Condowise Learning - Tips and Tricks
10 Tips and Tricks on New Condo Pitfalls
- Not appreciating that the budget presented by the developer is out of date and numbers need to adjusted. Take the time to work with management and professionals to know where adjustments will come after year one and why.
- Not adjusting reserve fund contributions adequately in the first year, This is a tough one but it needs to be done.
- Not taking the time to do a thorough First Year and Second Year Performance Audit and undertaking destructive testing as necessary. Tarion is useful if used and used wisely.
- Not communicating with owners on the importance of completing the Unit Owner Survey on the common elements sent out by the Condo’s engineer. Helping identify deficiencies on unseen common element components makes the filing robust and accurate.
- Not leveraging the Tarion process to the benefit of the condominium. If the developer does not fix it, then unit owners are stuck paying twice. You paid for a properly constructed (not perfect) condominium.
- Not communicating with the community on the status of various issues like construction deficiencies etc. It is worthwhile to start building community. Communication is key to growing the community. Unit Owner education is so important!
- Not appreciating the content of the constating documents. While not the most interesting read, the condominium documents the Declaration, Bylaws and rules really assist in helping understand obligations and rights.
- Not putting policies in place regarding governance. The basic policies are Information Management Policy, Human Rights Accomodation Policy, Anti- Violence and Harassment policy.
- Appreciating that the Board is directing growth of the community. This is the biggest investment for many people so proactive preservation is key.
- Getting on top of the Board agenda in a timely way. The first year is BUSY! Best to break it down.
