HOA's are good and bad depending on what you are looking for. We have homes in two different HOA gated communities. The purpose of an HOA is consistency and conformity. This will help keep up property values and not allow a 'junk' collector pile up junk (cars, etc.). It also keeps the look of the development in check (no wild colors, odd additions, etc.)
We keep our coach in a RV storage garage which works fine for us.
But, if a person is buying in an HOA, have the Realtor get the minutes for the last full year from the Association. This is where you will see problems that have come up and how they were addressed.
We had a problem with our CA HOA where a couple home owners were renting their homes out on a daily basis and for commercial purposes. We had that put to a quick stop but attorney's had to be involved. Those homeowners have now gone bankrupt and the houses (one owned 3, the other owned 1) have gone back to the bank. Good riddance.
MM.