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The 5 Best Things about Condo Life - Why you should buy a Condo!

  • wecare994
  • Jul 26, 2024
  • 3 min read

There are many reasons people decide to purchase a condo, they can range from wanting to live close to a certain area like downtown. Many condo buyers desire a different or healthier lifestyle where they can walk, condos have typically been built in urban areas where there are shops and more things to do and explore without having to get in a car. Condo buyers may live alone and want neighbors and a sense of community. Many buyers don't want to have to deal with house maintenance, landscaping, snow removal or any of the issues that come with owning a single family home but they can still share in the decision making of managing and governing a condo corporation. Condo owners have the luxury of being able to be as involved as they choose in the managing and governing of their home and investment.


The 5 best things about living in a condo:


  1. You meet the best people - I have met really great people and friends that I have had for many years living in a condo. There is really a sense of community that is created from living close to each other;

  2. Never locked out of your home - If you lose your keys at least you can get into the building and not sit out in the cold. You can always buzz a neighbor to let you in and help you deal with any problems;

  3. There is always someone as pissed off at the board/property manager as you are - you never have trouble finding someone to commiserate with when things go wrong. A good venting session by the elevators or mailbox does a body good. There is always someone around who has the same issues as you do and is unhappy and you can yell and scream and figure out how to fix the issues or just needed to vent there is always someone available to listen;

  4. You never drink and drive - Once you find those great neighbors you can go next door or down the hall and have a glass of wine or two and walk home without any issues. You don't have to worry about your car or finding a cab, you simply get in the elevator or stumble down the hall and your home safe and sound;

  5. Help with mail and packages - being a good neighbor means you can help other grab their packages and put them by their door or hold on to them if they are away. Asking your neighbors that work from home to run down and assist with deliveries or watch for your mail or packages is such a great situation. You don't have to worry about them getting lost or misplaced because your expensive purchase came early because you live in a condo and have great neighbors that package is safely sitting in your neighbors home for you to pick up.


There are so many obvious reasons to live in a nice condo building with great neighbors and cultivate great relationships with your community. Condo living is they way of the future for many towns and cities. It's much more economical and efficient to build up and house 100s more people than to continue to have so many homes taking up so much and land and resources but we need to make sure that everyone learns the rules and understands their role in condo living. Boards need to follow the democratic principals and property owners need to remember they work for the owners of the building not just the board so that a community can be cultivated. Condo Boards need to ensure they adopt best practices and are accountable to their owners to secure your home and your investment. Contact us today for more info on condo board best practises and we can help secure your home and your investment.


Happy Friday everyone hope you have the best weekend! If you are reading this on any other day than Friday then you have the best day Mon or Tuesday too!


Don't forget to smile at your neighbor today, tell someone " have a good day" in the elevator or passing through the doorway!


Smile at your condo neighbor today!


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Meetings and Events

Condo Buildings have many different types of meetings -AGMs, Special Meetings and  Extraordinary Meetings, Owners Meetings -    See below on tips for making your meeting inclusive and productive 

​Annual General Meetings are crucial to democracy, a condominium corporation in Alberta is required to have annual general meetings every year and at the latest 15 months from the last AGM. These are formal meetings where owners vote on all types of business such as new bylaws, bylaw changes, financial considerations, improvements, upgrades and elect a new board of directors. There are certain procedural rules boards must follow when organizing an AGM; notice must be provided 60 days prior to the AGM, this gives owners the ability to submit agenda items to the board. After the 60 days, formal notice with the agenda items must be sent to owners within 30-14 days prior to the meeting date. Make sure you are voting at your AGMs, you need to make sure the votes are counted - make sure your board is either holding elections through ballots or a counted hand vote. 

There are several types of other meetings a condo corporation holds - Special Meetings, Owners Meetings or Town Halls. It all depends on who is doing the organizing and the topics being put forward. Condo Owners should ensure that their meetings have at least the basic requirements for example: With the exception of Owners Meetings which are called by the owners and not formal, all meetings should include, if possible: scrutineers, agenda- ability of owners to add to agenda, accurate and properly recorded minutes, elections, voting - owners should be voting on issues at AGMs to name a few. There are many requirements to hold a duly organized meeting. For example, public companies and other corporations hire several entities when they hold AGMs. Most corporations start by hiring a law firm. a company to scrutineer and often depending on the type of meeting a solicitation agent. Unfortunately, and of course because it's impractical for the majority of Condo Corporations to assume the expense of all or even a few of those entities most Condo Corporations rely on the knowledge of the property manager and an inexperienced board to deal with meetings which affects the quality of the meetings.

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​The quality of condo meetings depend on the quality of the property manager and the knowledge of your board of directors. Most condo meetings are pretty poor which leads to very little advancement and improvements in the corporation. If your condo corporation holds proper meetings then thank goodness and let us know! We want to hear about condos that are working well together creating successful condo communities. If not then well we all know when buildings incur this type of combination of a poor manager and a poor board for too long the building starts to deteriorate very quickly. Most building come equipped with basic bylaws created by the developer included in the owners manual, some specs and basic information and little else so if you were unlucky to buy into a property with owners who knew very little about condo boards you are probably facing some difficulties after a number of years.  Call us anytime and we will audit your meetings, elections or if you assist in coordinating any type of meeting. See our simple suggestions for make your meetings even more successful. 

condo meeting

Everyone is happier with a cookie in their hand

condo meeting - AGM

                                 Make people feel welcome!         

                           

Meetings are stressful even if there are no hot topics so anything you can do to lighten the mood is helpful. You could also have a giveaway or a play a little game before you get started. Don't forget name tags for large gatherings, bring a card or provide contact information and don't forget a pen, notepad or your phone to take notes and exchange information.  

If you organized the meeting: don't forget to shake as many peoples hands and introduce yourself to as many people as you can!

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Hint: If you are organizing the meeting you should be the last to leave! This helps make sure you talk to everyone who came to talk to you!

                                             Its ALL in the Details

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We believe details are important! Set up a station with coffee, juice or water to keep people hydrated and bring along some home baked or store bought treats. Owners will feel welcome and it helps to set the tone of a meeting. Who can argue with a piece of cake in their hand or mouth! Meetings should be informative and engaging and setting the tone will make your meetings more successful.

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Hint: You'll often be able to tell the people who support you or at least like you if they take a cookie or drink some coffee. More combative individuals won't take the cookie because they feel like they would owe you something back and sometimes that's just being nice and respectful.

CONTACT US Before you buy a condo 

Working as a Trustee in the corporate debt space for over a decade has helped me build a foundation in Corporate and Securities Law. As a a Manager of Corporate Trust acting as debt Trustee, collateral agent or escrow agent, I was involved in many types of large international transaction and the biggest bought deal in Canadian history. As a trustee we were involved in, attended and scrutineered all types of meetings, extraordinary resolutions and consent solicitations. As Corporate Secretary for a large public company, I have over a decade of experience in many aspects of Corporate Law.  I worked for  several years in compliance for a capital raising investment company and worked in the prosecution department at IIROC. My degree in political science gives me a heightened sense of justice and expertise in all levels of government, democratic institutions and democratic practices.  I started this company to help other condo owners who were having similar experiences with condo boards. My corporate law and securities experience provides a great backdrop to be able to help create inclusive communities one building at a time, fighting one board at a time to bring back democracy and inclusion to Condo boards. People don't need to be fighting boards -it ruins their piece of mind and stunts community growth. Boards of Directors need to be held accountable for bad decisions and bad operating procedures and educated in best practices. 

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CONTACT
LOCATION

Email: wecare@momentumcondo.com
Phone: 403.651.7403
 

881 -15 Avenue SW

Calgary, Alberta T2R 1R8

Mon - Fri: 8am - 6pm

​​Saturday: 8am - 1pm

​Sunday: Closed

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