I Vowed Never to Live in an HOA Neighborhood Again. Here's Why I Changed My Mind

Could dealing with an HOA sometimes be worth the hassle?

Living in a neighborhood with a homeowners association (HOA) has always seemed like a huge hassle to me. Several times, my husband and I have walked away from buying a home we love in an HOA neighborhood because of the ridiculous rules and restrictions applied to homeowners or because of the high fees the neighborhoods charged.

We didn't want to commit to huge monthly costs on top of a mortgage payment, or have our association tell us what kind of flowers to plant. And we've also lived in HOA neighborhoods where the association was disorganized and caused nothing but trouble.

After having bad experiences, we had vowed never to buy a house in an HOA neighborhood again. Now, however, we have changed our minds and are actually looking for a property in a neighborhood that has a very active association. Here's why.

Sometimes, HOA amenities are worth the price

Our family has decided to bite the bullet and purchase our next home in a neighborhood with an association for one big reason: We really fell in love with the neighborhood.

The neighborhood is relatively close to where our current vacation home is located. Every time we were in town for vacation, we found ourselves driving over to this neighborhood for some reason. There were tons of cute stores there, a few amazing restaurants we absolutely loved, bakeries with amazing treats for both humans and dogs, and fun special events. And there are miles of dog walking trails that wind by beautiful lakes and streams.

The neighborhood also has a really ideal location, allowing access to major theme parks and downtown restaurants without having to travel on high-traffic roads.

After finding ourselves driving over to this neighborhood multiple times over the course of a week and lamenting the fact that we had to sit in traffic to get there, we decided that it would really make more sense just to live there so we could step out our door to enjoy all those amenities and get to our preferred destinations much faster.

The neighborhood, unfortunately, does have an HOA. But we realized the association is the reason for all these special events and for the beautifully maintained walking trails -- and we decided after having spent enough time there enjoying all that it had to offer that the HOA fees were worth the price and the hassle involved in complying with the HOA rules.

Think carefully about whether an HOA is right for you

For many years, we thought we weren't HOA people -- until we decided we could be, for the right place.

The reality is, there are all different kinds of neighborhood associations with varying rules, requirements, cost structures, and amenities. You need to go into buying in an HOA neighborhood with both eyes open if you're considering it -- but you don't necessarily want to discount them offhand without taking a look at the trade-offs and really thinking about what's right for you.

For us, as soon as we sell the land we had originally planned to build on, we'll be getting serious about finding a home in this HOA neighborhood. In the meantime, we'll be enjoying our dog walks and dining adventures there.