[blparent] Advice: buying a house

Wed May 9 18:39:56 UTC 2012

        Yes, be careful when buying a condo. Know what you can and can't do.  Make sure you know what you can't change and that you can live with it, literally.

My personal view is that condos are a nasty form of ownership.

Also be aware of how many condos are rented out in the development that you're looking at. That can impact your ability to buy, sell or rent out your own.

-----Original Message-----
From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Jo Elizabeth Pinto
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 12:13 PM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Subject: Re: [blparent] Advice: buying a house

If there's a homeowners' association, get a copy of the covenance rules.
Get a copy of the HOA budget if there is one, broken down by how the money
is spent.  Many banks are hesitant to finance condominiums or town homes if
the HOA doesn't have sufficient money in reserve to fix common areas, roofs,
paint jobs, broken pipes, etc.  Talk to board members and neighbors about
how strict the HOA rules are and how they are enforced.  I've had nothing
but problems with the HOA where I bought, getting nit-picky about some rules
but not upholding their maintenance responsibilities, and I can't refinance
my mortgage for a lower interest rate because the HOA is all but insolvent.
However, one thing about buying a condo or a town home is that wile I can
own--which is better on your taxes, by the way, at least till the IRS gets
rid of the tax credit for interest on mortgages--I don't have to do a lot of
yard work or pay somebody to do it.

On another subject, make sure your realtor looks into programs for first
time home buyers, if you fit that category, and disabled buyers.  I say that
because I took advantage of a special program through HUD for disabled
buyers, but not all realtors may know about the program if you don't ask
them to look into it.

Jo Elizabeth

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of
the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been all of
these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Peggy" <pshald at neb.rr.com>
Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 10:01 AM
To: "Blind Parents Mailing List" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Subject: Re: [blparent] Advice: buying a house

> Definitely blindness related because you have to consider the bus route,
> what your house is in walking distance of, what may or may not be wrong
> with it that you won't notice.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Gabe Vega Via Iphone4S
> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 10:39 AM
> To: Jo Elizabeth Pinto ; Blind Parents Mailing List
> Cc: Blind Parents Mailing List
> Subject: Re: [blparent] Advice: buying a house
>
> There are other appropriate list servers hosted by the nfb that are more
> appropriate for these topics. This is a blind, parenting list it is a list
> for parents were blind or have blind children in regards to parenting.
> Simple as that. Are you saying just because a bunch of wine people agreed
> to talk about the topic, that makes it blindness related? Pitiful.
>
> Gabe Vega
> Sent from my iPhone
> (623) 565-9357
>
> On May 9, 2012, at 8:26 AM, "Jo Elizabeth Pinto" <jopinto at msn.com> wrote:
>
>>
>> Blindness related.  I rest my case.
>>
>> Jo Elizabeth
>>
>> "How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young,
>> compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant
>> of the weak and the strong.  Because someday in life you will have been
>> all of these."--George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, American scientist
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> From: "Melissa Ann Riccobono" <melissa at riccobono.us>
>> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 8:14 AM
>> To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: Re: [blparent] Advice: buying a house
>>
>>> I think it is very normal for a real estate agent to take perspective
>>> buyers
>>> from house to house.  At least that's what we did, and it worked out so
>>> much
>>> better because we could see multiple houses in one day.  I think the
>>> research you might want to do would be to learn a little more about the
>>> buses, which ones are the "best" for you to be near, and where those
>>> buses
>>> stop.  Then you can tell the realitor you want to look in this or that
>>> specific neighborhood or area of town, instead of looking at houses
>>> simply
>>> "near a bus stop" and then finding out it's not a good bus.  It might
>>> also
>>> be nice to talk to friends and/or other blind people in your area to see
>>> what neighborhoods they live in, what they like about those
>>> neighborhoods,
>>> etc.  If you can walk to a lot of places like a grocery store, library,
>>> park, etc. from a particular area, then it's possible you might trade
>>> that
>>> off for the availability of a bus...  Although that's a very tough
>>> ddecision
>>> to have to make.
>>> Just some thoughts.  The best of luck!
>>> Melissa
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blparent-bounces at nfbnet.org]
>>> On
>>> Behalf Of jan wright
>>> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 7:53 AM
>>> To: blparent
>>> Subject: [blparent] Advice: buying a house
>>>
>>> Hi All,
>>> First, I want to thank everyone who responded to my questions about
>>> bottles
>>> and johnny jumper things.
>>> We have a pretty consistent group of parents and child care providers
>>> who
>>> --- may not always agree, but give wonderful advice for each season of
>>> our
>>> lives. And, we are as diverse as any other parent group:
>>> from spiritual to not; from crunchy to progressive (those might not be
>>> opposites, but you understand what I mean); from babies to adult
>>> children;
>>> from stay-at-home parents  to working parents; ... etc.
>>>
>>> So, I thought that I might post here about our "house buying" and ask
>>> for
>>> any tips and advice. I have done research, but, there isn't much from a
>>> blind person's prospective. Maybe there doesn't need to be:
>>> because maybe it is not any different from sighted people buying a
>>> house.
>>> But, I did have a couple of questions:
>>> 1. How did you choose your realtor? We have one of these, already, but
>>> wonder if we  shouldn't have looked farther. DH's boss said that his
>>> realtor
>>> would transport him to and from the prospective houses. Is that
>>> normal??? We
>>> find that this is one of the most difficult things to do because
>>> paratransit
>>> takes so long, we can only see one house per day.
>>> 2. Public transportation is not very good here in Indy. People from
>>> other
>>> cities have commented on how fragmented it is. And, there aren't many
>>> sidewalks in residential areas or down busy streets and ... ... a good
>>> shoulder is hard to find. [ARe those words to a country song?????]
>>> (smile)
>>> But, we are trying to find a house that is close to a bus stop --- and a
>>> bus
>>> stop that would take DH to work and us downtown. Sometimes we find a
>>> house
>>> close to a bus stop, but the wrong bus stops there.
>>>
>>> Any other advice????
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
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