I have never wanted to live where there is an HOA. We remodeled in 2017. We considered selling and buying another house instead, but had a designer and a realtor come by and take a look to help decide whether we wanted to remodel or move... the realtor walked through the house and around the yard and kept asking, "WHY would you want to move from here?!"
So we remodeled.
I'm blessed to live on three acres, so the nearest neighbors are probably 75 yards away, and the next nearest close to a quarter of a mile. And there's plenty of trees and brush between us, so I don't have to be concerned about what they do or how their yard looks. The only thing is it's a big yard, and I'm not sure how long I'll be able to take care of all of it, but I may live here until I have to move to a retirement village or something like that.
HOA's are a double edged sword. They won't let you do just anything you want, but they won't let your neighbors do just anything they want. But that's best case scenario, some of them do nothing except take money.
Aries
~Sign of the Rams