I bought because of location. And I try to live by them. But your premise that people that hate HOAs only hate them because they didn’t read the rules is just wrong.
Most people buy property despite some of what is in the HOA. An HOA is a feature to a point. Beyond that point, it’s stupid and unnecessary. Just because we agreed to it doesn’t change the facts that most of it is overreaching, stupid, and unnecessary.
Creating a community of 55+ should be illegal. How is it any different really than creating a community of whites only. Contract or no, it’s just bad.