I agree (which is why I live in a single-family), but to be fair, the HOA/condo fee also typically pays for things like the outside maintenance, snow removal, common area maintenance, roof, painting, landscaping, pool/tennis court/gym/what-have-you, trash removal, insurance and other expenses relating to the shared/public areas.

The value in that is that they also tell your neighbors what they can't do with their property.

For some condominiums (especially apartment-style, many-units-in-one-building condos), HOA fees often largely go to maintaining common areas and shared structure.

This is often less true with detached, single-family homes with HOAs.