HOAs differ vastly in quality due to lack of regulation and a wide range of community challenges and needs. It would be good to get a broad survey of folks in HOAs instead of relying upon anecdata but the lack of regulations make reliable reporting on this surprisingly difficult.

I’ve known some folks with HOAs and I see an inverse correlation with HOA dues and satisfaction which is usually correlated with HOA responsibilities and enforcement. I know folks with a $50 / year HOA and the HOA I was in was about $400 / mo for a condo that was maybe $1800 / mo.