Somebody living in an HOA neighborhood might reasonably claim to regret their decision, but it was their decision. Yeah, it was their decision. They did it, despite hating the idea of joining an HOA. Simply because there were no houses for acceptable prices within a driving distance from the city. That's the complaint. No one is saying "they got tricked into it" or something.