Condo Living: Home, but Not Alone

| Print Post This | Like (0) | Comments (0)

BE HONEST, NOW, CONDOMINIUM OWNERS. Your condo association meetings are:

A. Tedious. I avoid them like my office mate with chronic pinkeye.

B. A chance to flirt. That cute guy from the fourth floor might show up.

C. Worthwhile. I feel like I am affecting life in my building in a positive way.

Did you answer A or B? Remember, folks, it's your money (and your neighbors') that's being spent by your condo association, so why wouldn't you want a say? If that means signing on for monthly or quarterly meetings, it might actually be a good use of your time — and not just so you can meet potential mates.

Most associations' bylaws dictate that a board of directors be appointed to decide how the building will spend the fees levied on each unit (often calculated according to square footage) and any accrued savings or "reserves." Is the roof showing its age? Is the landscaping wilted? Should a new building management company be retained, or do the owners believe they can run the place themselves?

Virtually all condo buildings have associations whose board of directors or officials meet on a regular basis to discuss these and other issues. Not all condo owners serve as officials, who may be elected or appointed, and all owners are entitled to a say. But that influence is lost if they don't show up at meetings or otherwise participate.

Owners in the District, Maryland and Virginia agree it's important to weigh in to get what you want out of your real estate investment/home.

Andrea Attili, 35, a program manager with a nonprofit in Alexandria, didn't like the way her Capitol Hill building was being managed when she bought her one-bedroom unit in February 2005, so she jumped into the fray.

"I thought, 'Well, I can sit back and complain, or I can try to do something about it,'" says Attili, now president of the board at the Fairfax Condominium, a 20-unit building facing Lincoln Park.

Among the first orders of business: Attili and other officers, including a secretary and a treasurer, hired a new building-management company.

"We would ask the [former company] to replace a light bulb, and it would take eight months," Attili says. The officers interviewed several businesses and selected Hill-based Atlas Properties. Atlas' service "has been responsive and fantastic," says Attili, who says the Fairfax spends about $700 each month to retain Atlas.

Boards also may help resolve issues such as how common space like roof decks can be used, or settle disputes over neighbors' noise infractions. Ideally, though, taking that issue to the board should be a last resort. "Some boards like to make decisions that boards probably shouldn't make," including getting involved early on in a tussle between neighbors, says Caroline Mindel, president of Mindel Management Inc., whose office opened on Swann Street NW in 1982.

Such boards tend to micromanage every aspect of running the building, Mindel says; others put off making any decision, be it tiny or monumental. Yet of the roughly 40 condominium association boards her company deals with District-wide, most work effectively together. "When [board members] respect each other and get along, it is so much easier."

Some condo associations need an infusion of backbone. One owner in Bethesda, who is trying to sell his unit and asked not to be identified, believes his building's board has abdicated its responsibility in deciding how reserves are spent.

"The management company has all the incentive in the world to spend as much as possible to make the building a gem — but it's not their money to spend," says this owner, who reminds his fellow condo owners that management companies serve at the pleasure of the board, not the other way around.

In his building's case, fees have spiked in recent years, but reserves have not risen accordingly, in part because the management company plows the money back into improvement projects with little oversight from the board. Sounds good at first blush, but depleted reserves and jacked-up fees are not a prescription for the long-term health of any condo building, especially when it comes to attracting new owners. Should a storm damage the roof or flooding affect the common areas, such as the basement laundry room, lack of reserves means that so-called special assessments might be levied on each unit to make up for the shortfall and repair the damage.

Other boards take proactive roles with the companies they pay for any service.

Take 1800 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington, where Holly Feyler, a massage therapist, owns a one-bedroom condo and serves on the building's budget and finance committee. Feyler, 37, says she has "a voice in deciding what type of improvements we make" to her 150-unit building. She says that most of her fellow owners are similarly engaged.

Recent projects include reviewing the maintenance contracts the building has with landscapers, trash-collection services and other firms to see whether any money can be saved.

Condo owners often have much to learn about their role as board members, and Leslee Behar, founder of Atlas, says she sees it as her job to educate them.

"It's my job to teach our owners how to be good board members, how to understand their documents, how to make rules based on their bylaws, how to choose vendors and award contracts, how to deal with conflicts between owners, etc.," she says. "I have tremendous respect that the real estate we manage is the single biggest investment most of our owners have. It is our job to help protect it."

You don't have to hire a property-management company to ensure your building is well-run — not if all owners are willing to pitch in and share the work of maintaining the building, collecting fees, setting a budget and performing other tasks.

Kurt Rakouskas, a project manager for the Environmental Council of the States, lives with his wife in a four-unit building near Columbia Heights where each resident, owner and renter takes an active role in condo matters. The building let go its property-management company because "we realized we could run it ourselves" and save the $300 each month, he says.

"We got lucky that we have four sets of really agreeable people here," says Rakouskas, 32, who serves as president of the building's association. "I could see this being a nightmare if there were [owners] who were sticks-in-the-mud about things. While we don't always agree on everything, we have no choice" but to communicate with each other. In a building this small, "you're always going to be running into people."

The best condo association boards seem to be those where regular, amiable communication is the norm. "We want everyone to have a positive experience living there," Attili says. "And we're not schoolmarms: 'So-and-so has an [illegal] grill on their deck; what are we going to do about it?' I have friends who live in buildings like that." On the contrary, she adds, "We're a very relaxed group, which is what makes our building unique."

Written by Express contributor Amy Rogers Nazarov
Photos by Marge Ely