Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Well, if they have a problem they can always run for the board. In the mean time I will be certain to fine them to kingdom come for not following the rules and be sure to level assessments each year so they will be paying as much as they would for 55+ housing.
Many of the 55+ residents are-- as usual for older people -- stubborn and inflexible. They need to move on.
I hope you intend to fine the younger residents “to kingdom come” for those same violations. Failure to do so will open the door to all sorts of legal headaches.
I have no idea where so many people get the idea that “older” adults are flush with money. Many of them have real concerns with finances. Just because someone is over 55 does not mean he/she can automatically afford to pay more for housing.
I hope you intend to fine the younger residents “to kingdom come” for those same violations. Failure to do so will open the door to all sorts of legal headaches.
I have no idea where so many people get the idea that “older” adults are flush with money. Many of them have real concerns with finances. Just because someone is over 55 does not mean he/she can automatically afford to pay more for housing.
This is a great point. Many 55+ communities have fees for extra frills that many people don’t want nor need. I know the 55+ in my old community was part of a big master planned community that had fees and a CDD and then there were additional fees for the 55+. It was incredibly expensive. The area is already attractive to retirees, with lots of less expensive options that were single story and didn’t require the extra 55+ add-ons.
I think if you live in a condo, you need to realize that there will probably be lots of people who are 55+ there just because there is lower maintenance and a no-stair setting.
Our condo community has 2 separate sections: one is all ages, and the other is 55+. Both have their own boards, and their own budget. The 55+ has a higher monthly fee, because they use a higher priced landscaping service. But other than that, the budgets are similar.
[quote=EmilyFoxSeaton;51082980]Well, if they have a problem they can always run for the board. In the mean time I will be certain to fine them to kingdom come for not following the rules and be sure to level assessments each year so they will be paying as much as they would for 55+ housing.
Many of the 55+ residents are-- as usual for older people -- stubborn and inflexible. They need to move on.[/QUOTE]
Have you ever heard the expression - you will get more with sugar than with salt? You have complained about your board and yet not said a positive thing about anyone in the community or the board. Maybe, the board picks up on your feelings which you stated above and they are responding to the vibe you give off. I have read a few other comments you have made in other threads and forgive me but you really seem to be very opinionated and rather inflexible. These qualities of a board member will never work. I have served on 5 boards and the spirit of the board has to be a collaborative effort and not one of, my way or the highway. If that is the "spirit" of the board nothing will get done. There are no wins or losses"or sides if you are on the board, you certainly will never all agree on every issue and regardless of how passionate you feel about an issue, if the issue is voted on and the majority disagree with your position, for the benefit of the community that decision is made.
I will also comment that the following is not within your domain "In the mean time, I will be certain to fine them to kingdom come for not following the rules and be sure to level assessments each year so they will be paying as much as they would for 55+ housing." A board functions as a unit and you don't have the authority to fine anyone unless your bylaws allows for a single board member to do so. As a lawyer, you know this though.
I think it's the OP who needs to move on - to a single family home in an area without a HOA, and preferably on some acreage (so as not to be annoyed by whatever the next-door neighbors are doing). It's the only way she'll have enough control over her home's maintenance budget to be happy. Even the best-run condo board will sometimes approve things that not everyone agrees need to be done. That's just an unavoidable part of condo life. (At least the people in her condo are willing to pay for repairs and improvements. The more common problem is having a majority of owners voting down needed increases, resulting in big special assessments down the road when the neglected infrastructure finally fails and HAS to be repaired. I'll take a well-maintained building with regular "unneeded" cosmetic improvements over a building that's gradually becoming run-down due to lack of needed spending any day. The latter was my biggest worry when I decided to buy my current condo.)
Well how can I compete with what happened to you. If your townhouse went up then obviously your right, this makes it completely illegitimate.
Geeze.
What I said still stands.. the lower the condo fee the higher price you can ask for it at the same affordability line. Basic math people.
Wrong.
Home owner fees being low, and the reserves are to low to take care of replacing the roof, or other heavy and expensive maintenance problems, will lower the value of the condo, as people do not want to buy where there is a potential of a large special assessment to solve problems of the complex, or problems just being overlooked for a period due to not having funds to take care of problems. Even banks, will lower the appraised value, in such cases.
When the condo complex has sufficient reserves, set up so each potential major problem is able to be funded as needed, is what quality condo owners want. This is what makes the units desirable, and attracts buyers in turn raising values of the units.
Background. Investment real estate broker, 1972 until I finally retired. Well maintained complex. with sufficient reserves to handle different potential maintenance problems, is the first thing that buyers, lenders, and appraisers consider. Reserves high enough, you don't have steal from one fund, to handle a problem with insufficient funds in another problem. Combined the different fund needs, can be a larger total reserve fund, but may be greatly reduced if 2 to 4 major problems come up at the same time which often handles.
It sounds like your complex, has a board that is doing it's job, as it should be done.
Again higher reserves, are needed, and this takes a monthly fee from all units to make it happen. This lowers the chances for a large special assessment on owners when problems occur. This is what intelligent, knowledgeable buyers, lenders, insurance companies all want to see. Low fees and insufficient reserves, drives away potential buyers, not attracts them.
Thank you. Pet Project number one. One member who isn't even a member anymore but has her minions on the board.. wants to replace the street lights that go with the lights on the units. Not necessary. I don't even think it will look good but she has been obsessed over it for years. But, a few things have happened that make me think I have been wrong. I thought I had at least some residents behind me but imho they all betrayed me. We instituted some new rules and they all, on mass, violated them. Some were openly flaunting it. Of course they are all getting warnings. But I started thinking if I have been in the wrong.
1. We have several residents who refuse to get on the board but still act like they own the place. So they do what they want but they don't need to actually do work they don't choose to. Enough of that. The board needs to be stronger and stop not violating people.
2. We have several residents who are 55+ but live here. They live here because our condos are cheaper. I think they need to move on so younger residents can live reasonably.
3. A complex that is near us but not as nice is getting new decks. They are wonderful and "trex" I checked one out this weekend at an open house. The condos have jumped in price, I think, largely due to the deck. I think that the proper capital project not only would increase the value of the property but, would also encourage people that are on the fence to move. In fact, yearly assessments might send the problem residents running.
I don't like paying for assessments but I can afford it and it might really break the back of some residents. I think the condo needs new blood. But I am no longer killing myself for people that immediately gave me the finger.
The bolded is pretty obnoxious. I am 59 and bought where I am seven years ago because it would be affordable in retirement and is a one-story unit with no steps in front in case I end up there forever. Who the hell are you to tell me I should be farmed out somewhere because of my age? My sister lives in a 55+ because that's what she chose. Her complex is very nice, but everyone there is...over 55. I want to look out and see the kids in the park or the teenagers playing ball or skateboarding. I don't want to live in a place where a certain segment of the population is not allowed.
Well, except maybe for people who have weird ideas about where other people should live.
No they are not. They are owned by the individual unit owners - usually expressed as undivided percentage of the whole. The "association" is an entity separate from the owners.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffD
Not at any condominium association I’ve ever seen. The unit owners never own the exterior of the building. Some, the unit owners may own doors and windows. A homeowners association of single family homes? Sure. With multi-dwelling units, I’ve never seen it.
That's correct. In my complex, we are responsible for doors and windows, but not, for example, the siding on our units or the sidewalk leading to our units.
Well, if they have a problem they can always run for the board. In the mean time I will be certain to fine them to kingdom come for not following the rules and be sure to level assessments each year so they will be paying as much as they would for 55+ housing.
Many of the 55+ residents are-- as usual for older people -- stubborn and inflexible. They need to move on.
You are under 55 and stubborn and inflexible, by what you say in your posts. They are just people exactly like you who have gotten older. As you will, if you're lucky and don't mouth off to the wrong person someday.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
