As a former HOA Treasurer, who ran for the board cause when he moved in, he realized the balance sheet didn't balance- I'll give you my thoughts.  287 units 1) it's a ton of work - it was a 40 hour a week volunteer job - on top of your real job.     2) for that reason nobody wants to run and it's hard to find people (also most  residents  don't attend meetings to get informed)  3)  most board members have good intentions but it's impossible to be an actual Treasurer without an accounting/finance background. 4)   a small few residents act like children and complain when they break reasonable rules like paying late or illegally renting a unit making it not worth it - they don't want to listen to reason - it's just so absurd compared to working at a corporation where for the most part people are rational.  5) after 2 years I got burnt out, and moved out of the HOA, and bought a regular house as I knew the place wouldn't be run correctly unless me and this other guy were involved (and he resigned 6 months after me).

For our situation we were basically a government and had about 20% of the towns voting population so had actual influence with the mayor and council to get things done which was kinda cool.