Many people wonder where their money goes and what the HOA fees actually cover. The responsibility for the association is established in the declaration or the states bylaws.
Homeowners association can come with benefits for home buyers, especially for those living in a community or condo with amenities. HOAs can help defend value of their property upkeep on the community, enforced regulations, perform maintenance, and even pay for upgrades to the community. HOAs manage amenities and services by charging monthly fees. You should account these fees into your monthly bills when considering purchasing your home.
There are many rules of the Homeowners Association that you may not totally agree with. There are a lot of HOAs that tell you where your guests can park when they come over, how to cut your grass, no fences over 8 feet, and also you may not be allowed to hang certain flags. Each HOA and condo association does have a written set of covenants, conditions, restrictions, or CC&R. You have the right to challenge an HOA ruling, and you can vote to change the CC&R documents. This would require a lot of help from your neighbors. The CC&R rules are not set in stone. You can avoid any fights or fines by simply writing a letter to the HOA asking to make an exception for one time. In the letter you should ask permission for what you need and when you will need this exception.
It may sound like there are too many rules and that it would be hard to live under the rules of an HOA. But according to the Foundation for Community Association Research; 90% of residents rate their overall community association experience as positive (64%) or neutral (26%). 92% say they are on friendly terms with their association board and 83% of residents say their community managers provide value and support to residents