Now that I've been in my new place for a full month, I'm starting to come to reality out of the fog of enthusiasm and euphoria following the initial purchase and move in.
I still think I got a great deal and I'm still upbeat, but the fact of the matter is now I have "driven a few miles" down the highway with her and I have to admit, I can see why the price for this mobile home was so low.
1. As we are entering the summer-like weather pattern on a daily basis, I can feel (and hear) that I may be in for more of the same issues that I've had to deal with in the past at various places over the years. Air conditioner issues.
Hyped up greatly by the former owner, the huge central air compressor sitting in the carport certainly seems like the ultimate machine built to handle the Florida heat. It had (and still does 'cause I haven't gotten around to it) a bit of a layer of dust covering the top of the unit. It is outside, of course, and the land around the house is mainly sand and dusty dirt intermixed with splotches of grass like growth so it's to be expected. But when I did my initial analysis, that, to me, seemed like a good sign in that it didn't look like it had been worked on recently thus hinting it might be a unit that needs constant maintenance. Ah, but it was March when I first laid eyes upon it. If it had issues, I probably wouldn't have been serviced over the winter months, right? Plus, as I've come to learn, these former owners were not into maintenance of much of anything despite his many offers to me, when in the negotiation phase, that he could and would be happy to help me out with any maintenance issues over the course of my ownership. As you may recall, they moved only two houses down the road so they are still my close-by, almost next-door, neighbors.
Well, the day before yesterday, the unit kicked on in the morning and was making this loud, strained noise and the lights dimmed as it oozed humid warm air out of its vents into the house. Uh, oh, I've seen and heard this before. It may need maintenance. But unlike every place before, I can't just call the "office" and have maintenance look at it, I have to hire a contractor to do so which, isn't free. I just have to hope that they are honest.
The unit stopped making that noise after I stopped and restarted it but it still sounds a little loud. And, it's kicking on very frequently even though I'm trying to keep the thermostat at around 77 or 78. Well, that part, I guess, is the cost of wanting that room temp in our weather. And, being a hundred miles further south from my old home, it seems logical that the average daily temps would be just a tad higher. And the season has only just begun. I'm estimating near $200/month electric bills.
2. Except for two small windows, one above the sink in the kitchen and one in the bathroom, all the windows in the house appear to be sealed shut. Yeah, not sticking, sealed. I haven't asked Reagan (the former owner) about this but looking back, all the hints were there: the magnet-closure door screen on the carport entry door (which he took with him), the fact that the porch entry door was always open when I came here in those early days, the fact I never saw them with the windows open even though those March days were cool and breezy and they had the AC off and the doors open. I looked up common problems with windows like these (awning-style, aluminum-clad, single pane mobile home windows that open with a crank handle) and they are known to fail to close properly over time leading to leaks. Sure enough, looking around the base of the windows in several places, I can see that leaking had been a problem in the past. I can well imagine that in order to fix this, someone would just seal them shut which would prevent leaks, but never allow them to be opened for airflow.
This actually isn't a big issue for me. I agree, I'd rather have no leaks than air. Even during mild or cool nights, the air from the outside is too humid, for my tastes, to be used on a frequent basis. Plus, when we get into the dog days of summer, the air, even after midnight, will still be in the 80s so I wouldn't try to ventilate that way. Using the A/C is the only way. Which goes back to why I need that system to be working properly, consistently, efficiently and, in the mucky months, constantly.
3. The stove and oven, despite being near exact look-alikes to the kind used on the TV show "The Brady Bunch" are run on propane. The previous owner didn't use it and I'm apprehensive to either. I'd rather not have to fuck around with ordering propane gas tanks. Plus, I can't see where they'd hook up either. There must be someplace behind the house, like most mobile homes and trailers I've seen. So, instead, I cook with a Presto electric frying pan, my tiny 700-watt microwave and the slow cooker I almost threw away. Add the minimal counter space, only one of the two kitchen sinks that drains adequately (despite using some Liquid Plummer on the slow drain) no dishwasher and no washer/dryer, it makes my homemaking chores that much more fun.
4. Critters. Yup, roaches. Only a couple here and there and only one small adult, but I see them. I laid a mild dusting of boric acid powder under the kitchen sink but I just saw another nymph in the hall closet this morning. No free pest control when you own your own home, of course. So, ya, more money.
5. Neighbors. Other than Reagan and Lisa, I haven't really met any of my neighbors yet. The one on the east side (carport) has her grandkids visiting every weekend it seems. They aren't really outrageously loud or intrusive, but with our units so close to each other and the thin walls, I hear them playing, bouncing basketballs and being normal pre-teens. It seems like they attract some other neighborhood kids too. Now again, it's not that they are THAT loud, in fact I guess they rather on the quieter side. And they only seem to be out around sunset or so. But still, I want total silence.
And the lady on the westside (screened porch) seems a tad off. She was sitting in a car (not sure if it was hers) and allowing it to blare its horn-honking alarm non-stop for a couple of minutes while she sat in it getting ready to drive off. I guess the alarm was either malfunctioning or she was unfamiliar with the car and she waited for it to time out so she could drive it. Hopefully she went to the service center and it won't happen again. She is a night owl like me and I can hear her TV murmuring through her walls and it is a faint background noise in the wee hours of the morning when I sit in my hot tub to chill out. Ugh. Mobile home parks like this are pretty much the same as apartment complexes when it comes to noises from neighbors. Thankfully many units around me otherwise are vacant, either for the season (snowbird-owned) or until new buyers move in. It's still much better than even my last apartment in Casselberry and MANY times better than the Bellagio Apartments in Orlando earlier this decade.
6. Retired Life Mentality. This is much more real here than when I was in my Casselberry place. Here there's no present reminders of my former working life. And all the enablers, readily there, for a life of trailer park syndrome. A low-income trailer park, in a low-income retirement community inhabited by old people or unemployed younger people. Not much to do. No good employment opportunities in the area...nearest real city (Lakeland) of over 75,000 people is an hour away. But, plenty of places to buy beer. I've already drove to get resupplied after drinking up what I had twice now. And I'm drinking more frequently and greater quantity.
There are a few more things, but I'm kinda tired of writing about them now.