Tips for your property

A communal pool: safety, real cost and house rules

A pool costs three times what the meeting had in mind when it voted for one. And it commits everyone’s liability.

Shared room fitted out in a condo building

Condo Life

Creating a shared room: the project that changes a building

Most buildings hold an unused room. Almost none of them use it.

Awnings and screens on the balconies of a residential building

Collective Decisions

Awnings, pergolas and screens: what can go on a balcony

The first awning in a building decides the colour of every one after it. Better to decide that at a meeting than at random.

Condo Projects

September 1, 20269 min

Building upwards: funding works by selling development rights

Some buildings fund their façade and their lift with no call for funds. They sell their roof.

Residential estate of houses with shared areas

Condo Board Organization

Horizontal condo or residents’ association: knowing which you are in

You pay common charges for roads and gardens. But do you know which regime your estate follows?

A unit being converted into housing in a condo building

Collective Decisions

Converting a unit into a flat: what the association can say

A unit turned into a studio means one more occupant, networks used differently, and an allocation key that no longer fits.

Pest treatment in the common areas of a residential building

Issue Management

Bed bugs, cockroaches, rodents: who treats and who pays in a condo

A flat treated on its own is reinfested within three months. That is the only thing to grasp before arguing about who pays.

Works handover in a condo building with snagging list

Condo Projects

Handover and guarantees: the moment that protects the building

Everyone watches the quote. Almost nobody watches the handover — yet that is what starts the guarantees.

General meeting voting on removing the property manager

Property Management

Removing the property manager mid-term: what is possible, and at what cost

Waiting for the term to end is often cheaper. But when things deteriorate, there is a way out.

Condo building rules being consulted by a board

Property Management

August 31, 20269 min

Building rules: reading them, applying them, changing them

It settles half the arguments at a general meeting. Almost nobody has read it, and many boards do not even hold a copy.

General Meeting

General meeting minutes: what they must contain and how to check them

The minutes are the only proof of what was decided. Vague minutes make a decision arguable for years.