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Tag Archive for: condo managers

Connecting With Directors & It’s Value

July 17, 2024/in Educational

So, you put your name forward and got elected to the Board of your condo. Now what?

For many condo owners, participating as a director of their condo corporation is their first experience on a board or having anything to do with managing a large property with multiple owners (and expectations!). As board members in Ontario, we must complete basic training on how Ontario condo corporations work and our legal responsibilities as directors.

But what about all the other stuff? The range of demands on a director can be daunting: dealing with property managers, many different vendors, huge budgets, security, building-wide mechanical systems, owners, tenants, legal challenges, and more.

One solution is to network with other board members in your area and learn from them. CCI education events are a great way to meet other board members interested in a specific topic, but those opportunities can be fleeting. Another approach is to build your own networking group.

 

 

Two years ago, a Kitchener woman, Penny, was newly elected to the board of her condo and heard of another woman who was also a new board member. After a quick introduction, they met up for coffee to discuss their experiences as new condo board members. The conversation quickly shifted to sharing challenges and solutions to various issues they had experienced in their buildings. The nuggets of value and the number of unanswered questions led them to want to include more local board members to meet informally over coffee.

It might have ended there, except that Penny isn’t one to sit around waiting for somebody else to take the reins. She decided to organize a monthly “coffee club” meeting to discuss the challenges of sitting on condo boards in our area. Word of mouth quickly grew, and before we knew it, the group had a representative from over a dozen buildings in Kitchener-Waterloo. The group has a virtual early morning meeting once a month. The agenda is based on whatever topics members bring forward, although costs, condo fees, security, property managers, and mechanical systems tend to be the most heavily discussed topics. Tours of member buildings have also been organized from time to time.

 

 

The properties represented in our coffee club range from 60 to 350 units and 2 to 36 years old. Every building is unique, but we all share many of the same challenges and rely on the same pool of local vendors. If one of us is faced with the prospect of replacing a boiler, a cooling tower, or water softeners, somebody in the group has done it recently. If there is a need to up your game regarding security systems or your building access and package drop systems and procedures, somebody has done that too. If you feel you should be adding EV charging, there is experience in the group. What worked down the street may not be the appropriate solution for your building, but they’ve probably already done a load of research they can share that can be immensely valuable.

Touring other properties has brought up topics nobody in the group thought to ask about. These have included bike storage solutions and management approaches, waste/recycling/compost management practices, resident committees that tend to patio herb and flower gardens, and more.

 

 

Our group no longer accepts new buildings as the current size is optimal. However, Penny has proved that all it takes is one person willing to organize and hold monthly meetings to make it happen. It Is easy to connect with boards in other buildings close to yours. If word of mouth doesn’t work in your situation, another approach is to find out who the property manager of buildings close to yours is and start there. They can’t (shouldn’t!) give you contact information for directors of other buildings, but they should be willing to forward your email to the board explaining your plan, the benefits, and an invitation to join your own condo coffee club. If you decide to start a group like this and have questions about how to do it, Penny has offered to discuss it with any interested board member to share her insights and experience. She can be reached at pjstantoine@gmail.com.

 

 

John Hayes,

Business Analyst (Retired),

Mergatroyd Systems INC.

our Previous Blogs.

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Mitigating Risk When Snowbirds Fly South

October 19, 2023/in Educational

Things to consider before the Snowbirds Fly South

We hate to say it, but it’s that time of year again to prepare for plummeting temperatures and to make plans for the winter ahead. Maybe you like to head down south for the winter and escape Canada’s snow. But what are some things you should be thinking about before you leave your home for the winter? Here are a few things to consider before escaping to warmer locations.

1. Safety and Security Concerns

a. Check your home insurance policy

What does your insurance policy require you to do when you are away for an extended period of time? Do you need to have someone check your home every few days? If so, make sure you have a family member, friend, or neighbour agree to do the required checks. If you’re not sure what your policy requires, call your insurer to check. Ask whoever is checking your home to pick up mail, newspapers, etc. as well so you don’t give away signs that your home is empty and unmonitored.

b. Check your condominium documents

Your condominium’s declaration may have rules that impact your decisions when you’re leaving for the winter as well. For example, are you required to keep your home at a certain minimum temperature to ensure your pipes don’t freeze, burst, and cause a building-wide flood?
If you’re considering renting out your home as a short-term rental while you’re away, does your condominium declaration and/or rules allow short-term rentals? If so, are there limits on how short (or long) you can rent your home out for?

c. Don’t turn off your heat!

Heating your home in the winter can be expensive, but so is flooding caused by a burst pipe. So don’t forget to continue to heat your home while you’re away. Even if your insurance policy and condominium documents don’t require regular checks, set this up anyway so you can have peace of mind while you’re away. Accidents happen, and if there’s a flood or any other emergency in your home, you want someone to catch it as soon as possible.

2. Virtual meetings

Does your corporation have a lot of owners who are Snowbirds? You may have found that this can restrict your options when holding board meetings and Annual General Meetings (AGMs). Luckily, virtual meetings and platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams has made location a problem of the past! There are also a few third-party companies that can be utilized to ensure flawless e-voting, guarantee quorum and assist with the technology side of virtual meetings for those who are not so tech savvy.

Holding AGMs virtually has several benefits. It can ensure quorum is met as owners can log in from anywhere or easily provide digital proxies. There is also flexibility in the timing of the meeting. Before virtual AGMs, a lot of corporations would rush to hold their AGM before unit owners departed for the winter. Now, it can be held anytime within the 6 months after the year end, which can reduce pressures on the auditor, property manager and the board.

Many guest speakers, such as lawyers, engineers and auditors are now charging additional fees for in person attendance. Virtual attendance is often cheaper or possibly included in their professional fees, as it is less time consuming for the guest.

While there is a lot of planning and preparation that goes on for travellers at this time of the year, it’s important to not forget about the condominium you are leaving behind. Ensuring that your unit is taken care of while you’re away can be a relief not only to you, but to your fellow neighbours as well!

 

Authors:

Shalon Chapman, LCCL
RLB LLP

 

 

 

Annie Bailey
Lawyer
Robson Carpenter LLP

https://cci-grc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Blog-Titles-CCI-2.png 300 750 adminCCI https://cci-grc.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/CCI-Full-Logo-Grand-River-31ae3da81a2928943167b28ecdb52b1f-300x103.jpg adminCCI2023-10-19 12:08:292023-11-03 17:29:47Mitigating Risk When Snowbirds Fly South

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