HOA's are needed!

I have lived in an HOA for over 30 years and I love it and would never live in a place that didn't have a strong HOA. My biggest complaint is about people who move into these communities and believe they can do whatever they want to the outside of their homes. These same people get upset when they don't follow the covenants that they break and are surprised and mad when they get a notice from the HOA to fix the problem. I often wonder if they truly understand that there are rules that everyone has to follow to keep our neighborhoods from looking terrible and unsightly. I also wonder if the realtors can help educate their buyers on the pro's and con's in living in a covenant controlled community? It should not be taken lightly, and these buyers need to understand what they are getting into before they buy. If it's not for you don't buy in these neighborhoods. I can go into a neighborhood and know if they have soft or strong covenant controls. The first sign is if there are RV'S and boats on the side or backyard. I don't want to look at an RV or boat next to me. I'm not against these items, it just doesn't belong in your yard. If you can't abide by the rules (no RV's, boats, trailers, terrible paint color choices, unkept yards, no parking on the lawn, stored cars, trash, no chickens in the backyard) don't live in this type of HOA community. It's very simple. There are many places to live where there are no rules and you can do whatever you want to your house and neighborhood. I also get tired of these same people that will most likely say "this is my property and you can't tell me what I can and can't do to it". I really appreciate my HOA and am very protective of my house and what it looks like and spend many hours to keep it this way. I not only do it for me, I do it for my neighbors and my neighborhood/community. It's maintaining value because of these rules. It is proven that property values are stronger when there are HOA'S, and the communities are well kept overall. We can't continue to take away and diminsh control of our HOA'S.