How did the laundry room really get painted? Here is the story:

How did the laundry room really get painted? Here is the story: The team came together when Kirsten asked Sally (current Board member) if the laundry room can be painted. Since our association is low on funds, Sally said it would have to be done by volunteers and Kirsten immediately said she would help. Another resident present at that time volunteered too. Sally brought it to the Board and the suggestion was well received and all members assisted in the event. Thus, Sally created the "ParkRidge Community Volunteer Team". Please review the posted pictures (thanks Howard) and meet the team who made it happen: Lee and her husband Jimmy, Kim, Kelly, Sally, Deanne, John, and Josh were present and Kevin helped behind the scenes. There is still a couple of things to be completed in the laundry room and must be reviewed by the Board. But thanks to volunteers, the painting part only cost the HOA $173.10 for paint and supplies, thus far.

How can you be a part of the “ParkRidge Community Volunteer Team” you might ask? Attend the meetings and advise the Board or contact our property manager, Nancy Martin, and she can get your information to the Board. Many hands make light work and saves lots of money too!

It needs to be clarified at this time that it is the current Board who is making things happen around here. Rene voluntarily quit the Board some months ago and has not had anything to do with what is currently happening. Sally was voted in, in August, and Kelly has agreed to rejoin effective this October. Therefore, the current Board consists of Lee, Kevin, Kim, Sally, and Kelly. Since August you have seen the start of the trees trimmed, the sidewalks repaired, sewer lines cleaned, water regulators installed on the boilers, minor repairs to a block wall, and slab leaks repaired.

Keep up the good work Board and thanks to ALL volunteers who help make our community a nice place to live.

Deanne #59

Anonymous Comment

Anonymous said...
I noticed the notice posted on the clubhouse this AM. Glad to see Rene and the Board are finally getting this project done. The clubhouse has been left unfinished for far too long. Good for them!!

Property Tax Reassessment?

Is anyone familiar with the process to have your property tax reassessed?
Your Blogger

#105 2 Bed/2 Bath listed this week for $319,900

We are getting close to the $200,000's for 2 bedrooms at Parkridge!

New-Home Sales, Prices Plunge

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- New-home sales resumed falling in August, sinking to the lowest level in seven years, and prices tumbled, signaling the housing sector will remain a drag on the U.S. economy.
The median estimate of 26 economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires was a 4.6% decline in August sales to an 830,000 annual rate. The level of 795,000 was the lowest since 793,000 in June 2000.
Year-to-year, new-home sales were 21.2% lower than the level in August 2006.

Garage Break Ins?

The Newsletter only mentioned multiple garage break ins. Were they all the same night? Were the garages locked? What types of things were taken? When I return to Parkridge at unusual times I often take a loop around the complex to see that things are as they should be. Let's all be on the look out.

Issues with their garage door opener?

Is anyone else having issues with their garage door opener? Mine was working fine, I went on vacation, when I returned it no longer worked. Apparently there was some eletrical issues with some of the garages. It appears that during the repairs, the circuit was overloaded and burned out the motor of the garage door opener. I know at least 4 other units have the same problem, I was just wondering if the problem is localized.

No Hot Water in 3000 Building 9/18-9/19

There was no hot water in my part of the 3000 building last night or this morning. Anyone know what's going on? Howard

Water Seeping Up Into Driveway?

Does anyone know what's going on with the water that looks like its coming up out of the asphalt in the driveway area in front of the clubhouse?

You'd better have great credit and be prepared to put down a big chunk of change!

Stacey Vanek-Smith: Gone are the days when you could land a home loan with less-than-sterling credit and no money down. Mortgage lenders and big banks have gotten very finicky in the last few weeks.

Mitch Ohlbaum is a mortgage broker in Los Angeles. He says if you want to get a decent interest rate now, you'd better have great credit and be prepared to put down a big chunk of change.

Mitch Ohlbaum: For now, the standard is really going to be 10 percent if you want to buy something. Which in the real world's not so bad, it's just a little bit more difficult where we live, where everything's a million dollars. Ohlbaum says 10 percent down is unrealistic for many of his middle-class and working-class clients, even those with steady incomes and good credit. The result? They can't get the loans they need to buy in L.A. where the median home price is well above a half-million dollars.

Dan Arguelles is a real estate agent in Manhattan Beach, California. He says the restrictive lending practices mean homes in his tony area are taking longer to sell.

Dan Arguelles: Now it's getting even tougher, that you have to state your income. It is getting a little harder to find that qualified buyer. The same thing is happening in New York, San Francisco and Washington D.C.

Housing market economist David Lereah is with move.com. He says a couple months ago it was too easy to get a loan, now it's too hard

Gate Timer Fixed

I noticed that the gate timer has been fixed so that the entry and exit gates are now open at the appropriate times. Big thanks to the board for getting that done!
#56

Recent Parkridge Sales

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "#136 & #37 Sold?":
-According to Zillow.com, #37 sold on 7/2/07 for $300,000.
-The next most recent sale was #83 on 2/20/07 for $290,000.
-The last sale of a 2-bedroom unit was in 8/06 at $354,000.
Record high for a 2-bedroom unit was $375,000 in 2/06 and for a 1-bedroom unit was $330,000 in 1/07 (followed by $326,000 in 2/06).

Close Your Neighbors Garage

I received a warning letter in the mail yesterday for my garage being open. I remember the day I came home from work a couple of weeks ago to discover it open. I was glad that my crummy old golf clubs were still there! Whoever took the time to make note of the "violation" could have simply been a thoughtful neighbor and closed it for me. I would close yours for you. Howard

We can't sell our place because of the water issue

Well we can't sell our place because the water issue alone makes it tough and devalues our home anyways. We are losing money just sitting here and doing nothing. Lets pay the very expensive price and get this job done already, stop being such a tight wad. I tell all new prospect buyers that I see on Sundays and let them know of the water situation and that really tends to turn them off. I wish someone would have told me about the water problems.

5:33 PM

Water Situation & History

First, this is to the previous comment writer. I am NOT personally upset with the water situation in my unit. Why?? Because in 03 I had individual shut-off valves installed on my hot and cold water supply lines to my shower. That way, when I want hot water, I get it!! It doesn't matter if my water is too hot or too cold (it's been both) because I can adjust it at these valves. It cost a lot of money, but it was well worth it. It's called being PROACTIVE. I'm just trying to use what I know to help my neighbors, including you (believe it or not).

Second of all, to address the big picture, here's some thoughts. The three primary reasons the water is the way it is: first, so many people have modified their plumbing systems (addidng or moving sinks, installing washers and dryers, etc.) that the current plumbing system bears little resemblance to the original, making the hot and cold sides of the system incredibly difficult to balance. Second, there are still many hard-heads who own units here who refuse to change their shower valves or otherwise maintain their plumbing fixtures. Third, the original cause of the problem occurred in 2002 when the City of Fullerton mandated the installation of a Backflow preventer system. That's why when residents called the Health Department, the Health department didn't do anything. The knew full well what the root cause of the problem was.

After a couple of years of getting estimates and listening to suggestions from contractors, the "previous board" arrived at the following conclusions. Replacing the pipes under the buildings is like putting a $300,000 band-aid on a heart attack. All that will do is stop the slab leaks. And unless someone has a better idea, the long-term solution looks to be blocking off all the common piping and running a single cold water main to each unit with a hot water heater, making each owner responsible for their own water situation.

There are many issues with this: running the main under the slab or on the roof, putting the water heaters in each unit or putting them on the roof also. There's also the issue of financing this, which will be very, (did I say very) very expensive. I won't even mention the political issues.

The bottom line is in the short run, Pro-Serv needs to go, and in the long run, the systemic problem has to be addressed. Failure to do so will result in these units becoming more and more difficult to sell. And, sooner or later, we will all want to sell. It's just our bad luck to be owners during this "crisis".

Like I said, if anyone has a better idea or ideas, this seems to be a good place to let them be known. I'm in no rush to solve this problem today. Whether it's Rene or myself or whoever on the board, there very well may be a simple answer to the issue that we all are missing, and it may just require a little patience to find it.

Todd in 122

Water Problems

Anonymous said...
Water problems, anyone ??

I was just wondering if anyone was having the same strange problem I have. I live in the 3020 building and ever since those Pro-Serv guys dug that huge hole in between 96 and 105 last month, I get hot water from the kitchen faucet but almost nothing from the batroom vanity or shower. This is the opposite from what it was before. Did they criss-cross pipes or something ?? I liked it better before.

Also, a guy from the management company said I was the only one who called in a problem, but I don't believe it. I saw the guy from Pro-serv running around yesterday, but I couldn't catch him to check my water before he left.

9:40 AM

#136 & #37 Sold?

#136 and #37 no longer appear on Realtor.com. Were they sold?

Board Changes?

Anonymous said...
Are the rumors true ??
I noticed that Rene Fernandez's name was not on the newsletter this month. My neighbor said that her friend saw him in the cluhouse, red-faced and throwing a hissy-fit. Does anybody know for sure if he quit the Board or was thrown out, or whatever ??

Water Shut Off Monday & Tuesday 6/18 &19

Hello All, Nancy from the management company wanted everyone to know...that all water would be be off on Monday and Tuesday to all owners....There is a broken hot water supply line in front of unit 105 and we have to turn all the water off to get to it. She sent an email to me on Fri the 15th and I apologize for not posting this info sooner. Howard

Real Estate Signs Missing?

wrxnut25 said...
I noticed today that almost all of the for sale signs in front of the complex are gone, does anyone know where they went, or why they were removed? I checked the CC&R's, and saw nothing saying that a full sized for sale sign was prohibited, so I'm a little confused, and needless to say, my real estate agent will want to know what happened to it.

AC Replacement Suggestions

Im looking to get some recommendations and approx cost for replacing my AC in my unit of someone who might have done it recently. The number on the blog for Fisher is no longer in service.
I had a quote from AD Cooper last year and it seemed awefully expensive so i held off and im looking for other options.

Thanks
Ray #36

DSL internet service?

Does anyone have DSL internet service? I signed up through AT&T, however there seems to be some problem with the phone lines and I was wondering if anyone else has been successful with it?

Stolen Car

No, I do not have any parking trouble for now since my little 94 honda car got stolen last weekend from the parking lot, well there's one more open space to park your car. 5/25/07 Golda in 126.

Trouble with parking???

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post

Trouble with parking???
I got home last night at 9:45 and followed three other cars in the gate, only to find that there were no parking spots left. So all four of us were left circling the lot trying to find a place to park our vehicles. Does it seem like parking has gotten signficantly worse in the last couple of weeks? I've never had this much trouble.

Absurd Notices of Violation of the CC&Rs

Dear Blogger,I would greatly appreciate it if you ... Dear Blogger,

I would greatly appreciate it if you could post the following topic as a point of discussion, as I know I'm not the only Parkridge resident dealing w/ obsurd notices of violation of the CC&Rs.

I received in the mail today a notice of violation of rule 20 of the CC&Rs. Rule 20 reads as follows to save everyone some time:

"It is prohibited to hang clothing, towels, rags, rugs, etc., from the windows, railings, fences or from any of the facades of the development."

I was cited as violating this rule for hanging planter boxes (for flowers)from my balcony railing.

Now, being a logical man, and having read the rule in question, I know for a fact that my planter boxes would not be considered rags, clothing, rugs, or towels, so therefore I've deduced that my planter boxes are falling under the "etc." portion of this rule.

Is it just me or is it unreasonable to assume that I should have know that planter boxes would be considered in the same category as someone hanging their laundry out to dry on their balcony railing?

I would love to hear replies as to whether anyone else has received a similar violation, or has an explanation as to why a planter box is a violation when I've noticed several other units w/ items such as bird feeders, wind chimes, and other random itesm hanging from their balconies.