The Leewood Brochure

In the June 2003 newsletter, there is a mention of a brochure. The board had decided to distribute it to all homeowners/residents, after printing, along with a note to explain it's purpose . However, that rather logical plan of action was pre-empted by a discussion in the newsletter that might have been confusing due to the excerpts that were chosen. This is definitely a "web version"; the words and pictures are the same but the actual brochure is three columns so it can be folded in three and fit in a business size envelope. In the actual brochure, drop caps are used to introduce new topics. This was approximated in the web version by a larger capital letter. The panorama is the cover page of the brochure.

The purpose of the brochure is to explain Leewood to the prospective buyer. We would like future owners to know what we are all about, and who is better qualified to tell them than us? The packet that new homeowners get is delivered after the decision to buy has been made. The people can back out of that decision for three days, but essentially the emotional capital has already been spent, so most do not. It was thought to be better to explain Leewood before the decision is made, rather than later. Our aim in the development of the brochure has been to be both truthful and realistic. We're proud of our community and believe that we are unique in many ways.

Most people in the field realize that a homeowner's association comes with both rights and responsibilities. Unfortunately, not all buyers are that well educated in association living, and not all real estate agents inform the buyers to take it into consideration. The nature of our association and parking is mentioned in the brochure, as you will see. We know of no townhouse community that is appropriate for families or groups of people with a large number of cars. Some are a little better than Leewood, others are far worse. If someone has a situation where they plan on having say 6 cars, they would be far better served to find a detached home than buying into any planned development. We think it only fair to make this known to buyers before they move into Leewood. The alternative is to greet new owners with the message that they should rid themselves of some of their vehicles. In addition, if we get many new owners with a large number of cars our parking situation will become strained, to say the least. It works well now, but we hope to avoid draconian parking regulations on our current and future residents by encouraging future residents to be realistic. It seems to be far better for everyone concerned to be proactive, rather than to try to solve the situation retroactively. Similarly, we have had owners that somehow did not understand that there was a mandatory homeowners association in Leewood when they bought. This misunderstanding makes for unhappiness and unnecessary tension. It is better for our community to have fully informed buyers.

The majority of people, including real estate agents, who have seen the brochure have been enthusiastic about it -- we hope you are too! Click here for a web version of the brochure.