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BS: Condo/Townhome living?
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Subject: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Janie Date: 06 Apr 08 - 11:21 PM Would appreciate it if some of you who live in condos, townhomes or apartment complexes would share a little info. on what it is like. I'm in the market for a new abode and my parents are urging me to consider a condo or townhome. The condos and townhomes in this area tend to be built in subdivisions away from central shopping or business areas, and there is no walking out your door to shopping, a cafe, or a free museum. There is walking out in a large parking lot and getting in your car and driving 5 to 15 miles to get to a sidewalk. So we aren't talking the benefits of a central city location. I also have a 14 year old boy who alternates weeks between me and his Dad, who lives out in the country in a travel trailer on 10 acres I theoretically jointly own. I'm a country and small town person who has always had physical space and a yard to dig in. I'm handy with garden tools, but not with a paint scraper, hammer, power drill, or pipe wrench. I've lived in a lot of rural settings, including old farmhouses, tents, travel trailers on farms, under tarps in the Florida Keys. I've always had at least a nice-sized yard, if not a farm or acres of national forest around me. The only intolerable living situation I have been in was a mobile home park where I lived for a couple of years in my late twenties. There are a number of very practical reasons to consider a condo/townhome, so I want to try to be open to the idea. Quite frankly, when I look at photos on the internet, or drive through the condo/townhome complexes in the region that are within my price range, it gives me the spiritual/emotional willies. I'm hopiong I am over-reacting or projecting my experience of living in the mobile home park in an unrealistic fashion. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: EBarnacle Date: 06 Apr 08 - 11:26 PM The big problem with these situations is that the association is in control. In exchange for doing the groundskeeping and exterior maintenence, you are not allowed to make minor changes to meet your needs. Anything you do must be removable, leaving no trace. Anything inside the walls is your problem. The big advantage is that you gain equity over time. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Sorcha Date: 06 Apr 08 - 11:35 PM Add in stairs, often 2 or 3 sets for the bedrooms, laundry area, etc. NO yard to speak of, and small rooms. On the plus side, you probably won't have to deal with lawn mowing or snow removal or other outside maintenance. I know I couldn't deal with it at all. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: katlaughing Date: 06 Apr 08 - 11:53 PM Janie, I don't think it would be good for your spirit, at all. I understand wanting to be "practical" but I know it isn't anything I could deal with and from what I know of the beauty you make of your gardens, etc. I just don't think it would be good for you. My brother lives in a senior mobile/manufactured home park and hates it. He cannot have a vegetable garden or plant a flower garden. He has to mow his own grass and water it, but he cannot let it go, even for a week, without mowing or the "association" will fine him and come round with a notice. The one thing he likes about it, is it is his own space not shared with anyone else, i.e. no shared walls, ceilings, floors, etc. On the other hand they have come a long way in mobile homes, etc. I just finished a freelance copy editing job for a new magazine in California called Upwardly Mobile Home which will have upcoming articles on some really swanky places costing hundreds of thousands, including one owned and lived in by the actress, Minnie Driver, in a beach community. The magazine aims to show a range of mobile and manufactured housing and what it can be besides what most folks think of with the stereotype of "trailer trash." I would imagine there must be some grief at leaving the home you are in. What you go to will be an important part of dealing with that grief as well as can be. I wish you well and send you lots of {{{{HUGS}}}}}. kat |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Ebbie Date: 07 Apr 08 - 01:55 AM I'm glad that katlaughing said it first, Janie- the first thought I had was, Oh no! What about her lush flower gardens?! On the other hand, a balcony at a condo or townhouse could be a good place for potted greenery. If that is allowed- I dunno. Wherever you go, Janie, I have no doubt that you will put your own stamp on it, and you will love it. Blessings to you, child. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: folk1e Date: 07 Apr 08 - 06:53 AM Go for the top floor! Once you are in cut your way UP install staircase ...... Voila a roof garden! |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: GUEST,lox Date: 07 Apr 08 - 07:41 AM Well just reading the tone of the original post it sounds like you don't want to anyway. So if you don't want to then don't. Never compromise when it comes to your home. Unless you set specific criteria first and then if it meets your criteria you could go ahead. But if you don't want to, you know and you don't need to ask. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: GUEST,Guest Date: 07 Apr 08 - 07:51 AM I come from a very similar background to you, it sounds like. Big acreage, country gardens. Or big yard suburban gardens. But we moved into a loft apt with a huge patio in 2003 and LOVED it. We have since moved to a new apt up on the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River in St Paul, and our 1800 sq ft 3 BR 2 1/2 bath apt has two really long balconies! I watch the geese, eagles, hawks, falcons, and in the last few days, the great blue herons (no egrets yet) flying over head. A wild turkey woke us up at 6:30 a.m. yesterday--wandering through our parking lot. And we are in middle of the city! Here is the thing, though. If you are buying a place, Seriously consider the differences between condo & small homes. First, your equity and value isn't as much or as reliable as a house. Second, even with a small yard, you can put it ALL into gardens & voila! No lawn care! We will start house shopping in earnest this summer. We've really enjoyed the freedom renting gives us, and have usually been lucky w/landlords. But it is still having the landlord. A condo assoc. may or may not be just like a landlord that won't let you paint. Some older assoc especially are looking to attract quality buyers, and aren't as strict. But also be aware of the extra cost of the association fees, and that they keep going up. But that said, the challenges and joys of creating new types of gardens for us has been pure joy. You don't have to be that handy with tools to build a trellis or an arbor. We put up lattice work fencing around our patio at our old loft, so we could do more vertical gardening (which we will do on our balconies this summer, but not too much, since we are house shopping), and to have privacy. It was green and STUNNING. I was going for the walled garden effect, Mediterranean style because it was a completely sheltered south patio, so it was HOT. You can buy or build gazebos, use vines for shade--container gardening is a blast. We had raised beds built in and enjoyed tomatoes, peppers, spinach, really whatever we wanted. So don't write off small & urban as impossible to garden! It totally ISN'T impossible, and it will bring you great joy discovering the endless possibilities of small space gardening. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: GUEST,Janie Date: 07 Apr 08 - 09:02 AM Lox, I certainly have strong reservations, but those reservations are based on assumptions, not experience. I have been known to assume wrongly. I'd really like to hear from people who do or have lived in that environment to get a better idea of what it might be like. Issues of space and gardening aside, I'm wondering what it is like to have a neighbor living on the other side of the wall. How can I get an idea in advance of what the culture of a particular complex is like? I'm sure that must vary. What do you do when you have a crappy, hard to get along with neighbor? How regimented are these places, really? How do teenagers fare in that environment? What actual recourse do you have if the neighbor next door is loud, or unreasonable? For those of you who do live in such places, what do you like about it? What are the advantages to you? I will be moving from a 100 year old wood house in a historic district that I dearly love but which is falling down around me. When hubby and I were together, we struggled, only partially successfully, to afford the tremendous cost of maintenance and repairs for such a place. On my own, it is out of the question for me to stay here. My biggest concern about buying another house is the upkeep. Maybe brick or vinyl would be more manageable, but I don't know. My experience with this house has got me a little spooked. I don't want to buy another place that I can't afford to maintain, and do not know what a newer house constructed with more modern materials might require in terms of maintenance. I also do not have much available time anymore to maintain the extensive gardens I love. A small yard all in garden is doable and an attractive idea. I know I can not continue to mow a big yard. The vibrations of the mower handle are wreaking absolute havoc with my deteriorating hands, which still have not recovered fully from the first mowing of the season 2 weeks ago. I'm concerned that in a few years, even a small garden and yard will be more than I can physically manage. These are some very good reasons to consider a condo, and I would be remiss to not seriously explore the idea. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: wysiwyg Date: 07 Apr 08 - 09:52 AM Janie, I have no interest in persuading you, because I know how much sense you have, but I can say a few things you may want to consider. End-unit townhomes share only one common wall with a neighbor and usually have the most yard-space to view outside the windows. You lose windows on the shared-wall side, but you gain view. Some units are detached or semi-detached, sharing no (or little) common wall with another unit. They are cottages with small floor plans, in effect. One design I have seen, I would LOVE to see from the inside. (They ARE depressing-looking from the outside, but you don't live outside it, you live IN it.) This is 4 units that share part of the rear wall, but the units are staggered out from there, each facing open space. That shared space is a hub, sort of, and the 4 units spread out from there like spokes. Views on 3 sides, with the front not looking at any other units' spokes. One apartment I had, I still dream about living in it again. It met NONE of my criteria, but the location was perfect so I went to look at it and I moved in 2 weeks later. It was better than any criteria I could have tried to use. It was set 1/2 a floor below ground level, so the huge windows were at ground level and I could see for miles. It had only one bedroom, but the biggest kitchen I have ever had. It had shared laundry steps away separated from my unit by a soundproof wall. My storage locker was next to it, and the hall to it was, in effect, MY hall-- as if the laundry was in my apartment, but without the noise. There were four units in each building and the building people did all the heavy work. They welcomed the tree I bought and planted out front. I planted tomatoes outside my kitchen window. It was a pain in the ass digging the hard soil, but they were the best 'maters I ever had, and if I'd had the brain then that I have now, I'd have done it in containers. A five-minute drive away was a 200-acre outdoor ed facility where I'd walk for hours, wandering through various habitats no one ever visited! I wanted to be a farmer's wife. The farmer I had my eye on reminded me that you can be a farmer in a teacup, if a teacup is what you have..... I hated hearing this but he was right: if it's in your blood, it doesn't matter where you do it for a time, on your way to whatever is your destiny. My son and DIL had a townhome in a huge Ohio complex that was set in a busy suburban "affordable housing" area. It was a GREAT 2-story layout with two wonderful bathrooms, a private, fenced patio out back, and large expanses of open areas throughout the complex, plus a pool, tennis courts, copious guest parking, buildings that allowed pets, and playground space near the fam-sized units but FAR from the smaller (non-fam) units. The busy main highway (the access to all this) was far away, no road noise but 3 minutes away if I wanted to jump out to civilization. It was an end unit and I never heard a peep from next door. A friend I visited often (stayed over) had a duplex house, wharing a common wall. Never heard or saw the other unit's inhabitants. Country living is great-- where we live now is country, and rough, and wild, in a rambling big ole house where the utilities are precluding retirement savings. We enjoy it for now. I hope, though, before I am too creaky to use the pool, to move into a condo-with-pool building to scale down. I've moved all my life, and lived in all kinds of housing-- not always at my choice. What I have learned is, you live where you need to live, and you make the best of it, and you look for the blessings that will surround you whereEVER you lay your head at night. You move forward in life the best you can, and keep your goals in clear sight. ~Susan |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: pdq Date: 07 Apr 08 - 10:57 AM Don't buy a condo or a townhouse. They are almost impossible to sell when you want to leave. Rent one if you must. You can always find someone who can't sell his/hers and will rent it to you. Value often goes down, not up like detached single family homes with large lots. You might consider buying a suburban house and renting it. Use the rent money to pay your rent on a condo or an urban apartment. If you are able to move there in the distant future, the value of the house will have gone up and you will not be stuck with a condo sell. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 07 Apr 08 - 11:38 AM Janie, I will refer you over to the decluttering thread, and suggest that wherever you move, you sort out all of the stuff you don't need now. Don't box it up and declare you'll sort it later. That makes the move a lot harder and the choice of where to move difficult--where will it fit, or where will you store it? And for how long? I would recommend the two-stage après-divorce move I did because it seemed to work pretty well. I am not a fan of long-term apartment living, but I moved to a two-bedroom apartment for 2 1/2 years after the divorce. I stayed in the same area, and though the drive to school was out of my way it meant they had all of their friends still. Their father kept the house (I'd never liked it, he was welcome it it, but more than that, it meant the neighborhood network I'd built up was still there for the kids) so they went to that school system based on his property taxes. I don't know if you're looking at schools now, but leaving as much of your son's world intact will be a big help to him if he's in a comfortable spot. Before moving to Fort Worth we lived in a little town south of here. My now-ex had to drive about 40 miles to work, because he worked near a college town where the rent was much higher. In retrospect, I'd have preferred the college town and would have better employment opportunities for me, but he made the choice while I was still working in another state. The apartment we started in was in a square building, we each had a quadrant. It was a nice design but noise and cooking smells transmitted through the attic and walls. We had a drug dealer neighbor who used to blast the stereo or sometimes (I kid you not!) turn on his motorcycle IN THE HOUSE to mask the sound of drug deals going down. They tapped into our TV cable (did it one night while I was watching tv--how could I not notice?) and were upset that I reported them. We were glad to move from there into a townhouse that opened up (and the manager was glad to move us into it--she rented those to people she knew would take care of them). Eight years in the space weren't too bad, though I banned the idiot who mowed lawns from entering my front yard because he would routinely push his mower into flower beds. I did have some bad neighbors on one side, and it made life tough at times. Dog poop, noisy children, a wife-batterer (and she was pregnant). Heard it all through the walls. I hated having to do laundry in the communal laundry room. Why did everyone seem to wash dog beds right before I needed to wash baby clothes? I was glad to buy a house, but aside from having my own washer and dryer I didn't like the house and the yard was very small. I did what I could and left a legacy of good quality trees in what had once been plain Bermuda and boxy hedges. After the divorce I moved into an apartment where I couldn't plant anything. The townhouse at least had covered parking, but the apartment was open lots and I had all four tires slashed one night and another time two tires slashed. And this was a relatively "good" apartment complex. I used the pools a few times, usually choosing the quiet lower rectangular pool because we were there on our own there. The more charismatic party pool and hot tub was frustrating--parents would socialize and pay no attention to their children in the water. I pulled several out to avoid drownings, and resented the fact that these parents relied on someone else to do their job. I got no pleasure out of it. Fights in the parking lot on weekends were commonplace, so I was glad that the kids spent the weekends at their father's house in the old neighborhood. The cable television folks rarely could keep our apartment up and running for more than a few months at a time, and then I'd have to wait for them to come out and reattach us after disconnecting the wrong apartment. I chose to use the utility room in that apartment to store, floor to ceiling, boxes and furniture I didn't have room for, so was back to a poorly designed public laundry room. It was frequently broken down and people were stupid and rude about using it. Apartments are one place where the lowest common denominator end up because they don't have the discipline to save and buy their own homes. They are where very young people start out. They are where families live between houses, and they are where divorced people move to. I moved in and it allowed me to figure out what I wanted before I jumped into a house. Right at the time of the divorce I almost moved, I was set to close on a house in New Mexico, but the ex and his passive aggressive approach to legal matters (a really slow attorney with a reputation for incompetence) messed it up. In hindsight, it was better for the kids to be near their dad. I couldn't have mustered the energy to try to find and buy another house anywhere right then, so the rest involved in simply renting for a while was useful. Long, but helpful, I hope. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: GUEST,hg Date: 07 Apr 08 - 11:42 AM If you could get your home on the historic register, you might be able to get the gov to pay for renovations,,,,just a thought |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Bee-dubya-ell Date: 07 Apr 08 - 12:10 PM Why bother with buying a condo? Just commit some crime that carries a five to ten year sentence, allow yourself to be caught, and plead guilty. The end result won't be much different from living in a condo for the same length of time. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Greg B Date: 07 Apr 08 - 12:26 PM You have to be selective with condos. I live in a 3 bedroom 1800- square foot place within a short walk to town. It has its own two-car garage. It's older, as most such 'walkable' places are, dating from the 1970's. That can be a good thing--- my 'common' walls are made of concrete block. I don't hear a peep, even when the neighbors have kids running up and down. Nobody is above or below me. It was really no more expensive than an outlying place with open-air parking and nothing more than studs and wallboard between me and my neighbors. I also have a 17' x 34' 'garden' which is fenced in and mine to do with as I please (within reason). I owned a condo in San Jose which wasn't nearly so nice. I also owned a house on a half an acre for a decade. In the interim, I lived in a loft (very large) 1-bedroom apartment that was over a four-car garage on a horse farm. Also very pleasant. Lots of farms have a rental unit or two on them--- a carriage house or some such thing. Usually you can carve out a garden for yourself there. Maybe don't do anything too committed until you have a vision of what you'd like your life to be like. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: TRUBRIT Date: 08 Apr 08 - 12:46 AM janie -- really late so I haven't read all the thread but here speaks a realtor!!! A town house and a condominium are two totally different things. A condominium is a form of ownership. A condominium can be a free standing house, a town house, a unit in a high rise -- anything you can think of. The issue is that you own your space and the common areas are owned and managed in common with many others. You own from your four walls in and the Association owns outside the walls. In all honesty, I don't see you as a condo person. You are regulated by a series of rules and regs when you live in a condo from the minor (don't park junk cars outside your house ) to the more serious ( you are not allowed to have pets -- even quiet innocuous cats). And you can own a town house or a flat in a large building or whatever, and NOT be part of a condo association -- you can own it as your own personal home and to hell with the neighbors. I suspect you would not enjoy condo living. There are some plusses -- your monthly fees take care of the outside maintenance of the building, snow plowing -- boring stuff like that. But if you buy a very small house you may save money (no condo fees) and there are always hungry teenagers who will plow out your car for you........ I'm working on finding you a realtor in your area that you would feel comfortable with........give me a few days. DON'T RUSH THIS .....it is a big decision. PM if you want to talk |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Janie Date: 08 Apr 08 - 02:11 AM Good point, Greg. At 56, I am having to re-invision my life now and in retirement. My main problem with waiting is that renting is extremely expensive in this area, my job situation is unstable, and the limited financial cushion I have needs to be held in reserve in the event I find myself laid-off. ( I was recently unemployed for 1 week - first time in my adult life - and the broad political/social/economic factors involved do not make me confident this new employer will succeed where the other failed.) I am agreeing to a greatly reduced property settlement for a couple of reasons that I will not bore you with, but include a moral obligation to try to insure hubby, who is almost 63, and a hard but dysfunctional worker who has never supported himself financially, does not starve in old age and has medical insurance at least until he is 65 and qualifies for Medicare. If possible, I would also like to insure he as a Medicare supplement policy to be sure he has adequate health care. That reduced property settlement must be reserved to purchase a new abode that will be also be a reasonable 5 to 10 year retirement investment with minimum financing. I need to stay out of debt and sock money away so that I don't starve in retirement either - and take care of a 'change of life' child in the meantime. I can not spend any of it to rent at double a house payment, or to cover the cost of two moves. I accept that my options, including waiting, are limited by the finances of the situation. From what people have shared so far, I am inclined to think that a quick purchase of a less than ideal house that is a good investment is a better choice than the quick purchase of a condo or townhome. But I would still like to hear more from people who have the experience of living in condos or townhomes as to what it is like. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Janie Date: 08 Apr 08 - 02:15 AM Didn't see your post Deborah, before this last one I put up. I won't do a thing until I've corresponded more with you. What a gem you are! Janie |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: GUEST,Guest Date: 08 Apr 08 - 07:22 AM In your "pressure cooker" financial situation, I think I would go for a very small detached house w/small yard--the cheapest fixer upper in the best neighborhood you can afford!
Thanks. -Joe Offer, Forum Moderator- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: GUEST,Guest Date: 08 Apr 08 - 07:24 AM Although around where I live we have a thing called "twin homes" which are actually just side by side duplexes, but w/ their own garage, patio & half the yard. You do have the one neighbor, and if you don't get on with them it could be quite miserable. But they have no assoc fee, and you can do whatever you want with your half the property. But I'd go single family home.
Thanks. -Joe Offer, Forum Moderator- |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Apr 08 - 11:03 AM I know I posted here after Greg B yesterday, and remarked that he covered the same territory a lot more succinctly than I. I have several friends who have benefitted from buying a duplex, a single building with two usually identical apartments, and renting one out. Let the apartment pay most or all of the morgtage. You have to choose good neighbors since you're in the same building with them. These can come pretty close to being just like a freestanding house, with a garage, a yard, and the usual space you would expect on a standard lot. You can do a lot of poking around yourself to see what is available through realtor.com. That's how I've found the last two houses (one fell through, but that was because of a whacko seller, not due to the web site.) The house I'm in now is one I passed by many times as I looked in this neighborhood. It was the ugliest house on the block, due to bad color selection in the paint job and absolutely no landscaping to speak of. A classic rent house. I finally walked inside to rule it out and discovered fine woodwork throughout that blew me away. It was neglected, not damaged, a good one to putter in after some basic upgrades. I did a lot of work, but have come up with a great house. Before and After and different "After" angle. I need to mow the grass. My retired next door neighbor is always a couple of days ahead of me. And I need to get more Bermuda out of some of the beds. You know how it is when you have your own patch of dirt to work on. I think the house could be a shack if I could putter in the garden. I know we share the same disease. I'm aiming at turning one of those segments of the front into the kind of planting you have in your current front yard. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: jacqui.c Date: 08 Apr 08 - 11:46 AM In the UK I lived, at various times, in an apartment, a town house and a semi-detached house. Now I live in Maine, in a detached house with 3/4 acre. Any of the accommodation in the UK that I had had its disadvantages. As others have said neighbours can be a real plus or minus in that situation and if you get the wrong ones life ain't fun. Rules and regulations laid down by others can be very irksome, as can having to share facilities such as a laundry room. Car parking space may be at a premium and as your son gets older and wants a car that may cause a problem. One advantage of close quarters living can be lower heating bills - with less outside wall space to take the heat away. That might not be such a concern, however, in your part of the world. By the way, take advantage of TRUBRIT - she really does know what she's about. |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Bobert Date: 08 Apr 08 - 12:58 PM Jnaie, First of all, seein' that you are one of my favorite ladies here in Mudville (the others know who they are), it really bums me out that you have to go thru this at your age... Divorce is for youngin's (((lol))), not us... I mean, reading this makes me so sad... But with that said here comes some Bobert, outta the box thinkin'... (Preface: I don't know your area so maybe my ideas won't work.) Scenerio #2 Are there any nicer mobile home parks??? If so, Google up "Airstream" just for grins... I mean, if you don't know what lies ahead, the nice thing about an "Airstream" is that you can take it with you if you have to move for any reason, including employment... Yeah, I'm seeing smallish mobile home park and a vacancy has just come up on a lot on the back side that backs up to some wooded area... I see all you plants doing quite nicely in decorate containers that are tastefully positioned to make your 1989 31 foot Airstream look as if is landscaped... I see the little patio you have created under the Airstream's pullout awning with shade with a few planters set around your patio furniture... End of Bobert's first scenerio... Scenero #2 You know that little dry cleaning business down town??? Okay, maybe it's a Maytag bsuiness... Well, there are usually appartemnts over them and many of them have small back yards between the building and alleyway... Small backyards??? Hmmmmmm, The Maytag guy isn't doing anything with that space...Hmmmmmmm... Yeah, I'm a country-boy but when I was in college in Richmod there were lots of two story buildings in the down town area that had small backyards and cheap rents becuase they were in a more commerical district and businesses don't like to be on the 2en floor in such districts... I have an artist friend who bought a carriage house in the middle of one of the blocks for cheap and lives in it... Has a garden, too... The middle of blocks in cities can be very nice... End of Scenero #2 Actually, the end of my initail thoughts... Or just stick hubby in the Airstream and keep the house??? I'll ponder this some more... Beaubear |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 08 Apr 08 - 01:25 PM Your right hand. . . no, your OTHER right hand. . . looks like Bobert did a little editing and lost track of his scenarios. But I agree, with reservations: I have friends trying to do the same Airstream thing; she is a nurse and is looking at changing jobs and moving to work in a larger city in remote West Texas. She'd have to stay in town a couple of days a week because the travel is too far otherwise. But there is a waiting list for pads for trailers, what with a boom in the oil business. I love the apartments that are above many businesses. My last piano teacher lived in a really elegant apartment above the printing press that she owned that operated on the ground floor. And here in Fort Worth there are buildings in some of the historic areas that have banks and restaurants on the ground floor and in the windows above you'll see a sign "apartment for rent." I'd love to try out one of those historic places for a while. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Janie Date: 08 Apr 08 - 02:30 PM *grin* I lived for 6 years in an Airstream already. Do I really have to do it again? |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Bobert Date: 08 Apr 08 - 03:38 PM Well, look at it this way, janie... You have experience so you won't have to learnt up no new stuff... Hey, they ain't all that expensive... If ya' need to move then put yer potted plants inside, back the Chevette up to and away youi go... B~ |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Bobert Date: 08 Apr 08 - 03:55 PM BTW, there is a fully restored 31 foot '76 Bicentennial Edition on ebay and it's located in Hampstead N.C.... Looks sweet and sounds like everything works including the air conditoiner... The auction ends in about 3 hours.. The item number is 220218397064... B;~) |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Desert Dancer Date: 08 Apr 08 - 04:31 PM Are there any cohousing communities in your area? Sometimes they can be pricey to buy into (because you're getting more than just your square footage), but sometimes there are rentals available. It may be more social than you want, but you'll be welcome to play in the dirt... I moved into a small rental in the cohousing community my ex and I had bought into (under similar settlement issues, it looks like), and then later was able to buy a home (and got a good deal because the sellers new me well). The boy (age 13) goes back and forth between houses weekly for sleep and meals, and whenever he wants the rest of the time. ~ Becky in Tucson in Sonora Cohousing |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Janie Date: 08 Apr 08 - 10:04 PM Gawd, Bobert - how did you know about the Chevette! There are some very nice and very expensive co-housing communities here, and I know several people who live in them. Nice communities and nice people, but even had I the income, I don't think I would be a good fit. The process involved in building consensus often leaves me with the urge to slap some one up the side of the head:O) And the comments all of you have made here have had a similar effect on me. An HOA? Not me. Not now. At some point in my life a condo or townhome might be a good move, but not now. And it would not be a good financial move now, either. The sharing of your thoughts and experiences have been very helpful. Another small but good example of what a very real community this place is. Many thanks friends. Janie |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Stilly River Sage Date: 09 Apr 08 - 12:39 AM Homeowners Associations that are imposed on communities by the builders are simply a way for them to pay for the window dressing of fancy landscaping and stupid walls out of someone else's pocket. And they are largely taxation without representation. I fought hard to keep them out of a new development here in our village, but too many nincompoops up the block thought it sounded nice, to keep the riffraff out and the unsightly clutter from driveways. Completely forgetting that they already pay tax dollars to a city that pays people to do the very same thing. And they're annoyingly efficient--you'll find a note on your door if you stopped mowing when it got dark and didn't have time to sweep up the clippings in the street. Or if you have Bermuda trailers over the curb. Just try to abuse a driveway with a motor home around here. Sheesh. What a bunch of brainwashed sheep. I take pride in my research for zoning and city council meetings. And I enjoy the fact that my presentation on one occasion was so spot on when it came to lot sizes that one contractor could see I'd won that argument with a slam dunk (and some aerial photos of the neighborhood). He sat next to a friend of mine, cursing under his breath and was still so steamed that he actually threw something across the room at a zoning board member the next time he was asked a question. By that time I'd finished and gone home to put the kids to bed so I missed the excitement. For all of that, if the neighbors want to be wilfully stupid, there's nothing I can put in their water to fix it. SRS |
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Subject: RE: BS: Condo/Townhome living? From: Janie Date: 10 Apr 08 - 12:48 PM Stilly, for some reason I am just now realizing you posted links to your house and garden. You've done a mighty fine job there, lady! |
