Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with condo

Eminent domain- Should we fight?

ets960 — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 13:41:15 -0800

Redevelopment and eminent domain- Should I fight it? Apparently my condo that I bought just over a year ago is in a location that is prime real estate for a new train station and the city has plans for rebuilding the entire area to have high rise condos and apartments with shops on the first floor. Surrounding townhomes and office buildings are getting rezoning letters to classify the area for residential and commercial. The time frame for the train to be built is up to 5 years away, but they might be trying to develop the property in advance so that the area is built up when it arrives.

What I want to know is this: Is this good or bad? On the one hand I have property that could possibly experience a boom, on the other hand the city might try to condemn the property so that they can redevelop it. There is a town meeting next week and a group of us are going. Should we fight? Any questions we should ask?

What are some well designed, very secure interior door manufacturers?

serial_consign — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:05:23 -0800

What manufacturers should I be looking at in searching out a very secure (i.e. 3 point lock) but stylish interior door to act as the entrance into a condo unit? I'm searching for very well designed doors for a client who has been burgled twice. Security is extremely important but the door should look and feel (i.e. quality mechanisms/moving parts) very stylish. I need the door system equivalent of a Swiss watch! This system needs to have North American distribution, or even better yet... is available in Toronto. Suggestions and hyperlinks appreciated!

House vs. apartment. Are the costs of maintaining a house roughly less, the same as, or more than levies on a comparably sized apartment?

lottie — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 20:20:39 -0800

House vs. apartment. Are the costs of maintaining a house roughly less, the same as, or more than levies on a comparably sized apartment? I live in and pay the mortgage on a large Sydney apartment (condo, for the US readers) with quite steep quarterly levies of $1000 which cover the maintenance of security parking, pool, spa, sauna, gym, gardens, and a caretaker who we can call at certain hours of the day to report trouble with any of these "trimmings". All very lovely, but $4000 a year is a lot to pay for facilities I can only occasionally make use of. In addition, the body corporate consistantly threaten to introduce eye-wateringly steep "special levies" from time to time to pay for building maintenance. So much so, that I fear missing an apartment meeting because I might miss the chance to know why we're paying an extra $1000 this quarter or other. It happens from time to time, and I'm scared of it.

I have begun fantasising about selling up and buying a similarly sized free-standing house. Doubtless this house would defnitely not have the pool etc that the apartment has. Indeed, it would not even have secure parking, but I figure it might be cheaper in the long run, and things like paint colours externally would be all my choice.

So, am I kididng myself? Do homeowners spend as much on annual maintenance, above and beyond mortgage etc as apartment owners do? More? Is the apartment saving me money because other people are fussing over the business of running the place, leaving me happily ignorant of the day-to-day demands?

Any thoughts about the relative merits? I know this isn't a simple comparison, but perhaps some of you have weighed up a similar thing.

Where to live?

dentata — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 16:08:48 -0800

Should I live in the Arts District in downtown LA? Of course, this is a subjective value question; I'm looking (ideally) for people's experience living in downtown LA.

I currently live in the Beverly/Fairfax area with my gf, enjoy it because it's a nice neighborhood and I can walk/ride my fixie if I want to, I'm (fairly) close to any audition I go to, and I have a nice place that I can work out of for my hyphenate career. I'm curious about living downtown since I worked at the Ahmanson for a while and became familiar with the area, and it feels more like SF or Brooklyn to me.

We've found a fantastic place downtown, (as well as fantastic place near Beachwood), but I know living downtown is a big lifestyle change. I'm looking for more data to help me make a decision.

How will an alarm system help me?

MeetMegan — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 08:52:09 -0800

Purchasing a condo - does an alarm system make sense? I am buying a condo in downtown Chicago. I saw that one of the other units on my floor has an ADT sticker on their door. Does it make sense to buy an alarm system? What would it do that a deadbolt couldn't for my condo?

I guess I just don't understand what an alarm system can do for me - I will be on the 16th floor of a building with balconies (maybe it will alarm the windows/balconies? How can someone get up 16 floors?). It's a relatively new building (2001) and the doors have deadbolts which of course I will use. It's in a good neighborhood (River North) but I do live alone. I live in the same neighborhood now and just use my deadbolt - hadn't occured to me to get an alarm system until I saw the sticker!

I do have a cat - would motion sensors even be relevant?

Thanks for your help!

I don't want a friend. I want quiet after 10:00PM

KevinSkomsvold — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 08:10:58 -0800

Remember my previous question regarding a noisy upstairs neighbor in our condo complex? Its gotten worse. Same neighbor, same problem. Heres what I have done to rectify/address the problem.

(My neighbor is a mother of two teenage sons).

- Gone up to their unit and asked them to stop making noise. I'm no prude or psycho. I am a working musician and make enough noise myself. My wife and I do not bother them unless it is after 10:00PM. Any other time we are totally ok and understand that noise will happen and we live with it. In the beginning they were very accommodating and turned the stereo/boom box down or stopped Wrestlemania 2008. Now they do not answer the door.

- Called the police (10 times over the course of five years). The last time they came they said take it up with my association. Little did they know that I had done this on many occasions. I have a chain of emails to prove it.

- Tried to get our association to intervene. According to our bylaws, they do this. We've gone through three associations/management companies. The first time, our association fined them and then rescinded it when she complained. I was livid. The second time (after they knocked a picture off our wall from the teenagers wrestling) she was asked to appear at a meeting with me and our association. She was a no show and they fined her again. Inexplicably, the noise stopped for almost six months and it was awesome. Then about four months ago it started up again only worse. The teenage sons, now a bit bigger and a fuckton more energy, like to play "Rock Band" in their room above my seven year old daughter's room. They play until 2:00 and 3:00am. My daughter has to sleep with us in our room, it is so loud.

- Tried to be a friendly neighbor. I'm always pleasant with them. I hold doors, help her with groceries, helped her find a 24 hour glass place when her rear car windows was smashed out, had generally good conversations with her. Her sons are two lumps who sit around, smoke dope with their gang-banger wannabe friends BUT I've tried to go out of my way to be friendly. I offered one of them guitar lessons, etc., but it is like talking to a brick wall.

This weekend it was utter mayhem upstairs. Starting at 5:00PM Friday and until last night at 1:00PM, the stereo was thumping, Rock Band until all hours. The mother was gone all weekend so it was party time. Our daughter spent Friday and Saturday sleeping with us because her room was a fucking echo chamber. We are at wits end.

I sent an email to my association telling them I am withholding all future assessments until the situation is addressed.

I feel like I'M the crazy one because, god forbid, I purchased a condo with the expectation of being able to sleep nights and raise my daughter.

Fuck being their friend. I tried. I don't want friends. I want fucking quiet after 10:00PM.

Advice? Any legal impressions are welcome. Next step is a lawyer if they'll even bother with a case like this.

(Apologies for the rambling. I'm not very happy right now).

What are my rights regarding shoddy construction work?

tocts — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 08:48:28 -0800

Legally, what rights do I have in regards to shoddy renovation work done on my condo before I bought it? I live in an old three-decker in the Boston area that was completely renovated and sold as condos (three, one per floor) in the past 18 months. Since moving in, we (and our neighbors) have had a number of minor issues that we've just dealt with ourselves (vs. considering going after the builder), but we've had a new issue pop up that is making us question whether we can go after them legally.

The short version of the issue is that our upstairs neighbor's tile in the shower has been coming loose (grout crumbling, etc). They called in a tile guy to investigate, and he took one look and said that the contractors were idiots, and had used floor grout (basically cement) instead of proper tile grout for bathtubs and showers. I'm fairly sure they've done the same thing in our bathroom as well.

Unfortunately, from what the tile guy said, there's not much we can do to stop it from degrading, and you really can't remove the cement. You pretty much have to rip out all the tile out and replace it, or just accept that it's going to not-so-slowly crumble away. The cost to replace it from scratch was quoted at $4,000.

Now, I have no idea whether the tile guy is trying to gouge us, and that's not really my initial concern; I'll worry about getting more quotes for the cost when we actually go to fix it. My initial concern is, legally, can the people who renovated these condos be held responsible for the fact that they clearly screwed up installing the tile?

How important is perfect hardwood to selling a house?

AgentRocket — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 11:50:37 -0800

Do we really need to refinish our hardwood floors before we list our condo? We are preparing to list our house, which is a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath condo in Wrigleyville in Chicago. As part of the process, our Realtor brought in a "stager" this week to tell us all the things we should do to make it ready. One of the first suggestions was to refinish our hardwood floors, which run throughout the house. Our Realtor agreed, and opined that even if we offered a credit to redo the floors, leaving them as they are now would likely lead to lowball offers. Plus, she said that our condo is a vintage rehab but the comparable places for sale are new construction, so people will be used to seeing pretty, sparkling, new floors (and therefore ours should be pretty too).

The floors aren't stained or damaged, they are just worn from 4 years of living in them (2 years with one kid and another 2 with two kids, and with dogs). The worn spots do look pretty worn down.

We were inclined to redo the floors, but after talking to flooring people we learned that we would need to move all the furniture out of our house, stay out for at least 3-5 days, then move it all back in. This includes some heavy stuff like a giant dining room table and a piano and big solid bookshelves, so we would need professional movers and a storage space. Total cost for everything would likely be about $5,000.

One flooring guy, to his credit, said "if you are just doing this to list your house I think you're crazy. You'll have to move all your furniture three times (out, back in, and out when we sell). And you'll have to live somewhere else for a week which will be a big hassle. If the floors aren't damaged, just offer a credit. Buyers are more worried about structural issues; they'll be able to see past worn floors."

After all that, here's my question: should we pay the expense and endure the hassle to refinish the floors before we list? Realtors or home lookers: does it really make that much of a difference? Would a credit of $3,000-$5,000 make you change your mind if it does? I think we would prefer to do nothing and offer some money if we could feel reasonably sure that it would not alienate potential buyers.

SEATTLE: Help us find a nice rental home with a soul!

Bob Dobbs — Sun, 06 Jan 2008 05:52:35 -0800

SEATTLE: I'm looking for internet resources to find rental apartments, condos, houses Hi All,

We are moving to Seattle very soon. Need online resources to find a nice rental home for the two of us. We are looking in the Ballard, Queen Anne, and West Seattle areas. I'd prefer non-mega corporate rentals, ie. one or two unit townhomes, a house, or a smallish apartment building. I'm familiar with craigslist, which I've been using a lot. Also familiar with NWapartments. The larger sites like rent.com list rentals that are just too cookie cutter and commercial for us. Please give resources to help us find a nice, unique, home with a soul. BTW, we are looking at the $1800-$2800/month rent range for a 2bedroom.

real estate broker PITA

frosty_hut — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 13:30:33 -0800

The real estate broker for our condo is a jackass...do we have any recourse? We just moved into a condo and have two issues. A few days after closing, and about a week after submitting our new address to the United States Postal Service, we were informed that our street address would be changed. We've gone twelve days without mail. The broker has been difficult to get any response from, and we got no warning that this would happen. Now we have to get our new address re-recorded everywhere--USPS, utilities, etc. No apologies from the broker for our inconvenience.

The other thing is that the inspection found a pipe leak under the bathroom sink before we moved in. It's still not fixed. You brush your teeth for three minutes, and the entire bathroom floor is flooded. We've been living with this for a week. This broker tells our real estate agent that he'll have a plumber call us, but it's been a couple of weeks and we've gotten no action. We'd like to get it fixed and bill the broker, but if he didn't select the plumber, we're thinking he'll find a way to avoid compensating us on that basis.

I'm wondering if any mefites have experienced inaction like this, and whether and how you complained. I found a complaint form for realtors in our state, and I want to submit it. My husband isn't sure. The thing is, the broker hasn't really defrauded us--he's just non-communicative, a foot-dragger, and a giant dick--none of which are technically pusnishable by law I suppose.

Any advice would be welcome.

Looking for a condo in TO

veritascitor — Mon, 17 Sep 2007 20:52:59 -0800

Help a recent grad find a condo in Toronto, and help me figure out if I can afford it. I'm a recent graduate who's currently living at home in the suburbs, and working in downtown Toronto. This, as you can imagine, leads to me spending 3 hours a day commuting via mass transit. This, and other reason, are making me seriously consider moving out and finding myself a condo somewhere in Toronto. Not necessarily downtown, but somewhere on the subway line is essentially a must, north end of the Yonge line being the ideal. I only need one bedroom, and about 500-600 sq. ft. I'm not making too much money (currently $36k) but I'm fairly frugal, so I save money pretty well, and I don't have any large expenses like a car or whatnot to drain my cash. I also have a large fund ($25k) from my grandmother to be used when I move out, as a down payment or whatnot.

So I guess m first question is: can I afford it? I'm not too in tune with the state of the housing market or mortgage rates at the moment, and I'm not quite sure as to where to educate myself about these things. I've heard it's best to put down a large down payment (25%) in order to avoid having to pay extra insurance, so should I be waiting until I have even more saved up for a down payment?

My second question is, how should I go about looking for properties? I've heard of sites like mls.ca, but are there any other good resources out there for someone just starting out? Any tips or advice I can get would be greatly appreciated. :)

I'm at home in an apartment. Do I have to buy a condo?

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:52:40 -0800

What can I do with my money if I don't buy real estate? My family and friends have been pressuring me into buying a condo before the rates increase even more.

Problem is, I just don't think I'm ready. I'm new to the area I'm living in (less than a year) and in a work situation that will change very soon. I don't have any savings. That's right ... none. I have less than $1,000 in consumer debt that I'll pay off in the month. I also have one student loan from grad school.

I know that everyone talks of real estate as a good investment but what if I decide to wait awhile on it?
What can I do with my money in the meantime?

I'm in a perfectly fine studio apartment in a nice part of town. Right now, I'll lose this apartment because I listened to everyone else, put an offer in on a condo, got approved and then had the deal fall through the night before closing.

I'm single with no children, female, late 30s. I don't feel like going through this whole process again and I think I can probably rent at this point for a lot less than I'd pay in a mortgage and put some money away. The larger issue here is how I can learn to assert myself and not keep doing what everyone tells me to do, but let's just start with my finances for now.

Any ideas?

Drafting a new roommate

pantheON — Sat, 23 Jun 2007 19:51:10 -0800

How hard is it to find a roommate in Toronto? I'd like to get an idea of difficult or easy it will be to find a roommate for August in downtown Toronto. I'll be moving to the core at the beginning of August. I could afford a single junior or small one bedroom in the $1100-$1300 range, but I'd prefer to save some money and live somewhere a bit larger. That's why I've decided to rent a two bedroom condo in the $1800 range and sublease the second bedroom. However, its almost July and I've exhausted my supply of potential roommates, meaning I'll have to live with a stranger. I'm wondering, will I have difficulty finding someone anyone to sign a lease or will there be so many applicants that I'll have my pick of the most compatible? How can I increase my chances of finding someone? I'd hate to get stuck paying the full rent, even for a month. The longer I go with an empty bedroom, the better it will have been for me to have gone for the 1 bedroom in the beginning. Is it too much to expect to find someone in the next month who'll be willing to sign a 1 year sublease?

Tenant rights - was this trespassing?

othersomethings — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:27:20 -0800

My apartment was entered without the knowledge or consent of me, or my landlord. Is this trespassing? I live in an condo unit that is privately owned. The condo below me is privately owned. Some of the condos are owned by the building, etc. but many like mine, are privately owned and rented out. Recently the owner of the unit below mine has complained of water damage, and though she tried negotiating with my landlord to assess the situation, she ALSO went through the property management (who, once again, doesn't own my unit) and filed complaints.

Long story short...the unit owner below, along with someone from the property management, and a plumber went into our unit and did inspections of the bathrooms - ALL without my knowledge or consent. I was not informed that anyone would be entering my unit. ALSO my landlord did not know that the property management had a key to my unit.

Have any rights been violated, and should I (and my landlord) be concerned on any level?

I really couldn't find any information on this...Google only came up with tenants who ARE trespassing, and askmi came up with "am I liable for injuries of someone trespassing."

Advice on small condo associations wanted

scottso17 — Tue, 15 May 2007 19:07:47 -0800

I'm looking to buy a condo in Cambridge, MA, where many of the attractive properties are old, multi-family houses, with 2-6 units each. I have some reservations about buying a condo with such a small group of people running the association. These properties all seem to have a condo association consisting of the few owners within the building.

My concerns include:

-- If we can't afford to have a professional company manage the association, who does the managing?

-- One of the homeowners absconding with the association reserves.

-- Being assessed a fee for a large repair (roof repair, siding replacement) if the association reserves don't cover it and I don't have the money to cover the expense.

-- Wanting to make a repair/renovation to a common area and the other homeowners don't agree.

-- Other miscellaneous disagreements, especially considering that I have to live in close proximity to the other board members.

There must be hundreds of these small condo associations in Cambridge, and many more elsewhere, so I assume that people get them to work -- so any success stories would be appreciated, too.

Thank you!

Help me find the best TV and/or Internet solution(s) for a multi dwelling unit

twiggy — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 12:49:06 -0800

I need help with crafting a multi-dwelling (Condo) solution for TV and/or Internet service The short version: 24 unit condo looking for both business and technical advice on serving TV and/or Internet to all units in the most cost effective manner possible.

The long version:

I need help with both the technical AND business / search aspects here because google has not been my friend. I can't seem to find companies that specialize in providing TV or internet to multi dwelling units. However, I know they exist because my condo building currently has a contract with a company for DirecTV installations which requires we buy equipment from them if we want Satellite TV. Therefore, while everyone else gets free DVRs and other stuff, we have to pay hundreds of dollars (they quoted me $350) to get set up.

Individual units can opt for Comcast, but not Dish Network because there is no Dish Network satellite on our roof.

Details on that from a technical perspective: Not all units face the right direction to have their own dishes, and the condo has rules against mounting dishes to the masonry so basically a lot of the units absolutely have to connect to the big dish on the roof. Since we (currently) have an exclusive contract with this one DirecTV contractor, we're stuck.

What I want to know:

1) Is it realistic to expect to find some kind of a discounted deal on TV and/or internet service for a 5 story condo building with 24 units if we can get with some company on it?

2) From a technical perspective, this current company insists that the reason we need to buy hardware from them is that it requires special tuners to work with the dish on our roof. Is this true?

3) Is it technically feasible to install our own dish(es) on the roof and just let people sign up for DirecTV or Dish Network on their own? Do both companies require you point your dish in the same direction - allowing us to save on costs there by using one dish to serve people options?

4) This stems from the fact that Comcast is a godawful nightmare for myself and several of our residents, but the ridiculous up front costs from this company, and being limited to DirecTV and not Dish, is causing us to seek out alternative solutions.

5) Does anyone have an inside track on what the deal is/will be with WiMax? Sprint is supposed to roll it out in Chicago within the next year, but nobody knows: Is this just going to be cell-phone-internet stuff, or will people actually sign up for WiMax like they do DSL / Cable internet?

While a group discount would be great, we'd also be happy just to have a technical solution where people could sign up for Dish, DirecTV or Comcast just like everyone else can and for the same prices. Paying this premium for boxes just because they connect to a shared dish seems to be a wasteful expense, and being locked out of Dish as an option is unattractive as well.

Pre-construction condos - what do I need to know?

echo0720 — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 20:52:18 -0800

What do I need to know and what things should I consider before buying (and while buying) a pre-construction condo? Everyone says that it's a buyer's market in DC, but things seem to be selling really quickly after they are listed, and I'm one of those people that needs time to think about whether I am making the right decision or not for a while. Last week I saw what sounds like a perfect condo - except it was just the floorplan and renderings for said condo b/c it is currently still just a hole in the ground (I'd have to wait almost a year!). I'm thinking about putting down an offer (or paying the deposit, or whatever it is that I have to do), but before I do that, has anyone bought a pre-construction condo before? What was your experience like? And to all of you - do you have any advice on what sort of things I should look at to ensure that this condo turns out the way I think it's going to turn out; and that I am making a wise investment? Thanks!

Housing market crystal ball?

croutonsupafreak — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 14:39:22 -0800

Is this the worst possible time to become first-time home owners in Portland, Ore., even though we found what looks like a pretty good deal on a condo? This sort of thing scares me, but we just found a place that we like and that seems very reasonably priced. My husband and I have been going to open houses for the past six months, with the aim of getting to know the market better and save more cash for a home purchase some time in 2008.

Most of the places that appeal to us have been around 750 square feet (smaller than ideal), and $240,000 and up (more than we'd like to pay). We'd also like access to public transportation with a good commute for my car-less husband, extra on-site storage, somewhere to park my car, and modern appliances (dishwasher, washer/dryer, garbage disposal).

This weekend we found a place that met and exceeded all our requirements. It's 25% less than other condos in the same neighborhood, includes lots of storage and a garaged parking space probably worth $20,000 on its own. It's two blocks from my husband's office, in a decent neighborhood, with great access to public transportation. It's close to 1,000 square feet. It's an end unit.

In other words, it's everything we want and more. But I have read that the housing market is crashing nationwide (although Portland home prices have continued to climb), and that there are all kinds of problems in the mortgage industry.

Is this a foolish time to become a first-time homeowner? It really is what we want, we can afford a 10% or 15% down payment, and I'm just really torn about whether entering the market at this time is totally idiotic.

Time to put down some roots

seeminglyshy — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 09:36:06 -0800

Hi all :) I've decided that its time I found a permanent place to rest my head at nights. Apartment living has been fun but acknowledging the fact that I'm knocking on 30's door... its time I bought a home. Now, not a home in a traditional sense. Rather, a condominium. Preferably one with an ocean view :) I've always been a bit laid back so I don't really want the responsibility of a "home" per se. I'd much rather live in a 1 bedroom 1.5 bathroom condo (or bigger if the price were right) where I can be awakened each morning by the scent of the ocean and drift into slumber with the sounds of the waves crashing.

Ah, thinking of it makes my toes tingle! :)

Unto my question:
*Does anyone know the best sites to search for this. I've tried a few but they are outdated.
*Do you recommend another route in trying to find my "dream ocean-front condo"???
*Know anyone trying to sell theirs and is actively looking for a buyer?

I live in Florida. I'm aiming for the Fort Lauderdale area (Miami is uber expensive) - though, I'm really open if I can find a great property at an even greater price!

Can't wait to hear your input!

Help for a rental refugee?

zarq — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 21:46:00 -0800

Can anyone provide advice, suggest tenant rights resources, courses of action or even refer a good pro-bono lawyer for a friend of mine who's getting screwed by her landlord during the conversion of her apartment complex from rentals to condos in Studio City, CA? Everything's being documented on Flickr.

At Christmas, all tenants were given notice that they had 180 days to vacate. CA state law requires (among other things) that the landlord help current tenants find new housing, pay for up to $500 in moving costs and compensate them with $1000 cash. Hers has refused to do any of that.

In February, construction began months early and created many ongoing hazardous living conditions, such as a six-foot deep moat around the building and exposed nests of metal and electrical wires. But even though the management company is blatantly violating their end of the agreement (and breaking the law) and the tenants are dealing with unsafe living conditions, not one of the numerous lawyers they've called will take the case on -- either individually or as a class action suit. They all say that the case would be winnable, but there's no money in it because no one has been seriously injured or killed yet.

Anything y’all can suggest would be greatly appreciated.

Washer&dryer without the hookups. Can I still use them?

jmd82 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 17:01:19 -0800

Found the condo of my dreams except for one huge deal-breaker: No washer and dryer hookups! Is there anything I can do to get a washer & dryer into the condo? The condo is in my price range and contains everything I want. Save, hookups for a washer and dryer. I'd also assume there's not a normal electrical outlet for a dryer, whatever that means. Assume I'm a n00b when it comes to houses (first-time homeowner in the making). I am over the coin-operated thing and refuse anything less if I'm buying the place. So, I'm looking for any ideas or thoughts of how to get a washer and dryer setup.

I've heard about apartment-style stacking units that don't require the normal washer & dryer hookups. Does anyone have personal experience with these? Are they worth it?

Secondly, the master bedroom has a sink off to the side that I really wouldn't need (there's a full bathroom about 10 steps away). Financially and logistically speaking, would it make sense to remove the sink and install a washer & dryer setup?

I'm looking for any ideas on how to get a washer and dryer into a condo not made for them and any personal experiences with my situation- if what I'm asking is even feasible. Thanks!

California Housing Market

matthelm — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 10:46:17 -0800

How does one monitor the Housing Market of Southern California? I would like to purchase a condo in the next couple of years and would like to know when the "best" time to buy is. I am a first time buyer and slowly picking up the knowledge to what it takes to buying a place.

Overwhelmed by money (or the lack thereof)!

echo0720 — Wed, 14 Mar 2007 14:18:03 -0800

What questions do I ask when trying to get a mortgage? I'm calling mortgage lenders, brokers, and banks tomorrow because I'm getting ready to take the big plunge and buy a ridiculously overpriced condo in DC. I understand the lending process, and some of the fees involved (thank you, Homebuying for Dummies!). I have a rough idea of what I can afford (I think), so now I guess I need to get pre-approved for a loan. So I'm wondering...

What do I say when I call one of these guys? How do I introduce myself and what questions should I be asking? What questions should I expect? I'm overwhelmed by this whole process, nervous because I don't like talking to strangers on the phone, and am scared to death I'll get screwed over.

Help, mefites, help!

Lawyer's duties upon notice of possible crime

Freedomboy — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 10:15:11 -0800

LawyerHive: If I send to the condo lawyer a copy of a letter wherein I suggest to my condo association that it has an improper independent contractor on site who may not be paying the proper taxes, social security withholding and/or workers compensation does the lawyer have a legal obligation to act to make sure this is not the case and if the lawyer fails to act is the lawyer in trouble? Can the lawyer ignore this notification of a possible crime?

Ski Vacation booking - acommodation recommendations?

lalochezia — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 16:40:11 -0800

Where’s the best place to book an all-inclusive ski vacation? Where’s a good powder accessible condo with a view/hottub? Wanted: Place where we can get powder (CO, UT, WY or BC) for the week of 9-17 March and that has some nightlife.

Travelocity, expedia, preliminary standard google searches no good. All give hotels in metropolitan areas or incredibly overpriced ski packages. We’d like to pay ca. $1200 each for flight, lodge and lift ticket for ca 6.days – we’re coming from NYC.

We’d like a condo (pref ski-in ski-out….although a hotel isn’t out of the question), with access to a hottub and access to a nice view. If you just know the answer to this, that’d be great.

We’d like to get some kind of discount for booking flight+lift ticket+accommodation in one go, although if you think that’s a bad idea and you know of a particular steal for pairs or single examples of F/LT/A then let me know too….. Preferably a website/company with which you’ve had good experiences.

And a pony. Yes a ski pony. OK No pony wanted