The investors

Who are they?
They are the people who bought their unit:
1.
as a short-term investment to be flipped in a year or two.
2.
as a rental property to be sold sometime in the future.
3.
as a future home when they retire. In the meantime they'll rent it out.
4.
as a home for an elderly parent.
5.
as a place to dump a difficult relative.
6.
a corporation who bought it as a place for out-of-town employees to stay.
7.
as a place to run a small business.
8.
resident-owners who moved out because they couldn't get the price they wanted. They will sell as soon as the market conditions improve. In the meantime, they'll rent their unit.

How many are there?
It depends on the building. Many older condos that have only two or three bedroom units and townhouse condos tend to have a majority of resident-owners.

However, many apartment buildings that have a lot of bachelor and one bedroom units tend to have a large number of absentee owners. These buildings can have anywhere from 40 to 80% of the units owned by absentee owners.

What motivates them
Many absentee owners have no long-term interest in their unit or units. They are solely focused on the monthly rent cheque. (According to some Realtors, most downtown condos are up for re-sale within 3-5 years after purchase.)

If they vote at all, they tend to mail their proxy to the board as long as the board promises to keep their fees low.

Getting their support
You would have to persuade them that the existing board is having a negative impact on property values and the board's actions will result in special assessments or loans that will impact their cash flows.

Any appeals for them to raise the condo fees now to boost the reserve funds will fall on deaf ears.

Contacting them
There are four ways that you can try:
1.
Use the owners list supplied by the property manager.
2.
Ask the renters for the owner's contact information.
3.
Use the municipal tax records.
4.
Put a website on the Internet and depending on the owners publish ads in the local ethnic newspapers.


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