Who lives in a condo?

[brezofleur]

Originally Posted by GuinnessStout

I got my lic to be an insurance adjuster but after seeing how crooked and evil they are and have loopholes to get out of paying I just can not bring myself to work for them so instead I have decided to be an Indepedent adjuster that helps people fight the insurance companies, my first case I get to help with is a girl I went to school with and her life partner.. Insurance company will only give $10,000 towards $150,000 storm damage because of their lifestyle.

What does THAT have to do with the storm damage??

[GuinnessStout]

Nothing but its a large insurance company and one way or another they find a loophole. I see so many heartbreaking things in buying homes and condos and then with the insurance that anytime I see somebody about to buy I beg them please read every line twice and have somebody with knowledge on your side read it!! With storms getting worse it is even more important like she was saying a condo in FL. A lot of people do not realize that if the damage is from a hurricane it changes the deductible.

[brezofleur]

Originally Posted by GuinnessStout

Nothing but its a large insurance company and one way or another they find a loophole. I see so many heartbreaking things in buying homes and condos and then with the insurance that anytime I see somebody about to buy I beg them please read every line twice and have somebody with knowledge on your side read it!! With storms getting worse it is even more important like she was saying a condo in FL. A lot of people do not realize that if the damage is from a hurricane it changes the deductible.

Does it say if you're gay they won't give you as much money due to you?

[GuinnessStout]

Originally Posted by brezofleur

Does it say if you're gay they won't give you as much money due to you?

Lol no that is why this one case is going into a fun legal case.

[Ellie May]

I do. We rent because there are no plans to stay in our current city.

I'm with you on it being better to lock a condo up for a few months.
there are neighbors right there to watch things. I'll also agree on utilities. It can be very cheap.

However, I would NOT recommend it.
We lved it at first. No maintenance, etc. Then the novelty wore off and it now seems like a small, loud apartment.

Doesn't matter if your building is kid free. Some people rent and neighbors change quickly. Ourbbuilding had no small kids until this year. During the summer the doors get slammed constantly. The common doors are left ajar all the time. Forget safety! We are upstairs. A bike has been left at the bottom of the stairs...in the common area...just sitting there. Crumbs from the little angels too. And they sit on the steps when their condo is downstairs! that doesn't fly bc we have two dogs to lug up and down those stairs to pee and jeither is particularly trustworthy.

The mailboxes are undersized.
Second floor is terrible with dogs.
Laundry is two flights down in the basement.

Walls are thin. Downstairs neighbor has one loud sneeze. Quite disturbing... And when a kid is up coughing all night it is now your problem. You get to hear some lovely family fights too.

Whatever bimbos your neighbors decide to let in the building are your problem.
Not long ago the teens downstairs decided to give the neighorhood stair cat a home in the common area. How nice of them! It came upstairs and sat by our door trying to get in. I love animals and feel for strays, but cats can get rabies. ?keep it away from. my dogs! and my door!
Hmm, what else..
Downstars neighbor smokes. Can't smell it in our condo but can in hall.
Neighbors furnace was leaking gas. He pondered whether or not to fix it bc they might move. Yup, why fix it. It is just natural gas oeaking everywhere.
Sewer system in our building is terrible. Backs up..linto the laundry sink. Could happen anywhere. If you are gone and this happens your stuff is ruined. And forget neighbors calling the association to report problems like these. ?apparently not everyone realizes water going all over or a permiating gas smell is important.
and that pot of food your neighbor left on the stove accidentally while she went out..hopefully you are home to call 911 when it starts burning...
To sum it up, it can be loud and whatever amount of risks there are in your home on a daily asis, multiply by 4 or 8 depending on how many condos are in the building because the risk is additive, It won't matter if you don't believe in smoking in bed, leaving the kitchen when something is cooking, etc. bc everyone else in the building can do what they want.

It is not all bad, but I would not buy one.

[brezofleur]

There are pros and cons to living in a condo/apartment. The negatives have almost all been mentioned already.

Pros are sometimes the cons. HOA. They're supposed to protect you and, as you mentioned, they take care of the problems outside. If you have a plumbing problem, it's not 100% your responsibility.

I don't know about your HOA, but some have the final say of who they will let buy the condo which helps eliminate "problem" owners. Of course, this can be good/bad and be extreme or not extreme enough. (Not blonde? Get out! No job for 5 years because you're holding out for $80K or management? Come on in!)

[GuinnessStout]

Originally Posted by brezofleur

There are pros and cons to living in a condo/apartment. The negatives have almost all been mentioned already.

Pros are sometimes the cons. HOA. They're supposed to protect you and, as you mentioned, they take care of the problems outside. If you have a plumbing problem, it's not 100% your responsibility.

I don't know about your HOA, but some have the final say of who they will let buy the condo which helps eliminate "problem" owners. Of course, this can be good/bad and be extreme or not extreme enough. (Not blonde? Get out! No job for 5 years because you're holding out for $80K or management? Come on in!)

lol you are right on the last part, and some you can not drive trucks or vans and if you do you must buy or rent a garage to hide it in. One of Trumps places you also have to dress a certain way.

[celstu1]

Hows this for a view... I own a townhouse and my husband owns a house. We love living in his home and we have awesome tenants in my townhouse. But in about 2 years when his youngest son graduates HS, we are going to try to sell the house and move back to the condo. Its just easier! I want to go back to Grad school and we both work full time, the house is sooooo much work for 2 people barely ever home. With the condo, you pay a monthly fee and they take care of everything mostly! I love it! I do miss the condo. I felt more secure and safe in my condo. I loved that I didn't have to shovel, mow lawns, trim trees, clean the pool, etc.

Some downfalls were my dogs barked a lot at the noises outside and I got letters from the condo assoc more than once. I started playing a radio and that seemed to help bc they stopped sending letters.

I have more... I'll type more later....

[my2boyz]

Originally Posted by celstu1

Hows this for a view... I own a townhouse and my husband owns a house. We love living in his home and we have awesome tenants in my townhouse. But in about 2 years when his youngest son graduates HS, we are going to try to sell the house and move back to the condo. Its just easier! I want to go back to Grad school and we both work full time, the house is sooooo much work for 2 people barely ever home. With the condo, you pay a monthly fee and they take care of everything mostly! I love it! I do miss the condo. I felt more secure and safe in my condo. I loved that I didn't have to shovel, mow lawns, trim trees, clean the pool, etc.

Some downfalls were my dogs barked a lot at the noises outside and I got letters from the condo assoc more than once. I started playing a radio and that seemed to help bc they stopped sending letters.

I have more... I'll type more later....

Thank you The reasons we were looking at a condo are exactly the ones you mentioned. We want to head south for the winter and I think I would feel more at ease closing up a condo rather than worrying about a house.

We've owned more houses than I can count over the last 32 years...some we lived in and some we flipped but they all come with maintenance, lawn work and snow removal...I'm ready for someone else to do the work while I go play, worry free, in the sun

We live in a fairly small town and the HOA for these condos is pretty casual for the most part...no dress code and things like that. I believe they do want to approve of who moves in though and that's fine with me. I've had neighbors who really take advantage of things and you can't ever seem to get much done about it so having an HOA to deal with those things would be fine with me.

Our dogs don't bark...really they don't...so that shouldn't be a problem. Also, I do know that 'most' of the condos are owned and lived in by older people/couples and that's fine with me too.

I will keep in mind the things about insurance and I will ask about things like damage from a pipe breaking or leaking gas lines...I like to know the answers before the problem arises.

I truly do love the little house we just bought and moved into but we aren't sure how long we want to stay here with all of these stairs! Not used to that after living in one level ranch homes for years! lol! We aren't sure what we will end up doing but a condo is something to consider.

[celstu1]

I had insurance called 'Studs in' insurance. Basically my condo fees cover the main building structure, but the condo papers clearly state you are responsible for anything INSIDE the condo and the windows and doors. This can be a pain as they can mandate you replace something and you have to. Or they put a lien on your property. Right now I have to put a sliding glass door in my condo, at my expense, which is $1600. That kinds of stinks, but it is in my best interest and the integrity of my condo. I have a townhouse style condo. I have my own entrances that no one else uses, which is good.
My condo did have a water leak one time when I was on vacation, but my Studs In insurance covered everything fully. The walls, ceilings, rugs and anything else was replaced or fixed.

I am looking forward to going back to my condo,updating it and moving back in. I like the lifestyle... its great for people not home often, or for people who have no kids and work full time. I hate spending my weekends doing yard work and house work on a house when I want to be out having fun after a 50+ hour work week.

[my2boyz]

Originally Posted by celstu1

I like the lifestyle... its great for people not home often, or for people who have no kids and work full time. I hate spending my weekends doing yard work and house work on a house when I want to be out having fun.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by GuinnessStout

I got my lic to be an insurance adjuster but after seeing how crooked and evil they are and have loopholes to get out of paying I just can not bring myself to work for them so instead I have decided to be an Indepedent adjuster that helps people fight the insurance companies, my first case I get to help with is a girl I went to school with and her life partner.. Insurance company will only give $10,000 towards $150,000 storm damage because of their lifestyle.

Oh I am so with you on that one! I can't stand insurance companies!

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by Ellie May

I do. We rent because there are no plans to stay in our current city.

I'm with you on it being better to lock a condo up for a few months.
there are neighbors right there to watch things. I'll also agree on utilities. It can be very cheap.

However, I would NOT recommend it.
We lved it at first. No maintenance, etc. Then the novelty wore off and it now seems like a small, loud apartment.

Doesn't matter if your building is kid free. Some people rent and neighbors change quickly. Ourbbuilding had no small kids until this year. During the summer the doors get slammed constantly. The common doors are left ajar all the time. Forget safety! We are upstairs. A bike has been left at the bottom of the stairs...in the common area...just sitting there. Crumbs from the little angels too. And they sit on the steps when their condo is downstairs! that doesn't fly bc we have two dogs to lug up and down those stairs to pee and jeither is particularly trustworthy.

The mailboxes are undersized.
Second floor is terrible with dogs.
Laundry is two flights down in the basement.

Walls are thin. Downstairs neighbor has one loud sneeze. Quite disturbing... And when a kid is up coughing all night it is now your problem. You get to hear some lovely family fights too.

Whatever bimbos your neighbors decide to let in the building are your problem.
Not long ago the teens downstairs decided to give the neighorhood stair cat a home in the common area. How nice of them! It came upstairs and sat by our door trying to get in. I love animals and feel for strays, but cats can get rabies. ?keep it away from. my dogs! and my door!
Hmm, what else..
Downstars neighbor smokes. Can't smell it in our condo but can in hall.
Neighbors furnace was leaking gas. He pondered whether or not to fix it bc they might move. Yup, why fix it. It is just natural gas oeaking everywhere.
Sewer system in our building is terrible. Backs up..linto the laundry sink. Could happen anywhere. If you are gone and this happens your stuff is ruined. And forget neighbors calling the association to report problems like these. ?apparently not everyone realizes water going all over or a permiating gas smell is important.
and that pot of food your neighbor left on the stove accidentally while she went out..hopefully you are home to call 911 when it starts burning...
To sum it up, it can be loud and whatever amount of risks there are in your home on a daily asis, multiply by 4 or 8 depending on how many condos are in the building because the risk is additive, It won't matter if you don't believe in smoking in bed, leaving the kitchen when something is cooking, etc. bc everyone else in the building can do what they want.

It is not all bad, but I would not buy one.

This is what I fear. We are currently living with family in a house. At the end of a cul de sac. With no one on one side. It's still annoying as heck! The neighbor kids are always hanging outside their front door. Talking loudly about dumb tween stuff. The parents even set up patio furniture and a table out there just so they can hang out there! They don't even want the kids in the house! LOL Using walkie talkies to play hide and seek in front of our house, whistling loudly so the dogs bark. The house across the street which is a rental, has parties every single Saturday. In the garage, with the garage door open. With party lights, you know those multi colored flashing ones? I mean come on! They have more parties than even when it was rented out to a bunch of college frat boys!

If I'm this annoyed now, I can't imagine moving into a condo where you don't know who your neighbors are until after you move in! But we can't afford a single family home right now.

[brezofleur]

Originally Posted by capt_noonie

Oh I am so with you on that one! I can't stand insurance companies!

My first "real" job was working in an auto body shop. I couldn't believe some of the things they'd do... one time a guy was coming back from the grocery store and someone T-boned him (other guy's fault) and guy #1 was hospitalized for 4 days. He had $200 of groceries in his car and they wouldn't replace it nor would they replace his leather back seat where the groceries had leaked out.

[capt_noonie]

Originally Posted by brezofleur

My first "real" job was working in an auto body shop. I couldn't believe some of the things they'd do... one time a guy was coming back from the grocery store and someone T-boned him (other guy's fault) and guy #1 was hospitalized for 4 days. He had $200 of groceries in his car and they wouldn't replace it nor would they replace his leather back seat where the groceries had leaked out.

WTH! I think if you don't have any claims in a certain period of time you should be able to get some money back. They make enough money as it is, but they have to go the extra length to screw people over in their time of need too! Don't even get me started with health insurance!