Finding a home where you can operate as an amateur radio operator sans HOA Nazis takes a lot of work, but it IS doable. Finding our new home took half a year. We have internet via satellite, DirecTV, city water, and AT&T telephone. What restrictions are recorded at the courthouse deal with junk cars, log cabins, and livestock operations, all of which are prohibited. The developer cares not one whit about antennae. The house is twelve years old.

The only downsides? No trash collection. I have to haul the trash to the convenience center at the bottom of the mountain twelve miles away. No newspaper delivery, I'm three miles out of the delivery area. Going to shopping and entertainment varies in distance from 15 to 65 miles. The local movie house is open only two days a week. Most county services are limited. I'm still pestering the county mayor to replace the street signs that are missing.

The good outweighs the bad, though. Best of all, I own a house for a monthly mortgage payment that is $300 less than what I was paying in rent in Florida.

My advice? Do your homework, check the county records for restrictions, and if you can't live in an area administered by an HOA, keep looking.