RegaS (Georgia)
Posts: 5
Posts: 5
Posted:
Hi everyone. So. Here's the story. Please don't call me an idiot. I'm owning this. I just don't have anyone to talk to about it.
My family of four and I live in a luxury condo building that has 6 units -- five market rate, and our resale restricted "affordable" unit. Upscale neighborhood where we had rented for 10 years prior. Kids were small when moved in, now teens. I am grateful for what we have.
When we bought it, we went through the qualification process. We were very excited. We signed the resale restriction with the Developer who told us it was 1,000 square feet. Developer's sister was our realtor (he insisted.) Developer asked for a large down payment; city allowed it. We were blinded by the opportunity and ignorant.
Couple years ago, kids were growing, we brought in a designer to make use of our 1,000 square feet, we discovered that a) unit is actually 700 square feet (easy to measure - no outdoor amenities or hidden nooks or anything that would explain discrepancy -- hired professional appraiser, reviewed county assessor, building plans etc. All confirm: 700 square ft) and b) developer's approval from the city was based on the affordable unit actually being "comparable size. And most importantly c) per square foot, we paid higher than market rate. (The developer received a load of benefits from the city in terms of developing more market rate units.)
Hired attorney to see if city will lift restriction so we could sell and move (kids now being teens and sharing 100 square feet), city said, "we have no exposure in this, your problem."
If we sell under these circumstance -- we would lose an enormous amount of money we don't have. Plus, well, it's not 2012 anymore.
As an FYI, we pay nearly same HOA fees as other units and that went up 33% since moving in. Those figure into the calculation too.
One other thing: Everyone's garage is covered, they all have gorgeous patios, etc., Our parking is ungated tandem in the corner of the garage and no outdoor space.
That's the background. Not the question.
Here's the question.
The HOA president is our neighbor. Have had almost zero interactions with her. A month ago, emailed her that a banging sound against our bedroom wall might be her den window that abuts our bedroom, rattling when it was gusty. (Our bedroom fits a bed; that's about it.) My email was very pleasant, I explained that this happens to our window too and I said we use magnets to cinch the shade and works like a charm. The email was titled, "A very small favor," and I said, "Hate to impose but if it's no problem would you be able to address this."
No response. Fine; wasn't windy for several weeks.
Last week, gusty again, again, emailed very nice email saying, "Let me know if it's not your window and maybe it's something else that's causing the rattling." (Dumbest thing is that I now realize it wasn't the shade but the actual open window pane swinging on its hinge.)
Two days later she emails back: A diatribe about how maybe if I can't handle normal urban noises I shouldn't be living in a townhouse and should go move somewhere else. She said the window makes about as much noise as her dog's tags. (I never complained about her dog's tags.)
She ended the letter by saying, "By the way, we're holding. band rehearsal in X's garage: "You're going to hear noise in your unit." And she gave me the dates. three to four hours a day over the next three weeks and one evening rehearsal. 'X' is a retired professional drummer who lives on the other side of us and HOA Pres and her husband are amateur musicians. X's garage is directly beneath our unit. He's an okay guy, only plays during the day, but he did originally say he would use muffling pads which he doesn't. He plays LOUD LOUD LOUD and because our unit is directly above his garage plus our windows are right above the garage entrance, it's very, very loud in our unit when he plays. We haven't complained; there was one time where I was gonna be on a business call and asked him if he could hold off playing and he acted like I'd told him the world was ending. Temperamental older gentleman.
Anyway, when I received the HOA president's email I was surprised. I emailed her back and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to impose and thanks for the heads up on the rehearsals." I did this because sometimes I act like an utter wimp.
I believe that we (hoping my family doesn't experience this) are totally treated like second class citizens in our HOA -- there are other stories and asides I won't get into. I get it. (As a side note: We are very quiet and keep to ourselves.) "Geeze -- what are those guys doing here. Why don't they get a house in some other neighborhood!" There is no way this HOA president would respond to any other resident the way she did to me, neither in relation to my request about the window nor in relation to saying, "Band rehearsal. You'll hear it."
So I wrote (and didn't send) a bunch of angry letters, thinking of sending them to her and saying, "You can't play have recreational activity in the garage (HOA rules in the bylaws)" and there are rules about loud noises in the community and guess what: I don't complain about your dog's tags so please just secure your window when it's gusty and stop treating me like shit."
Then I wrote (and didn't send) a bunch of really pleasant letters, explaining the situation with our resale restriction, telling her we would love to be able to move, and suggesting she consider whether her response to us could have been fair and measured. "You're a wonderful person, you inspire me with your wisdom, thank you for your leadership, I hope we can figure out a way to leave this behind." (Actually, I did write some of this in my reply to her when I was stunned at her response.)
I didn't send any letter though because I figure if this is how she feels and what the situation is, neither an angry letter nor a pleasant one will really elicit any productive response to my situation. This is how they are toward us; it's not gonna change. Suck it up, be grateful for what you have, figure out a way to sell and move on."
So I think I'm just gonna suck it up and try to figure out how to get into a better living situation. (Note: We really, really really put up with the old dude's drumming. On a plus note: He doesn't play at night. In fact, nighttime is generally quiet throughout the community. And I want him to enjoy playing. But I also want him have the courtesy of ASKING not telling me and I want to be able to knock on the old dude's door once in a while and say, "Hey -- would you please do as you said you would and use the muffling pads." If it's a weekend and I'm relaxing with a book and he starts beating on the drums, it's very annoying.
Anyway -- would love to hear thoughts, encouragements, advice. But please, I don't need anyone to tell me things like, "Well, you got yourself into this situation," or, "What the hell did you think was gonna happen."
My family of four and I live in a luxury condo building that has 6 units -- five market rate, and our resale restricted "affordable" unit. Upscale neighborhood where we had rented for 10 years prior. Kids were small when moved in, now teens. I am grateful for what we have.
When we bought it, we went through the qualification process. We were very excited. We signed the resale restriction with the Developer who told us it was 1,000 square feet. Developer's sister was our realtor (he insisted.) Developer asked for a large down payment; city allowed it. We were blinded by the opportunity and ignorant.
Couple years ago, kids were growing, we brought in a designer to make use of our 1,000 square feet, we discovered that a) unit is actually 700 square feet (easy to measure - no outdoor amenities or hidden nooks or anything that would explain discrepancy -- hired professional appraiser, reviewed county assessor, building plans etc. All confirm: 700 square ft) and b) developer's approval from the city was based on the affordable unit actually being "comparable size. And most importantly c) per square foot, we paid higher than market rate. (The developer received a load of benefits from the city in terms of developing more market rate units.)
Hired attorney to see if city will lift restriction so we could sell and move (kids now being teens and sharing 100 square feet), city said, "we have no exposure in this, your problem."
If we sell under these circumstance -- we would lose an enormous amount of money we don't have. Plus, well, it's not 2012 anymore.
As an FYI, we pay nearly same HOA fees as other units and that went up 33% since moving in. Those figure into the calculation too.
One other thing: Everyone's garage is covered, they all have gorgeous patios, etc., Our parking is ungated tandem in the corner of the garage and no outdoor space.
That's the background. Not the question.
Here's the question.
The HOA president is our neighbor. Have had almost zero interactions with her. A month ago, emailed her that a banging sound against our bedroom wall might be her den window that abuts our bedroom, rattling when it was gusty. (Our bedroom fits a bed; that's about it.) My email was very pleasant, I explained that this happens to our window too and I said we use magnets to cinch the shade and works like a charm. The email was titled, "A very small favor," and I said, "Hate to impose but if it's no problem would you be able to address this."
No response. Fine; wasn't windy for several weeks.
Last week, gusty again, again, emailed very nice email saying, "Let me know if it's not your window and maybe it's something else that's causing the rattling." (Dumbest thing is that I now realize it wasn't the shade but the actual open window pane swinging on its hinge.)
Two days later she emails back: A diatribe about how maybe if I can't handle normal urban noises I shouldn't be living in a townhouse and should go move somewhere else. She said the window makes about as much noise as her dog's tags. (I never complained about her dog's tags.)
She ended the letter by saying, "By the way, we're holding. band rehearsal in X's garage: "You're going to hear noise in your unit." And she gave me the dates. three to four hours a day over the next three weeks and one evening rehearsal. 'X' is a retired professional drummer who lives on the other side of us and HOA Pres and her husband are amateur musicians. X's garage is directly beneath our unit. He's an okay guy, only plays during the day, but he did originally say he would use muffling pads which he doesn't. He plays LOUD LOUD LOUD and because our unit is directly above his garage plus our windows are right above the garage entrance, it's very, very loud in our unit when he plays. We haven't complained; there was one time where I was gonna be on a business call and asked him if he could hold off playing and he acted like I'd told him the world was ending. Temperamental older gentleman.
Anyway, when I received the HOA president's email I was surprised. I emailed her back and said, "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to impose and thanks for the heads up on the rehearsals." I did this because sometimes I act like an utter wimp.
I believe that we (hoping my family doesn't experience this) are totally treated like second class citizens in our HOA -- there are other stories and asides I won't get into. I get it. (As a side note: We are very quiet and keep to ourselves.) "Geeze -- what are those guys doing here. Why don't they get a house in some other neighborhood!" There is no way this HOA president would respond to any other resident the way she did to me, neither in relation to my request about the window nor in relation to saying, "Band rehearsal. You'll hear it."
So I wrote (and didn't send) a bunch of angry letters, thinking of sending them to her and saying, "You can't play have recreational activity in the garage (HOA rules in the bylaws)" and there are rules about loud noises in the community and guess what: I don't complain about your dog's tags so please just secure your window when it's gusty and stop treating me like shit."
Then I wrote (and didn't send) a bunch of really pleasant letters, explaining the situation with our resale restriction, telling her we would love to be able to move, and suggesting she consider whether her response to us could have been fair and measured. "You're a wonderful person, you inspire me with your wisdom, thank you for your leadership, I hope we can figure out a way to leave this behind." (Actually, I did write some of this in my reply to her when I was stunned at her response.)
I didn't send any letter though because I figure if this is how she feels and what the situation is, neither an angry letter nor a pleasant one will really elicit any productive response to my situation. This is how they are toward us; it's not gonna change. Suck it up, be grateful for what you have, figure out a way to sell and move on."
So I think I'm just gonna suck it up and try to figure out how to get into a better living situation. (Note: We really, really really put up with the old dude's drumming. On a plus note: He doesn't play at night. In fact, nighttime is generally quiet throughout the community. And I want him to enjoy playing. But I also want him have the courtesy of ASKING not telling me and I want to be able to knock on the old dude's door once in a while and say, "Hey -- would you please do as you said you would and use the muffling pads." If it's a weekend and I'm relaxing with a book and he starts beating on the drums, it's very annoying.
Anyway -- would love to hear thoughts, encouragements, advice. But please, I don't need anyone to tell me things like, "Well, you got yourself into this situation," or, "What the hell did you think was gonna happen."