I used to hate HOAs, but I changed my mind; here's why

HOAs are expensive, cost gobs of money, and restrict what you're allowed to do with your own property, so why would are they everywhere? What intelligent human being would want something like that controlling one of the biggest assets they own?

Even now, I have a love-hate relationship with HOAs, but I'm warming up to them. Those of you who have been following my latest posts may be able to guess where I'm going with this, but for those of you with more to do with their time than read obscure posts from random BP bloggers, I'll give you a quick rundown:

I currently own 12 units in the form of two fourplexes, a duplex, and two condos. I'm also looking to move the two-block radius where my fourplexes are located from a D class neighborhood to a C class one. I've enlisted a lot of BP help, and one of the common refrains that comes up is that I need to take control of a majority of the assets in the area, either through buying out owners, taking over the property management of their assets, or encouraging new, more hands-on owners to come in.

Something I noticed on my most recent condo, which I bought about eight months ago, is that during that short period of time it has turned from a C neighborhood into a B neighborhood, which is a quicker timeline than I would have ever believed for any 100+ unit complex. The big difference between this place and my fourplex area? An HOA.

About 10 months ago a new HOA was elected (essentially anyone willing to take the job), but this time around they actually cared about what happened in the complex. They installed new cameras, hired a full-time groundskeeper, and started enforcing the HOA rules on tenant vetting, occupancy limits, abandoned vehicles, etc. The fact that the HOA has the power to impart punitive measures all the way up to involuntary property foreclosure allows them to very rapidly change the climate of the whole community. Additionally, they can now use HOA money to fix long overdue maintenance issues, rather than  squandering it on meaningless pet projects.

Juxtapose that with my fourplex area, where even the city code enforcement can't really enforce the rules. I do believe that I will eventually be able to turn the neighborhood around, but it will take years and a lot of legwork and partnerships between landlords, city council, police, and managers, whereas the HOA can unilaterally fix an area within a single lease cycle. All this has made me conclude that in the future I will put a premium on an HOA in an area I'm investing in, rather than think of it as an additional expense.