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Van Veen

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* in a seller's market with low inventory like the current one
 

sugarbutch

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Like so many aspects of renovation, beware of Reputable Tile Merchants selling exactly the same tile available at Lowe’s for twice the price. The plain white Daltile I used for our new bathroom was such a case, and was happy to discover this before pulling the trigger at the higher price.
 

nootje

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Like so many aspects of renovation, beware of Reputable Tile Merchants selling exactly the same tile available at Lowe’s for twice the price. The plain white Daltile I used for our new bathroom was such a case, and was happy to discover this before pulling the trigger at the higher price.
They are the worst. Of all the people we dealt with over the course of the past year when we build the new place, the tile guys hands down offered the worst contracts with the highest markups.

Even when confronted that the same tile could be bought for about 40% what they sold it for, I was only met with blank stares.

Weirdly enough the kitchen guys were awesome, even though they usually come in a close second.
 

venividivicibj

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Anyone know what these markings on my leafs are

4622160B-71D7-4BB7-84F4-559AF3C5F018.jpeg
 

jbarwick

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The buyers of our house keep coming by with contractors and architects. Sounds like they are expanding our house in every direction. Not sure why they didn't just find an empty lot and build a new house but I don't care.
 

PhilKenSebben

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The buyers of our house keep coming by with contractors and architects. Sounds like they are expanding our house in every direction. Not sure why they didn't just find an empty lot and build a new house but I don't care.

This is the perfect example of a "Not my pig, not my farm" kind of situation. You came out on top, and people are strange all in all. Having started my housing search, the average home owner/decision-maker is about as intelligent as a potato and make choices to reflect that
 

ValidusLA

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Houses sit because they're overpriced. That's all it comes down to in the end, no?

Bad pictures or bad agents can hurt a house sale too.

My house was on the market for 21 days (an eternity in 2017 Pasadena) because they didn't stage, took terrible photos, and were using their son in law as a fly by night agent.
 

Joffrey

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Any thoughts on "self-managed" condominiums? I am looking at a unit in a 4-unit building. It appears the owner (of what should be a mansion) simply subdivided the property. The unit looks great but the shared spaces (just some short hallways) are a bit cluttered. The HOA is reasonable since there are minimal amenities.
 

imatlas

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Check the reserve fund and make sure the HOA fees adequately budget for future costs: we had to double ours to save up for some major work on the building.

Read the CC&Rs closely.
 

Piobaire

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Are their shared pieces of infrastructure? Like, is the HVAC per unit + common space or does the HVAC cover the entire building and is funded through the HOA? Examine all of that carefully, and as noted above, check the capital reserve and also clauses for "special levies" and the like.
 

nootje

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The HOA should at a minimum have a detailed maintenance schedule for ALL the shared stuff. Gold standard is to have this contracted out to an engineering firm and have them maintain the schedule, fund and monthly contributions so you guys don’t have to go after neighbors if they don’t pay on time.

My first condominium didn’t have all this and they found concrete rot in the balconies. Since there wasn’t a proper reserve fund for this stuff it amounted to a bill of approx 15k per unit. Guess how many people can stump up that amount of cash within a month?

The problem with HOA managed funds is that the board can access the funds. Guess who has experience with a deadbeat owner who had dipped heavily in the shared fund? And yes, you can recover it through various agencies, but do you want to deal with this with a neighbor you see every day?

And yes, like stated above a lot more is shared than most people think. And neighbors usually are a lot more stupid than you think, so don’t expect them to flag stuff for preventive maintenance.

(True story, my former HOA allowed one owner to charge his electric car on a common outlet for a year. He promised that he wouldn’t use the lift to compensate for the electricity use. He moved out after a year and guess who got stiffed with 2k on added electricity bills. And the morons who allowed it then thought they could go after him, no dice of course)
 

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