Welcome to the Meritus Condo-blog
For those of you that have followed various condo related blogs for the past few years you may be looking at the “Meritus Condo-Blog” and wondering where it came from and why you would want to dedicate a few minutes to reading it or following the posts.
We are at the leading edge of a time of change in Ontario condominiums today. The Provincial government has acknowledged that our current Condominium Act is due to be revised in order to keep pace with the speed of changes in the condominium development market.
In 2001 when the Act was last revised the traditional condominium community was a residential community designed to assist in sharing costs for operating the common areas. Today we have condo-hotel developments, residential and commercial condominiums shared mixed-use buildings and of course common element condo communities which place restrictions on the Board’s ability to maintain the community.
The Meritus Group’s vision is an idea whose time has come. It is the beginning of a movement for those dedicated to condominiums returning to what they were meant to be. Communities being run to enhance both lifestyle and value for the owners.
Each condominium is unique and has different challenges ahead of it. The Meritus Group will work with your Board to develop a five-year plan focused on the needs of your condo. Physical maintenance projects, improved service levels, financial challenges…they are all manageable with a plan. That is what we can help your condo develop – a unique plan for your needs.
It was ten years ago this month that I launched my first website for a condo community. I know it seems commonplace now but at the time it was a big deal. It was something that I took a lot of pride in as a manager and I really committed to running a great website and trying to get people who lived at the property to utilize the site.
The website even had a discussion forum in spite of the fact that everyone told me I was crazy. People will be bad mouthing the manager and the board and it will take up all of your time as the manager. It turned out they were wrong…I did dedicate myself to responding to people’s questions on the forum every day. It was the last thing I did each day before I left the property and it usually took about 20 minutes.
Here is the secret though – when I answered the question I had answered it for all of the 611 owners. I had typed my answer once and everyone could see it. Things have changed in the past decade and I am not sure that many people would read a two or three paragraph answer to a question. Nor am I sure that posting once a day would be acceptable to a more demanding public.
The key message in this stroll down memory lane is that if you communicate with the owners you increase the chances of a well-informed and harmonious relationship. Not everyone will always agree, but hiding from those with different opinions is a sure way to guarantee that you won’t benefit from learning their views and they will certainly not benefit from learning yours, or the views of the Board you represent.
