Question: An owner recently died and several board members believe the HOA should waive the monthly assessment for the widow. Is this permissable? Answer: The board has authority to make reasonable compromises on payment of HOA debts. But there is no debt issue here. So, if the board feels strongly about this, it should pass the hat to raise private money for the widow. The money should not come from the HOA pot. Question: We have a member that requested copies of HOA records which, granted, [...]
The annual homeowner association meeting convenes. The president announces that the floor is open for nominations. A fellow homeowner say to you, "You know, you would make a good board member." Before you have a chance to reply, some body movement indicates that you are willing, ready and able to serve. "The nominations are closed," a vote is taken, and suddenly YOU ARE ON THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS. You ask yourself, "What does being on the board mean, who is going to teach me and how much do I get[...]
Maybe you've heard, maybe you haven't, but our stock market has improved about 25% in recent months, coming from the lows of 6400 on the Dow to a current level of right around 8000. Great news, right? Time to double-up on those 401K contributions, right? Optimism and champagne are flowing freely in the streets, right? Maaaaaaaaybe not so fast. You see, the fun thing about the stock market is that the numbers can be doctored on a short-term basis by a ton of different factors. [...]
Enders Place condos, Baldwin Park is scheduled to go to auction on April 21st 2009, if New York condo conversion firm Lexin Capital fails to pay the $46 million owed to HSH Nordbank AG. According to the OBJ, Lexin Capital Inc. took over the 220-unit property in Orlando suburb Baldwin Park in 2006 but due to a lack of sales, have been unable to keep pace with their debts. Lexin Capital also converted the Celebration community now known as Siena at Celebration in 2004.
Orlando real estate market on the rebound? Orlando area home sales have continued to experience an increase in activity, with 47.59% more homes sold in March 2009 than March of last year. In addition, 76.06% more contracts were filed in the month of March 2009 than in March 2008. Overall, pending sales - considered by housing economists to be a reliable indicator of future sales - continued its upward trend in March to 4,906 - more than twice as many compared to March 2009. "Orlando [...]
Yep. It is if you're an investor looking for a condo deal under $50K. Increasing numbers of observers have said of late that we've already hit bottom, and I'm inclined to agree, with one caveat. Bottom will arrive at slightly different times for different states, and different cities within states and, different communities within cities. There is no uniform national bottom. When I hear the refrain, "I don't think we've hit bottom yet" I just roll my eyes. And then, there is your personal [...]
Hooray! Our money woes are a thing of the past! President Obama had a rousing show of support at the recent G-20 economic summit, where the leaders of the 20 most economically influential countries in the world convene to fix our shattered economy, so that's why it takes a whole day. Give them a week and I'm sure we'll have global warming, poverty, and epidemic diseases all elimiÂnated. No, I am a fan of tradition and all, but this summit amounted to little more than [...]
I've resisted this one for a while now, but for those of you that like to Twitter, Condo Metropolis is now twitter-able. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it's probably better that way. Trust me, there are probably more important things you can do with your time. But for those twenty-first century, uber tech savvy, application addicts that just can't help themselves, you can follow our real estate updates at: Twitter/CondoMetropolis. We'll try and post meaningful updates [...]