My son rendered an offer the other day to a house on the market in the town where he is residing at.  But he complained to us there is a Home Owner Association in the neighborhood; he said there will be a lot of expenses out of this pact of owners and he thinks it is not worthy.  I told him that is a trade-off between the benefit of better quality of living and the seemingly extra expenditure to the owners.  I also told him even we live in the apartment of Taipei, we have to pay a similar household outlay of $150 or more per month under a residiential pact.  But he was just dilly-dallying if he should take his offer back. 

Well, in American residential areas even there is no such kind of association, the owners of the house should take care of their property not only for themselves, but also for the public.  If any house is left poor-tended and becomes a blot on the landscape, sooner or later the municipal agency will call on you and give you a ticket.  Why is that?  Because there are so many mettlesome neighbors to watch over you all the time.  They are potential whistle-blowers.  So no matter there is an association or not, the owners must pay something on the maintenance of their house; otherwise, they have to do it all by themselves like lawnmowing, trimming extra branches, repairing broken fences, and so on.