Running a condominium corporation is not a hobby.
It is managing a multi-million-dollar business – with budgets, legal obligations, complex contracts, and long-term financial planning. These responsibilities require skills, experience, and professionalism.
When we elect people who don’t have that background – people who’ve never managed budgets, never led projects, and never held a professional role where accountability mattered – we set ourselves up for costly mistakes.
đź’Ľ Your Board Is Managing a Business
A condominium corporation isn’t just “a few neighbours getting together.”
It’s an organization handling:
- Annual budgets worth millions
- Reserve funds holding millions of dollars
- Repairs and contracts involving long-term commitments
- Projects requiring scheduling, compliance, and negotiation
- Legal and insurance obligations that can make or break us financially
Would you hand over a company of this size to people who’ve never worked in a structured corporate environment, never managed teams, never followed policies, and never been accountable for millions of dollars?
Because that’s exactly what’s happening.
🎓 Why Education and Professional Backgrounds Matter
Qualified directors bring:
- Financial literacy → understanding budgets, forecasts, and reserve planning
- Policy awareness → knowing what rules govern us and how to enforce them fairly
- Contract negotiation skills → protecting owners from overpaying
- Project management experience → preventing scope creep, delays, and inflated costs
- Risk management → making informed choices about loans, insurance, and litigation
Without these skills, boards default to property managers, lawyers, and consultants – and we end up paying hundreds of thousands more than necessary.
⚠️ The Cost of Inexperience
We are already living the consequences:
- $300,000+ spent on legal bills, much of it avoidable
- $178,000 on stair repairs for stairs hardly used
- Rising monthly fees and special assessments that hit every owner
When decisions are made by people with no corporate experience and no understanding of financial policies, mismanagement is inevitable – and we pay for it.
🗳️ Choose Competence Over Convenience
This is not about personality or popularity.
It’s about protecting your investment and your future.
When electing directors, ask:
- Do they understand budgets and forecasts?
- Have they managed projects or negotiated contracts?
- Do they have experience making decisions within policies and frameworks?
If the answer is “no,” then you are entrusting millions of dollars to people who are learning on the job – with your money.
🔑 Take Ownership
We, as owners, are shareholders in a multi-million-dollar corporation.
If we want transparency, efficiency, and financial stability, we need directors who bring:
- Relevant corporate experience
- Professional accountability
- The ability to follow and enforce policies
- The skills to make informed, responsible decisions
Because when we don’t, the results speak for themselves:
ballooning costs, poor planning, secretive decisions, and higher fees for everyone.
