Chateau De Vie Homes and Scottsdale Real Estate

November Newsletter

2011-12-03T06:24:32Z

I know, it’s a bit late, but I finally opened my mail . The newsletter was sent out in November but it covers information that’s pertinent to the entire new year.

2012 Approved Budget:

The monthly fee has once again been raised for next year. The new amount is $219.00 per month. Coupons will be sent to owners who are not on auto pay only. If you wish to sign up for auto pay for 2012, please contact jessica at Red Mountain Management (480) 641-6300 for the proper form.

Owners using online bill pay must have the property number 733 plus their lot number on the check. Be sure to adjust your online bill pay to the 2012 fee.

The budget contains what you might think is a large amount for reserves. The property needs a lot of wood replacement, the streets need seal coat, and the community will need to be painted soon. The goal is to get as much done without a special assessment as possible. The property is also in need of irrigation updates as the ongoing repair costs are out of control.

Termites: Owners are responsible for treatment at their unit for preentative termite control and also treatment of active termites. If common property is damaged due to lack of any owner carrying out thei responsibilities pursuant to the CCRs, they will be billed for all or part of the replacement costs.

Water Shut Off Valves: All units have two shut off valves. One is at the rear of the unit where the line enters the plane of the building and the other one can be found outside the fence straight from the building valve to the street area. A plumber would have the appropriate tool to shut this valve down. Locate this at your unit or notify management or dotties@rmmaz.com and we will help find it for you.

Rear Yard Maintenance: Fruit must be removed from citrus trees in the spring to prevent roof rats coming to the property. Trees and shrubs must be trimmed so they do not touch the building or go over the roof line. We would not like to ahve debris damage the new roofs. Also clean off any patio covers that have tree debris as this makes them deteriorate also.

Pet Droppings/Cleanup/Leash Law: ALL dog owners must pick up pet dropping immediately upon deposit and all dogs must be on a leash. Both items are City of Scottsdale Code and Association Rules. Owners can be fined by either entity for not adhering to these rules.

E-mail Addresses: Please send your current e-mail address to Dotties@rmmaz.com so we can more effectively communicate with you as necessary. If you change e-mail providers in the future, please send us the new address.

Board meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month at 6:30 pm unless otherwise posted at the clubhouse.

New Limits on HOA Document Fees

2011-07-15T18:40:04Z

If you weren’t aware, when you purchase a property within a community governed by a Homeowner’s Association, as the new owner, you are typically required to pay certain one-time fees to the Association in connection with the transfer of the property.

One of these fees covers the “cost” of retrieving all of the HOA documentation. It’s a documents and disclosures administrative fee which allows the new buyer to properly conduct their inspections period as outlined in the Arizona Residential Purchase Contract.

We all know that sometimes these fees can be excessive enough to question their validity. Rest assured, changes are afoot:

HOAs may charge a homeowner no more than $400 in compensation for the preparation of documents for the purpose of resale disclosure. These fees are to be collected no earlier than the close of escrow and may only be charged once to a homeowner for a transaction. A.R.S. § 33-1260(C, D); A.R.S. § 33-1806(C, D); SB 1149.

Chateau De Vie Six Under New Management

2011-07-11T22:01:12Z

Well, the news is out, and perhaps I’m the last to know, since we aren’t notified of monthly meetings in a timely and consistent manner.

The board and Tri City Property Management have mutually agreed to end the relationship as of July 31st, 2011. We will be under new management by a company called Red Mountain Management which will begin in August. I spoke with Dottie, our new manager, today and she was very friendly.

For more information about the new management company, please refer to their website for now until I have the time to update the information page.

Thanks!

Legislative Overview for Homeowner’s Associations

2011-05-13T22:49:45Z

There’s always something going on in government regarding real estate. The following list is a collection of current state and house bills that are on record regarding Homeowner’s Associations:

HB2245 Homeowners associations; open meetings; recordings.Allows persons attending HOA meetings to tape record or video tape portions of the meeting. The Board of Directors of an HOA is allowed to adopt reasonable rules governing the taping of open meetings, but may not preclude the tape recording or videotaping.
HB2609 Homeowners associations; signs; political; leasing.Makes various changes to laws governing HOAs; prohibits HOAs from charging fees for the use or placement of an indoor or outdoor display of for rent or lease signs by a property owner on their own property; allows HOAs to prohibit signs that are not commercially produced; permits the HOA to prohibit the number of political signs earlier than 71 days, rather than 45 days before an election through 3 days after, rather than 7 days after an election and states that an HOA cannot prohibit the number of political signs that are displayed, except that maximum aggregate total dimensions of all political signs may not exceed nine square feet.
HB2717 Homeowners’ associations; penalties; attorney fees.Prevents an HOA from charging a fee for the use or placement of indoor or outdoor display of a for sale or lease sign by a unit owner on their property; clarifies that an HOA shall not prohibit in any other way than as specifically authorized in statute the use of temporary open house signs, a unit owner’s or their agent’s for sale sign and open house hours for property that is available for sale or lease; states that an HOA or managing agent that violates certain statutes governing the use of indoor, outdoor or political signs by a property owner on their property forfeits and extinguishes the lien rights authorized by statute against that unit or property for a period of six consecutive months from the date of the violation.
SB1148 Homeowners associations; disputes; administrative hearings.Asserts that the Department of Fire, Building and Life Safety applies and enforces the statutes regulating HOAs through its hearing officer function, as well as the interpretation and enforcement of the otherwise private contracts and rules that govern those communities.
SB1149 Planned communities; condominiums; document fees (Effective Dec. 31, 2011)Limits the fee that a planned community and condominium association can charge a unit owner for the preparation of required documents associated with the resale of a unit to an aggregate of $400.

Exciting, isn’t it.

Roof Repairs from Hail Damage May Leave Home Owners Asking Questions

2011-04-11T20:36:32Z

At the Chateau de Vie Six meeting last night, the topic of hail damage and roof repair was discussed in length, and ultimately a final decision was made to hire a roofing company to handle the various repairs.

The key issue at hand is the possibility that some home owners may be notified of problems due to improper installation of newer air conditioning units. There are no rules that prohibit you from choosing your own A/C contractor and unit, but it is critical to make sure that when you do, that your units are installed properly, and that they fit, and leave enough clearance for future roofing issues to be handled.

If you have a unit that prevents the roofing company from repairing your roof in accordance with the insurance claim, it’s likely you’ll be needing to ask your A/C contractor to fix the problem, as the roofing company will not be reversing any mistakes that the A/C contractors have made, and will not be repairing your roof until the issue between you and your A/C contractor is resolved.

This is a separate issue from the monies that have been approved for various A/C unit repairs that will be done as a result of the hail damage. An amount was allotted for repair, not replacement of such units.

Over The Weekend

2011-02-28T20:04:12Z

Not much activity over the weekend to speak of except for the addition of a single level unit in Chateau de Vie 2 with a list price of $94,900. It is a bank owned 3 bedroom, 2 bath property with 1393 square feet that went on the market on the 24th of February. This brings the total properties on the market for Chateau de Vie 2 to 3.

For more information about this property, click here.

Do You Have Something to Say?

2011-02-27T20:54:37Z

Chateau de vie homes is looking for someone from each community to help provide information about the community aside from the local real estate information that I’m providing on a regular basis. If you have a knack for writing or you are in charge of your community newsletter, send me an e-mail and we can talk about plugging you in so you can syndicate your information here for free!

Foreclosures Hurt Everyone

2011-02-25T07:05:39Z

It’s important to understand the effect that foreclosures have on your community. Not only does a homeowner facing foreclosure feel powerless, they can often feel angry, and that sometimes leads to unwise decisions, such as abandonment of the property.

When a house sits vacant it becomes a liability to the owner, and to the community. Aside from the possibility for vandalism, which leads to lower sales prices, when there’s nobody paying the HOA dues, the entire community suffers, and is at risk for additional assessments in the future to make up the gaps left by those who give up and leave.

I can’t stress the importance of foreclosure prevention through Short Sales. If you’re facing foreclosure, not only do you owe it to yourself to prevent one of the 5 most devastating events that humans can experience, but you also owe it to your neighbors to help preserve the quality of living that our little community affords us.

At the very first hint of financial distress, get your home on the market and make certain that you choose someone who knows how short sales work, inside and out, such as myself. I have been helping homeowners prevent foreclosure for the past 3 years and in the process have helped slow the decline in values in the neighborhoods.

Please call me if you or someone you know is struggling through the prospect of losing their house due to financial hardship. The longer you wait, the harder it becomes.

In all of Chateau de Vie, there are currently 12 properties that are awaiting an auction. That’s 12 opportunities to save home owners from foreclosure, some of which are in that process.

The important thing to note is that each of these properties represents either a past-due HOA bill from a distressed home-owner, or a future past due bill for as long as the property remains vacant and is marketed by the bank. The 12 properties do not include those which have already been taken back by the bank and sit vacant with no HOA payments coming in.

Prices Continue to Fall in Chateau de Vie

2011-02-25T06:42:53Z

It wasn’t a few days ago that I had a feeling we would be seeing single level units fall below $100,000.00. So what’s the latest news in Chateau de Vie Six regarding real estate values? Well, after a cumulative 212 days on market, 3 completely different real estate agents, and 3 completely different brokerages, 5963 N. 83rd Street is finally under contract with a reduced list price of $90,000.00. After numerous foreclosure postponements this one’s set to go to auction on the 16th of March.

If this one is approved by the lien holder(s), and actually sells at $90,000.00, it will be a loss of 60% from the original purchase price back in May of 2005. Remember, in August of 2005 a comparable single level sold in Chateau de Vie Six for $319,000.

The Legislature Is At It Again: A Dozen HOA Bills

2011-02-27T21:04:04Z

Arizona lawmakers this session have proposed a dozen bills that would impact condo and home HOA rules and procedures.

Here are ten of those bills being introduced:

HB2330: Relates to board and committee meetings and disclosures regarding lawsuits.
SB1149: Relates to providing bylaws and other related documents. Also forbids fees to allow someone to display a for-sale sign.
SB1170: Forbids HOA from regulating any public roads within its community.
SB1299: No longer requires that an HOA complaint include the first and last name of the person who observed the violation.
SB1304: Requires board to hold vote for any annual assessment increase.
SB1326: Relates to back yard flag poles, number of flags, and pole height.
SB1343: Simliar to SB1149, plus restricts fees that can be assessed relating to transfer of condo interests.
SB1468: Forbids Board from demanding any money as security for compliance with design guidelines.
SB1537: forbids HOA from banning awnings intended to act as energy-saving devices; does allow for regulations of size, appearance.
SB1540: Forbids an HOA from prohibiting door-to-door political activity except from sunset to sunrise.

Keep in mind, these are not yet laws. They are (at the time of this writing) in committee. Only SB1149 passed the Senate Government Reform Committe and now goes to a vote of the full Senate.

If you would like to read each of these bills in full, you can do so here.