Jun 26 2003
Surreal Estate
Before we went on vacation, we had one of those delightful condo owner meetings which are always planned for the most inconvenient time possible (for us, anyway), and which always seem to end up costing money. I realize that this is one of the cons of living in a 6 unit building instead of a 60 unit building, since there are fewer of us to pay for things, but being hit with a 25% increase in monthly maintenance dues plus a “one time” fee of $1,000 to repair the building’s roof pretty much ruined my day. Everyone else seemed to take this news with equanimity, since they are all inexplicably wealthy, whereas we were horrified, being the poor white trash of the building and all. At least we have a couple of months to come up with the $1,000. God.
As if that weren’t enough building-related bad news, the neighbor in the apartment above ours announced that she had bought a house (how?! how?!) and would be renting out her place for the princely sum of $2,600 a month. I immediately began to fear the new neighbors being from hell, in the way so many neighbors are. God.
Came back from vacation to find that she had actually sold the place for more than half a million dollars, which suggests that the new owner(s) will have no problem with the $1,000 fee or the monthly fee and that we remain the undisputed PWT of the building.
It’s so weird when you think about owning an apartment. I mean, what do you actually own? We don’t own the building, or the land it stands on. I guess we own air. How surreal is that?
9 Responses to “Surreal Estate”
Whats a PWT?
I live in a 500 person complex and the service charge is still outlandish.
If you own a falt, you own a share of the building. And how if it’s leasehold you rent the ground it’ on and if it’s sharehold you own the ground its on.
Flat not falt….
PWT = poor white trash (think “Roseanne”)
I like to think Suzy and I are a HELL of a lot better looking than Roseanne and Dan Conner… well, Suzy is, anyway. Christ, now I want to look in a mirror… and weigh myself…
1/2 a mil? Geez! Wow. I mean… wow.
ack. That has to be the worst part about owning an apartment. I’m always sitting there thinking ‘does the roof really need to be fixed? really?’
Half a million eh? Maybe you should sell and move to Paris? 😉
Oh dear … good luck with the new tenants. Living in a semi-detached home, that is always my worry — that my kick-ass neighbours will move out and be replaced by, well, PWT! 😉
Oh, please. I know PWT, and you are not even CLOSE. If class were to be measured and profited from, you’d be worth millions.
John, on the other hand… hehe. Just kidding, buddy. Not even on your worst day.
Adrian – That’s interesting. I wonder what our share of the building is, and if it works the same way here as it does there. Your system is a little different in some ways, like that 99 year lease thing.
Amber – *There’s* an idea! Better start brushing up on my French!
Candi – You’re making me blush!