An Indecisive (and costly) HOA

 When we lived in Nashville, my dad put his handiness to work and built my sibling and me a beautiful playhouse (not one of these pre-bought sets). Once he finished, he unveiled our new house after school – and we quickly got the attention of the kids on the block…

…and the HOA. My dad had painted the trim of the wooden house red, thinking it matched the neighborhood homes. The HOA did not agree. A few days later, they dropped off a letter telling him to repaint the trim a less bright color. My dad begrudgingly compiled, painting the trim a pale blue. Yet again, the HOA sent a letter telling him to repaint the trim, this time to a neutral color – resulting in our white playhouse having a mud-brown trim. 

The fact my dad had to repaint the playhouse multiple times suggests that the Na for the HOA may have been low. Having to repaint the playhouse TWICE increased the cost of the decision (Ci) for my dad – and the decision-making costs (Di) of trying to negotiate with the HOA – some of whom wanted the playhouse to be out of sight from the street. If the HOA had used a simple majority, my dad would not have had to make so many runs to Home Depot (although I think he liked painting so
much he may not have minded too much).