We reside in a townhouse complex in Waipio Gentry; about 5-10 minutes from Mililani, Hawaii where I actually grew up during the 70's and where my mom still lives. Anyway, I wanted to be close to mom so we could help her as she is getting older now. (she just turned 80 in January) so we bought this townhouse in March of 2005.
A small unit (I was talking to Lola Audu earlier and she could not believe I lived in a 500 sq. ft. unit) in a complex I adore. The problems started with tenants in the unit above us who had no clue why they couldn't throw water off their balconies onto ours. They had no clue why they couldn't let their child jump up and down while making our ceiling fans shake.....24/7.
Anyway, the last straw broke when I wrote about the upstairs unit flooding in Bathroom & Kitchen Leaks- Responsible Condo Living in Hawaii. Subsquently I wrote about the mold that occured from the tenant upstairs not notifying the owner, the associaition or even the resident manager in It All Comes Out in the Wash......MOLD and then was so discouraged I wrote A Hawaii Code of Ethics for TENANTS?
Long story short:
- Water came through our ceiling (because we weren't notified for two weeks prior that they flooded upstairs) back on May 28th
- We filed a claim with Allstate and since this was our second water leak incident they are NOT RENEWING OUR INSURANCE. This isn't the first time I've heard of them dropping people....but duh, this wasn't our fault. But that's besides the point right?
- Allstate finally paid for ours and didn't go after the owner upstairs or pursue where it came from. And this was after a month and three days of nothing being done.
Life is good:
- Our Association is finally going to help us find the source of the leak since no one wants to take responsibility. (the owner upstairs filed a claim...claimed no liability and got paid off the first week)
- The tenants are moving on the 15th and I have no further comments :) :) :) :)
- We finally got to take care of the mold remediation and repair the kitchen ceiling. We hired Dumore Construction who handled everything...including installing an energy efficient light fixture.
- My ceiling was completely fixed by yesterday afternoon including the KILLZ remedy for the mold and sealing.
And......
- I have closed one transaction and have three more in escrow over the last couple of weeks.
- The listing I put on the MLS on Sunday am went into escrow this morning.
- Sears came back yesterday evening to deliver and replace a new stack washer/dryer that they delivered last week that was a lemon.
- My dog is at the groomers and will come home all pretty in a couple of hours. :)
- My mom went back to work today after a freak accident that kept her home for a month....with no work or golf.
UPDATE: PER Pat's request...the following is Shadow after her groomer appointment today :)
And.....as always.....
When life throws curve balls.....it's all in the manner of how I handle it.
Now....to look for insurance after all this mess.
© 2008 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog. All rights reserved
Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman is a Realtor-Associate® and Certified Residential Specialist (CRS) with Century 21 Liberty Homes in Mililani, Hawaii. With a sharp understanding that a listening ear is the key to a client's needs she serves the island of Oahu (Honolulu County) and all Hawaii Military Relocations, Hawaii Retirees, Hawaii Job Transfers and Hawaii Residents, Home Buyers and Sellers.
© 2007-2012 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog.
All rights reserved.
And Localism will work itself out :) :)
I just know it. :)
ahhhh life... it never seems to get out of our way when we need it too.
and from your lips to gods ears................... localism WILL work itself out ;)
Have a great evening my friend!
Dez: yeah...things always happen for a reason.... and you have a good one too :)
Hi Sally - I'm glad your curve balls have seemingly worked out for you. I hope mine will as well in time.
Glad to hear those upstairs tenants are about to be gone....ahhhh, huh?
Ann
The tenants are moving, the tenants are moving.... that's all I heard in your laughing voice among all the other things Sally. FINALLY, some relief : )
Ann: Curve balls always have a way of doing a 180 degree turn.... I'm glad too...it's long time stress coming to an end. ....in anticipation of the next ones....we gotta find a one story :) Hugs to you Ann! So happy to see you :)
Gary: WooHoooo! Relief.....no hole in the ceiling....ah....a normal kitchen again. Maybe my NEW ceiling fans won't shake anymoe either! We've been doing a lot of replacing for energy efficient appliances :)
Sally, what a nightmare you've had! I'm glad it's all being resolved, but shame on Allstate! They drop people around here all the time for the smallest of claims. Seems they want to collect the premiums and not pay out. I'm happy that they finally settled with you even though they dropped you. At least you have THAT satisfaction.
Linda: That's what we said. You know... I wondered what the heck was going on. The owner upstairs has Allstate too...but he claimed no liability ...so where did that leave us ????
Yeah...I've not heard good things ...now that all this has happened...about Allstate.
Hi Sally,
When it rains it pours...and you lived to blog about it all! That really stinks about the insurance company, but yay the tenants are moving! :)
No fan of Allstate here! Hooray for the tennants leaving!
Sally I think that you should buy the unit upstairs so that you and Gary can jump up and down 24/7 ........ LOL
YAY! No more crappy neighbors! =D Seriously, that is unbelievable. Some people seem to know no other way of life, other than selfishness. To be honest, when I was younger and renting an apartment, I always made sure I was on the ground floor because I know I walk very heavily. I was still teaching aerobics at the time and knew I'd be laying out new routines at home (which is also why I developed the habit of walking heavily) and I didn't want to be an inconsiderate neighbor. Unfortunately, I didn't usually get that same consideration from MY neighbors =/
OK, Sally! Forget the kitchen ceiling! We want pictures of the dog fresh from the groomers!
Glad to see you made it through all the hassles of the last couple of months - this just means that the worse is behind you and the rest of the year will be AWESOME!
500 square feet???????? Really?????????
Wow! When it rains, it pours! (I guess I could say when it leaks, it pours, but I can hear you groan all the way over here in Ventura County, CA).
While I can understand the bean counters in the insurance companies not wanting to renew, what good is insurance if you get CANCELED for using it?? Yikes!
Enjoyed touching base with you today Sally. You're every bit as delightful as I thought you would be. Thank God that the situation with your condo is being taken care of. It's always so interesting to talk to folks from around the country. And...the issues with Localism will work themselves out. :)
Suzanne: Yup...but the umbrella helps :) Hey....I'm glad I know.... that the commercial is WRONG. I'm not in good hands :) :)
Midori: No fan here now either....yah...yah...yah.....
George: If we could we would...on the other hand...let me sell this one and get a two bedroom one story one.....
Lisa: It all boils down to common sense. We don't affect other people in a negative manner nor treat them with ill respect. It comes back...ya know?
Pat: Got em up...just for you ...okay, and the rest of AR LOL!
Woo Hoo! Life is good and if not , you make it so. Thank You for everything my friend, you help me focus on the positive. But then you already knew that.
Mary: We're pretty cozy :) :)
Carol: It seems this is becoming a common thing.... buy insurance and if you get a claim drop you.
Lola: We had fun on the phone didn't we? Just like old buddies I tell ya! One day you'll come visit...and you'll have loads of fun! Yeah...that 'expressing myself' and what I feel drained me this morning :)
Hi William!!!!! I just always believe that the hardest part of my life was turning it around....and staying on track...with my dad whispering to me....."no matter what...your life has to go on". I stay alive and spirited that way.... HUGS to you William!
Would you believe that I had to edit that comment twice but I guess you figured out what I meant, LOL. Spell check just doesn't do good grammer,LOL.
William: Knowing you...you are always saying that.... it almost seems that you and spell check have an intimate relationship lol!
Sally, I enjoy reading your blogs because you have such a wonderful positive outlook. Congratulations on your sale.
It sounds like things are going well for you. I can't believe your mom still works!
Sally, Shadow always looks so PROUD of herself, I swear these pets of ours know when they look good! Mine always come home tired but happy :) As for the mold, I know what a nightmare that is...glad it's finished (for you and me both!) but State Farm was king enough to pay for all the remediation and although they raised the policy amount, they didn't drop me. I hope you find another insurance company that were as wonderful as mine were.
Condo associations always like to take their dear sweet time to handle these situations. In FL it's worse with many lawsuits. You would think they would be more proactive but they always seem to have other priorities. At least they finslly settled
Neal: Yeah...they sure do...right at the last minute they fix it and get rid of us...oh, well. Now I know. ALLSTATE is known for that.
Carole: She is SOOO proud! She too get tired but loves how we tell her she's so pretty. I'm sure there will be someone who will want us. It's not like we run around throwing water on our ceiling.
Georgina: Thanks...things are going good...and mom is a tough lady :)
Thanks Leolinda! Things are brighter these days.
OOOH, all those deals in escrow. Yay for Sally! Everything is working out just fine and Shadow is a cutie.
I am glad it worked out. Congratulations on the transactions. Good luck.
Kelly: Ohhh...I'm having a phase right now :)
Gita: Thanks and woohoo!
You are fast becoming the Escrow Queen....I was in shock how fast you had your listing in contract....that is what I got from this Post...oh and how utterly bored Shadow looked with your taking pictures :) :)
Nice to hear everything worked out, and you're so right on the new Localism working itself out. No one likes change, but it happens........it might be a curve ball, but you can stay in the game.
Sally - I love your little 4-legged friend! How adorable!