Cautionary notes on Condos

Having managed everything from Industrial sites to Shopping Centres I can tell you that when Richard Anderson dropped a copy of the Condominum Act on my desk at PCI it changed my carreer path completely.

It wasn't like anything else I had experienced in management. Yes, we have meetings on commercial sites but it is with professionals in their field; not some frustrated person coming home from their own job to deal with neighbourhood matters after supper.

I learned over time that sometimes you have to feed them as a council member with an empty stomach can really make for a nasty meeting. I even had the Strata Budget include Council expenses so meetings could be held at White Spot.

One of the pitfalls we experienced was the lack of any long term planning among Owners for their investment. With many home owners not staying much longer than 5 years many just wanted the minimum in their Contingency fund. Much of my time was spent locking horns with Flippers. Telling them the roof or boiler would need replacement or an upgrade in 25 years was of no interest to them. Those that did listen though experienced stable strata fees and contingency reserves were used for their intended purpose...the unforeseen.  I have to thank Paul Rasmussen at Baywest who helped me assemble the first Long Range Contingency plan in BC. When they drafted the Strata Property Act they amended the regulations to ensure the stability of the marketplace by requiring what they now call a Depreciation report.

One of the fallacies that Owners believe is their Councils have all kinds of discretionary spending but the reality is once the Insurance premiums, contractors and staff are paid there remains little left. In the end they are deciding the décor of the lobby or the frequency of window cleaning and not much else. Even Landscaping decisions are sent to committee which are generally decided by the Corporation as a whole.

Dealing with all these issues brings with it the incumbent stress. As the Property Manager you will either be loved or hated and that brings empathy for someone even like Donald Trump. A call I received once got me in hot water when the woman on the other end shrieked that she had witnessed the same piece of paper on the lobby floor for 3 days. I made the mistake of acknowledging the fact that the cleaning staff sure didn't put it there, neither had I and she had walked by it 3 days in a row and as an Owner felt no compulsion to pick it up. This is the marketing of Condos where you can 'throw away your tools and relax'. If you want to avoid some of the pitfalls I suggest you quickly realize the difference between subjective and objective decision making and leave the first to the Councils.

Well. it's been 30 years since Richard dropped the news on my desk. I survived where others packed it in long ago. (The average Strata Manager lasts less than 3 year). If you like the challenge of a Generalists job I think few can match this kind of work. It does require some mental toughness because I admit, even me, I cried in the shower a few times.