Happy thoughts or is something bugging you? Is there something you don’t understand? Something fun you have planned?
Today for me it’s condos and why anyone would want to live in one.
People value different things of course. I couldn’t stand the lack of privacy for one thing and having to live under someone else’s rules and pay to have them enforced.
An expensive well built condo can be nice, if it is in a nice location in a city and you can walk or take the bus where you want to go. You should find more productive things to worry about, or at least try to understand other people's points of view.
sharePeople value different things of course.
I’m not worried, just trying to
understand other people’s points of view.
A guy once asked me to invest in them, I told him I don't use them.
shareI've lived in my own condo for the entirety of my post college adult life. I'm not quite sure what you mean about the "lack of privacy". It's not necessarily "someone else's rules" if you take an active role in the homeowners association board and participate in making the rules.
That said, I have never bothered to join the HOA board and understand what you mean when they started fining me a hundred bucks a pop every time I left the garage without waiting for the door to shut all the way. With car robberies being a common theme of every condo complex I've ever lived in, I understand the rationale behind the rule. But the sudden enforcement and hefty fines that began after the installation of security cameras still pissed me off. I protested to the board and they waived some of my fines, but I'm still pissed.
Other than that, the prohibition against doing any work on your own vehicle in the garage is annoying in my opinion. I wish I had private garage space to do that. I also wish I could turn my music up without worrying about neighbors. These are my biggest pet peeves of condo life. But living in a house would bring its own set of inconveniences that I'm not sure would outweigh the cost/benefit calculus of condo living for me.
Car robberies are a common theme in condos? They break in and steal stuff I'm assuming. That would suck. I can understand the rule as well. So you are supposed to wait there while the door shuts. Is it difficult to manage that? I could see it being a problem if you are waiting on a pedestrian sidewalk, or if you're running late, etc. So do they have a security team sitting there policing the cameras? LOL, that sounds like the perfect job for someone really petty who wants to stick it to the people he works for by zinging them with fines. What do the fines go towards?
So, are you not supposed to even open the hood of your car? If you had to add coolant or oil, you can't even do that? No hand vacuuming either? LOL. As for music, people in houses get annoyed with that too.
The conveniences of condo life do make a lot of sense. What prompted me to ask about condo life are some experiences I've had in condos that I go to for work. There is one in particular that I'm basing my experiences on and I'm getting the feeling from the responses here that this one condo is perhaps an exception to the average. It's a new building and they are all multi-million dollar units so the owners are all very wealthy. Many of the units are rented out and some of the owners hate that. They look down on the renters and consider them of a lower class. There are a lot of rules, but some of the residents also come up with their own rules. This affects me because I have to go there for work and at times it involves delivering and removing very large objects. Of course there are standard rules for this that I would be following anyway out of courtesy. But there is one couple who hassles me every time they see me. They are always looking for something to pick at. I have no idea why they would want to concern themselves over this. I don't bother anyone and I'm very well liked there. I think they even like me or at least they seem to, but they always question me.
Oh yeah car robberies are incredibly common in every condo complex I've ever lived (I'm in my 3rd unit) and happens with frequent regularity. After getting my car cleaned out almost a few decades back I've always had a high end alarm system with independent back up battery (in case the wire to my battery is cut like last time) and my cars have never been messed with since. The burglars have apparently been content to go after easier targets.
But the other big target for thieves in condos now is mail rooms. Due to the rise of Amazon and everyone doing all their shopping online, there are always tons of packages waiting to be collected in the mail room. I've had my shit taken numerous times. Fortunately Amazon is great about reimbursing for shipments never received, but it's still annoying when it happens. I have to be sure to get text alerts as soon as it's arrived and collect my packages immediately. The likelihood it will still be there if I forget and it sits in the mail room a few days goes down dramatically. This was never an issue about a decade ago, I could leave uncollected packages in the mail room for weeks (which I did since I traveled often for work at that time) and they'd still be there when I got back.
Which brings me back to being pissed about fines. It's great the board paid to upgrade security cameras and even better they're now paying someone to monitor those cameras. But it pisses me off they're using these upgrades to pursue the WRONG PEOPLE. If someone in fact does let a stranger in who burgles cars and mail then by all means fine that person responsible for the loss. But I'm always careful of scanning for anyone lurking by the garage exit, the door is at an alley end so it's not like a busy street. There's no way to miss a human around and if there is I wait for it to shut. Instead of paying security to arbitrarily go after homeowners, why not focus on ensuring no one gets in and why can't they stop the damn burglaries? That really hacks me off.
Sorry to hear your car was burgled. They got under your car and cut a wire to your battery??? Sheesh! They're too lazy and stupid to do that here. I have to park on the street a lot and I don't have tinted windows. I put those screens with suction cups on all the windows and a big opaque sun screen on the front windshield. So it's impossible to see in and they don't know if someone is in there sleeping or doing surveillance, lol. The other night when I came back a dude was peering into my car. I had seen these two guys walking back and forth for several nights in a row. They hang out in tents like they're homeless but I think they're dealing drugs.
That sucks about your mail room. That's where a front desk comes in handy. Why don't they have cameras in there and a rule about shutting the locked door? That's just ridiculous.
That does sound frustrating about the garage. There must be some way to deter burglars out there.
Yeah it's been a few decades since that happened, I was in a different unit than I'm in now. It was a very nice building, but the complex was newly constructed and situated in a highly metropolitan area next to an urban housing project on one side and a homeless encampment on the other as the first steps of "gentrification" of that neighborhood. My recollection is a bunch of neighbors reported to management their cars were broken into one day. Mine wasn't, but I actually wasn't that lucky since the mofos came back the very next night in order to cut my battery wire to my alarm in order to make off with my state-of-the-art stereo at that time. My guess is they scoped my car the previous night and didn't come equipped with the proper tools but recognized the value of the loot, prompting them to make it worth their while to brazenly come back the following night. Eventually the HOA of that complex decided the most effective security measure was to hire a night time security guy to patrol the premise at all times.
As for the tent dwellers peering into your car, they sound like junkies looking for something valuable to steal and pawn in order to get their fix. Tent dwellers often are. I know the type since my first unit was next to a homeless encampment and anyone parking their car on the street best not have anything valuable visible (as a girl I was dating at the time learned the hard way when her makeup box got smashed and grabbed out of her back seat while they missed far more valuable items in her trunk. d0h!) so you're wise to obstruct your windows.
True about the mail room, except the mail room where I'm at now is also the lobby. So anyone that follows someone in or steals a key is like a kid in a candy store in Amazon package heaven. Probably why my digs are targeted so often. Thing is, there are cameras everywhere, and the thieves are caught on camera stealing shit all the time, which is immediately turned over to the cops. But it doesn't do any good.
Sucks about your stereo way back. Plus you had to replace a broken window?
Yeah, those guys probably were junkies but they seemed to maybe be peddling on the street for a couple of weeks too. I've seen the patterns before and how they work together. Around there I think it's mostly meth that people use but I really don't know.
Damn, it sounds like you live in crime town USA! That package problem is unacceptable. They have security so why don't they collect the packages and then the residents can collect them when they get home?
Yeah we have security, but they all work offsite monitoring those security cameras we have installed everywhere and fining residents for driving off before the garage doors shut all the way. If you're wondering what the point of having security is if their only function is to fine residents instead of stopping bad guys, I would agree 100% and you can begin to understand why I'm pissed. 😬
As for the package theft, it really began to ramp up after Amazon started using their own delivery service instead of going through USPS. The postal service mailmen were much better and more professional about ensuring you got your package and would deliver it to your doorstep instead of just leaving it in the lobby. But it should be resolved soon since my complex just got approved a giant Amazon Locker in the lobby where deliveries can be stored until picked up by recipients.
As for the junkies on your street, yeah they probably were slinging to support their habit. But that wouldn't stop them from smashing and grabbing something of value in your car if they thought they could make a quick buck. Junkies are fabulous multi-taskers at petty crime like that.
It's actually called the Amazon locker?? LOL! They should call it the Bezos locker. That's more fun sounding.. :[
Good that there's a solution lined up. Amazon has their own drivers? Everywhere?
Oh, yeah junkies are the worst. On Tuesday someone stuck their hand into my car and stole something from the back seat when I was gone for 19 seconds. I was counting, lol. That and hearing your stories, plus the creeps looking into my car, were all taken as clear warning signs to be more careful from now on. I'm even using my Club when I park. I have an alarm, but I'm sure a good car thief (oxymoron) could bypass it. If I lost my car I'd be screwed.
2)
Also, in that building, many of the people who work the front desk try to get info on my clients. It's absurd. Maybe it's just that place that is giving me a bad impression of condos!
There are a lot of other factors and experiences with other buildings as well that prompted the OP.
Yeah in all the units I've been in I've never had any sort of front desk with a human on site so that whole concept is foreign to me. But it does sound kind of weird they'd try to pry info from you about the owner of the unit you're going to unless it was just to ensure you were the person you claimed to be? Are you sure they're not asking at the behest of the owner or the board for security purposes?
That whole class warfare struggle you describe also sounds bizarre. How would the entire community even know which owners decide to rent their units out? Sure the management and board would have that sort of info, but it's not like it would or should be easily accessible for anyone to find out. Sounds like your HOA board likes to gossip, play games, and get in each other's business. That definitely does not sound like a community I'd ever want to be apart of and if I had such an atmosphere where I lived I'd move. Where I'm at people are pretty chill and keep to themselves. I'm also in a top corner unit so I only have two neighbors, adjacent and below me to worry about.
LOL. I've been going to that place almost daily for years. They know me.
Sounds like your HOA board likes to gossip, play games, and get in each other's business.Haha! You're not kidding! They're the worst! I actually used to do some work for the couple who hassle me now and so I've been in their unit many times when they weren't there. Once, when I was going into their unit, another resident who is one of the couple I've worked for the longest, saw me entering the unit and barged in behind me, chattering away about how he wanted to see the remodeling they'd done! I kid you not. This is a guy I like a lot and he's a fine fellow but that is just the culture of that building - SUPER NOSY. He's even on the condo board himself! So, yes, it's gossip, gossip all the time at that place. They know who rents, they know who owns other property and where. Some residents are always asking me where my clients are when they go out of town.
I have heard of resentment in some condo communities against renters because they don't take care of their units like owners do. But I've never noticed any sort of outright discrimination and class warfare against renters like you're describing. That's crazy.
But then again, I really don't participate in community social gatherings or partake in gossip and try to keep to myself as much as possible. So even if that sort of thing did go on in my complex I'd be highly unlikely to be aware of it. I try to keep to myself as the last thing I want is people I casually know dropping by unexpectedly. I have been to a few HOA meetings (most recently when I was pissed about my fines and showed up to protest. lol) and I'd have to agree with you that those most likely to be gossip hounds up in everyone else's business are also on the board. It kind of goes with the territory since they're the ones that decide the association rules and enforcement of fines, so they'd be the first to be aware of any problem residents that are repeat violators of the rules. There's one guy on the board at my complex that I'd peg probably meets the criteria of what you're talking about and I steer clear of him for that reason. lulz.
I think your attitude is the best. Just steer clear of those who try to stir up any sort of bad vibes or drama.
I have clients who live in houses too. They don't have to deal with any of this of course, but they still have some odd ball neighbors. There are these cab drivers (who do they drive these cabs for? everyone uses ride share now) who live in an apartment building nearby. They speak very little English but I don't recognize their language. They drive like maniacs and a few times have almost mowed me down. I've had run ins with them too. They hassled me for parking in front of my clients garage and told me it wasn't a parking spot, lol. It totally is. Once, the same guy even parked his crappy, broken down old cab there to work on it! Haha. I made his clear out. But they do that kind of crap to my clients and they don't say anything! Maybe that's their way of steering clear of drama. It's not worth it.
Speaking of condos and what's on my mind...I need to mow the grass and it's still April. I'd already started a bit in March so that means nearly 7/8 months of lawn mowing.
I guess this wouldn't be an issue with a condo.
Typically I don't care..I consider all chores as a form of exercise..But today is my one day off this week and I've been working long days and today I must mow the lawn, do the laundry and tidy the house plus catch up on some work.
So,naturally...I'm putting it all off.
I hear that. Having to do chores on your only day off is no fun. How often does grass get mowed? What about paying someone to do it?
shareRocky never used them, Even though they were safe.
shareThis has become the let's talk about condos thread, and condos are not on my mind today.
shareAnd yet you commented on condos, making your statement untrue, at least in part.
shareI mentioned condos. I gave no opinion on condos. I was hoping someone might have something other on their mind than condos, but this thread became a condominium clearinghouse. I'm surprised offers have not been exchanged. But hey, it's not my thread. I'm not even here, other than being led to believe this was an open forum.
shareFinding a new place to live is on my mind. Been looking since the beginning of March, and so far, no joy. Since I've only got until the end of this month, am doing my best to stay positive.
I wouldn't like living in a condo myself, for the same reasons you cited. I'm sure there are advantages and all, it's just not my thing. I like having some space between myself and neighbours.
Same here. I like space too.
You will be fine. Take a walk to a pretty place when you get the chance. Watch the sunset. Picture yourself getting just the right place and just let the worries roll on out. Take a deep breath or two and say these words: This will come to me.
It will!
Thank you, Cuthbert 🤗
I am doing those things, so we're on the same page :). It does get challenging at times, but there's nothing to do except occasionally vent it off and keep on with the positive focus.