Since Houston has no zoning laws, the advantage of the HOA is that it will prevent someone from opening a tattoo parlor in their home next to yours.

: a)All owners or persons having care of any property bordering any street, highway or public place within the city, shall, within the first eight (8) hours of daylight after the end of any snowfall, or the fall or deposit of snow or ice on the sidewalk of said property, from any cause whatsoever:(1)Remove or cause to be removed all snow or ice from a path not less than three (3) feet in width the length of the sidewalk of the entire border in or on said street, highway, or public place, including from any pedestrian access ramps cut into street curbs bordering said property and, for corner lots, from the portion(s) of the sidewalk extending past the property to and including the street curb, and provide for the treatment of any snow or ice remaining on any shoveled sidewalk, with sand, salt or other suitable material;(2)Remove or cause to be removed all snow or ice from around any fire hydrant on the sidewalk bordering said property; and(3)Remove or cause to be removed all snow or ice from the opening of any catch basin bordering the sidewalk of said property.

Hey OP, I’m out of state and fairly new to RE but looking to break the ice as a private investor.  

But this is a process that has more in common with creating a new flavor of ice cream rather than ownership of an ice cream franchise.

However, a slow trickle of water (leaky faucet, leaky toilet) can cause a buildup of ice, until the pipe is frozen solid.

Lets say you go down from 10 to 5 properties but an ice storm knocks out two of your properties for a few weeks.

I'm an introvert, so I have to force myself to sit with strangers and ask a good ice-breaker question to get in. 

If you don't clear snow and any injury occurs, your liable, same as with ice.

I've owned several businesses in my life...from an ice cream shop, to a flooring company, to a private gym.

The icing for me was that they just ignore most of the comments about these kinds of things until I could get Ryan on the phone.