What do the owners want?
Condo corporations consist of owners who have three different views on
how the property should be maintained and differ on how they think the
by-laws and rules should be enforced.
Common
expenses
Common expenses are not really fees or taxes but the
monthly costs of operating and maintaining the condominium corporation.
As far as the monthly expenses go, condo owners can be divided into
three separate groups, one which will control the board of directors.
1.
Maintain the building & services
Maintaining the building and grounds to their original standards over
the
long term is important to this group. So are the services that the
corporation provides. That is why they bought their units.
They plan to live here indefinitely and the
board should set the monthly common expenses
accordingly.
2.
Plan to sell
This group plans to sell in the next two to five years. They are mainly
interested in "curb appeal" so they will get the highest
possible selling price. Low monthly fees means it will be easier for
them to sell.
They demand that the board
keeps the common expenses as low as possible and only spend money
fixing up:
• the lobby
• the hallways
• front landscaping and driveway.
Some owners who rent out their units also fall into this category. They
want the building to look good enough to attract renters.
3.
Keep the monthly costs low
This group wants the monthly expense payments to be set as low as
possible and kept there.
As long as the lights are on, they have hot water and the elevators
work, they're content.
Not much else is important to them. Don't talk to them
about the long-term because they don't care about the long term. Right
now, all they care about is getting by until we get they get their next
pay cheque.
(Many owners who rent their units are in this category. Every
dollar spent on monthly common expenses is a dollar out of their
pockets.)
They will vote for anyone who promises to freeze the expenses or keep
them
low and they will throw out any board that raises the fees.
If the board brings in an administrator, they will suffer. However, as
soon as the
administrator leaves, they will revert back to low monthly payments.
Why is this
important?
The
board of directors needs to set the monthly common expenses at a level
that the majority
of owners will accept. If the fees are higher than that, the board is
in constant danger of being voted out of office.
Rules and
regulations
Every condo has a declaration, by-laws, policies, rules and
regulations. Where they differ is whether or not they enforce them and
to what degree they enforce them. This matters.
A condo where the rules and regulations are enforced—and where the
owners are charged back for all damages they cause to the common
elements—tend to be
cleaner,
have less vandalism, graffiti, fewer noise and behaviour complaints and
have higher property values.
Those condos that don't are not as pleasant to
live in. At the lowest end of the scale, condo living can be extremely
depressing as the standards for cleanliness and the behaviour of the
residents rival that found in public housing complexes.
The board
High standards must be maintained in a new condo from day
one for once they slip, they are extremely difficult to restore.
Yet the board cannot ignore the owners' wishes. If the majority of
owners—of the ones that bother to vote—demand low monthly costs, then
low expenses
is what they will get as the owners will steamroll over a board that
ignores them.
That is why the board needs to inform the owners why they are paying
common expenses and what their money is buying them.
top
contents
chapter previous
next