I mostly agree with you, my HOA is more of just a community group for our subdivision (or development if you're an east coaster). Members of the board live in the neighborhood and they encourage everyone in the neighborhood to hold a position at some point (2 year term). Our fees are only over 100 bucks a year and cover maintenance of the common areas and the like. We meet once a year, vote on a few things (like to have a spring cleaning event where we rent a dumpster for the community). That's about it. I was afraid of buying a house that had an HOA but I'm ok with the way ours is done, no company owns it just the community.