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Life's Curve Balls- Ah...the Bliss of Responsible Condo Living (UPDATE)

By
Real Estate Agent with Liberty Homes RS-#62825

Upstairs unit floods 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?

Mold Remediation and New CeilingLong 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

www.cheesemanhomes.com 

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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.

 

 © 2007-2015 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman's

Hawaii Real Estate and Relocation Blog.

All rights reserved.

     

 


 

 

Comments(36)

Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

Suzanne: Yup...but the umbrella helps :)  Hey....I'm glad I know.... that the commercial is WRONG. I'm not in good hands :) :)

Jul 09, 2008 04:44 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

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.....

Jul 09, 2008 04:45 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

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?

Jul 09, 2008 04:47 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

Pat: Got em up...just for you ...okay, and the rest of AR LOL!

Jul 09, 2008 04:50 PM
William Johnson
Retired - La Jolla, CA
Retired

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.

Jul 09, 2008 04:55 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

Mary: We're pretty cozy :) :)

Carol: It seems this is becoming a common thing.... buy insurance and if you get a claim drop you.

Jul 09, 2008 05:15 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

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 :)

Jul 09, 2008 05:16 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

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!

Jul 09, 2008 05:18 PM
William Johnson
Retired - La Jolla, CA
Retired

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.

Jul 09, 2008 05:21 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

William: Knowing you...you are always saying that.... it almost seems that you and spell check have an intimate relationship lol!

Jul 09, 2008 05:32 PM
Sun City Grand Homes Surprise AZ Real Estate Leolinda Bowers Designated Broker Leolinda Realty
Leolinda Realty - Surprise, AZ
Sun City Grand in Surprise Arizona

Sally, I enjoy reading your blogs because you have such a wonderful positive outlook.  Congratulations on your sale.

Jul 09, 2008 05:55 PM
Georgie Hunter R(S) 58089
Hawai'i Life Real Estate Brokers - Haiku, HI
Maui Real Estate sales and lifestyle info

It sounds like things are going well for you.  I can't believe your mom still works!

Jul 09, 2008 09:10 PM
Laura Cerrano
Feng Shui Manhattan Long Island - Locust Valley, NY
Certified Feng Shui Expert, Speaker & Researcher

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.

Jul 09, 2008 11:51 PM
Neal Bloom
Brokered by eXp Realty LLC - Weston, FL
Realtor CRS-Weston FL Real Estate

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

Jul 09, 2008 11:53 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

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.

Jul 10, 2008 04:35 AM
Kelly Sibilsky
Licensed Through Referral Connection, LTD. - Lake Zurich, IL

OOOH, all those deals in escrow. Yay for Sally! Everything is working out just fine and Shadow is a cutie.

Jul 10, 2008 07:33 AM
Gita Bantwal
RE/MAX Centre Realtors - Warwick, PA
REALTOR,ABR,CRS,SRES,GRI - Bucks County & Philadel

I am glad it worked out. Congratulations on the transactions. Good luck.

Jul 11, 2008 11:35 PM
Celeste "SALLY" Cheeseman
Liberty Homes - Mililani, HI
(RA) AHWD CRS ePRO OAHU HAWAII REAL ESTATE

Kelly: Ohhh...I'm having a phase right now :) 

Gita: Thanks and woohoo!

Jul 12, 2008 04:53 AM
Kathy McGraw
CELLing Realty - White Water, CA
Riverside County CA Real Estate

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.

Jul 15, 2008 01:08 AM
Barbara-Jo Roberts Berberi, MA, PSA, TRC - Greater Clearwater Florida Residential Real Estate Professional
Charles Rutenberg Realty - Clearwater, FL
Palm Harbor, Dunedin, Clearwater, Safety Harbor

Sally - I love your little 4-legged friend! How adorable!

Jul 17, 2008 06:35 AM