Building M water valve replaced

The water valve at Building M was replaced.

Building E water valve replaced

The water valve at Builing E was replaced.

Water to be turned off

On July 25, 2012 the City of Kent will be turning off the main water shut off at Kenthill Townhomes and Easthill Apartments starting at 9:00 A.M.  Kenthill has a valve replacement project – whereas the water must be turned off to complete this project.  The property will be without water until the repair has been completed on that day.  Please make sure you turn off your water heater electrical supply located in the electrical breaker box. This is to prevent your water heater from any damage.

Not very smart

Just when I thought I’d seen everything.
Today, I was doing some work near Buildings C, D, and E.  I went out to the dumpster and looked down and I noticed something that had not been there before.  It was a cardboard box.  But as I looked closer, I notice that the cardboard box had fireplace ashes in it.

I thought, “How dumb do you got to be.  Nobody could be that stupid.  That ash must be old ash.  No one could be so crazy as to place embers and ashes from a recent fire that was in their fireplace into a cardboard box, and then set it on the ground near the dumpster”.

But sure enough, as I had another look, the box was smoking and smoldering.  So I grabbed the edge of the box.  I pulled it along the ground and then stopped.  As soon as I stopped, the box caught fire.

Soon it was completely engulfed in flames, some reaching two feet high.

In a little over a minute, it was completely reduced to ashes.

2012 Wood siding repairs, part three

This is a picture of the wood siding repairs occurring at Building B (south end).

2012 Wood siding repairs, part two

This is a picture of the wood siding repairs occurring at Building Q (north end), and at Building J (west end).

2012 Wood siding repairs, part one

This is a picture of the wood siding repairs occurring at Building N (east end and west end).

LID information (continued)

The paperwork that the City of Kent sent to all homeowners states, “The City received a $2 million grant from the Transportation Improvement Board to apply towards the estimated project cost of $7 million.” So I thought that it logically followed that the remaining $5 million would come from the homeowners. There is nothing in the paperwork to imply otherwise.

Only if you attended the meeting would you know otherwise. View the second photo in the posted dated May 11, 2012 (below).

I telephoned the engineer from the City of Kent. I left a message on his voicemail. I asked, “I own a condo at Kenthill Townhomes. I received a notice from the City of Kent regarding the proposed LID. It states that the assessed amount for my condo would be approximately $2,400. Now is that $2,400 every year for 15 years, or is that $2,400 divided up by fifteen years?”

He telephoned me back and left a message on my voicemail. He said, “The assessed amount is the total for that property. A homeowner may choose to pay it all at once, or may choose to spread it out in yearly payments over the fifteen years.”

2012 Proposed Local Improvement District [LID]

I sure everyone received their notice from the City of Kent by now regarding the proposed Local Improvement District (LID) and have read the additional letter from the City of Kent, notifying the homeowner how much of an assessment will be assigned their Unit. The notice also included an invitation to attend an informational meeting so that those affected by the LID could learn more about it and so that they could ask questions.

The meeting was held Wednesday evening at Kent Meridian High School on May 9th from 5:30 to 7:30PM in the gym. I arrived at 6:15. There were about fifteen people there, and about that amount came in and left during the 45 minutes I remained. I walked around and viewed the displays that were mounted on tripods.

2012 Roof installations continue (part two)

This is a picture of the roof installation which occurred at Building B this week.

Bird problems

Woodpecker and starling bird intrusions have occurred.  Repairs are ongoing and will be categorized under the Wood Siding Repair Project.

2012 Roof installations continue

 

This is a picture of the roof installation which occurred at Building A this week.

Significantly raised cost of water

Pre-arraigned agreements govern the division of various for Easthill Apartments and Kenthill Townhomes. Generally speaking, Easthill pays 60% and Kenthill Townhomes pays 40% of all shared invoices, under the Joint Access and Easement Agreement of 1976, signed by both Kenthill Townhomes and Easthill Apartments.

In 2012, The City of Kent significantly raised the cost for water and sewer to all citizens.

The Association has received the 2010 Kenthill Townhomes Audit from the Certified Public Accountant for Kenthill Townhomes (the 2011 Audit is still being worked on).

The audit states that, for the year ending 2010, water and sewer costs totaled $60,577.

Remember, that number reflects what we, Kenthill Townhomes, actually paid in 2010, for water and sewer.

The audit contains 20 line items expenses. No other line item expense even comes close.

[Delinquencies are another matter].

There is a great deal of information on the topic of water and saving money on this blog. As a beginning, homeowners may wish to view the right hand side of the blog, under, "Blog Archive".  Go down to 2005, go down to July, go down to the series entitled, "Investigating cost savings", reading parts one, two, and three.

2012 Annual Meeting

The 2012 Kenthill Townhomes Annual Meeting was held on March 26th at 7:00PM in the Cabana. The turnout was good. [According to Washington State law, and our Declarations & Bylaws, a minimum of 25% of the owners must attend, either in person, or by proxy]. A lot of topics were covered, a considerable amount of frustration was expressed, some anger was conveyed; many misunderstandings were cleared up, a lot of insight was given; apologies were offered; apologies were accepted. All in all, it was good meeting.

2012 Weather damage

Some pictures of the recent weather damage:

2011 Dry rot repairs continue (more)

This is a picture of the dry rot repairs which occurred at Unit P-5.

Utility work being done

Utility work [telephone line (Quest), cable television (Century Link), internet, water pipe line (Pacific Utilities), etc.] is being done near the southwest corner of our property plat (near 256th Street SE).

2011 Asphalt seal coating

The shared asphalt driveways of Kenthill Townhomes and Easthill Apartments, together with certain parking areas and parking stalls of Easthill Apartments were seal coated this week.

FHA and VA approvals

In December of 2010, the FHA changed the way that their approval process worked, and as of that date, all condominium approvals either expired or were set to expire within a specific time frame. The FHA approval for Kenthill Townhomes was set to expire on May 31, 2011. As you know, having an FHA approval is very important to the marketability of each individual Unit in our condominium complex, and therefore extremely important to value. Because of all the recent changes made in the lending field, FHA financing is currently being used on close to 40% of all purchase transactions. Without FHA approval, owners at Kenthill Townhomes limit the marketability of their Units and thus decrease the value of all the Units in the condominium complex. Furthermore, in addition to the above mentioned change, individual approvals for a specific owner Units (often referred to as, “spot” approvals) in a condominium complex are no longer available from the FHA. In other words, an individual owner can no longer obtain FHA approval for just their individual Unit. In conclusion, it became imperative for the Board to renew Kenthill Townhome’s FHA approval before it expired. After extensive research, the Board was able to acquire assistance with this endeavor at considerable cost savings. It should be noted that current guidelines now require application for recertification every two years. Part of the purpose of this rule is to ensure that condominium complexes have a low delinquency rate as well as a low “owner-occupied” to “rental/tenant” ratio. More information about this topic will be provided in the coming weeks and months. Please scroll down and review the May 14, 2011 and June 12, 2011 posts on this website for additional links and photos concerning not only FHA approval but also VA approval.

Note to real estate agents who may read this: All parties and any current listings should revise their MLS to include both the FHA and VA approval notice since it may increase the buyer prospects immediately.

Kenthill Townhomes approved for VA

There has been some question as to whether Kenthill Townhomes was approved for VA. We are. Please view the above photo (click on photo to enlarge). This is a valuable piece of information for those seeking financing in today's market. Please also note the post on this website dated 05-14-11. It shows that we are approved for FHA as well.