Condominium living can be a warm and friendly experience. It is what you make of it. If you like people, enjoy talking to neighbours, sharing interests and the camaraderie of living in close proximity to your neighbourhood, condominium living can suit you. The life style requires that you, along with your neighbours, take responsibility for the neighbourhood that is your total condominium complex.
But it is not for everybody. Many people confuse condominium apartment towers with rental apartment towers. They are not the same. Rental towers offer anonymity. You can live in a rental community for many years without ever bothering to know your neighbour beyond a curt nod when passing in the hall. That is your choice. It can be the same as choosing to be the grouch who turns off your porch light on Halloween in a neighbourhood of single family dwellings and streets full of children.
With condominium living comes responsibility. When a judge recently ordered a woman to sell her condominium, it was because of her failure, in the judge’s view, to accept her responsibility to be part of the condominium community. You ignore that community, its environs and amenities at your peril. You can disagree on this or that issue with your neighbours if you wish but you have to also know when it is time to make common cause.
The biggest problem faced in condominiums is the annual election of directors and review of how your condominium is managed. This is the part where you have got to pay attention. Not all people who want to be on the condominium board are qualified. Those who might be qualified are not always willing to stand for election. Too often, condominium owners settle for people on their board who should never, ever be turned loose with a budget that can be in the millions of dollars.
Most owners rely on the condominium management that the board hires to do the real work in managing the condominium. There are a few very good site managers in the business, there are many mediocre managers and there are some that can seriously shake your faith in your fellow human. You do not always discern the difference in time.
But it all is in the hands of the board of directors. When adding new people to the board each year, you really need to find out if the people are competent managers. You need to understand why they want the position. You need to understand their agenda. Too often, boards become the resting place for the tired and retired, people who want to change the rules—for their benefit, not yours—and those seeking to stroke their egos. It is a thankless job but you have to find the most competent people you can who will do the job and take the abuse.
Keep all that in mind and you will find that condominium living is a great life style.
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