re: What are the pros and cons of HOA?

I’m on my HOA’s board. I ran mostly because I hate HOAs and wanted to have some sort of say over my property.

Pros: we have ponds and common areas that need to be maintained. That’s not free or cheap. We have pretty basic covenants that mostly just follow city ordinances, nothing crazy. We built a park and have events for the kids. We use a management company that takes care of billing and paying the vendors, taxes, and liability insurance.

Cons: we get almost zero participation from the residents. No one outside of the board has shown up to our annual meetings. Most of us are ready to get off the board (I’ve been on about 6 years) but no one shows up to run for the seats. Also hate that we have to do violations but if we don’t, some people revert to trashy ways.