a house

Yesterday was the first day that Balint and I went out with our realtor to actually look at houses. It was an interesting and very tiring day. There was a house that I sort of liked. It was cute, only 5 years old and I liked the layout. It has a huge above ground pool that takes up most of the back yard. Now when I was a teenager, this would have been a dream come true. But now all I can think of is that it isn't very attractive, it's a huge responsibility and lots of maintenance. Also, it takes up so much space, there is no place for a garden. The other thing that bugs me is home owners associations. I understand that they are formed to keep up property prices, but it really bugs me that I would have to pay so much a month for a group to tell me what color to paint my house, what kind of mailbox I should have and (this is the one I really hate) that I can't have a clothesline because my underwear might upset someone! After living without a dryer for over three years, and yes America, it can be done, I really wanted a back yard where I can hang out my sheets and towels on a nice day. Even now, my mother who has a super energy efficient clothes dryer, uses her clothes line from late spring to fall. The clothes smell so fresh and they don't shrink. In my mind this is pretty much as energy efficient as you can get. Why is this a bad thing. I don't understand. And why would I want to pay someone to tell me what to do in my own house and on my own property? Our realtor says it's simple, if you can't live with the rules, don't buy the house. I think it isn't as simple as this, but who am I to say. Just a plain person who values my freedom I guess.