[blparent] Advice: buying a house
Jo Elizabeth Pinto
jopinto at msn.com
Wed May 9 20:06:34 UTC 2012
> Very good point. When I bought my condo, most of the owners lived in the
> community. In the last five years, the ratio of owner-occupied to rented
> units has dropped so that two thirds of the units are either empty or
> rented out. That's a warning sign of a struggling community. Owning a
> condo suits me well in most respects. I enjoy the playground, the pool,
> the clubhouse, and the exercise room. I enjoy the fact that the grounds
> are fairly well kept, and I don't have to take care of a yard. I also
> don't have to pay for water, sewer, or trash removal except that those
> fees are wrapped in dues to the homeowners' association. Those were big
> advantages for me when I bought, though they might not be for other
> people. The reason the community is struggling now is that the
> homeowners' association has not been well run, and if people need to get
> out of the condos, they have little choice but to leave them empty or rent
> them out.
>
> So there are a lot of considerations to make when you buy a home. I would
> recommend writing a list in three parts--must have features, would be nice
> to have features, and unacceptable features. That may clarify your
> thinking and narrow your search.
>
> 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: "Pickrell, Rebecca M (TASC)" <REBECCA.PICKRELL at tasc.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, May 09, 2012 12:39 PM
> To: "'Jo Elizabeth Pinto'" <jopinto at msn.com>; "'Blind Parents Mailing
> List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: RE: [blparent] Advice: buying a house
>
>> 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????
>>>>>
>>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>>> blparent mailing list
>>>>> blparent at nfbnet.org
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>>>>> blparent:
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>>>>
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>>
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