Being on the board of directors to help manage these multi-million condominiums and townhouses around the Toronto area is a serious matter.
Running these complexes and cooperating with private property management is the only way to protect homeowners’ most significant life investments—their Homes.
We, the former board of directors in one of the biggest townhouses in Toronto, recently had a mini-reunion to reminisce about our experiences managing our townhouses. At the same time, we want to encourage other homeowners to join their respective boards to protect their interests and enhance the values of their properties.
While having lunch, we exchanged views, shared experiences, and discussed the valuable lessons we learned from serving on the board.
I have been president of the board for almost five years, and my co-board members were Jesse, Edmund, Lorna, and Zandro.
Jessie remembered some of his memories, saying,” It’s a good experience to manage the condo, using our abilities and skills. We have played an essential part in bringing some improvements to our condo, and it’s good that we have accomplished many things, like setting up CCTV and increasing the reserve funds of our complex.
Jesse added that it’s a good idea for people buying condos to see the condominium’s excellent physical shape and make sure its reserve funds are in a good financial state.
Edmund, for his part, said that while we had managed our condo well, we still could only do so much; at times, we felt helpless because we had to follow the suggestions of the engineers and property management.
However, he agreed it was good to be on the board because”we had achieved some concrete accomplishments, like terminating the recreation center employees, giving them separation pay, and freezing the homeowners’ maintenance fees for two years without any increase.”
Another board member, Zandro, said, “It’s good to help manage our condo. It proves we have the power to terminate the services of the property management and employees if we think they are not delivering the goods, so to speak, but it is a thankless job”.
One thing we have in common is that it takes a lot of work. We have a big responsibility, and it’s hard to please everyone in the community. They always try to find faults, forgetting those we had achieved when we were on the board.
Lorna, the only rose among the thorns, said, ” I have the privilege of working with
the best board that ever runs our condo. It was good to work with them.”.
For my part, I will always be grateful to those cooperative homeowners and property managing companies and our Corp. lawyer for taking lighter and less stressful the heavy load of running the complex’s affairs.
My sincere thanks go to all of them for making our complex more livable despite the intermittent problems and other issues we must overcome.
I will always remember the homeowners’ decorum during the annual general meeting. We have proven that although we could have some disagreements and debates, what has prevailed is our respect for each other, abiding by the rules of the majority, and fair play.
The lesson we want to impart to you, homeowners living in various condos and townhouses in Toronto, is to try to get involved in your board. Join the board. Always remember that being on the board puts you in a position to bring about significant changes in your homes.
So, take care of your complex—this is your home. Turn it into a paradise where people treat each other more as friends than neighbours.