Find out what is included, for the most part HOA’s have open books and as a co-op of sorts they spend the money on the neighborhood, whether it’s condos or houses. Sometimes it’s close to a wash (500 is higher than I’ve owned in but I don’t know what that gives you). Condo associations tend to buy fire insurance, trash and outside water and landscaping with your dues and put away reserves for painting, roofing, termites, etc. It would be fruitless tho have the individuals do their own if they are attached. If you add the $500 back into your budget for what you could afford in a non association house it is not an accurate measure of affordabilty. If you figure what the fire insurance, trash, water, landscaping and maintenance with the sfr (lets say $250 for example), then you could afford $250 more in the sfr payment, since that was your question. Most of the veterans of this site can attest to the fact that there are many costs other than the mortgage associated with home ownership of an sfr. My experience is that it is almost a wash, but then again I’ve never paid for such an expensive hoa, find out what you get and like the others have said, it comes down to preference. Having owned in an no mello roos, no hoa neigborhood, I’ll never do that again. My perference is for the low hoa’s that charge $30-$50 and maintain some rules, especially as the neighborhood ages. Otherwise you come home to your stucco, spanish roof neigborhood and find a neighbor painted his house blue, another rips out his lawn and puts in white rocks, while a third plants corn in his front yard (all true stories from my old neighborhood). I would gladly pay $30 a month to keep the christmas lights confined to six months a year. I visited freinds in my old neighborhood and ran into my old next door neighbor in his yard. After some pleasantries I couldn’t help it and said “dude those christmas lights were up when I moved out eight years ago, do they even work?” Enjoy the no hoa, I’m sure there are stories about it going the other and renegade hoa’s. Of course every time a friend tells me a story about his pain in the butt hoa hassling him about his oakland raider sheets in lieu of blinds in the windows or his collection of rv’s and boats in the yard, I nod in agreement but secretly I am happy I don’t have to live next to him.