Who you live with is a big deal. It's whether they balk at your eating their ice cream (or yogurt), if they lock the cat out in the rain, and if they put down the toilet seat. It's hard to put your finger on exactly how we lump along - or don't. But you feel it in every conversation.
One of my housemates is moving out. It's a months sooner than I expected -- I had asked him to start looking a few weeks ago. But he took our chat to heart and has found a new place with great folks in a part of town that's tony, and close to downtown.
So there's some sadness in the house. He's been here a year and has good relationships with the other housemates. I feel a mix of sadness, relief, and financial anxiety. I will trust that I will be able to swing home ownership without the extra income. And I will move out of the dining room and into the master bedroom, with a closet, with shelves, and a window that lets enough light in I can do my makeup in the morning and not turn on lamps during the day.
It's all good, and it's all happening at once, and it's the best thing for everyone. Although the cat will miss rubbing herself on his sweaty clothes. She's a freak for man dirt.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Condo converted
It's been a wild and wacky spring. Got online this morning to discover that my condo conversion process is, in one huge way, at an end. There are still things to do, but as of Friday April 16, 2010, the city of San Francisco has completed the process of recording a new parcel map and dividing our one building into two units.
Ever wondered what goes into condo conversion? Well, I can tell you.
First you hire a lawyer. They tell you who else to hire, and what to do when. Except when they don't, and you have to tell them things. It's good to know when those times are, but you won't. Too bad!
Then you hire a surveyor, and they come and measure everything, from the depth of the sidewalk to the square footage of your closets. That's your parcel and condo map.
The hair-raising bit is you invite the building inspectors of San Francisco to come and walk through the property, noting everything that's "wrong", which means not up to California Building code, or just things they don't like. For instance, the plumbing inspector didn't like my bathroom sink, because it has chipping around the drain. It's a lovely porcelain pedestal sink, probably original with the house in 1925. Fortunately, we got a different plumbing inspector the second time around. Yay!
So by now you've spent roughly $25,000 and 3 months pulling out your hair. But there's more.
Here's a little glitch that got us. When the city inspectors come back through to complete the "Physical Inspection" and sign off on your repairs, they give you this tissue-paper-thin piece of paper that's your Certificate of Final Completion. You don't talk to them (ever!) so you have no idea what this is for. Actually it's extremely important. You have to give it to the surveyor, who submits it with the parcel map and condo plan; otherwise the city won't start to review the plans. It's your ticket into the bureaucracy of SF building department. We sat on ours for 3 weeks before the lawyer straightened us out. Phooey!
We went to see the lawyer to get our CC&Rs -- Convenants, Rights, and Restrictions -- drafted. This is required by California law, and it's a set contract that determines the rules for Home Owner's Associations (HOAs). So whether you have two units, like we do, or hundreds, these rules govern how you operate as a legal entity. We got to weigh in on things like pet policy, restrictions on numbers of inhabitants, and like 2 other things. We also got a budget spreadsheet for the association, with things like repairs to fences, paint, and water bills. Good stuff!
Tip #1: Memorize your block and lot number right off the bat. Don't wait. You'll need it when you go to prepay your property taxes. I did this twice. I prepaid a year's worth of taxes in Oct. 2009, and then had to go back in April 2010 because the city changed the rules: you have to prepay for a year and a half. So I prepaid for another year. Sadly, the assessor's office wouldn't give me a new Tax Certificate (I tried!), because they'd already given me one. But since the first one wasn't dated in 2010 the Bureau of Street Use and Mapping (BSM) wouldn't accept it, according to the surveyor. So I made another trip to city hall, went though the metal detector, pushed the weird homemade box to get a number and sat for a half an hour waiting for someone to get me a new tax certificate. Saved me $40, though. :-/
What else? Well, we "binded" our new HOA insurance policy on Thursday, and got individual condo insurance plans. We signed the final CC&Rs, which go to the title company -- the surveyor is sending the title officer the final recorded parcel map and condo plan. All that's missing is the Lender Consent.
When you convert a building to condos, and you have a group mortgage with a bank, you are essentially breaking the terms of the loan. So the bank can recall your mortgage, if they want. To protect against this, you request Lender Consent. I did this. And yes, there was an oversight.
Tip #2: Make friends with your title officer. He (or she) can screw you and stop the whole process in its tracks if they won't deal with your bank, or if they won't offer Title Guaranty on the property before it's appraised. Be nice. To everyone. But especially to the title officer.
Back to Lender Consent. Finding the right person at the bank is the hardest part. Happily, our bank is known for being mellow and helpful, which they were. They sent us a list of documents to submit -- a recent tile report, the parcel map and condo plan, a final copy of the CC&Rs, and a letter stating that the conversion will not affect the value of the property. You also have to pay them $500. If you handle Lender Consent yourself rather than having the lawyer do it, you need to make sure you get the form from the lawyer that the bankers actually sign (and notarize). The form is called Consent to Condominium Plan. I got 5 gray hairs on Thursday trying to reach the lawyer to get the form so the bank VP, who's out on Fridays, could sign it. I failed. So at some point on Friday we possibly technically have breached our contract with the bank. Oh well! Should be fixed by Monday. Fingers crossed.
So, the Lender Consent will come, I'll send it to the title officer, who will submit it to the CC&Rs.
Then, we refinance.
Once we refi the final steps of condo conversion will happen. The refi triggers the assessor's office to assign us unique lot numbers, and generate separate tax bills. With that, we will be separate, legal, saleable entities -- hopefully with a modest rise in the value of the property. They say about 8%. Wish us luck. Only a few more weeks to go.
To top it all off, we're also doing work on the garden. Yesterday the Guatemalans shoveled maybe 2 tons of sand out of the back yard. Today we're getting a new fence. On Monday the garbage company comes to haul the dumpster away.
The garden is our greatest opportunity to increase the value of the house, and an appraiser should be coming in the next few weeks to tell us what each unit is now worth. Exciting! Terrifying! A friend at work got an appraiser from out of town who assessed it at roughly $100,000 below market value. So they couldn't refi. Bad times. Don't want that.
Gotta go now -- forgot to tell the lawyer that BSM recorded the parcel map. And Marciale wants to be paid in cash. Happy spring!
Ever wondered what goes into condo conversion? Well, I can tell you.
First you hire a lawyer. They tell you who else to hire, and what to do when. Except when they don't, and you have to tell them things. It's good to know when those times are, but you won't. Too bad!
Then you hire a surveyor, and they come and measure everything, from the depth of the sidewalk to the square footage of your closets. That's your parcel and condo map.
The hair-raising bit is you invite the building inspectors of San Francisco to come and walk through the property, noting everything that's "wrong", which means not up to California Building code, or just things they don't like. For instance, the plumbing inspector didn't like my bathroom sink, because it has chipping around the drain. It's a lovely porcelain pedestal sink, probably original with the house in 1925. Fortunately, we got a different plumbing inspector the second time around. Yay!
So by now you've spent roughly $25,000 and 3 months pulling out your hair. But there's more.
Here's a little glitch that got us. When the city inspectors come back through to complete the "Physical Inspection" and sign off on your repairs, they give you this tissue-paper-thin piece of paper that's your Certificate of Final Completion. You don't talk to them (ever!) so you have no idea what this is for. Actually it's extremely important. You have to give it to the surveyor, who submits it with the parcel map and condo plan; otherwise the city won't start to review the plans. It's your ticket into the bureaucracy of SF building department. We sat on ours for 3 weeks before the lawyer straightened us out. Phooey!
We went to see the lawyer to get our CC&Rs -- Convenants, Rights, and Restrictions -- drafted. This is required by California law, and it's a set contract that determines the rules for Home Owner's Associations (HOAs). So whether you have two units, like we do, or hundreds, these rules govern how you operate as a legal entity. We got to weigh in on things like pet policy, restrictions on numbers of inhabitants, and like 2 other things. We also got a budget spreadsheet for the association, with things like repairs to fences, paint, and water bills. Good stuff!
Tip #1: Memorize your block and lot number right off the bat. Don't wait. You'll need it when you go to prepay your property taxes. I did this twice. I prepaid a year's worth of taxes in Oct. 2009, and then had to go back in April 2010 because the city changed the rules: you have to prepay for a year and a half. So I prepaid for another year. Sadly, the assessor's office wouldn't give me a new Tax Certificate (I tried!), because they'd already given me one. But since the first one wasn't dated in 2010 the Bureau of Street Use and Mapping (BSM) wouldn't accept it, according to the surveyor. So I made another trip to city hall, went though the metal detector, pushed the weird homemade box to get a number and sat for a half an hour waiting for someone to get me a new tax certificate. Saved me $40, though. :-/
What else? Well, we "binded" our new HOA insurance policy on Thursday, and got individual condo insurance plans. We signed the final CC&Rs, which go to the title company -- the surveyor is sending the title officer the final recorded parcel map and condo plan. All that's missing is the Lender Consent.
When you convert a building to condos, and you have a group mortgage with a bank, you are essentially breaking the terms of the loan. So the bank can recall your mortgage, if they want. To protect against this, you request Lender Consent. I did this. And yes, there was an oversight.
Tip #2: Make friends with your title officer. He (or she) can screw you and stop the whole process in its tracks if they won't deal with your bank, or if they won't offer Title Guaranty on the property before it's appraised. Be nice. To everyone. But especially to the title officer.
Back to Lender Consent. Finding the right person at the bank is the hardest part. Happily, our bank is known for being mellow and helpful, which they were. They sent us a list of documents to submit -- a recent tile report, the parcel map and condo plan, a final copy of the CC&Rs, and a letter stating that the conversion will not affect the value of the property. You also have to pay them $500. If you handle Lender Consent yourself rather than having the lawyer do it, you need to make sure you get the form from the lawyer that the bankers actually sign (and notarize). The form is called Consent to Condominium Plan. I got 5 gray hairs on Thursday trying to reach the lawyer to get the form so the bank VP, who's out on Fridays, could sign it. I failed. So at some point on Friday we possibly technically have breached our contract with the bank. Oh well! Should be fixed by Monday. Fingers crossed.
So, the Lender Consent will come, I'll send it to the title officer, who will submit it to the CC&Rs.
Then, we refinance.
Once we refi the final steps of condo conversion will happen. The refi triggers the assessor's office to assign us unique lot numbers, and generate separate tax bills. With that, we will be separate, legal, saleable entities -- hopefully with a modest rise in the value of the property. They say about 8%. Wish us luck. Only a few more weeks to go.
To top it all off, we're also doing work on the garden. Yesterday the Guatemalans shoveled maybe 2 tons of sand out of the back yard. Today we're getting a new fence. On Monday the garbage company comes to haul the dumpster away.
The garden is our greatest opportunity to increase the value of the house, and an appraiser should be coming in the next few weeks to tell us what each unit is now worth. Exciting! Terrifying! A friend at work got an appraiser from out of town who assessed it at roughly $100,000 below market value. So they couldn't refi. Bad times. Don't want that.
Gotta go now -- forgot to tell the lawyer that BSM recorded the parcel map. And Marciale wants to be paid in cash. Happy spring!
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