Burren
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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I'd go a step further and say that HOAs are completely unnecessary and should be abolished country wide.
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Home Improvement
- Thread starter Picasso3
- Start date
moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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That would require an amendment, so no. Freedom of association. The legislation forcing a no drama freedom of disassociation would just force HOAs to focus on the services they offer, while removing their ability to fine and Karenify.
ToeMissile
Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
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Our neighborhood has a voluntary HOA of sorts. People donate funds that are used for managing sidewalk landscaping, seasonal decorations, organize a few community events and the like. Everyone keeps their yards in pretty solid shape and look after things. We send $100 a year.
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I've got three condo's in an HOA that I cant realistically be a part of every meeting. They cover fuck all in repair expenses. The gutters need cleaning out. The gutter extensions that go under concrete walkways are crushed (shitty corrugated pipe thats at least 10 years old). None of that stuff is covered I found out recently. The pavement is in shambles. The tennis courts arent operable. The Interior pool is defunct. The exterior pool is "passable". The only thing that seems to be done "right" is the yard maintenance and the trash. Between those three condo's - I'm paying out roughly $725/month.
8 Units in that culdesac where theyre located, after trash and yard - with me being expensive on the costs of those services - it leaves roughly 910 towards HOA fees to spend on the "rest" of the association per month. Thats just 8 units out of 184 units in total.
Where the fuck is the money going? Thats my question. Thats at LEAST $3,600 a year out of my pocket that I think I'm being over charged. I've owned these condo's for almost a decade and I've never seen them touch the pavement. I've seen them work on "cleaning" the pool multiple times, but its always after a flood from where the nearby creek fucks them up because theres no proper flood control.
When I bought the places, the HOA fees were a third of what they are now. If I were to buy them today, at today's interest rates - the HOA Fees would put the property, in monthly costs, above where they are in rent on a 30 year mortgage. 15 year mortgage, and its not even feasible. Who the fuck would buy a condo there now, at those prices, with that HOA fee? Its insane.
I honestly have fuck all clue about what I can do about it. I've talked to people that live there and they dont know what to do. The condo's that are for sale arent selling because, again, who wants to pay more to live there than somewhere nicer? The HOA even signed up for a property management company, under a contract, with only a handful of people at the meeting. How much is the HOA paying for that company? Did they even bid it out?
I believe places like that need an HOA or a PM company - but the way that one is going, if I had a choice to exit my condo's out, I wouldnt think twice.
8 Units in that culdesac where theyre located, after trash and yard - with me being expensive on the costs of those services - it leaves roughly 910 towards HOA fees to spend on the "rest" of the association per month. Thats just 8 units out of 184 units in total.
Where the fuck is the money going? Thats my question. Thats at LEAST $3,600 a year out of my pocket that I think I'm being over charged. I've owned these condo's for almost a decade and I've never seen them touch the pavement. I've seen them work on "cleaning" the pool multiple times, but its always after a flood from where the nearby creek fucks them up because theres no proper flood control.
When I bought the places, the HOA fees were a third of what they are now. If I were to buy them today, at today's interest rates - the HOA Fees would put the property, in monthly costs, above where they are in rent on a 30 year mortgage. 15 year mortgage, and its not even feasible. Who the fuck would buy a condo there now, at those prices, with that HOA fee? Its insane.
I honestly have fuck all clue about what I can do about it. I've talked to people that live there and they dont know what to do. The condo's that are for sale arent selling because, again, who wants to pay more to live there than somewhere nicer? The HOA even signed up for a property management company, under a contract, with only a handful of people at the meeting. How much is the HOA paying for that company? Did they even bid it out?
I believe places like that need an HOA or a PM company - but the way that one is going, if I had a choice to exit my condo's out, I wouldnt think twice.
Burren
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Now that sounds like a good idea. Creates more community and pride in a neighborhood.
Burren
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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moonarchia
The Scientific Shitlord
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Reserves are usually the biggest part of the fees. The rest is going to that property management company. As a resident or owner you can get a copy of the contract that was signed and who else they had gotten bids from.
Control
Golden Baronet of the Realm
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Find out how many votes it takes to carry a decision and buy enough additional units (or make enough friends) that you now own the HOA. Then wield the HOA to the shape the community however you want.
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You're using scalloped composite too close to the edge of the deck. To fix it in the most common way would be to shorten those boards enough and do a picture frame of the outside ring with "square" composite boards and then butt up under it with Fascia composite boards. The square boards are for the hidden fasteners to avoid having to put screws into the top of the plank. You can use those "plugs" that you have in the last picture, sure. But it will not look "finished" and appear like a shortcut.
Random Image from a google search to show you what I'm talking about:
You can continue to use wood railings if you want. But there are also saddle colored rail post "Sleeves" and saddle colored railings that can be cut to length between them. The composite you have down looks like it has some age on it, or maybe thats not even Trex (Because the scalloped ones you have down look cheaper, but it could just be an older version of it. Idk). You could do the white sleeves with black railings like that, or Saddle Colored - your personal preference. Even if its not Trex, you can still go with it now if you dont know the original version you have. Composite boards generally have a 20 year warranty on the low end stuff, so saying its cheap isnt a knock on your current boards.
But if you decide to go through with fixing it like a modern deck - compile everything you need (railings, square picture frame, Fascia's, Post sleeves, Post Caps, Brown Screws, etc.) into a list. Then log into Lowes, go to your PRO account, make a Quote (not a purchase list) and add all of those things to the Quote. Then add like a Double French Door or something (This part doesnt matter, we're just trying to get your price to over $2,000 to allow you to use MVD (Members Volume Discount). Then, go to Lowes and walk up to their PRO desk and ask them to pull up the quote you made under your PRO number. When you go to pay, ask them to "Stagger Sale" out the French Doors (You'll pick them up later, /wink /wink), and say that Home Depot is quoting you 30% off everything but the Trex, and 35% off the Trex (Saddle Color looks like its on sale right now, and MVD calculates off the original retail purchase price.) That'll save you the most money you can in this little project and you'll get the stuff priced just over what "Retail" price would be for Treated Lumber to do the job.
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Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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tldr
ice maker
i use water bottles, from big stanley (obviously i don't buy this bullshit, it's swag) to zojirushi (actually my favorite) and one day i picked one up to clean and it clanged. it had been 2 or 3 days, it shouldn't be clanging (from ice)
i find out theres a piece of plastic
it's basically the frosted plastic of the auger
fucking hell, tried to find a pure one piece super hard thing
x3 the price, but whatever, it won't break trying to move ice
why do they use that frosted plastic shit?
Burren
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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We don’t use our ice maker, ever. Maybe that’s saving us some hassle?tldr
ice maker
i use water bottles, from big stanley (obviously i don't buy this bullshit, it's swag) to zojirushi (actually my favorite) and one day i picked one up to clean and it clanged. it had been 2 or 3 days, it shouldn't be clanging (from ice)
i find out theres a piece of plastic
it's basically the frosted plastic of the auger
fucking hell, tried to find a pure one piece super hard thing
x3 the price, but whatever, it won't break trying to move ice
why do they use that frosted plastic shit?
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
- 77,600
- 182,789
if you watch enough of these repair pros, they say the worst ever ice maker combo is the french door with ice and water dispense
b/c then you have a little freezer box in your fridge (not like it's insulated, it's just a plastic tub), and it's gotta constantly pump colder air into the tub when you use the ice (b/c if you keep on using ice, then it will have to kick on the make ice cycle that uses even more cold and when you use the ice, youre losing out on thermal block that keeps that plastic tub cold), not to mention that hole is just a cavity in the door.
the more updated ones now w/ french doors take out the dispenser (cuz it always breaks) and put in a stupid proprietary pitcher
and then they force a bottom drawer ice maker and you get a little scoop
this is b/c the french door is the worst design, especially when they want to put a hole in the door to dispense water that you maybe use twice a day.
i mean, i personally wouldn't mind getting rid of the ice maker and just using silicone trays
Burren
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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That first fridge pic you shared is literally what we have. The control panel doesn’t work anymore starting a few months ago and the ice maker was broken two years ago (which is why we don’t ever use it and going forward with other fridges, also won’t). Samsung fridge I think? House builders must have thought it looked cool or something, but it’s mediocre at best.if you watch enough of these repair pros, they say the worst ever ice maker combo is the french door with ice and water dispense
b/c then you have a little freezer box in your fridge (not like it's insulated, it's just a plastic tub), and it's gotta constantly pump colder air into the tub when you use the ice (b/c if you keep on using ice, then it will have to kick on the make ice cycle that uses even more cold and when you use the ice, youre losing out on thermal block that keeps that plastic tub cold), not to mention that hole is just a cavity in the door.
the more updated ones now w/ french doors take out the dispenser (cuz it always breaks) and put in a stupid proprietary pitcher
and then they force a bottom drawer ice maker and you get a little scoop
this is b/c the french door is the worst design, especially when they want to put a hole in the door to dispense water that you maybe use twice a day.
i mean, i personally wouldn't mind getting rid of the ice maker and just using silicone trays
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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yea it probably broke, probably b/c of how i said it's just a plastic tub in a 40f fridge, but somehow that uninsulated plastic tub has to get as cold as 10f to "kick on" the ice making stage, so the pump and condensor and shit is all working overtime
thats why they are getting rid of the hole in door, everything around that area just breaks down, your control panel probably doesn't screen on b/c it faced too many cold/frost cycles and ice/moisture/air got into the circuit board and zap zap
are you able to control the temp of your fridge/freezer?, like are there controls inside or youre just basically at the mercy of the faulty display, and hopefully the frige stays at 40 and the freezer stays at 0
Burren
Silver Baronet of the Realm
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Display for controls is on, but the buttons are unresponsive and don’t work. I assume the fridge and freezer are locked into the temperatures we set before the controls broke.
Lanx
<Prior Amod>
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looks like a simple drop in repair, you don't have to remove any fridge doors
display part probably costs 200$
BrutulTM
Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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My Mom had one of those and I can confirm it sucks ass. The one in the drawer freezer is 100x better. I have it hooked up to my RO water so I just bought one of those bypass filters and I don't have to change that. You don't need or want water to come out of your refrigerator.
That said, I don't know how good those countertop ice makers are but that might be worth a try just because if it breaks it doesn't fuck up a major appliance. After having ice always available I'm not going back to ice trays. I did have to replace an icemaker valve in my fridge to the tune of about $450 but that was having guys come to my house to do it. $450 would have bought a pretty high end countertop ice maker assuming that they don't suck ass. I hear you have to clean them a lot.