Wanna Avoid The HOA? Stay Out Of These Amarillo Neighborhoods.
I get it, the HOA is there to try and protect the integrity of the neighborhood.
While I think that's perfectly fine on the surface, there's can be problems with HOA's.
Let's be honest, some have a tendency to get a bit too much into your business. It's almost as if they get hopped up on some kind of crazy power trip. Pesky things like, "the HOA has decided we don't like the gnome in your front yard. Please remove it," sort of things.
I remember a specific example from when I lived in Colorado. My friend and I had built this pergola in his back yard. All he wanted was a little bit of shade and to add to the look of the house a bit. We spent a good bit of time working on this thing and came away proud of what we'd done.
A couple months later, he gets a notice from the HOA. "We didn't approve the building of your pergola. You'll need to take it down then resubmit for approval." You're kidding me right?
He ended up fighting pretty vigorously with the HOA over the pergola, and ultimately they decided to allow it as it wasn't an eyesore. I mean, it's not like we hung a bunch of random trinkets and whatnot on it. It was just some nice, stained wood.
I'm not saying every HOA is bad. The majority are perfectly fine and have a lot of flexibility. All it takes is one bad egg to give them all a bad name though.
If you're in the market for a new home, and you want to stay away from the HOA, be aware that these neighborhoods have HOA's attached to them.