Gene Kearns wrote:
(1) I wouldn't buy a property that came with a deed
restriction

If you had added "that I can't live with" to that statement, I'd say
"Amen". But all property is restricted in some fashion or another
(i.e. you can't even dump nuclear waste in your own backyard anymore!)

and (2) my position was that NO agreement is binding
unless you sign indicating assent.

A deed restriction can be binding and enforceable even if you didn't
have a clue it existed.
Hypothetical Example: A blacksmith in 1930, ticked off at the
automobile boom, sells his shop and writes into the deed "this
property shall never be used for the purpose of commercial gasoline
sales". The property changes hands 10 times over the next 77 years
with no further mention of that deed restriction. Then in 2007 an
entrepreneur buys the property with plans to build a gas station. He's
got a problem. That old deed restriction, that almost everybody has
forgotten about, is still binding and enforceable. I've seen people
spend more money in legal fees trying to get around something like
that than they paid for the property to begin with.
So you're right. If you don't like the restrictions, walk away from
the deal. But you don't have to agree or even know about a deed
restriction to make it enforcable. A Title Opinion by a good
Abstractor or Lawyer, to find these things before you buy, can be
worth it's weight in gold.

Rick