If you’re here, I imagine you don’t know a great deal about condo boards. To you, they may be similar to homeowner’s associations — and we all know what kind of reputation those have. A bunch of busybodies who tell everyone how to handle their own property.
The fact is, this reputation is largely undeserved. Condo boards tend to be a bit more important than homeowner’s associations. They’re responsible for making pretty much every decision about your condominium complex. If it helps, you might picture them as something of a self-contained government, directing the management, maintenance, finance, and development of a building.
A good condo association can be the difference between pleasant living conditions and a slum. As an example, one place where a family friend lived had a condo board that was both dispassionate and disengaged.
One day, a pipe burst and the building began to flood. It took the board nearly a day to respond to the incident, which happened on a Wednesday evening. Meanwhile, five entire floors of the building were flooded with torrents of water.
As an owner, you have a stake in ensuring things are properly run. After all, the decisions a condo board makes, and whether or not its members are competent, directly influence your property value and living conditions. As such, it’s in your best interests to join your condo association.
By securing yourself a position on the board, you’ll be able to directly influence the development of your condo complex. You’ll be able to take an active role in guiding decisions that impact everything from amenities to bylaws, potentially challenging those you disagree with.
As an example, say you purchased a condo in a building that doesn’t allow pets. As a board member, you can more easily make your voice heard as you campaign to change that bylaw. As an added bonus, you can gain valuable life experience. You can learn to be better at managing money, better at forging and managing relationships, and better at leadership.
Plus, it’s volunteer work — and that always looks good on a resume.
However, a word of caution: Joining a condo board for purely selfish reasons is a bad move. Because like it or not, it’s a lot of hard work. Depending on which position you choose, you could be signing up for a second job — and an unpaid one at that.
Instead, join your board because you want to do something good for the community. Because you want to grow, learn, and thrive as an individual. Because you care about your fellow residents and about your friends and neighbors.
Protecting your investment is just an added bonus.
Ryan B. Bormaster is the managing attorney at Bormaster Law. The law firm practices in a number of areas, including real estate law.
