condochic.net

Condo Living

Jessie — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 01:11:47 +0000

In an article by Les Christie, CNNMoney.com staff writer, I learned that Designer influence is seeping into condo housing.

The Armani brand, in this case, was chosen for its muscular values. According to Arthur Gallego, the publicist for the marketer SHVO. “We knew it would attract a primarily male clientele,” he says, “and Armani’s very masculine palette was a good match.”

As a single lady, I love condo living. I own the inside. Everything on the outside is the responsibility of the Condo Association, and I’m part of that too. For a nominal monthly fee, snow is shoveled, grass is cut, and exterior maintenance is shared by 28 units.

We are in a two-building gated complex in a small town. Each unit has its own garage. I know most of my neighbors by their first names. We meet twice a year to take care of business. The summer meeting is an outdoor picnic. The winter meeting is in the community room at a local restaurant.

I just picked up the mail and newspapers for Tom and Dorothy, next door, while they went on vacation. They will do the same for me. Linda is the single lady who lives above me. She keeps the bird feeders in the yard filled. Bonnie lives behind me. Sometimes people knock on my door, looking for her unit. It’s cleverly hidden on the west side of the complex.

Since I have only one outside wall, my heating costs are low. (This is not a bad thing if you live in Wisconsin.)

We talk and visit, but no one is intrusive. We watch out for each other. Isn’t that what life is all about?

By: OJoyORapture
Source: myitthings.com

Condo Living Is Not Meant To Be Hassle-Free

Jessie — Sun, 10 Jan 2010 01:09:51 +0000

Shocked by the prospects of having to pay as much as $11,000 each in a special assessment, owners of units in a Farmington condominium complex have banded together to find a solution to their million-dollar problem.

Normally, few of the unit owners attend condominium board meetings, but about 60 residents of the Greenbriar complex showed up at last Monday’s special meeting to figure out what to do about their wooden siding, which is rotting in many places and needs to be replaced.

The Greenbriar board’s president, Thomas Harvey, said he had never seen such a turnout.

Learn more from George Gombossy: Consumer Watchdog: courant.com

Dealing With Strangers

Jessie — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 15:36:16 +0000

When answering your door, first and foremost look all the way through the window or peephole to see who is there. If you are not familiar with the person, talk to them without opening the door. If you have any worries or doubts about the person, do not open the door. Get in touch with the landlord or police for assistance, if necessary. Do not ever permit to enter your home an unfamiliar person to use the phone. Suggest to make the call for them as an alternative. Also, when dealing with othersask to see their identification. Even you are comfortable talking with the person, do not ever let them in.

Condo Hotels

Jessie — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:10:52 +0000

The current development in real estate investing is the hotel condominium idea, known also as CondoHotels or Condotels. The essential concept is that a shareholder owns a specific condominium unit in a huge building or development, which can be later used by the owner, or rented to unrelated parties on a short term basis, as part of a hotel. The person who is renting the space may have no idea that the unit is owned by someone. The owners more often than not are part of an association which deals out the rental income. Expenses are by the way subtracted from the profits or collected as an appraisal.

Condo vs House

Jessie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:36:23 +0000

Why choose a condo more than a house for investment? Condos make immense rental properties. Whether this is your very first real estate acquisition or not. Condo purchase makes a remarkable investment. Say that one day, you make a decision to get married. You can always put it up for rent if you cannot find a good deal on selling it. From time to time, people would buy and sell units time and again before the paint was even dried up or worn out on the new construction. As a result, condominium values are depressed and ripe for savvy buyers.

Read the Contract

Robert — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 08:14:49 +0000

It’s a good business habit to read everything before signing a document. This makes you more familiar with what’s expected from you and what you expect fro the condo corporation.

Although to some, reading it may be a chore, especially if you’re uber excited in owning the unit. For example, if you see “no pets” or “no one under the age of 18”, but you have a pet Python and a month-old child, then the condo unit is just not for you.

If the document has a lot of legal stuff in it, please consult your lawyer, or (better still) a condominium consultant. He or she knows a lot of how these bylaws can be translated to layman English.

Living in a Truck Container Condo

Robert — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:16:48 +0000

Imagine living in a condo unit built entirely from truck containers? Yes, and if this is approved by the Detroit city, it’s going to be one of the cheapest in town. It’s going to cost $1.8 million only, compared to the “normal” condominium costing 75% more. The location for the groundbreaking will be near Wayne State University in 2009.

“It’s been done in Europe and, to a limited extent, in this country. But no one has looked at organizing the process on a larger scale incorporating a range of recycled materials and efficiencies that could save a homeowner as much as 60% annually in energy costs,” she said.

Source

Green – Stained Glass

Jessie — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 05:24:03 +0000

The product has the same feel as the real thing but they are actually recycled wine bottles that have been shaved, re-heated and flattened out to get the same look as stained glass that tends to be expensive. Wine bottle recycling is a very nice way to recycle glass that can be taken out of landfills though the process of recycling glass is a very expensive and it does require a lot of hardware, it is still a way of recycling for the good of the earth.
Glass bottle recycling is not a new concept for glass is one of the most easily recyclable man-made materials on earth. Old bottles and other glass refuse is added as cullet to new glass that is actually more energy efficient for it melts at a lower temperature over the pure materials that glass is made of. It is added to the batch of molten glass to lower the temperature of the raw glass allowing savings in the production process. Go green and save the earth, the future you prepare for might be yours, or your children’s

Glass Here, A Little There, Some more there!

Jessie — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:52:48 +0000

Many people have been marveling at the Grand Canyon Sky-Walk which truly is a sight to behold, yet it also brings the flexibility and utter usefulness of glass as a building material. Glass used to be the preferred material for windows and doors for they allowed unimpeded views of the outside world and int he case of the Sky-Walk, on the floor.
The technology behind glass has grown so much that it has taken it to a point wherein it can be made to work as designed, tempered for our cars and laminated for added strength at varying levels, sometimes even enough to resist bullets and shrapnel. There are a new breed of uses for glass and one of them is on the walls and floors of patios or decks that till now scared people due to the fragility of glass in the days of old.

Antique Chic

Jessie — Wed, 06 May 2009 21:13:33 +0000

There are a lot of people who simply cannot do away with some family heirloom in one way or another, a cabinet that belonged to your grandparents or some other antique. It may seem straightforward but these precious pieces have more of a sentimental value than practical use but with some creative thinking it can serve the same purpose. The best way to give tribute to a piece with such character is to use it and use it well, the only problem is that these pieces way not be able to handle the regular wear and tear we may place upon them so additional protection should be applied in the form of a re-finish with modern protective coatings that can have the same feel and look of the original finish yet is more robust to use.
Older tyes of natural varnish are more often than not subject to degradation leaving it gunky and sticky. It is not only ugly to the eyes and to touch but it can also let moisture in, too much of which is bad for any old furniture. Check the air for proper humidity levels and install humidifiers/dehumidifiers as needed. Get the piece stripped down to bare wood and seal as needed, then re-finish with coatings that are tougher. Need a non-gloss look, there are polyurethane and lacquer products that have such effects. You might even want a glass or polycarbonate cover so the finish doesn’t get scratches (counter if it’s a table) but only after the finish has dried fully or you risk getting it stuck onto the surface. Don’t know how? Get an expert to do it for you, you may also find that the piece is older than you think!