I avoid Home Owner Association or HOA or POA fees like the plague. I once got involved in a gorgeous development in Treasure Lake Pennsylvania and learned the hard way how these HOA’s work. In an ideal world the HOA would provide needed services for the community and keep the standards of the community high enough to insure the value of the community is protected. In reality, they are toxic politically with cliques and special interest groups jockeying for power and there narrow causes that have nothing to do with the community as a whole. I found working with these groups absolutely exhausting and without any real business logic.
Today, when I look for raw land I avoid any community no matter how beautiful if it has an HOA attached to it. I have found most people whom invest in raw land like the idea of no restrictions and low holding costs as they watch their investment grow. Nobody likes a third-party telling them how to live and then charging them more money year after year for services they may or may not deem important for them. I think some of these communities can be wonderful, but if you’re just investing in the land I would advise against buying where there is an HOA.
Cool YouTube video I found– The Power of Words
