SWStrawn54

Since the HOA post went viral I've had a lot of people ask me what I actually think about HOAs So I did what I do I ran the numbers There are 373,000 HOAs in the United States 77 million Americans live in one That's 1 in 4 people Collectively they pay $106 billion a year in assessments $106 billion That's more than the GDP of over 100 countries For an organization run by your neighbor who hasn't mowed his lawn The average HOA fee is $243 a month That's $2,916 a year For a household earning the median income of $80,000 that's 3.6% of gross income Going to an organization with no earnings report, no audited financials, and no fiduciary duty in most states If this were a company it would never survive diligence Here's why The board of directors is unpaid They're volunteers 97.6 million hours of volunteer labor annually Valued at $2.9 billion So the people making the rules, setting the budgets, and enforcing fines on your trash can are doing it for free In private equity we would never invest in a company where the entire leadership team works for nothing Because when people aren't paid they aren't accountable And when they aren't accountable they fine you $50 for 11 minutes of trash can visibility while their Christmas lights have been up for 97 days 70% of HOAs are underfunded on reserves by 70% or more That means the money you pay every month isn't being saved for future repairs It's being spent On what 60-70% of HOAs hire third-party management companies These companies collect your dues, manage your vendors, and enforce your rules For a fee Off the top Before a single dollar goes to the landscaper or the reserve fund So your $243 a month goes to a management company that hires a vendor that hires a landscaper that mows the common area you could mow yourself That's not a value chain That's a fee chain And landscaping alone can eat up to 50% of the operating budget For grass 71% of HOAs plan to raise fees this year 71% of those plan to raise them up to 10% So the cost goes up every year The reserves stay underfunded The board stays unpaid The bylaws stay unread And you get a letter in an envelope with a stamp in 2026 because your trash can was visible for 11 minutes If someone brought me this deal I'd pass in the first meeting No audited financials No professional management required by law in most states No fiduciary standard Unpaid leadership 70% underfunded reserves Rising costs with no margin improvement And a customer base that can't leave without selling their house That last part is the only reason it works You can't cancel your HOA membership You can cancel a gym membership You can cancel a home warranty You can cancel a streaming service But you cannot cancel the organization that fines you for your trash can The only exit is selling your home In PE we call that a captive customer base It's the only business model where the product gets worse, the price goes up, and the customer can't leave And the board enforcing the rules hasn't read them I have All 47 pages Make common sense common again Plz fix. Thx. Sent from my iPhone

Milton Friedman on why the U.S. leads in higher education but ranks near the bottom in K-12: “In higher education, the student chooses the institution, and the institution has to adapt to attract the student. In elementary and secondary education, the institution chooses the student, and the student has to adapt.” “Choice and competition is what makes the difference. That’s the reason why we rank very high in higher education and very low in elementary and secondary education.” “A universal voucher system would enable parents to have the right to choose the schools their children go to, to choose the school that’s better for their child.”

What’s funny to me is, when people bring up the stats to show OKC doesn’t get more free throws than other teams & Shai doesn’t get to the line much for his volume, it’s ignored. But when OKC finally has a high free throw game, it’s the biggest story.