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It’s worth trying to find any neighborhood pages for the building or the area, on FB or NextDoor. That’s where most people whine about their HOA. You can also sometimes find public HOA websites with meeting agendas etc.
They’re not all the same. Some are awful, some are just fine. The biggest thing you have to consider are the dues. Are they extremely low for the area? Probably no reserves and that means special assessments when something happens. Typically the HOA won’t have any reason to come into your unit. There may be rare instances where they need access like painting outside walls and windows or something, but you will get notice.
You also need to consider how many of the units are owner occupied vs rented out. If you’re going to be living in a building full of renters, it won’t be any different to an apartment.
As this thread has shown, there is no single answer to "What are Condo HOAs like?".
A significant factor is what the "condo" is. Is it a group of townhouses, or a small project, or a mid-rise, or what?
We moved from a SFH to a condo in 2018. I have never been happier. No one enters unless I ask them to (for example, I'll be out of town, please put packages inside our unit). We do have fire alarm tests twice a year, required by the city. They come in your unit, make sure your alarms are working, and leave. Takes 2 minutes, and they give us plenty of advance warning. They never ever come in to repair something. It's my problem, not theirs. You do have to use trades on their approved list, which are companies (plumbers, elec,etc) that are familiar with our building, have insurance on file, know the rules about using elevators, etc. Fortunately, the list is extensive. Additionally, if you really really want to use your own trade, you can apply to have them added to the list.
Our monthly dues are slightly higher than what I paid to maintain my house. But that also includes reserves for future issues (elevators, roof, etc). Rules are in writing. Break them, and the GM will educate you on the problem. Not long after we moved in, someone parked in my space. I put up a "Reserved" sign. The GM took it down, and explained that only the condo can put signs up. He offered to put their own "approved by the rules" sign up, I agreed, problem solved. Sign looks similar to me, but his point was clear. And I agree, now that I understand.
The GM makes a HUGE difference. Ours does a great job of juggling & balancing the needs of 70 different condo-owners.
I would try to talk to some owners in the building to get a feel for what it's like. Everything from living there, to the Board, to the area, to the noise, etc etc.
Good luck!
PS: Everyone talks about noise, but that's not an issue for us. We live in an 18-story building, and I guess it was built with sound suppression being a priority, because we just don't have a problem with noise from neighbors.
I'm on the board of my condo complex. I was on for six years, quit because I was spending half my life in Canada, and now someone has had to quit because of her health. I can't get to Canada now, obviously, so they asked me to serve out her term.
Apparently some people have had issues with HOAs, as you can see here, but most of those stories just make me roll my eyes. NEVER have we gone into anyone else's units except for one time when an owner asked us to come and see where water was leaking into her unit from outside, which was a problem because it involved the commonly-owned outside portion of the building. We brought a contractor in to determine that the leak was indeed because of water coming in from the outside so the association had to pay for remediation, not the owner. How would we even get into someone else's unit if they didn't give us a key? Why would we even want to?
The biggest problem is that condo owners too often come in with a landlord-tenant mentality. No. With eyes wide open, condo owners bought into a joint-ownership arrangement. The word "condominium" literally means that. There is no "them". The HOA is YOU. You, along with all the other owners, are responsible for the outside of the buildings, the parking lots, sidewalk, and other common areas (we don't have a pool or tennis courts here, but if you bought into a place that has them, you own them commonly also.)
Guess what. There is no magic fairy who pays to insure those common areas or to maintain or replace them. It is YOU as part of the Association who does that. That's what your fee goes for. Once or twice I have had other owners who found out I was on the board look at me and say, "What are we getting for our fees?" REALLY? You get sent a budget for the year as well as the budget vs. actual for the previous year and the audited amounts. Why are you asking me this when you already have all the information? There are meetings for the all members of the Association. Very few actually show up.
Anecdotally, some places do seem to have board members who abuse their positions. That's probably something that should be looked into before you move to a place. I didn't even think of it when I bought mine, but once I started attending the meetings, I learned more about it.
But again, the most important thing to get through your head is that there is no "them". It is YOU. How much YOU are involved and learn about the property YOU jointly own with all your neighbors can make a difference in the quality of your life in a condo.
Excellent post! We've been in condo's for 20-years and I've been on HOA boards for about 10-years.
I've concluded that most of the exaggerated stories about HOA board abuses are written by two types of people: (1) Those with a lot of anecdotal mis-perceptions, who have never lived in an HOA managed condo/community; or (2) Those who bought/signed and moved into an HOA without reading any of the docs or understanding how HOA operating budgets/reserves work, and who expect everyone else to adapt to whatever they alone feel should happen ...at any given moment! The latter, likewise, do not attend public HOA meetings or have any idea of what is really going on. They want all the benefits of an HOA, with none of the responsibilities!... and would probably be better off in an apartment or a sfh in a non-HOA community.
I am fairly certain that where I live the townhouses also have HOAs. Plus, I am not a big fan of too many stairs.
There are subdivisions of SFHs that have HOAs, that were built in the 1990s.
Other than that, there are SFHs and apartments here.
To clarify - my condo had people came in twice a year. However we always had plenty of advanced notice, they didn't just show up or come in when nobody was home unless there was an emergency of some kind.
Excellent post! We've been in condo's for 20-years and I've been on HOA boards for about 10-years.
I've concluded that most of the exaggerated stories about HOA board abuses are written by two types of people: (1) Those with a lot of anecdotal mis-perceptions, who have never lived in an HOA managed condo/community; or (2) Those who bought/signed and moved into an HOA without reading any of the docs or understanding how HOA operating budgets/reserves work, and who expect everyone else to adapt to whatever they alone feel should happen ...at any given moment! The latter, likewise, do not attend public HOA meetings or have any idea of what is really going on. They want all the benefits of an HOA, with none of the responsibilities!... and would probably be better off in an apartment or a sfh in a non-HOA community.
^^^^^
This.
While my experience has been with HOAs and freestanding homes, the issue are much the same.
Two things I see repeatedly over the years and that never cease to amaze me:
1.) The HOA member who claims "I never signed on for this! I'm not (paying my assessment, complying with covenants, abiding with bylaws, etc.)" I've see people refuse to pay their assessments despite having signed documentation from their closing showing they agreed to do so and understood that they were buying property in a deed restricted community.
2.) HOA members who openly ignore community standards and then get all worked up when they receive a violation notice. In many cases, they're serial offenders. What's that about? Flouting authority?
I don't get it. The HOAs I've been in were "nice" HOAs in that they would got to extremes to work with owners so they understood the expectations as opposed to dictating things and threatening consequences. For the most part it worked well.
Well, we lived in a strong HOA and we didn't get crossways with them, because we did that oddball thing called "reading the contract terms".
However, we spent a lot of time wrangling with them trying to keep them from doing stupid ($$$$) things; and there was a small cadre that basically used HOA dues to support their own social lives. Dues never go down, by the way.
While my experience has been with HOAs and freestanding homes, the issue are much the same.
Two things I see repeatedly over the years and that never cease to amaze me:
1.) The HOA member who claims "I never signed on for this! I'm not (paying my assessment, complying with covenants, abiding with bylaws, etc.)" I've see people refuse to pay their assessments despite having signed documentation from their closing showing they agreed to do so and understood that they were buying property in a deed restricted community.
2.) HOA members who openly ignore community standards and then get all worked up when they receive a violation notice. In many cases, they're serial offenders. What's that about? Flouting authority?
I don't get it. The HOAs I've been in were "nice" HOAs in that they would got to extremes to work with owners so they understood the expectations as opposed to dictating things and threatening consequences. For the most part it worked well.
RM
^^This^^
We live in a new subdivision in Florida. Most residents are new transplants to Florida and know nothing about CCRs and HOAs. Every week there are posts from residents who complain about what they signed up for. When I go for my morning walks I notice several homes with violations and know new complaint posts will be coming when they get letters.
When I was an HOA president I ran my 38 townhouse complex with an iron fist like the Emperor of Rome. If you parked you car crooked inbetween the parking lines I would fine and evantually tow the car. I put hundreds of thousands of dollars of leins on homes. bankrupted several residents who thought it was a good idea to take me and the board on. We collected assments as if it were protection money for the mob. If people didn't pay suddenly their pets would disapear, somehow they would get out of their yards never to be seen from again. The things I did to keep order and the coffers filled with cash needed to be done for the survival of the HOA.
Our motto went like this. God, HOA, Country.
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Excellent post! We've been in condo's for 20-years and I've been on HOA boards for about 10-years. 
