HOA

Another sunny day in Southern California. I don't know that it's really sunk in that we live here and aren't leaving. I had a recent pang for Brooklyn. It wasn't so much Brooklyn as it was home, our little apt that was all set up. I'm really anxious to get into our permanent space and get set up and to start making our home. It's very near.

The sale seems to be moving along. It's a lot of paper work and back and forth and we're trying to be good consumers and read every thing we sign but there's just so much and a lot of it is in a different legal language.

We're hoping to make 2 main improvements before we move in.

A. scrape the cottage cheese crap off the ceilings and paint the ceilings (no not ourselves, are you nuts?)

and B. instal some sort of hard flooring probably bamboo or laminate. We just don't know how much money we're going to have left after the sale goes through.

They really gouge you with all of these little closing costs. Hopefully we will have enough to at least do those two things because those are the two things that will be such a pain in the ass to have done if we are actually living there. Every thing else can be lived around.

I want to post photos but I'm too superstitious about it. Once it closes we def will but you may not be very impressed! As I mentioned before it needs a complete facelift. New paint, new floor, carpet, tile in kitchen and bath, appliances, cupboards. bathroom cabinets, shower & bath, windows. Everything people. EVERYTHING needs to be redone. If you can see it with your eyes we're going to have to redo it...... eventually. We'll be living in a home that is a bit of an eye sore in places and I'm sure I'll be apologising for it when people stop by but I'm not embarassed at all because it's going to be our home and all in all it will be fun, a great project. I think it will take at least 5 years to get it to a place where I feel like, "ok, this is the space that we created."

One of the things they give you in the escrow package for the condo is the last 12 meeting minutes of the Home Owners Association Meetings. The joke has been that I will eventually become the president, as is my tendency. After reading the minutes it became clear to me that I will definitely become involved but not at a high level because it's fucking boring as hell but I will become invloved because it's our investment and I want to know what's going on. Reading those minutes, I felt as if I was in the room. Tenants show up and complain. Oh me oh my I can't wait to meet this cast of characters. Here are a few examples from the minutes:

**Homeowner stated he thinks our rules regarding 'kids' are anti-family and we should allow parents to take care of their own children. It was mentioned that when cars are involved, it's all of our problem. The manager asked the owner to re-read the regulations.

**Homeowner said it had been 2 weeks that he was waiting for patches on his ceiling of his unit to be painted. The manager reminded the homeowner that the request was made last Thursday, four days ago, not two weeks ago.

and my personal fav....

**Homeowner told us of her concern with 'security at the clubhouse.' She told us a bottle of wine donated for the wine, cheese & chocolate party was removed by some one unknown between 3:30PM and 5:30PM the afternoon of the party. (The bottle of wine was later found in the refrigerator.)

Well! she must have felt silly!

I think my dog run experience will help me stay on the edges of all of this and not take it too seriously. I hope...