I pay around 15 bucks a month for my HOA. They take care of common land and also the 3 kids playgrounds in the neighborhood. They also have to approve any changes to the exterior of a house which can be annoying.
One interesting thing they do is that for things like new decks or replaced ones, you need to submit an application for approval which should include a building permit by the county. It gives prospective home buyers assurance that certain things were done correctly. Before a house is sold, the seller needs to provide an HOA disclosure which triggers an inspection for which a seller needs to ensure all changes were made with the approval of the HOA. Our seller (an investment property management company) had to fix several things in our house to being them up to code to get those approvals, which helped me as a home buyer.
Besides that, the HOA has been very responsive, we did replace our windows without their approval but it was relatively easy to fix given that they were similar windows.
One interesting thing they do is that for things like new decks or replaced ones, you need to submit an application for approval which should include a building permit by the county. It gives prospective home buyers assurance that certain things were done correctly. Before a house is sold, the seller needs to provide an HOA disclosure which triggers an inspection for which a seller needs to ensure all changes were made with the approval of the HOA. Our seller (an investment property management company) had to fix several things in our house to being them up to code to get those approvals, which helped me as a home buyer.
Besides that, the HOA has been very responsive, we did replace our windows without their approval but it was relatively easy to fix given that they were similar windows.