[quote=werewolf34]unless it’s done a lot of remodelling and upgrading. The windows and wiring are pretty bad, lots of ants and beetles, very drafty. Definitely needs A/C especially upstairs
Scarlett,
Can you please give us some details as to what it’s like to live in Madrid? I like Madrid from the looks and placement of the community but I would like your perspective on:
1) neighbors – quiet/loud, officious, nice?
2) layout – is it impossible to get out on the morning?
3) facilities – gym,pool, are they nice?
4) quality of the build – you mentioned bad wiring
5) usefulness of the layout – SF is usable
6) anything else
Thanks[/quote]
Well, the complex is nice and very quiet; many owners are retired; most of go to sleep very early and wake up very early. In general pretty nice people, but quiet and mostly withdrawn – perhaps I see that because of age difference. ALso, I think many the owners don’t really like to talk to tenants. Some, especially on the HOA board, can be busy bodies and really want everybody to stick to all the CC&R rules (some of which can be silly.). the patios are smallish and you are not allowed to put there unsightly things – hang clothes to dry, tools,etc. The plants shouldn’t come above the short wall fence, no trees allowed. So HOA though well funded can be a bit of a pain.
It’s easy to turn left from the complex – really you never wait longer than a minute, and visibility is good.
The particular unit I rent has been a rental and not upgraded for a long time. So take what I say with a grain of salt. The windows are cheap and don’t slide well even with WD40, and they are drafty. The kitchen cabinets are infested with tiny ‘confused beetles’ which can get into rice and pasta. Ants are a perennial problem, especially when it rains and they are in the house’s foundation and behind kitchen cabinets and baseboards and attack anything left on the counters. But that’s pretty common in SD.
The whole house seems VERY drafty. Weird, even with all windows closed, often you feel a cold draft like somebody just opened a window – maybe it’s just the wind changing directions. The living room – with patio window, and doors to garage and entance is particularly freezing. So it costs a lot to heat it up because of the draftiness. Not sure if it’s due to poor construction – maybe just the floors are drafty, hard to tell. Not sure how you can look for that, when you see a house you want to buy. We didn’t. Maybe that means the construction elements were not put well together.
In summer, the upstairs gets really hot (mid to upper 80s) – no air circulation, and it’s hard to sleep at nite so you do need A/C for a few weeks at least. Even if it’s so close to La Jolla and ocean. really. It is odd that with all the draftiness you’d think that opening the windows everywhere you can cool the house a bit. Well, somehow that doesn’t work. Especially the secondary bedrooms are really stuffy.
Wiring depends on the unit. Well, the positioning of the light switches is not very logical, not where you’d need them. The fuses are very small. SOme of the bedrooms were not wired for cable/phone.
Kind of light on kitchen cabinets, and storage/closet space, but not too bad.
No gym. 1 small pool, not very warm, with jacuzzi.
Garage – small. If you have 2 cars, you don’t have anything else on the walls. And parking in the complex’s parking is strictly re-enforced by the HOA people – you cannot park there your 2nd car or you WILL be fined. Parking on the street around the area is very limited and is gone by 5 pm.
Bottom line, I think this complex is way overpriced. And if you live there, you have to have some substantial upgrades/work done to the house. (if you are lucky, the previous owners did those).
