Google Me That, Batman!

A neighbour recently discovered that my expertise in condo management can come in handy. A few months ago I completed a document review for a young woman he knows who was buying her first home. He was away when I sat down to talk to her about the documents that I'd reviewed.

Whenever I do a document review I try to add value by explaining the essential framework for condos and how to protect the investment being made in the infrastructure of the condo as well as the unit being purchased. I explained to my neighbour's friend what to be concerned about with regard to the condo's finances and pointed out a moderate concern about the operating budget.

When my neighbour returned we spoke on the phone and he had extrapolated from my conversation with his friend that she should sell her unit in 5-10 years to avoid an assessment. I was flabbergasted. I explained that condos are unsustainable if that is the response to inadequate reserves or other financial issues that face them from time to time. The better option would be to deal with issues as they arise and adjust condo fees every year to accurately reflect what is costs to operate, maintain and replace the infrastructure.

In fact I'd suggested that she volunteer to serve on the board of her condo and keep her eye on where the money is going and in particular keep an eye on the reserve fund.

This week my neighbour called about another friend, a woman and her grown children, ages 19 and up, moving into her father's condo. This condo has an age restriction of over 50 in the bylaws. My neighbour wanted to confirm that the bylaw was unenforceable because it's considered discriminatory.

Yes and no, was my response. Yes, it's considered discriminatory now, and no, it's not unenforceable. Condos and seniors' residences have a moratorium of roughly 11 years to become compliant with Canada's laws against discrimination. This is just another example of the complexities that condo managers and boards are expected to navigate in today's world.

Personally, I think an argument can be made that a group of owners can decide that they prefer to live in a condo comprised of adults over 50, or comprised of senior citizens. If you look at it from this perspective, these groups are being discriminated against in equal measure. Why can't they choose to live in a building like that? What about their rights?

But that is a bit beside the point. Somehow I have replaced Google if my neighbour needs to know anything about condos. He's very neighbourly and interacts with everyone in the vicinity of our house. I just hope that he doesn't start handing out my business cards when our aging neighbours start to talk about buying a condo.

I guess I'm quicker than Google in answering some condo questions. Score one for human vs artificial intelligence. Who knew I had such superpowers?