I'm the President. It's very satisfying to pull into our subdivision and see well kept common areas and to know I had a small part in that.  

Yes, I do. Would not consider living in a neighborhood without an HOA. I participate by paying my monthly HOA fee.

I don't currently live in one but, I have in the past. I encourage all of my buyers to become active in their HOAs.

Management companies have taken their fees to a whole new level in recent years and association Boards need proactive members to keep the management companies in-check.

I currently live in a condo, so yes. I once had a townhome and was president of the Board for 6 years. Finally said if re-elected I would move. Was re-elected and moved 30 days later to a home not part of an HOA. Have not participated since that incident.

We live in a condo so have a COA (Condo Owners Association) which most people wrongly refer to as an HOA. COAs and HOAs are governed by different state statutes here so it is important to know the difference, not sure if you are asking strictly about HOAs or if you are including COAs. That said, I was on the Board of Directors years ago for several years then still participated for years. When the BOD stopped having regular monthly meetings and started setting meetings on days/times that varied wildly from one to the next, it became impossible to clear my schedule on the short notice provided.

No, thank goodness. We are directed by county standards, which are pretty lax.

Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089 I do live with a condo assn.  A few years ago I served on the Board with no support. This is a thankless job more often than not. The other members were Clueless what it took to run the day to day operations. 

Hiring Management companies is not sufficient without oversight.  You need to prepare new community members with a criteria to serve on a BOD so they know the purpose.  It is W O R K.   However, if committees were in place ascension can take place seamlessly.  Here in Florida you can serve 8 years if re-elected.😎

I served on several committee who brought forth recommendations for change which went to the pay no mind column.  

I spearheaded a newsletter committee to let all of my 183 neighbors know what was going on in our community.  

Happy to say rules/regs have been updated and credit scores are mandated.  We are getting a whole new crop of over 55 years of age which is a good thing!😎

I used to manage HOA's and that is one of the reasons that I have no desire to be on my own HOA board, haha.

No; HOAs are not super common  in our market.  I appreciate not having one but do understand some of the benefits when we pull into my parents' FL neighborhood that has one...  

I do not have an HOA where I now live and that was by choice.

Yes and I am the secretary.  Working to maintain property values.

Hi, Georgie

   My take on how to run an HOA, and how not to run an HOA:

   I lived in an HOA neighborhood for 15 years. I bought new from the developer, "nothing happened" for the first couple of years.  But after the houses were all sold, the HOA passed to the owners.  The trouble began. 

   A couple of Petty Tyrants took over the HOA.  They went beyond enforcement of the Restrictive Covenants, to outright harassment.  The President would walk into your yard, even walk around the back of the house, "to ensure compliance".  One lady swore out a trespass warrant against the directors of the HOA; they could not legally step onto her driveway.

   Soon, we neighbors had enough.  With the assistance of legal counsel, we held a special meeting, and un-elected the current officers and directors.  I was elected president; I held that position for several years.

   Of course we enforced the Deed Restrictions.  But we did it as Neighbors, not as hostile agitators.   And we used County Code Enforcement as the bad guys, when houses needed repair.  We had the City Police ticket illegally parked vehicles, and so forth.  We (officers and directors) tried to avoid personal confrontation.

   Any conversations with owners were positive and friendly (sure, there were occasional problems, usually with tenants in an investor's house, and of course we have FSU students in Tallahassee; they had to be reeled in sometimes). 

    If you are in an HOA, I encourage you in the strongest possible terms, GET INVOLVED!

I do not currently have a HOA. I had one when I was in Northern VA, & I did serve on the board. I couldn't wait to get off of the board once I was on it.

I would not buy into one, no time in my life for dealing with controlling nosy neighbors.

You could not give me a home in a HOA Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089 . I am to much of a wild card and do not play well with others.

"put up with" if you use that phrase is not going to come across as a positive in the buyers mind. I think they are a 2 edged sword - people who don't know how to use a screw driver are the people who should live with one. 

Most of my clients are just too busy to do the lawn & all the outside work. Careers stop them from doing that.

I did participate when it was necessary like voting in new board members.

NOOOO . . . we lived in an HOA governed community on the NV side and the dramas and favoritism and irresponsible use of member's money made us never want that again!
I'd say that more than half of the folks moving here from that type of thing are adamant that they don't want it here. Many communities have CCRs but no HOA to enforce, so if you have an issue with your neighbor not abiding by the covenants, it becomes a complaint process with the County. Who will violate them. 

No little Napoleons . . . LOL

I live in a condo, so yes (Condos are, indeed, homes) I do live under an HOA, and while I do pay attention to what goes on, I am not a member of the board.

Q1:  Yes, I live in a community with an HOA.

Q2: Yes, absolutely I participate. 

Q3: Very closed and dysfunctional Board that has been running the show for over 20 years. They refuse to enforce the Governing Documents by saying things like it will cost too much and those violations do not bother me. When I point out their fiduciary duties, they all moan.  Literally moaning and rolling their eyes in disgust. 

I recently managed to get myself on the 5 member board. They outvote me every single time or simply refuse to vote letting a motion die on the floor. 

I will not stop. I will not lay down to their idiocy. I will continue to do the right thing and fight to make the board better and the community better. Homeowners expect the board to fulfill their duties.  

I lived in an HOA for 16 years but as of this week I do not, however I continue to own in that HOA as a property manager. HOA's afford you better neighborhoods than housing on the same budget. They provide pools, tennis, gyms, etc. that otherwise would be out of reach. I submitted many improvement projects to my HOA that were brought to fruition, but no I never joined our board because our HOA is run well and I'm too busy running my business well, they don't need me. If they ever do, I'd join at this point in my career, but they have been mostly capable.

We do not have an HOA.  A friend of ours does a few miles down from us and he was on the board for a number of years until he couldn't take it anymore. He's a level headed financial guy who could see the writing on the wall.....but a lot of them refused to see it.  As in, major repairs needed to be addressed and they didn't want to shell out more money. 

I do. In most cases they serve a good purpose. It's often when someone gets a little power and goes crazy with their own personal agenda that they are bad.

Yes, Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089 

Our HoA consists of 22 lots so it's not a large HoA and most do participate since there are two lots that cannot be built on and we need to pay the taxes for those lots. One of them is used as a private neighborhood beach on the pond. 

While we have condo or co-op associations rather than HOA's, it's the only way to buy here unless you are purchasing a townhouse (at the entry points are nearly $2m and can exceed $50m and only represent a tiny percentage of homes here). My condo association was previously run by 3 members- two of which were real estate brokers. The 2 real estate brokers ran the building into the ground and when I stepped up and they stepped down- the one remaining board member from the prior year- and I agreed on almost everything. It took years, but I turned the health of the building around. As of a few months ago, I officially stepped down after being on the board for the majority of the last 10 years. I did the hard work, and someone else can deal with the small cosmetic items that remain. 

I bought a paired patio home where the HOA does the lawn, shovel, painting, roof, etc.   I bought it so I could "lock and leave".   I do participate in the meetings, just not a board member.

When we had a condo as a second home, I did participate and served on a committee. Always good to know what's going on, especially when decisions are being made about how your money is to be spent, your safety assured, or integrity of building/community maintained. 

Yes, no. 

It is very time consuming at the moment and I have no desire to be on the board. However, we do have now a decent management company and their rep. 

When I was doing building, we had to be the HOA until the project started selling & closing. Then, we had to choose the HOA to get it started. Here is where dictators are born & very hard to get rid of if not impossible

I used to participate in my neighborhood HOA and I suspect the reason I don't now is the same reason others decided to walk away from their HOA associations.

I didn't think about the HOA when I first bought my house in 2002. My kids were young and the HOA dues covered the cost of common areas and the pools. It wasn't until I wanted to put an addition of the house in 2005 that my interactions with the association started. The plans had to be approved by the "Architectural Control Committee" which I accomplished with little resistance because I had a comprehensive and acceptable concept that enhanced the house and the neighborhood, but I found the people in the committee pompous and arrogant.

I have four homes and all are subject to HOA Rules.  I abide by the rules and make repairs as required by the association.  I don't make waves since I don't attend the meetings.