What's on Your Mind Thread - 2024

[game misconduct]

MoochNNoodles we are looking for single story only so they were built in the 70s usually. from what i have noticed all the newer modern ones are multi story with the garage built under it all stairs to climb to get into the main floor with all the bedrooms up another set of stairs. a ceiling fan helps alot to keep the air moving around. oh and around here they have lots of apartments condos etc. that are all solar powered the rent/own is really expensive to live in one of them. my aunt lives at one for the retired

 

[Mamanyt1953]

cooking meat without fire just isnt the same if you cant get that little bit of sear or burnt edges.using a wok to stir fry just doesnt work with out a high flame.

This is so true. I've been living with all-electric for so many years now that I'm just...done. You cannot cook properly with electric. No real control. LOL, IF I should ever win the lottery, or IF PCH ever came to my door with one of their BIG prizes, this is the range that I want:

It is, of course, gas, but they also offer electric, and dual fuel convection options. I would, however, get the antique copper trim package. AND they have refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves and wall ovens to match! Expensive, but...dream kitchen for me.

 

[NY cat man]

This is so true. I've been living with all-electric for so many years now that I'm just...done. You cannot cook properly with electric. No real control. LOL, IF I should ever win the lottery, or IF PCH ever came to my door with one of their BIG prizes, this is the range that I want:

View attachment 476617
It is, of course, gas, but they also offer electric, and dual fuel convection options. I would, however, get the antique copper trim package. AND they have refrigerators, dishwashers, microwaves and wall ovens to match! Expensive, but...dream kitchen for me.

There is a store in Kidron, Ohio that serves the Amish community, and everything they sell is non-electric. We stopped there once in our travels years ago, and they had such stoves on display, nickel fittings and all. One, in particular, would make two of the one shown, and it cost, in 1990 dollars, north of $3000, and it burned either wood or coal. The cook stove we had on the farm was roughly the size of the one shown, sans those 2 side burners, and mostly we burned wood.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

No gas stoves for me. I’m not a fan of open flames in a house. I don’t really remember cooking in any of the places we lived that had gas appliances. It was probably not more that boiling water for kraft mac & cheese anyway.

all the newer modern ones are multi story with the garage built under it all stairs to climb to get into the main floor with all the bedrooms up another set of stairs.

That’s how they all seem to be here. I know one neighborhood had nice duplexes that were single story. It seemed the goal here was figuring out how to squish the biggest house on the smallest plot. We had so many Monopoly House neighborhoods go up that theres now an initiative to build apartments and townhomes to be more affordable for families. It was definitely an off balance market here. Hopefully it will level out. They did build a number of communities for +55 up though. They seem pretty nice amenity wise and I could see being comfortable there in retirement if the HOAs aren’t rediculous. Wonder what the chances of that are?!

 

[Kwik]

I'm glad I have a Condo Association vs an HOA- the differences are major as an HOA is a separate entity that can pretty much spend your hard earned money however they decide- in a CA,the Assoc is made up of all owners owning a share and majority rules( by vote)- Now unfortunately my Board of Directors ard doing everything I'm violation of State Law and acting as though they are a HOA....this was my place to retire,it has become anything but what I signed up for and thsts another story

My advice @misconduct is to thoroughly go over the fine print,read the Docs and especially consider the Assessments,the Governing entity ' powers" ,frequency ajd percentage of maintenance increases and what your rights are( if any) as an owner before you sign on the dotted line- do your due dilihence

Typically where the monthly mainence fees are reasonable the Assessments are outrageous if there is no cap ....getting a $10k Assessment(per unit) because 8people (Board of Directors)who can afford it decide they want a new fence or change the landscape is quite a surprise and outrageous monthly increases due to bad mgnt and budgeting csn devastate those on a fixed income .....

The fact that everything outside of the confines of your home is not your responsibility sounds great,In recent years I've realized had I kept my gorgeous single family home I could have hired people to maintain my property for less than I pay here plus if I needed a roof repair its my decision to fix it when I like and not be Assessed for all new rooves simply because there's a big kick back for people with personal agenda( there's nothing to gain in small repairs)

I don't ever want to burst anyone's bubble but buying a home is probably the biggest investment in our lives-get out your pen and paper and calculate expected maintenance and unexpected costs not covered by ins of a single family home vs maintenance fees( plus if you pay separate costs- waste mgnt,water,exterminator etc) and Assessments- especially if you are buying with intention of eventually retiring to a forever home

Also add in 40& 50yr State and County Building inspections and code requirements if you are looking at developments built in the 70's or earlier.....the upgrades to meet code nearly bankrupted this Association because insufficient reserves- the Assessment had some folks refinancing their units

Sounds like alot but you can request Financials,Governing Documents etc everywhere you might be interested in- certain rules and by-laws might not suit your lifestyle as well and HOA's are the Governing entity

I'm only saying this because after 20yrs of BLISS the last 5 have pretty much wiped me out financially -I signed up as a shareholder(Condo Assoc) and now I'm experiencing living under an HOA

 

[susanm9006]

MoochNNoodles we are looking for single story only so they were built in the 70s usually. from what i have noticed all the newer modern ones are multi story with the garage built under it all stairs to climb to get into the main floor with all the bedrooms up another set of stairs. a ceiling fan helps alot to keep the air moving around. oh and around here they have lots of apartments condos etc. that are all solar powered the rent/own is really expensive to live in one of them. my aunt lives at one for the retired

When I was looking at houses prior to moving to this one, one requirement was that it be a single story. A bazillion split levels and I knew going up and down stairs would be an issue. Fortunately I finally found one. Getting a bathroom right off my room was a bonus. The only thing wish I had here is a main floor laundry.

 

[vansX2]

I'm glad I have a Condo Association vs an HOA- the differences are major as an HOA is a separate entity that can pretty much spend your hard earned money however they decide- in a CA,the Assoc is made up of all owners owning a share and majority rules( by vote)- Now unfortunately my Board of Directors ard doing everything I'm violation of State Law and acting as though they are a HOA....this was my place to retire,it has become anything but what I signed up for and thsts another story

My advice @misconduct is to thoroughly go over the fine print,read the Docs and especially consider the Assessments,the Governing entity ' powers" ,frequency ajd percentage of maintenance increases and what your rights are( if any) as an owner before you sign on the dotted line- do your due dilihence

Typically where the monthly mainence fees are reasonable the Assessments are outrageous if there is no cap ....getting a $10k Assessment(per unit) because 8people (Board of Directors)who can afford it decide they want a new fence or change the landscape is quite a surprise and outrageous monthly increases due to bad mgnt and budgeting csn devastate those on a fixed income .....

The fact that everything outside of the confines of your home is not your responsibility sounds great,In recent years I've realized had I kept my gorgeous single family home I could have hired people to maintain my property for less than I pay here plus if I needed a roof repair its my decision to fix it when I like and not be Assessed for all new rooves simply because there's a big kick back for people with personal agenda( there's nothing to gain in small repairs)

I don't ever want to burst anyone's bubble but buying a home is probably the biggest investment in our lives-get out your pen and paper and calculate expected maintenance and unexpected costs not covered by ins of a single family home vs maintenance fees( plus if you pay separate costs- waste mgnt,water,exterminator etc) and Assessments- especially if you are buying with intention of eventually retiring to a forever home

Also add in 40& 50yr State and County Building inspections and code requirements if you are looking at developments built in the 70's or earlier.....the upgrades to meet code nearly bankrupted this Association because insufficient reserves- the Assessment had some folks refinancing their units

Sounds like alot but you can request Financials,Governing Documents etc everywhere you might be interested in- certain rules and by-laws might not suit your lifestyle as well and HOA's are the Governing entity

I'm only saying this because after 20yrs of BLISS the last 5 have pretty much wiped me out financially -I signed up as a shareholder(Condo Assoc) and now I'm experiencing living under an HOA

How many Condo's are in your Association? I as well live in a Condo and belong to a Association. Fortunately their is only 4 owners in our group. I would say the most devastating portion of Ownership is the yearly increase in County taxes. Second would be the yearly rise on The Condo's insurance policy. Third is the monthly Condo fee. As this past January the monthly fee went up a additional $100.00
Hoping I can afford to live here another 10 years.

 

[Kwik]

How many Condo's are in your Association? I as well live in a Condo and belong to a Association. Fortunately their is only 4 owners in our group. I would say the most devastating portion of Ownership is the yearly increase in County taxes. Second would be the yearly rise on The Condo's insurance policy. Third is the monthly Condo fee. As this past January the monthly fee went up a additional $100.00
Hoping I can afford to live here another 10 years.

216 units- which in my County in South Florida is small

When we were a self manage Association we adhered to the State Laws,our Gov Docs and had retired full time residents on the Board of Directors ( our Assessments are capped,we always stayed well under State %,for cost of living increase maximum permitted etc etc etc

As our residents began to die off a new breed slipped in- hired crooked mgnt companies and its spiraled out of control-,DPBR does nothing to help,to enforce the Law or to hold accountable the criminals..... sad state of affairs.....from illegal assessments to missing funds,ledgers and you'd not believe it

 

[vansX2]

216 units- which in my County in South Florida is small

When we were a self manage Association we adhered to the State Laws,our Gov Docs and had retired full time residents on the Board of Directors ( our Assessments are capped,we always stayed well under State %,for cost of living increase maximum permitted etc etc etc

As our residents began to die off a new breed slipped in- hired crooked mgnt companies and its spiraled out of control-,DPBR does nothing to help,to enforce the Law or to hold accountable the criminals..... sad state of affairs.....from illegal assessments to missing funds,ledgers and you'd not believe it

I'm glad that I'm not apart of large community . As it currently stands, I'm the President & Treasurer . As no one else wants the job. I'm a firm believer in honesty with handling others money. I frequently meet with the there owners and keep them posted on any changes.

 

[game misconduct]

I'm glad I have a Condo Association vs an HOA- the differences are major as an HOA is a separate entity that can pretty much spend your hard earned money however they decide- in a CA,the Assoc is made up of all owners owning a share and majority rules( by vote)- Now unfortunately my Board of Directors ard doing everything I'm violation of State Law and acting as though they are a HOA....this was my place to retire,it has become anything but what I signed up for and thsts another story

444nt had some folks refinancing their units

Sounds like alot but you can request Financials,Governing Documents etc everywhere you might be interested in- certain rules and by-laws might not suit your lifestyle as well and HOA's are the Governing entity

I'm only saying this because after 20yrs of BLISS the last 5 have pretty much wiped me out financially -I signed up as a shareholder(Condo Assoc) and now I'm experiencing living under an HOA

thanks thats good info to know about

 

[Purrfect Meow]

Housing today is crazy. I see people with full time jobs who cannot afford to live anywhere but in their cars or on the street. Unfortunately condo boards...etc...forget that the money collected is not for their personal use and like Kwik said "they pretty much spend your hard earned money however they decide". We can raise our voices on what is happening, but if we are only one voice in the wind it will never be heard.

I think we are living in a transistion period where everything is in flux, from climate change, food production, to transportation, housing and even the direction our respective countries are going. Transistions take time but we do have to live through them. Lets get through it together.

Its nice to see a community of people online who support one another, like you do here on thecatsite.

 

[NY cat man]

Housing today is crazy. I see people with full time jobs who cannot afford to live anywhere but in their cars or on the street. Unfortunately condo boards...etc...forget that the money collected is not for their personal use and like Kwik said "they pretty much spend your hard earned money however they decide". We can raise our voices on what is happening, but if we are only one voice in the wind it will never be heard.

I think we are living in a transistion period where everything is in flux, from climate change, food production, to transportation, housing and even the direction our respective countries are going. Transistions take time but we do have to live through them. Lets get through it together.

Its nice to see a community of people online who support one another, like you do here on thecatsite.

I call that sort of thing 'Committee Disease', because someone comes up with some bright idea, and a majority goes along because the money doesn't directly come out of their pocket so, why not? How many ideas would be shot down if the people on any given committee had to personally foot the costs? Most of them, I'd wager except for absolute must-dos. All of which makes me glad that we don't have to deal with that. If we want to paint our house lime green with purple polka dots, no one can say no to us. Our late landlord had to deal with that, as even though he 'owned' his house and land, he couldn't even put in a garden in his back yard if he wanted to, as it was considered a 'common area'. No, thank you.

 

[Kwik]

I call that sort of thing 'Committee Disease', because someone comes up with some bright idea, and a majority goes along because the money doesn't directly come out of their pocket so, why not? How many ideas would be shot down if the people on any given committee had to personally foot the costs? Most of them, I'd wager except for absolute must-dos. All of which makes me glad that we don't have to deal with that. If we want to paint our house lime green with purple polka dots, no one can say no to us. Our late landlord had to deal with that, as even though he 'owned' his house and land, he couldn't even put in a garden in his back yard if he wanted to, as it was considered a 'common area'. No, thank you.

I think that might be A-ok for first time buyers that always lived in multi family rental Apts.As for someone thst has lived in single family homes the majority of my life it was "tolerable" when money was no object and I was working 14-18hr days,lol

Now,on a fixed income and home all the time- well,to say the least...... not a happy camper,I actually hate living here though I'm Grateful to have a roof over my head...

A friend of mine used to say: "there's a seat for every butt & a butt for every seat- " Some folks just love Condo living,I'm not one of them

 

[NY cat man]

I think that might be A-ok for first time buyers that always lived in multi family rental Apts.As for someone thst has lived in single family homes the majority of my life it was "tolerable" when money was no object and I was working 14-18hr days,lol

Now,on a fixed income and home all the time- well,to say the least...... not a happy camper,I actually hate living here though I'm Grateful to have a roof over my head...

A friend of mine used to say: "there's a seat for every butt & a butt for every seat- " Some folks just love Condo living,I'm not one of them

I know what you mean about living on a fixed income, as both Michele and I are in that position. Our only saving grace is that we have always lived relatively simple lifestyles, saving our money for the future. Well, that future is here, and while we're not rolling in dough, we have enough for our present-day needs. Good thing, as my new glasses set me back almost $750, while hers were around $1200. Medicare? What's that? They didn't pay a dime, but they were always there to take money out of our paychecks. Typical government.

 

[vansX2]

I think that might be A-ok for first time buyers that always lived in multi family rental Apts.As for someone thst has lived in single family homes the majority of my life it was "tolerable" when money was no object and I was working 14-18hr days,lol

Now,on a fixed income and home all the time- well,to say the least...... not a happy camper,I actually hate living here though I'm Grateful to have a roof over my head...

A friend of mine used to say: "there's a seat for every butt & a butt for every seat- " Some folks just love Condo living,I'm not one of them

I originally considered purchasing a single family home 26.5 yrs ago. I was then Single and working. The downside was the availability of homes in my community that I could afford. A Condo Apartment seemed to be the best solution. For the most part owning my place has been fine. I've lived here long enough too see other owners come and go. Now being retired, seeing the yearly county tax increases is worrying.

 

[DeesCats]

I think that might be A-ok for first time buyers that always lived in multi family rental Apts.As for someone thst has lived in single family homes the majority of my life it was "tolerable" when money was no object and I was working 14-18hr days,lol

Now,on a fixed income and home all the time- well,to say the least...... not a happy camper,I actually hate living here though I'm Grateful to have a roof over my head...

A friend of mine used to say: "there's a seat for every butt & a butt for every seat- " Some folks just love Condo living,I'm not one of them

I started out in apartments for a couple years then rented 1/2 a duplex in the city before buying my 1st home in a small community. I liked the freedom of doing what I wanted with my property though I wasn't fond of one next door neighbor that had kids and barking dogs which made it difficult for me to sleep as I was working the 3PM to midnight shift.

I eventually moved to a more rural area with 5 acres of my own, one neighbor has horses and the vacant parcel next to me was bought a couple years ago by a family who hasn't yet built on it thank goodness. I enjoy relative peace and quiet aside from road traffic as I live on a state road with truck traffic.

I'm hoping I live here as long as possible in good health before needing to downsize and have nearby neighbors again. I'm also retired, living on a good pension and SS so money isn't a problem for now. I'm home all the time, loving retirement. Real estate taxes seem to be rising every year as well as other costs but it's so helpful my boyfriend lives here too so costs are shared.

My Mom lived in a condo for a number of years and her HOA board wasn't good with finances and there was a lot of board infighting the last couple years she lived there. I don't think I could ever want to live in a condo or apartment again.

 

[NY cat man]

We rented for our first 33 years of marriage; saving money when and where we could. When necessity forced our hand, we went to a bank for pre-approval on a mortgage even before we went house hunting. They looked at our financials and told us that we could go as high as $320,000. What? was our reaction to that bit of news. We ended up buying this house, a 1903 build, 1700 sq.ft., for $79,500, put almost 30% down at closing, and paid off a 30 year mortgage in 11 1/2 years. The point is, we didn't go overboard, looked at a lot of houses, rejected a lot of houses, and settled on this one as best fitting what we wanted. It wasn't perfect, but it was the closest to it in our self-imposed price range.
Property taxes are and have been going up- a lot- here, too. The good thing is as a veteran who served during wartime, I get a 15% reduction in them, but our assessment went up by over $7,000 due to the houses on either side of us being sold for what I consider to be insane money.

 

[susanm9006]

We rented for our first 33 years of marriage; saving money when and where we could. When necessity forced our hand, we went to a bank for pre-approval on a mortgage even before we went house hunting. They looked at our financials and told us that we could go as high as $320,000. What? was our reaction to that bit of news. We ended up buying this house, a 1903 build, 1700 sq.ft., for $79,500, put almost 30% down at closing, and paid off a 30 year mortgage in 11 1/2 years. The point is, we didn't go overboard, looked at a lot of houses, rejected a lot of houses, and settled on this one as best fitting what we wanted. It wasn't perfect, but it was the closest to it in our self-imposed price range.
Property taxes are and have been going up- a lot- here, too. The good thing is as a veteran who served during wartime, I get a 15% reduction in them, but our assessment went up by over $7,000 due to the houses on either side of us being sold for what I consider to be insane money.

My utilities cost has doubled, my insurance cost has doubled and my taxes have nearly tripled in the twenty years I have owned this home.

 

[DeesCats]

N NY cat man , that is the way to go when buying a house. Get what you can afford, put as much down as you can and pay it off as quick as you can. I was able to do that on 2 homes that I owned myself.

I agree that the increase in RE taxes is due to the high home sales in the neighborhood even though some of those homes have no comparison with the ones we live in or that are even within a 5 mile radius.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

The cook stove we had on the farm was roughly the size of the one shown, sans those 2 side burners, and mostly we burned wood.

I remember the wood burning stove on my uncle's farm (actually, a cousin, but my mother's generation, so the young cousins called him "uncle," the norm in her family). It was a lovely thing, but MISERABLE in Georgia summers! No, these guys are replicas, and either gas, electric, or a combination of the two. They LOOK authentic, but COOK 21st century. I considered an Aga cooker, but kept running up against "keep your kitchen cozy and warm." NOT what one needs in the Deep South in August!