guest blog by Nila Ridings
“Hey, Nila! How are you?” “Great, how are you?” “I’m great, too. I’m buying a condo!!!”
I’m not sure if my heart stopped or just skipped several beats. Janice said my face instantly drained of color and she thought I was going to faint. I remember feeling frozen in place and my mouth suddenly became as dry as a California river bed.
“Janice! You can’t do that!!!!!” I blurted out as she was bringing me a cup of water. Janice was planning to buy a condo because she didn’t want to mow grass or shovel snow any longer. I told her to hire that work out. And proceeded to educate her with my arsenal of information about HOA and condo living. She sent the Realtor a text message cancelling their Saturday morning appointment. The Realtor responded by questioning if there was a scheduling conflict. Janice wrote back, “No, I don’t want to buy anything with an HOA!”
Janice walked out from behind the cash register and gave me a big hug while telling me I had saved her life. I refused her offer to buy my groceries in exchange for “saving her life.” She literally was going to sign a contract for a condo in less than forty-eight hours.
Janice is the classic candidate for HOA abuse. She’s getting a divorce, over sixty, paying cash, and seeking maintenance-free living. Our loyal readers know just the thoughts of her buying that condo makes the board members salivate. Like lions on a fresh piece of raw meat they were hunkered down just waiting for her arrival.
Talk about timing! Today, I was in the right place at the right time. I’m so thankful another innocent person is not going to walk into the hell of HOA living. Education is a powerful thing!
It is economic law that supply and demand equals price. As more people refuse to living in housing with HOA the value of those units drop. It is in the interest of the home owners to see that the hoa boards represent the interest of the homeowners. That has not been the case in the United States and now hopefully the information driving people away from owning hoa will get out and destroy those thugs presently runnning hoa for personal profit. It will be a very long time before the housing market turns around so if people hope to see a return in the housing market they will have to make it more desirable to own over living with rent or with another family member.
Thank goodness you were in the right place at the right time, Nila! Most condo buyers think condo=carefree living with no maintenance. It can be, but it can also be a nightmare that never ends. Even if the condo or HOA board members are currently representing the interests of their fellow neighbors, there is still the possibility of the bully-tyrant-thug getting on the board and making life miserable for many homeowners. There are no guarantees.