II've owned two houses with HOAs. One HOA was the poster child for why people hate HOAs. They were hyper politicized and did nothing to actually help homeowners. In fact, when we were selling the house they tried to shake us down and threatened to block the sale if we didn't do as they said. They lost.
The other HOA wasn't bad and they did keep everything looking very nice and ensured that selfish idiots didn't ruin quality of life for others. They'd also do things like threaten us for leaving garbage cans out, but they never really acted on their threats.
All in all, I'd prefer to not live where there is an HOA.
