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now being the pres

January 5th, 2014 at 06:22 am

So if you haven't been following along, during the condo all-owner meeting on Dec 8 I volunteered to serve on the condo board, and during the mini-board meeting held after I was selected to be the president.

Jan 1, I began my term. So suddenly things like the garage gate getting stuck/touchy during the winter/cranky when it knows you are in a hurry/blah blah blah ... now its my responsibility. I'm noticing every loose doorknob and freaking out just a little bit. Alternating with the freakout comes my family sense of humor - I was just thinking, as I was running my washer and dryer at 11pm on Friday, what is anybody going to do about it? I'm the pres!

And it turned out that since I have the largest sq ft footprint, I hold a certain amount of power. Tiny but there. If I show up, more than likely there is enough percentage ownership so that items can come to a vote. If I don't show up, everybody has to do a calculation just to make sure there is enough representation.

Seriously, my next board meeting I'm moving forward to ask and research where condo reserve accounts are. We now have adult amounts in reserves. (It will reach 6 figure in a few months) In CDs in a bank or what? Sure hope it is NOT in a money market fund - that would be the absolute worst of all worlds - no interest earned and no FDIC insurance so its not even as safe as it could be. Once I find out where it is I want to figure where best to put it if its in the wrong place.

Anybody else serving on a condo board?

Posted in Con-doze | 6 Comments »

6 Responses to “now being the pres”

  1. Ann Says:
    January 5th, 2014 at 10:07 am 1388916420
    1388916420

    Forgive me for asking what might be a silly question, but why would anyone mind if you were running the washer/dryer late at night? In California, at least during the summer months, we've always been told to use appliances during non-peak hours anyway.

  2. ThriftoRama Says:
    January 5th, 2014 at 03:18 pm 1388935084
    1388935084

    Ugh. No condo experience here. I've always avoided homeowners associations. I feel like if I own property and pay a mortgage, I should within reason be allowed to manage my business any way I want. I don't envy your being in charge.

  3. Kiki Says:
    January 5th, 2014 at 08:24 pm 1388953488
    1388953488

    Shouldn't your board legal papers detail how and where the money is kept? Our townhouse association did. It had to be in an FDIC insured account and other stipulations I can't remember.

  4. baselle Says:
    January 5th, 2014 at 09:20 pm 1388956833
    1388956833

    @Ann - loudness issues generally. You are not supposed to interfere with "quiet enjoyment" starting @ 10pm. I only have one unit below that I share a floor/ceiling with and no units that I share a wall with.

    However, the idea is that if you have a beef, your first stop is to negotiate with the owner in question. Haven't heard anything.

    @Kiki - you've given me a first stop for research.

    The condo is small-ish - 17 units, so its large enough so that you feel like you are not totally by yourself when a big expense comes up (like you would be if its 5 units), but not hundreds. When you run with the 90%/10% rule (90% of problems come from 10% of whatever) ... we are talking 1-2 whatevers versus 10-20 whatevers.

  5. Snafu Says:
    January 5th, 2014 at 09:29 pm 1388957363
    1388957363

    I'm not on our Board but my neighbor has been Pres and I listened to a lot of rants. After Reserve Fund is straightened out, it's important to conduct a review of Condo's insurance policies. When were they last sent to bid? It can help to peruse last year minutes to see what was checked last spring like roofs, drains, ratio rentalsEmbarrassmentwners, pet rules/rule breakers. Do you have community landscaping? February is a good time to make decision about landscape budget and choices for easiest care and best pricing.

  6. baselle Says:
    January 6th, 2014 at 02:27 am 1388975224
    1388975224

    @snafu - Thanks! Everything on your list except for the reserve fund has been checked and discussed. And the reserve fund is smartly increasing, but the account itself is mysterious to me.

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