Scary Condo Truths

 Lately, with what  many seniors who give up the "family farm" to live in a condo, are learning, you have elected amateur councils running whole hugely costly building complexes. Most of these elected officials are untrained in the skills of managing multi-million dollar edifices. Why they can't be trained or why they aren't, is a crisis that will perhaps change in a society where condo life is becoming common. Some innocent buyers think that their new home has everything in place and that magically it will all be taken care of. Not so. You will be taking care of it. You will be electing a council of people from among yourselves to do that job. They will determine how your money will be spent. The decisions these volunteers make are no minor matters. Most developments hire a management company and their personnel also, are often only lightly trained to deal with matters that can exceed their capabilities. Management needs to be carefully hired. The state of each strata structure depends solely upon the decisions that this representation comprised of owner councils and professional management makes. The security, safety, operational systems, and more  become the prime responsibility of these few individuals for the many. Expenses of huge residential properties runs high. It also seems that suddenly there arises such bodies to further extrude expense as those engaging in various kinds of attentions necessary to the building itself arise: fire inspections, cleaning, gardening, plumbing, wiring, security, insurance, lighting, assessments of various kinds: the list goes on and on. The building councils also become entangled in on-site personal disputes and other issues connected with group living. Councils are volunteers and their lives are taken up with the attention to caring for those who are fellow residents. It is a big job. As happens often, there can be personal issues between neighbours that are not easily settled and which are certainly not the responsibility of councils to police, but since there is no one else to report an offense or offensive situation to, the council members do become involved  unwittingly and unwillingly. Sometimes at condo meetings, individuals behave in inappropriate ways because of issues they are frustrated over. The solutions to these matters are not easily solved and certainly councils comprised of people who are not paid nor trained specifically, find this difficult or impossible.(I wonder why we can't have official ombudspersons.) Many owners of new condos, do not read the fine print before they purchase their beautifully appointed units. They need to understand shared living and what that means. Shared living is just that. Everyone in that building owns it and is responsible for it. Period. An elected council does the job for everyone in the building and if that job requires money, you pay. I would advise anyone who plans to own a condo to be very well informed before signing on the dotted line. There will be laws, by-laws and rules and these can be changed but not easily, and if so, only by vote.The decisions are firm and fines can be made when the rules, laws and so on, are not adhered to. Appeals can be made but with guidelines. Anarchists can bow out in condo life! It's an "us" not a "me" situation. The condo lifestyle requires a lot of cooperation, coordination, comprehension and very often concession to things that you do not especially want. Your realtor or developer has the fine print. Make sure you go over it carefully. What you see might not be what you get or want, but if you own, you have to live with it. Read the fine print. Please.