Sometimes change is good

[SeaCat]

A couple of years ago my wife and I lived in an apartment building. We had a nice place there and we enjoyed living there. We went through two hurricanes there and helped with the repairs. Then the owners sold the bulding to a Condo-Company and we were told we had to leave. They wouldn't be renewing leases as they were going to convert the building into Condo's. We found us a place and were then screwed out of our $2K deposite.

The place we moved into was a stand alone house. We were paying a bit more in rent and we weren't in the best of neighborhoods but it was livable. The landlord lived in a large place right behind our place and turned out to be an absolute asshole. I would mow the lawn and the next day he would come around on his riding mower and mow it again. Then he would charge us for it. We got hit by a Hurricane and lost half the shingles on the roof. I went up on the roof and put down the tarps. He didn't replace the shingles for six months. Then he charged us for the shingles and the tarp. When we moved out we painted the place. He then charged us for repainting the place. In other words he screwed us out of over $3K.

The other day we were in the old neighborhood and decided to check out the old places. By the time we were driving home I was smiling.

The Apartment building had been converted into small Condo's. They didn't change much, the condo's were even the same size as the old apartments. They were charging a fortune for them. They couldn't sell a single one of them. They went belly up and the state stepped in. They filled the building with those who couldn't find places to live. The crime level in that building is high enough that the local Police and the Sheriffs Department took over one of the units, armored it and are now using it as a Sub Station.

As for the house, well it's no longer there. Well the shell of it is but the rest isn't. It seems a couple of months after we had moved out the owner had finally rented it again. A couple of weeks after renting it out there was a fire inside that completely gutted it. The fire was caused when he went into the place to fix something in the electrical system. He was sued by the renters and lost big time.

As bad as it was to lose the two places I look at where I am now and have to smile.

Cat

 

[vrosej10]

A couple of years ago my wife and I lived in an apartment building. We had a nice place there and we enjoyed living there. We went through two hurricanes there and helped with the repairs. Then the owners sold the bulding to a Condo-Company and we were told we had to leave. They wouldn't be renewing leases as they were going to convert the building into Condo's. We found us a place and were then screwed out of our $2K deposite.

The place we moved into was a stand alone house. We were paying a bit more in rent and we weren't in the best of neighborhoods but it was livable. The landlord lived in a large place right behind our place and turned out to be an absolute asshole. I would mow the lawn and the next day he would come around on his riding mower and mow it again. Then he would charge us for it. We got hit by a Hurricane and lost half the shingles on the roof. I went up on the roof and put down the tarps. He didn't replace the shingles for six months. Then he charged us for the shingles and the tarp. When we moved out we painted the place. He then charged us for repainting the place. In other words he screwed us out of over $3K.

The other day we were in the old neighborhood and decided to check out the old places. By the time we were driving home I was smiling.

The Apartment building had been converted into small Condo's. They didn't change much, the condo's were even the same size as the old apartments. They were charging a fortune for them. They couldn't sell a single one of them. They went belly up and the state stepped in. They filled the building with those who couldn't find places to live. The crime level in that building is high enough that the local Police and the Sheriffs Department took over one of the units, armored it and are now using it as a Sub Station.

As for the house, well it's no longer there. Well the shell of it is but the rest isn't. It seems a couple of months after we had moved out the owner had finally rented it again. A couple of weeks after renting it out there was a fire inside that completely gutted it. The fire was caused when he went into the place to fix something in the electrical system. He was sued by the renters and lost big time.

As bad as it was to lose the two places I look at where I am now and have to smile.

Cat

I understand perfectly. We have only just moved into this lovely old government housing place after nearly ten years in a neighbourhood near the fifth circle of hell. The police won't even come into our old neighbourhood unless someone is being murdered (or they are bored and looking for someone to nick on a minor infringement). My husband won't even go back to our old neighbourhood he hates it so much. Our landlord (we outlasted three) weren't bad mostly. Our last one made it plain to us when she bought the places that she didn't want to do anything it and if anything went wrong, we were only to call the real estate caring for the place if it was drastic and we got stuck in the middle cause the real estate penalised us for not reporting a couple of minor things. The real estate were hard arsed bastards and handing the keys back to them was one of the high points of the last ten years. It was a wretched place to live. It had been built when the local council was really corrupt and it just didn't work properly. There were lightbulbs it was physically impossible to change. The staircase was made out of chipboard for goddess sake! It had one toilet -- upstairs -- and I have severe arthritis in my knees, which was just hell. The tiles in the bathroom and toilet were porous and water from normal usage seeped through and rotted the flooring out (the guy two doors up went through the floor and broke his leg). About five years before we moved out, they changed the hot water system and the pressure after that was so bad, you literally had to move around under the shower to get wet and we only had about 10 minute of hot water a day between the three of us.The place was also haunted by a the woman hating ghost of a junky who hung himself next door. It just sucked.

We were one the list for public housing for ten years when we finally got approved in August. We moved in on our 19th anniversary. We love the place. We have a big old garden and our son has developed green thumbs, which is helping his autism no end. We can have pets here and got some mice, also helping a LOT with his issues. My ability to walk has doubled since I don't have to climb 15 steps everytime I need to pee. Hubby's so happy it would almost be impossible to describe.

The old landlord had let so much stuff go, that the first tenant after us left after a week. She ended up selling it...

 

[FallingToFly]

Seeing this thread has made me incredibly grateful.

I have a nice 3/2, with a yard, garage and a dedicated landlord, on a cul-de-sac. I pay $800/month, and my landlords are generous if I have to be late occasionally. They love my kids, my dog, and tolerate my outside cats.

The house is not perfect, but it is fairly new, and the landlord handles probems when asked to- they also don't charge to handle the problem.

It makes me happy.

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I had a prince of a landlord when I lived in San Francisco. The man couldn't have taken better care of the place. The one in Long Beach was okay but it sure feels good to be living in my own home, especially after about 35 years!