After we got married, spouse and I owned a condo for around 12 years. We had no amenities at all, not even an HOA meeting hall. The board met at the board president's living room once a month. But all our landscaping, snow removal, and roof repair was taken care of by the HOA. Painting the porches was our responsibility. Our condo fee was made higher when the developer - which owned and rented out around half of the properties - was given as many votes as units he owned. So he got to set the rules. He decided that property owners only had to pay one HOA fee per owner, rather than per unit. So he only paid $300/month, just like everyone else - even though he owned almost half the units in the community.
We eventually bought a freestanding house in the next town, a modest but lovely walkable area behind the main road. I was able to walk to the supermarket on nice days if I didn't have too much to pick up, or ride my bike to a dental appointment, and enjoy the old fashioned New England town green environment with no HOA at all.
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