Condos basically just force you to pay for the ongoing maintenance that the author mentioned, but with the downside of not actually having any control over the quality of the work or the decision making process at all unless you're on the condo board.
Condos are generally the worst of both worlds, because you have almost all the responsibilities of homeownership combined with nearly all of the restrictions of renting an apartment.
There's a reason they appreciate significantly less than other types of property.
You can always go join your condo board meetings though. In my experience most HOA boards are filled with people who have seen horror stories of HOAs and don't want to live in a place with a bad one.
Sure sometimes they do make bad decisions, but you're welcome to just show up to their board meeting and give them some advice.
And the worst of another world: hyperlocal politics.