Color Shy????

Go Bold

or

Go Home

"Fearless Color" is the title of this week's special Home By Design article that I share with you.  Fearless??  So often we live in fear of the unknown or of doing something that just may stand out from the crowd.

Designer, Hilary Unger, found a couple with 5500 sq.ft. that was a blank canvas and a real desire for color in the space.   As you read, you will note color wasn't used from color's sake but to align areas and to flow the palate through this Manhattan condo.

A segment of the article provides a sample of this design:

"The living room and dining room flow together with ease, and neutral walls allow colorful upholstery, artwork, and case goods to shine. A special artifact for the owners—singer Madonna’s first keyboard—holds a place of honor and is flanked by a simple chair and two ornate candlesticks. A faux embossed leather coffee table centers the main seating arrangement, and the persimmon colored chairs from the foyer appear here, too.

No doubt the help of a designer is very valuable to take a concept into a reality that has a cohesive sense throughout the space.  A great lesson shown in this article is the essential element of establishing a design for the entire area.

Whether completing the entire design today or tomorrow, the concept has been established and can be carried through out a house, condo or an apartment.

By simply noting the details of Hilary's design, one can learn that adding a given piece to a room will tie that room to another.  Thus, you or I can carry a design with a simple change or a total

remodel of a room.

   To read the entire article, the 
    link is below:



Color Shy??

Quick Easy....Bring home the Bacon

Help is Here!

    After working all day, no one wants to come home and cook for two hours to eat dinner at 9pm.   That isn't why you bought that beautiful new house in the suburbs or are really happy that you stole that walkup so you can work late without having to take a 40 minute drive.

We purchase houses or town house or perhaps rent a condo for the purpose of enjoying our privacy and escaping the manacial pace of life.  Adding the task of dinner ever night just takes away a piece of the joy!

Sure we can order in or dart for our favorite take out a couple of nights each week.  Yet, sometimes it is great to get home, get in ones favorite lounging clothes(perhaps after a bit of exercise!) and veg for the night.

Yet one has to eat.  So for those "taking it easy at home" evenings, take one of these delectable Better Homes and Garden Recipes and whip something up quick!  

You'll be done before you know it!

Dinner: 30 Minutes or less

High Rise Living

               

                                                                   City Life

 Ready to move up in the world?

 In many large metro areas, the down town boasts a living style not common to the outlying suburbs.   Mass Transit and walking becomes the most common modes of transportation while an cars set in parking garages(if available at all) awaiting weekend excursions.

Many metro areas now have bicycle and car sharing ventures to provide transportation to those who wish to brave the busy streets of the down town area.  Or as many of the users of these services note, a person, that due to city life, only needs a bike or a car for a venture to a doctor or a business appointment outside the down town are or across town where public transit is not the best option.

With all the amenities of life close by, housing stock tends to be apartment buildings, condos or row house/ town house stock.

Home By Design address the upscale living in the High Rise condo/apartment building in this week's special edition.

So if you are looking to update your place or simply wonder what it would be like to live the High Rise life, click below and enjoy!

High Rise Living

Condo Living: Right for you?

Live in a Condo???


Here are some questions to review!!  Different situations arise in condo living than exist in other homes.  Thus this article from Al Clarks Home Action Newsletter is very timely if you live in a condo....or plan to move to one tomorrow!!!

CAN'T WE ALL GET ALONG? - SURVIVAL Q AND A WHILE LIVING IN A CONDO/HOA

These Q and A's and articles are managed by Richard Thompson fromwww.regensis.net. Richard has been involved for many years with various aspects of Condo and  community living. He provides consulting services to community groups and industry vendors. He also takes questions from online consumers with Condo/HOA issues.  Question: We are updating the member directory for the first time in years. The board intends to print and mail to members and post it on the HOA's website. Our last member directory included the names of members' children. What do you think? Answer: Actually, nobody should be included in a member directory without their written permission. Children could be included but the parents should give written permission. Question: I am in a High-Rise Condo building.I have requested financial statements from the board but my requests are ignored. I'm planning to withhold my HOA fees until I get them. Answer: Members are entitled to review the finances. So, the board should produce and distribute regular financial statements to all members for review or offer to make them available upon request. Those financial statements should reflect how money has been spent in a clear fashion together with additional notes if there are unexplained, unusual or larger than normal expenses. Also, you have the right as a member of the HOA to examine all financial records. Question: Our pool and clubhouse are 15 years old. The board wants to build a larger pool and upgrade the clubhouse which would require a $200,000 special assessment and drain our reserves. Answer: The board has no authority to expand the common area amenities. Its authority is to maintain existing amenities in good condition. However, if an appropriate majority of the members are in favor of raising and spending this money for this purpose, that is acceptable. However, the "appropriate" majority may be a super majority of two thirds or more depending on how your governing documents read. This requirement could effectively kill the proposal. Question: For years, our board refused to put money away for projects like roofs, fences and painting. Well, now the roofs need replacing, the paint is peeling and fences are falling down. Home values have been compromised and special assessments to pay for the projects are routinely shot down by the membership. Answer: The concept of planning for future projects is called a "reserve study". It is a tried and proven way of dealing with these predictable expenses and events. Moreover, a fairly funded reserve study shares these costs with all members along the, usually, 30 year time line rather than nailing the unfortunate ones at special assessment time. Special assessments are the product of poor or no planning since virtually all reserve events can be anticipated many years in advance. The board has a fiduciary duty to run business in a reasonable way. It also has a duty to protect the interests of current and future members. Any board that fails to plan for foreseeable events and expenses has failed in its duty. Most governing documents obligate the board to budget for known (or knowable) expenses. Failure to plan for reserve events is usually indicative of a systemic problem like the operating budget being underfunded and poor maintenance. The results are plain to see: erosion of the property and home values. The board usually has the authority to set the budget and reserves at a level to take care of HOA business without approval from the members. If your board is required to get member approval, it could easily roadblock getting things done. But often, the board simply doesn't raise the issue because naysayers won't like it and the board doesn't want to get yelled at. However, naysayers are usually few and far between because most want to protect the value of their property and know it costs money to do it. Take this message to the board: "You have fiduciary duty to reasonably protect and maintain common assets. Reserve planning and funding is an accepted and fair way to do it."

FHA Condo Extension Granted!

FHA Condominium Project Approvals Expiration Dates Extended:

FHA announces extension of condominium project approvals with an expiration date of December 7, 2010. Provided below are the extension dates based on five-year time frames with the exception of those condominium projects with original approval dates from 1972 -1985.

Initial Project Approval Dates   Current Expiration Date          New Expiration Date

1972 – 1980               December 7, 2010                 December 31, 2010

1981 – 1985               December 7, 2010                 December 31, 2010

1986 – 1990                      December 7, 2010                 May 31, 2011

1991 – 1995                      December 7, 2010                 July 31, 2011

1996 – 2000                      December 7, 2010                 August 31, 2011

2001 – 2005                      December 7, 2010                 September 30, 2011

2006 – 2008 (Sept)        December 7, 2010                 March 31, 2011

The extensions were granted to reduce the impact of processing and reviewing the number of project approvals expiring at the same time while recognizing current housing market conditions.

Lenders and/or other interested parties are encouraged to begin the re-approval or recertification process as early as possible as it is not anticipated that any further extensions of project approvals will be issued.

The Condominium look-up page and the FHA Connection databases were updated on December 7, 2010 and now reflect the extended expiration dates. The links to the sites are:

Condominium look-up page: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condlook.cfm

How Many Condos In Your Neighborhood Can't Sell?????

Update on Condo Dilemna: 

 Will your Condo be "sellable" in the December and beyond???

In a local Hampton Roads market, Chesapeake, there are 189 HUD(i.e. FHA LOAN) approved condominiums as of today(10/28/2010).

On Dec. 7th, ONLY 11 CONDOMINIUMS WILL BE APPROVED.

          Can you see the approaching challenge???

You live in a condo neighborhood, list the condo, get an FHA contract but can't close because the condo group didn't get the necessary paperwork filed. 

         This challenge can be solved!!!!    

If you live in a condo, you need only to get on it NOW!!!  It can take 60 days for HUD to approve a condo project/neighborhood!!!

Need to know how to get approval????   Want to know how
to get approval done in a week??     Let me know!