Our Own Little Version of GM
The housing crash has had a peculiar specific effect on my life. I'm sure that's true for many people, but since we haven't lost our home to foreclosure or needed to move for any reason, I kind of expected that it would be one of those experiences where I watched it happen around me but didn't have to really change my life because of it.
How shortsighted!
One of the delightful trickle-down consequences of the housing mess is that I am now a part-time landscaper. Doesn't that sound fun? I've been putting in anywhere from a couple of hours to up to twelve hours a week digging up weeds and trimming bushes in our neighborhood's common areas. The most exciting part about this is that I don't even get paid!
OK, I'm being a bit snarky here. What happened was that our homeowners' association got hit with a perfect storm. Our development was just starting to get built when the crash happened. That left us with some streets built up, our beautiful parks and pool finished, and a whole lot of empty lots. Since then three of the five builders have pulled out, and one is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Between the builders not paying their assessments and the veritable flood of foreclosures that have taken place during the last two years, our HOA has just not had the money to keep up with the bills. One of the results of that is that we can no longer afford to have the common areas professionally landscaped.
In a way it was quite heartening to see the way that some of my neighbors have banded together to try and keep our community going. People have spent hours upon hours cleaning up the pool area, emptying trash at the parks, digging out mammoth tumbleweeds and even doing a little clean up at some of the abandoned houses. Some areas still look a little-- no, make that very pathetic, but they are doing their best. I have been trying to do my part and even coercing my kids into helping me. J and M have gotten to be pros at carefully holding open trash bags while I shove prickly, thorny weeds into them.
In the meantime, people are buying the foreclosures now and so the HOA is bringing in a tad bit more money. It was enough to start maintaining the pool again. Thank goodness for that! Still, the management company warned us that if an investor doesn't step up soon and buy out one of the builders, the HOA will have no choice but to declare bankruptcy.
In our current national climate of failing companies and bailouts, our personal financial crisis means little. I really can't imagine any of the political bigwigs caring about a sinking housing development on the outskirts of Phoenix, especially since we are only a couple hundred voters. But I'm proud of the way our community has tried our best to keep things afloat. And if bankruptcy does become inevitable, we will face it with grace and then pick up the pieces and try to build it all back up again.
It's the American Way. Or at least, it used to be.
How shortsighted!
One of the delightful trickle-down consequences of the housing mess is that I am now a part-time landscaper. Doesn't that sound fun? I've been putting in anywhere from a couple of hours to up to twelve hours a week digging up weeds and trimming bushes in our neighborhood's common areas. The most exciting part about this is that I don't even get paid!
OK, I'm being a bit snarky here. What happened was that our homeowners' association got hit with a perfect storm. Our development was just starting to get built when the crash happened. That left us with some streets built up, our beautiful parks and pool finished, and a whole lot of empty lots. Since then three of the five builders have pulled out, and one is teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. Between the builders not paying their assessments and the veritable flood of foreclosures that have taken place during the last two years, our HOA has just not had the money to keep up with the bills. One of the results of that is that we can no longer afford to have the common areas professionally landscaped.
In a way it was quite heartening to see the way that some of my neighbors have banded together to try and keep our community going. People have spent hours upon hours cleaning up the pool area, emptying trash at the parks, digging out mammoth tumbleweeds and even doing a little clean up at some of the abandoned houses. Some areas still look a little-- no, make that very pathetic, but they are doing their best. I have been trying to do my part and even coercing my kids into helping me. J and M have gotten to be pros at carefully holding open trash bags while I shove prickly, thorny weeds into them.
In the meantime, people are buying the foreclosures now and so the HOA is bringing in a tad bit more money. It was enough to start maintaining the pool again. Thank goodness for that! Still, the management company warned us that if an investor doesn't step up soon and buy out one of the builders, the HOA will have no choice but to declare bankruptcy.
In our current national climate of failing companies and bailouts, our personal financial crisis means little. I really can't imagine any of the political bigwigs caring about a sinking housing development on the outskirts of Phoenix, especially since we are only a couple hundred voters. But I'm proud of the way our community has tried our best to keep things afloat. And if bankruptcy does become inevitable, we will face it with grace and then pick up the pieces and try to build it all back up again.
It's the American Way. Or at least, it used to be.
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