Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house? | Page 359 | GTAMotorcycle.com

Enough of COVID...what are you doing to the house?

Hurricane insurance in FLA is almost unaffordable for most , when we had the place near Clearwater , which is off the Hurricane radar a bit, we were looking at nearly 9k yearly, which would have been the price of the house in a decade . We took the risk .
I’m surprised/ not surprised at the amount of graft in small condo boards, my mom had an 18k assessment to fix the parking garage , a retired civil engineer checked the quote and materials the board was signing off on , the quote was for a garage roof several hundred sq meters bigger than the actual roof …..? The money was going somewhere. Condo life indeed .


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crankcall said:
Large condo townhouse complex of ugly 50 year old condos in Hamilton had to do water mains , it’s 40k per unit charge . Retirement folks on govt pensions managed to get a townhouse years ago , but can’t cover the 40k . Payments on a mortgage are $300 month , for ever . Or eat dinner .


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Fees and Finances - Condominium Authority of Ontario

Learn more about condo fees and finances, including chargebacks, liens, special assessments and more
www.condoauthorityontario.ca www.condoauthorityontario.ca

One thing I think Mike Harris did right was to foresee the potential of a huge mass of voters in condos using their votes to get poorly managed condos fixed up with government (taxpayer) assistance. Thus the condo act of 1998 requiring regular reviews of reserve funds to keep the structure livable.

What happened at the 50 YO one in Hamilton??

What happened to the one on Jane Street where the fix up tab was six figures per unit?


If you go to the website of the Jane Street Condo their home page brags about the lowest condo fees in North York. Golly Gee, ya think? What happened to the condo act and viable reserve fund studies or the government takes over the reins.

I know of at least one owner of a condo management firm that keeps her marriage to the owner of a condo reconstruction company a secret.

Another property manager shunts work to his maintenance company.

Most condo directors are unpaid volunteers and one restoration company owner told me the directors didn't sign up expecting the amount of work needed to oversee multi million dollar jobs, so we "Take care of them". It's to a degree understandable, but does that mean rubber stamping of extras?

Most annual general meetings AGMs have a problem getting a quorum needed to pass certain motions. When something goes wrong the absentees scream the loudest.

It continues....

P.S. Condos for sale at the one on Jane Street start in the low 200's. Partly because of the neighbourhood.
 
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crankcall said:
Hurricane insurance in FLA is almost unaffordable for most , when we had the place near Clearwater , which is off the Hurricane radar a bit, we were looking at nearly 9k yearly, which would have been the price of the house in a decade . We took the risk .
I’m surprised/ not surprised at the amount of graft in small condo boards, my mom had an 18k assessment to fix the parking garage , a retired civil engineer checked the quote and materials the board was signing off on , the quote was for a garage roof several hundred sq meters bigger than the actual roof …..? The money was going somewhere. Condo life indeed .


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So that's what I was doing wrong when on the condo board...they're insane because while I tried to keep costs in line they wanted their friends to get contracts...
 
My moms condo is large and employs a management team as well as a condo board of residents. The management team seems good , they do have a list of favourite contacts , as would anyone in that trade . The condo board always has one looney toon character that wants dum stuff initiated. I think every board does .


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crankcall said:
Large condo townhouse complex of ugly 50 year old condos in Hamilton had to do water mains , it’s 40k per unit charge . Retirement folks on govt pensions managed to get a townhouse years ago , but can’t cover the 40k . Payments on a mortgage are $300 month , for ever . Or eat dinner .


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Once you pay off your mortgage keep putting the payments into an investment fund instead of blinging your lifestyle. Sleep well. Same with your financed car and pay cash for the next one.
 
crankcall said:
My moms condo is large and employs a management team as well as a condo board of residents. The management team seems good , they do have a list of favourite contacts , as would anyone in that trade . The condo board always has one looney toon character that wants dum stuff initiated. I think every board does .


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There's a wannabe interior decorator in every building that wants to spend someone else's money on redecorating instead of taking care of the necessities.
 
crankcall said:
Hurricane insurance in FLA is almost unaffordable for most , when we had the place near Clearwater , which is off the Hurricane radar a bit, we were looking at nearly 9k yearly, which would have been the price of the house in a decade . We took the risk .
I’m surprised/ not surprised at the amount of graft in small condo boards, my mom had an 18k assessment to fix the parking garage , a retired civil engineer checked the quote and materials the board was signing off on , the quote was for a garage roof several hundred sq meters bigger than the actual roof …..? The money was going somewhere. Condo life indeed .


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Our Hurricane insurance is cheap -- the condo corp has a blanket that covers all the external stuff, it has a $10K/unit deductible that gets paid by the homeowners. I pay another $800/year to add full coverage and reduce my deductible to $500.

The board decided to make the deductible an unfunded liability by classifying the hurricane as an "act of God". 11 homeowners were uninsured so their $10K deductible got picked up by the condo corp, and the insured owners $500 was also picked up. All 5 board members were un-insured. So, instead of paying my $500 deductible, I ended up paying the freight for the weak in a $7.3K assessment (1/16th share).

Thank you God.
 
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Mad Mike said:
Our Hurricane insurance is cheap -- the condo corp has a blanket that covers all the external stuff, it has a $10K/unit deductible that gets paid by the homeowners. I pay another $800/year to add full coverage and reduce my deductible to $500.

The board decided to make the deductible an unfunded liability by classifying the hurricane as an "act of Cod". 11 homeowners were uninsured so their $10K deductible got picked up by the condo corp, and the insured owners $500 was also picked up. All 5 board members were un-insured. So, instead of paying my $500 deductible, I ended up paying the freight for the weak in a $7.3K assessment (1/16th share).

Thank you God.
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How many cod washed into the condo to damage it.

Sent from the future
 
We didn’t have condo support , small cement block house on city lot . Roof may blow off but the blocks would stand , but once the roof goes , not much worth saving. We opted to forgo ins. as our quotes were nutty .

Friends house near Ft Meyers took a beating from flying crap last storm off other properties up wind. His place would have been fine till a nieghbours deck landed in his front room.

We are done with FLA for the next few years till the politics gets less crazy . Or maybe forever LOL


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crankcall said:
We didn’t have condo support , small cement block house on city lot . Roof may blow off but the blocks would stand , but once the roof goes , not much worth saving. We opted to forgo ins. as our quotes were nutty .

Friends house near Ft Meyers took a beating from flying crap last storm off other properties up wind. His place would have been fine till a nieghbours deck landed in his front room.

We are done with FLA for the next few years till the politics gets less crazy . Or maybe forever LOL


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Im in Ft Myers, about 1mile in from the ocean. During Ian the sea came up 4' over the grass -- pretty much-destroyed everything ground level. IMy place is a 'hurricane-proof' build. Glass, roof, and doors have survived a t brutal hurricanes with zero damage.

Florida Politics? I meet lots of people with strong views and no direct connections to the state. I suggest they turn off CNN, and go visit Disneyland.

But leave your Bud Light at home.
 
Mad Mike said:
Our Hurricane insurance is cheap -- the condo corp has a blanket that covers all the external stuff, it has a $10K/unit deductible that gets paid by the homeowners. I pay another $800/year to add full coverage and reduce my deductible to $500.

The board decided to make the deductible an unfunded liability by classifying the hurricane as an "act of God". 11 homeowners were uninsured so their $10K deductible got picked up by the condo corp, and the insured owners $500 was also picked up. All 5 board members were un-insured. So, instead of paying my $500 deductible, I ended up paying the freight for the weak in a $7.3K assessment (1/16th share).

Thank you God.
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What ever happened to the anti socialism redneck pay your own way thing?
 
Buddy just told me that he’s found some DIY Solar panel system kit for $9k.

Seems much more reasonable than 30k to get it installed.

I’d be interested in solar as I know his bill monthly is about 2-3$ down from 150-170/month…including a Model Y charging.
 
mimico_polak said:
Buddy just told me that he’s found some DIY Solar panel system kit for $9k.

Seems much more reasonable than 30k to get it installed.

I’d be interested in solar as I know his bill monthly is about 2-3$ down from 150-170/month…including a Model Y charging.
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I can get a 5kw system sitting in my driveway for ~$5k. How many kw is his system? For that price, I assume no storage. Some diy kits are missing necessary parts, many are missing good instructions. Many People buy those kits and then call reputable companies looking for help when they try to turn their pile of parts into power. Reputable companies aren't interested in helping (similar to bringing a Canadian tire atv to your local mechanic).
 
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mimico_polak said:
Buddy just told me that he’s found some DIY Solar panel system kit for $9k.

Seems much more reasonable than 30k to get it installed.

I’d be interested in solar as I know his bill monthly is about 2-3$ down from 150-170/month…including a Model Y charging.
Click to expand...
With our hydro bill, the cost of an installation and the panel lifespan I have trouble with the math. At 20 watts per square foot a panel the size of three of sheets of plywood would power my toaster, under ideal conditions. A giant Fresnel lens would be faster and cheaper.
 
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