Condo Living
Posted By Kristabella on September 2, 2009
Being a grown-up and owning a condo is hard. I don’t think I’m mature enough for it. (Even though I’ll be 32 in 12 days.) (And yes, I’ll mention that fact every day until the 14th.)
I think owning a home is easier in some ways. Only because it’s all yours. You’re not sharing the building with 30 other people and have to go based on decisions of the group.
My condo board kind of sucks. Remember the exterminator issue?
See, there is a note by the mailboxes and it says that if you’re a new resident or have any questions, to email them at their Condo Board email address. So when I moved in, back in May, I sent them an email. I had a question and I also wanted to give them my contact information. I was being a good resident!
I wasn’t sure what to expect. At the very least, I was expecting an answer to my question. And maybe a “welcome to the building!” Something. What I got? NOTHING. Not an email, not a call. Nothing.
Since I sent my original email from my Yahoo address and theirs is a Gmail address, I thought maybe it put my message in the spam folder. So in July, I sent another note. This time from my Gmail address. Still, nothing.
Then, finally, three months after moving in, three months after the original email, I got a response. I got a response to both the Gmail and Yahoo address. I figured we had made some progress.
I was wrong.
Some time in August we got an email about doing a group plan on Dish Network. See, we’re not allowed to have a satellite dish attached to the side of the building, like I and many of my fellow residents currently do. Technically our only option is cable. So the board was nice and looked into better options since cable sucks and is like 5 times more expensive than the dish.
Well, as a current Dish customer and someone who just signed a two-year contract, I had questions about this supposed all-building plan. So I shot off another email to condo board dude.
And then I waited.
THREE WEEKS LATER, I got another email about it. And the dude was totally unhelpful. So I shot back another email, and asked for his contact at Dish and I would call and get the information I needed. And I ended the email with something like “and I hope it doesn’t take me three weeks to get a response back.”
That did the trick and I got a response back right away and got all my questions answered.
Look, I know we’re all busy and these board members have jobs besides sitting on the condo board. I get that. But I also know that when you decide to run for a position on the board, you know that there are duties that come with it. I mean, even I know that and I know nothing about condos and boards. And it is your job, right? You took this position, willingly. So have some common courtesy and return the emails! Even worse is it is a general mailbox for the ENTIRE board so someone should have responded. Even if you didn’t know the answer, you could just ACKNOWLEDGE the email! And yes! I’m still pissed that my original email from May wasn’t returned for THREE MONTHS.
Anyway, when condo board dude finally gets back to me, I find out I am apparently in violation and shouldn’t have a dish up. Which, fine, but I’m not taking it down until I have the group option. And really, if you send me a letter, maybe I’ll wait three months to take down my dish. I’ll “claim” to have not received it.
But thankfully we’re going to be getting a group rate on Dish Network that will save me loads of cash each month. I’m sure it will be happening in about three months.
In other condo news, we also just got hit with a special assessment. YAY! Condo owning is FUN! *eye roll*
Apparently the developer got the property re-assessed and they lowered the property value by quite a significant amount. Which means my taxes will be A LOT lower. Yay! But developer hired this attorney to do this without consulting the board or the residents and now we owe the lawyer $37,000 or some ridiculous fee. (Dude, I need to become a real estate attorney, apparently.) Boo!
So we have to cover the attorney fees and pay an additional amount each month with our normal monthly assessments to cover this. And thankfully they are spreading it out between three months and it isn’t horrible. And thankfully the developer has no say any more in the building. But still, that money could have been better spent on wine or cheese or a hooker.
But other than that, and the homeless man in my parking space, I do really love my place and love where I live. Especially right now, as I do laundry while I sit on the couch and don’t have to climb three flights of stairs to do it. Even if my washer and dryer are both made by Whirlpool.
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Every time you mention “condo board” I picture Seinfeld’s dad & the other old people on the condo board at Del Boca Vista (I think that was the name of it). Ooooo….and the pen that wrote upside down…and Elaine sleeping on the pull out bed and her backache….”STELLA!!!!!!!!!”
Um, 3 months is NOT acceptable for a response and 37,000? I’m sorry – as an attorney the only way I can say that is reasonable is if he did over 1000 hours of work – which I sincerely doubt he did. OH, and if you had agreed to it before! That would have been nice. We are using cable now because the Texas storms usually rendered Direct TV null for hours at a time, and now? We are in the worst drought in the history of mankind – so yea, we would have been fine. 🙂
.-= TUWABVB´s last blog ..When Pills Are Not Enough =-.
My sister had a condo for a few years and hated the exact things you speak of. In fact, their association was going BANKRUPT because the woman who was supposed to be in charge of their dues mysteriously couldn’t “find” the money. And then they couldn’t “find” HER!
Nice.
I feel like I’m not old enough, or mature enough, to own a house, too, and we’re going to get pre-qualified soon! Eeeeee! When do you think we’ll finally feel grown-up? 60? 73?
i think you have very valid points about their tardiness. 3 months to get any response whatsoever to an email is pretty ridiculous.
.-= michele´s last blog ..June is for Camping =-.
Only recently have I realized how expensive cable is. Like Holy Wow type expensive. So I say you conveniently forget and then wait to take down the Dish.
But with a home you have to mow the lawn and pull stupid nettles that I HATE. Oh, umm, maybe that’s just my problem.
You’re right: 3 months to respond to an e-mail is ridiculous, and $37,000 is WAY too much. Getting a property re-assessed should probably cost more like $3,000, in my opinion.
.-= -R-´s last blog ..Forever =-.
Snerk! on the Whirlpool line. Is “Whirlpool” the new Nazi (conversation escalation ender)??
.-= Julie K´s last blog ..There’s a Blessing in This House =-.
37k is CRAZINESS. Currently we’ve got a fancy pants atty going after a deadbeat who hasn’t paid his HOA dues since February and so far I think he’s charged us 2k. And he’s been working on the issue since MARCH.
Boards schmoards.
.-= HollyLynne´s last blog ..I totally made a pie =-.
Please don’t scare me… I’ve never had an HOA to deal with, but will in less than 3 weeks.
OMG.
But even though I will be a homeowner, I will still have to access my washer & dryer which will be on the 3rd floor.
.-= Darcey´s last blog ..Always Busy =-.
We totally have a board for our building too, and I swear five of the members are invisible. Or perhaps just trapped under something heavy.
.-= Kerri Anne´s last blog ..Loathe, Actually =-.
Strata boards are of the debbil. We’ve had our house for almost nine years (WTF?) but I remember condo/apartment living.
Suckage in that regard.
.-= Angella´s last blog ..Don’t Say It’s Over =-.
I love my apartment, hate sharing floors with a guy who vacuums every day before 10. Maybe people just aren’t meant to live together.
.-= Noelle´s last blog ..Because people who read this blog are smart, creative and full of opinions =-.
Need a hooker? – 1-800-call-lou . 🙂
.-= lceel´s last blog ..Friday Haiku – Mad Hatter =-.
On the plus side, you don’t have to landscape or mow the lawn or any of that nonsense!! I don’t think we’ll feel like grown-ups till we’re old geasers.
Don’t EVEN get me started. EVERYONE I spoke to before buying my condo warned against strata properties (what the HOA is called in my neck of the woods). Unfortunately, none of them were willing to pony up $100,000 and this was all I could afford.
When I bought THREE years ago? I found out through the home inspection that there was a soft spot on the deck. My building is also one of the only ones in the province where the owner is responsible for the deck. I’ve been fighting for THREE YEARS just to get PERMISSION to fix my (now ROTTING) deck (seriously: there is a post that holds up the railing? rotted through the bottom — oh, and we can see that because of the HOLE IN THE DECK).
Sorry for the caps: this shit makes me stabby. I will nevah, evah, EVAH buy a strata property again.
.-= Chibi Jeebs´s last blog ..Girl Talk Thursday – Freebie Five =-.
I don’t live in a condo, but we do have a Homeowners Association that can make my life pretty miserable. They refuse to answer the phone, but want me to get approval before I so much as hang Christmas lights.
Oh, and a friend of mine received a special assessment of $14,000 PER UNIT due in three months. FOURTEEN THOUSAND DOLLARS. I would have had to hand them the keys to my home in that case.
.-= Mama Bub´s last blog ..Wearing =-.
a lot of people think i’m nuts for not wanting to own my own place. but honestly? i do not want the responsibility of taking care of a house, so you’d think hey, get a condo, right? except this sounds sort of crappy too.
uh, also there’s the whole “i have no money for a downpayment” situation, but i like to pretend it’s totally my CHOICE.
.-= Alice´s last blog ..like any of you didn’t know about the pole dancing already.. =-.
Should have bought Maytag.
.-= slynnro´s last blog ..Vacation Hangover! =-.
It’s not much better when you live in a house and have an HOA. They got on to me for not mowing my grass in time and yet the neighbor had a head tree for MONTHS. They also charge a billion dollars a quarter.
.-= Kristie´s last blog ..One of the few regrets I have in life. =-.
It’s precisely stuff like this that will make me do a DANCE OF JOY when we move into ahouse one day. Sorry you’re dealing with this crap, dude. xo
.-= metalia´s last blog ..Last week, five senses-style. (Alternate title: My clever ploy to force you to look at vacation photos.) =-.