Southwood Condo Conversion

It's been four years - but it looks like it may happen after all. The Development Services Department approved the owner's application to convert Southwood Gardens Townhomes from rentals to condos. This is not an easy or fast process, because the City of Sacramento has stringent requirements for such conversions (Chapter 17.192 of the City Code). It is actually the second such approval. The first was in the 1980s, but the then-owners failed to make even a single sale and the approval lapsed.

A public hearing before the City Planning Commission is scheduled for Thursday, September 27. If the Planning Commission approves it, the application will go to the City Council in November.

If the conversion is approved by the City Council, the owners may proceed with the unit renovations, evictions, sales ... which puts our tenancy in jeopardy. We are supposed to be able to negotiate up to a 3 yr lease before our unit must be renovated - and although the market is pretty bad, just now, for home sales and mortgages, I think the writing is on the wall. We'll need to get our finances in order in the next couple of years, and look for another place - house? - to buy or rent.

The Southwood units have not been well-maintained over the years, and we don't want to buy ours. It's OK as a rental, but not as a home we would own. We are afraid that the homeowner association will need to perform expensive repairs and maintenance soon, and the cost will be added to the mortgage payment - beyond what we can afford.

Stay tuned.