Considering the fact that the building is populated mainly by widowed,divorced or single women, most of them being on Social Security for 20+years, getting this bunch to overthrow the board was daunting.
Most don't leave the LazyBoy until Friday mornings when they get their fresh blue hair do. So carefully picking a meeting night when Dancing With the Stars wasn't on was the main strategy. We invited them over for Coffee and... Come 7:00pm, the rush was on. 80 Somethings can move very fast. What with osteoporosis, dowager's humps and knee replacements, I tower over most of them at my lofty 5 feet. But they SCURRY. You take your life in your hands if you get in the way of an octogenarian and the sweet table.
After the noise of dentures crunching cookies quieted down, we told the group we had a petition to ask the Board to modify the budget and rescind the raise in maintenance fees again. That perked them up enough that a flurry of cake crumbs falling from their ample bosoms sent Buster the dog into a frantic race to get them before they hit the ground. They loved the idea. And they were willing to go door to door to get signatures.
The petition, signed by more than 60% of the membership, went to the board and the war was on.....
Thursday, December 8, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Rule #2 - If you feel the Condo Board Needs you - Remember Rule #1
The Board stonewalled all my attempts to get information regarding the Facade project - a project that was costing the association millions of dollars. Over the previous 3 years, the Board had a very high end architectural firm tell them that the facade needed $4,500,000 in repairs. So far the Board had raised and spent $2.1 million. But few "permanent" repairs had been done. The maintenance fees were skyrocketing and more than 30% higher than comparable condos surrounding us. In addition, as all the revenues that were not for utilities and employee wages were going to the facade, the inside of the building was looking seedier and seedier.
It wasn't until the information freeze that I became concerned. Up 'til then I thought that the board was simply not good at communicating info.
Then the Board put out the next budget and the proposed 10% hike caused previously kindly, little old ladies to turn into angry screechers. The time was ripe for a revolution....
It wasn't until the information freeze that I became concerned. Up 'til then I thought that the board was simply not good at communicating info.
Then the Board put out the next budget and the proposed 10% hike caused previously kindly, little old ladies to turn into angry screechers. The time was ripe for a revolution....
Friday, December 2, 2011
HOW TO SURVIVE LIVING IN A CONDO: Rule 1 - DON'T JOIN THE BOARD
If you want to live happily in a condo, the best thing is to let the crazies continue running the Board. Mine is a cautionary tale. About 6 months after I moved in I decided to volunteer for the gardening committee. As most of my neighbors were elderly and infirm, someone who could actually kneel down and then stand up was a rare commodity.
This threw me into the rarified sphere of influence of the VP of the board, our illustrious Sarah. I was a bit cautious as I clearly knew that Sarah and the "Truth" were at odds. As they say, "She had great respect for the truth so she used it sparingly."
As I was anxious to meet my neighbors I continued my "friendship" with Sarah and joined her exercise group, her swimming aerobics group, and basically became her gopher. I drove her around helping her with errands and meeting new people.
So, when the next Fall she asked me to join the Board, I agreed. It was a fairly easy race as Sarah pretty much called the shots with elections. She knew everyone and asked them to support her pet so I squeaked in.
Once in, I agreed to be recording secretary and spent the next 7 months faithfully recording the goings on of the Board. I was content to do this but I was definitely not "in the know". Decisions, issues, financial problems were dealt with by the inner circle of the Board - Sarah, Bambi, Nan and Brad. All the rest of us were cyphers. We weren't told what was going on, weren't involved in discussions, and were basically warming seats.
Then I met up with Nikkie. Nikkie was a knowledgeable resident who was curious about a number of issues concerning the association. She started asking me questions and I realized that I was being kept in the dark about matters that were important to the entire association.
I compiled a list of the questions and wrote up a request to get access to documents so that I could make more informed decisions and so that I would be able to fulfill my fiduciary duty to the Board.
Innocently, I submitted the request to the Board and the stonewalling began...
This threw me into the rarified sphere of influence of the VP of the board, our illustrious Sarah. I was a bit cautious as I clearly knew that Sarah and the "Truth" were at odds. As they say, "She had great respect for the truth so she used it sparingly."
As I was anxious to meet my neighbors I continued my "friendship" with Sarah and joined her exercise group, her swimming aerobics group, and basically became her gopher. I drove her around helping her with errands and meeting new people.
So, when the next Fall she asked me to join the Board, I agreed. It was a fairly easy race as Sarah pretty much called the shots with elections. She knew everyone and asked them to support her pet so I squeaked in.
Once in, I agreed to be recording secretary and spent the next 7 months faithfully recording the goings on of the Board. I was content to do this but I was definitely not "in the know". Decisions, issues, financial problems were dealt with by the inner circle of the Board - Sarah, Bambi, Nan and Brad. All the rest of us were cyphers. We weren't told what was going on, weren't involved in discussions, and were basically warming seats.
Then I met up with Nikkie. Nikkie was a knowledgeable resident who was curious about a number of issues concerning the association. She started asking me questions and I realized that I was being kept in the dark about matters that were important to the entire association.
I compiled a list of the questions and wrote up a request to get access to documents so that I could make more informed decisions and so that I would be able to fulfill my fiduciary duty to the Board.
Innocently, I submitted the request to the Board and the stonewalling began...
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
THE BEGINNING
Years ago someone asked me if I would like to buy a condo?
My answer was NO. Living in a condo has all the problems of living in and apartment and all the problems of home ownership.
That was YEARS AGO.
Now, after years of living in a small, drafty, moneypit of a house, Jerry and I decided it was time to simplify and move into a CONDO.
The price was right. The time was right, so mom, Jerry, me, Sonia the Cat and Buster the dog went off to the Hi Rise in the sky. 2000 square feet of space overlooking a park, complete with a pool and both heat and air conditioning covered by the maintenance fees.
One drawback was that the building was about 40 years old and the previous owner, now dining with the fishes, was the original owner and had not brought the condo up to date in all that time. The ancient stove, sink, fridge and wall paper screamed - GUT ME.
So we did. And after two months of rehab hell, we had the home of our dreams. Sort of...
The first inkling I had that something was off, was the phone call from Sarah. Sarah was the VP of the Condo Board. But she called to ask how Jerry was doing. He apparently was ill as he had not taken the condo shuttle to the grocery stores for over a week. She said " We miss him."
"He is under the weather but should be back on his feet soon."
"Good, we look forward to seeing him, But I understand that you rehabbed your apartment. People tell me it looks great. Can I come up and see it?"
Nonplussed I said, " We are still finishing things up here. When everything is ready, I will invite you over for tea."
"Oh, I thought I would come up now."
"No, that is not possible. But rest assured, I will invite you when we are ready."
It turns out Sarah never met my husband. She got her info from other condo-mates and simply was going to take it upon herself to inspect my home using whatever story she could to get me to say yes.
----------More later
My answer was NO. Living in a condo has all the problems of living in and apartment and all the problems of home ownership.
That was YEARS AGO.
Now, after years of living in a small, drafty, moneypit of a house, Jerry and I decided it was time to simplify and move into a CONDO.
The price was right. The time was right, so mom, Jerry, me, Sonia the Cat and Buster the dog went off to the Hi Rise in the sky. 2000 square feet of space overlooking a park, complete with a pool and both heat and air conditioning covered by the maintenance fees.
One drawback was that the building was about 40 years old and the previous owner, now dining with the fishes, was the original owner and had not brought the condo up to date in all that time. The ancient stove, sink, fridge and wall paper screamed - GUT ME.
So we did. And after two months of rehab hell, we had the home of our dreams. Sort of...
The first inkling I had that something was off, was the phone call from Sarah. Sarah was the VP of the Condo Board. But she called to ask how Jerry was doing. He apparently was ill as he had not taken the condo shuttle to the grocery stores for over a week. She said " We miss him."
"He is under the weather but should be back on his feet soon."
"Good, we look forward to seeing him, But I understand that you rehabbed your apartment. People tell me it looks great. Can I come up and see it?"
Nonplussed I said, " We are still finishing things up here. When everything is ready, I will invite you over for tea."
"Oh, I thought I would come up now."
"No, that is not possible. But rest assured, I will invite you when we are ready."
It turns out Sarah never met my husband. She got her info from other condo-mates and simply was going to take it upon herself to inspect my home using whatever story she could to get me to say yes.
----------More later
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)