coasterguy

I have only coverage for my contents. The structural insurance is covered by your HOA fees. You might post your question to the resident forums on the website ( http://liveoaklofts.squarespace.com ) and get a feel for what the rest of your neighbors have.

UPDATE: My previous handle here was "pupsdaddy" and I've got several posts in this thread already. The Bullet is closed until Feb 28. There was off-season trackwork (this is a normal thing with any wood coaster) scheduled for September, but Ike happened and delayed all of that. It is currently down for the trackwork, but should reopen on the 28th. There is a coaster enthusiast club planning an event there that day, so I'm sure that Kemah will do what it takes to get it open by then. I'm up to 694 rides on it now. It's still fast and furious, and still unbelievably fun and intense just after a rain. It's funny, as soon as it starts raining, the park management and any off-duty employee that is on property suddenly show up to ride. It has a solid reputation for being wicked when it's wet. In other news, one of the kiddie rides was replaced with a 140ft tall freefall drop tower, which is already open. It's not as tall as Astroworld's Dungeon Drop, but it's still good for a healthy stream of profanity all the way down.

The "must buy with cash" thing is completely untrue. While some of the banks that hold the foreclosures have very strict rules, others are happy just to sell the thing and be done with it. The longer it sits on the market, the more HOA fees build up and must be settled at closing. That's not a good financial move for anyone. As of this writing, there are only three units left for sale. The owner occupancy issue has been resolved with the recent flurry of buying and getting financing is therefore easier than it was a few months ago. The prices came down to the point that one resident bought the unit next to him for use as an artist studio workspace and is about to close on the unit above him as well. The website for the building just went live, by the way: http://liveoaklofts.squarespace.com

I'm a resident at Live Oak Lofts and I'm also on the board of the HOA. I was one of the first folks to move in (4th or 5th, I believe) so I've got some history with the building. To answer some of the questions posed here, I can tell you that if you are at all interested in living here, NOW is the time to get in. The prices are unbelievably good right now because everything for sale in the building is a foreclosure. This wasn't due to the sinking market, however, but a shady deal done a couple of years ago. There were about 10 units sold at the time and we would often check the building's website to see which units came up "sale pending". One day, all the prices listed were about twice what they were the day before(!) Not long after that, the entire building sold out at the hyper-inflated prices. You guessed it, investors from out of town had bought them up three at a time (you are allowed a maximum of three units) with hopes of flipping them around at even higher prices. Needless to say, they sat unsold (at $400K and up!). Eventually, the investors realized that they couldn't get their money back, and when the real estate market began to falter, they just abandoned hope and let them foreclose. That's what is up for sale now, the last remaining units that were bought at inflated prices. I wish I had waited until now to buy! Some of my new neighbors got incredible deals on their condos. I'm jealous! As far as the mix of tenants, it's about 65% white, maybe 15% black, 10% hispanic and 10% asian. That's just a guess based on the turnout at the recent owners' meeting, I don't have any hard data. Most of us are youngish (under 50), and either single or married without kids. There have been a few children here in the past, but I don't believe any kids live here at the moment. Perhaps 20-30% or so of the tenants are gay. Those who live here treat the building as a micro-community and we generally are a pretty friendly, social group of folks. Downstairs units have concrete floors, upstairs are (original to the building) hardwood. All units have granite counters in the kitchens and bathrooms and come with stainless steel appliances. The HOA is operating in the black, but since I'm not the treasurer, I can't tell you specific numbers off the top of my head. As the foreclosed units sell, back-owed HOA fees are paid, so we're continually getting farther ahead. We're not wasteful spenders, but we don't hold back when things need attention, either. The neighborhood is QUIET. There's not much pedestrian traffic, except for Sunday mornings when St Nicholas church is having mass next door. Downtown nightlife, Discovery Green, Toyota Ctr, George R Brown, and Minute Maid park are all walking distance from here and I've had no problems with safety while walking to these areas, even at night. There's a 20-mile hike/bike trail just three blocks from here that stretches through TSU, the Med Center, Hermann Park, and ends in SW Houston at Brays Bayou and Gessner. On the down side, there are some issues with the structure of the building not being waterproof after the hurricane, but that is being addressed and will be fixed. Also, it's true that it's not the most soundproof structure I've ever lived in, but it's still better than most apartments I've had. Side-to-side neighbor noises are minimal, but downstairs folks get an earful of their upstairs neighbors sometimes. If I were doing this again, I'd buy upstairs for that reason alone. Even though I bought at a price substantially higher than what is being sold now, I'm confident that when the market rebounds, these units will be a good, solid investment. If I had the money to do so right now, I'd buy two more! One of our residents has already bought a second one and is negotiating on a third. As far as restaurants, that was covered in another post, but The Park mall is right next to Discovery Green just a few blocks away for shopping. Additionally, it's very easy to hop on any of the freeways from here and getting to more shopping areas is quick and easy. The official website for the building was taken down after the building sold out. I am currently working on creating a new one with resident forums and other stuff. There is covered, assigned parking in a gated lot behind the building. One parking spot per bedroom. The monthly HOA fees aren't a flat $300, but rather about $0.21 per sq ft of your unit. This covers insurance on the building (you only need contents insurance), building maintenance and repair, groundskeeping, water, trash pickup, basic cable, and cleaning of the common areas. I hope I've answered everyone's questions. If I missed one (or more), just hit reply.