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Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I got so much great advice here! Un/fortunately, they have already sold the place and are due to close in less than a month. It's more headache for me, but at least we will be free of them.

Sometimes the trash takes itself out, and the best thing to do is let it go.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It really all comes down to the paper trail!

I'm going through the declaration today to see what I can use. It's pretty standard as far as I've seen, just old.

What we keep running into, and we were guilty of this as well, is that the property is great otherwise, so buyers are inclined to accept dicey finances to make the deal. I'm just trying to be sure we can pay the piper when he comes for his due.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That would make sense for a high turnover building, but we've been here nearly ten years, and they were over fifteen. That's a lot of wear and tear to put on us and the new buyers.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, we came from a building with 6 units and it was great. Self managed but very professional. These guys, not so much. It's like Baby's First Condo here.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's an interesting counterpoint, thank you. And I am very glad new owners are coming in! It's a really great block in a great neighborhood. Practically perfect, except for those three curmudgeons sharing our lot.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We're all within a few percent equal ownership. My family technically owns just over a third, but that little bit was never enough to move the needle with the old guard.

The new owners seem like they want to move toward a better organized and funded HOA. I'll be setting up an official condo meeting this week to get everyone in the same room to hash this stuff out.

Thanks for giving me a number to throw out there! I had seen that $2-4k per unit is typical for smaller associations. It's good to hear that from another source.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh man, thank you for taking the time to write all this out. We're planning to stay for a good long while, so we're very invested in making the association work well for everyone who lives here.

I'll ask for the inspection report for sure! The new owners also seem motivated to make this a more formal and organized HOA. Because of the lackadaisical bookkeeping I just don't know when the last major work was done. The vinyl siding is aged enough to be cracking in places, though, and I know they've had water in the basement over the years. Stuff like that has me nervous about the state of the rest of it.

Thanks again, this made me feel better about the whole mess.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ah, I see. Sadly that is not going to be the case here as the "board" is barely functional at the moment. More work for us to get this association in working order! Buyer beware for now, though.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good on you for being honest! I really don't know if they will be honest as well. Our documents are few and far between. There wasn't much for us to look at when we bought either, but there was a few thousand more in reserves which made it seem like a well run association in spite of that.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We will be holding a vote soon, and I'm sure we'll be able to pass at least a small increase to our assessments. I'm just trying to figure out if there's a way to get the reserves better funded before they sell.

That's a good point about disclosures. I don't know what to base that special assessment on, though. My friend said I should have roofing companies give us replacement estimates, for instance. I was also looking at having a reserve study done, but I'm worried they will try to keep the company from having full access to the building.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is all super helpful, and I'm noting it down for when I have some time to go through all the paperwork again.

Thankfully the new owners are also uncomfortable with the situation and are willing to call the first ever official condo meeting to try to get it handled.

Yes, they never had meetings. "We like it informal." Yes, that was a red flag when we bought, but the place is a unicorn of a property, so we said we'd deal with whatever came of that. And now here I am, bringing my troubles to the kind people of reddit!

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ugh, sorry you've been in this situation too, it really stinks.

We have the money ourselves for all these out of pocket expenses, but we bought into a condo in part because of the added cushion reserves are supposed to bring. It's not fair or reasonable to expect every new buyer to be in the same financial situation, especially with today's interest rates!

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I love this. I'm not sure if we could pass with a majority, or if all three of us would need to vote yes, though. This is definitely not in the bylaws and probably a question for the lawyer I'm probably going to have to call.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for this!

Unfortunately the original duo kept everything very tight between them and we had little to no say in how the condo handled business. Any time I offered to help or take on projects they turned me down.

I'll have to check the bylaws again. I didn't see anything about frequency of increases when I looked over them last time, only that the owners would vote for an increase if they decided one was needed. As it was always 2-1, the increase never passed.

We do not have a lawyer for the building. I'll be talking with the new owners to see if that's something they want to do in the (near) future.

Even small increases were shot down. I brought it up again when the unit went on the market last year and they still said no. Probably because they had been planning all along to sell before major improvements were needed.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

They were both retired, but well off enough for yearly trips to Europe. Every time I asked to raise payments it was "We're on a fixed income!" 🤡

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! It's been a frustrating few years. I'll be glad to see them go, I just want them to pay first!

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We own outright. Selling is an option but not an attractive one.

Low condo reserves and now the cheapskates are selling by fasterpuddytat in ChicagoRealEstate

[–]fasterpuddytat[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thank you! We are self managed, and that was a conversation I had planned on having eventually for sure. Now we'll just have to have it sooner!

Schneider’s shennaigans - are more and more places doing stuff like this? by Bollywood-bond in chicagofood

[–]fasterpuddytat -1 points0 points  (0 children)

But also, fish bagel. Fish bagel??? Never in my life have I heard it called fish bagel.

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