Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Look before leaping

Is a townhome perfect for you? Better read all the fine print. Rules can regulate repairs and everything else from parking to pets.

By RODNEY THRASH
Published March 4, 2005

WEST MEADOWS - Lennox and Rekha Ramkissoon grew sick of seeing their money gobbled up each month by their $700-a-month apartment.

"For roughly the same amount," Lennox Ramkissoon said, "we can . . . own something."

But the 33-year-old MCI technical consultant didn't want to deal with the responsibility of maintaining a house. Neither did Michael Niemis, 32, of Westchase.

"I'm relatively young and busy all the time," he said. "I knew I did not want to deal with mowing the lawn."

So like thousands of others in Hillsborough County longing for the American dream of home ownership, sans the hassle, Niemis and Ramkissoon traded apartment living for townhomes.

For Niemis, it was about the only thing he could afford with rising housing costs pricing some young professionals out of single-family homes, especially in upscale suburbs like New Tampa and Westchase. Whereas the average price of a house in Hillsborough is $210,000, townhomes run about $153,247, said Tim Wilmath, a senior appraiser in the county Property Appraiser's Office. The median price is even lower: $133,400.

"Townhomes are the only way to really afford to move into New Tampa and stay there," said Jeff Hall, a 28-year-old University of South Florida academic adviser who lives in the Promenade, a 120-unit townhome community in West Meadows.

This year, Hillsborough expects to add more townhomes than ever before - about 2,000 units in all. Most of them will be in New Tampa, northwest Hillsborough and South Brandon, Wilmath said. Already, there are about 13,500 townhomes in the county.

But for the Ramkissoons, who poured their life savings, about $40,000 in all, into a townhome in West Meadows, the cost of affordable, maintenance-free living in suburbia exacted a high price.

More than four years ago, the Ramkissoons decided that Tampa was the place they would settle, at least for a while.

They lived in the St. Croix Apartments on Bruce B. Downs Boulevard, but they wanted a place with a garage and more space. More important, they wanted somewhere to call their own. They came across an advertisement for a new townhome community in New Tampa, the Promenade. The Ramkissoons were sold when they saw the words "maintenance-free."

When they closed on their townhome in December 2000, the Ramkissoons didn't realize they would have to sift through so much paperwork.

"You sign like 30 forms," Lennox Ramkissoon said, "and you have no idea what you're signing because they're coming so fast at you."

All he recalls from any of the forms was the phrase "I acknowledge."

"We got our keys thinking everything's complete," he said.

When the couple opened the brown door to their 2,000-square-foot, two-story townhome, they soon learned it was anything but.

"You show up and there's folks still working in the house," Ramkissoon said.

There was a hole in the living room ceiling. The stair rail was not stable. Outside, nails were scattered throughout the yard.

Over time, more problems arose, all of which Ramkissoon documented on film. Water seeped through the walls and floors of the spare bedroom. Cracks formed in the ceiling over the couple's master bedroom. The tiles on the kitchen floor cracked. The stucco buckled.

If the Ramkissoons were in a single-family home, they could have made some of the repairs themselves. But in deed-restricted townhome communities such as the Promenade, where rules regulate everything from parking to pets, some fixes require a vote of the community.

He may not have wanted to be bothered with everyday upkeep issues, but Ramkissoon said he didn't realize that meant giving up something more precious: control of his own house.

"I didn't expect the fact that in order to solve a problem on the external unit, I had to get the agreement of all the other folks in the (homeowners) association," Ramkissoon said.

Last year, for example, townhome owners were slapped with a $1,000-per-unit assessment to repair buckling stucco, window leaks and other structural problems. Even those without problems were charged the fee.

As a former member of the Westchase Covenants Committee for 21/2 years, Niemis takes a hard line with people who gripe about the rules of townhome living.

"Just like when you enlist in the armed forces, you sign away certain rights and privileges when you sign into a deed-restricted community," said Niemis, now president of the Townhomes of West Park Village, a 59-unit community in Westchase. "All of our rules and regulations are given to each homeowner at closing. They also sign a waiver stating they have read, understood and accept to live under those conditions.

"No one is forcing anyone to move to a deed-restricted community. Some of the rules can seem picky or strict, but that is what a deed-restricted community is all about - being picky."

Picky is an understatement, said Claire Robb, 59, who also lives in the Promenade, but plans to move out soon.

"I find it very disturbing there's a regulation about practically everything from dogs to trash cans to Christmas decorations to parking spaces," she said. "I think I know how to behave."

Niemis isn't sure if everybody knows how to behave.

"I wanted to have some recourse if my neighbors decided to paint their house hot pink," he said. "In the end, the rules and regulations are designed only to keep the community looking good, ensure the HOA runs smoothly, and to keep property values as high as can be."

George Bodmer, president of the Greater Tampa Association of Realtors, says there are certain questions that prospective townhome owners should always ask before signing any paperwork or forking over any cash.

"There is a lot of urban legend surrounding townhome ownership of who does what to whom," said Bodmer, who founded Brandon-based Bayside Realty Group Inc. in 1977. "They need to know about the governance of the home they are considering. They need to get the documents and they need to read them so they'll understand what the fees are and what those fees pay for. Sometimes, you will have more than one fee and they need to be aware of that. There can be a CDD (community development district) in the community. There could be an overall building fee.

"They need to understand about maintenance. Who will take care of exterior roofs and painting?

"They need to understand about reserves. Are there reserves put away in associations that are adequate to take care of that roof when it's time to be replaced?"

"Another biggie: you need to know about parking, and you need to know if your unit has a garage. How many spots are there for guests? And if you don't have a garage, you need to know how many parking spaces are allocated to your home."

"They need to know restrictions that are there. Are there pet restrictions?

And there are certain things prospects should always do, he said.

"Look at insurance," Bodmer said. "Typically, the association or the developer may have insurance that covers all or portions of a building, but the individual owners may need insurance to cover contents and possessions in their own unit."

"If there's stuff they don't understand, talk to somebody who does. You should start with a well-qualified real estate professional. Beyond that, go find an attorney to explain (it) to you."

Check the reputation of the builder and any open issues with the Better Business Bureau and review the community's standard features and amenities, said Michael Willenbacher, division president for Rottlund Homes of Florida. Rottlund developed the Promenade, where the homeowners board is considering filing suit against the Clearwater developer. (When asked to address the Promenade specifically, Willenbacher declined.)

In Bodmer's experience, most people already know to do these things. But from time to time, he said he has encountered people who say, "Gee, if I had only known."

"Look at what you're doing in any transaction where you're going to make a purchase as large as this," he said.

There are a lot of things the Ramkissoons wish they had known as they searched for a townhome.

"We were sort of naive," he said. The lease at their North Tampa apartment was up and they needed a place to live. They rushed to close.

"I accepted the risk of choosing that builder and at the end of the day, it is my fault," Ramkissoon said. "I have no one else to blame but myself. We're responsible people. It's our decision. We screwed up with our selection. At the end of the day you've got to take responsibility for what your choice is. I can't say that's anyone else's fault."

They have endured so much and poured so much money into the townhome that they figure they may as well stay. They don't have any regrets, but if they could do it all over again, knowing what they know now, they say they would have bought a house, not a townhome.

Rodney Thrash can be reached at 813 269-5313 or rthrash@sptimes.com

[Last modified March 3, 2005, 09:12:11]