Condo living not for all
The Sun 11/9/2004 By Chang Kim Loong

PEOPLE BUY condominium units (condos) for a myriad of reasons.

Some people buy because their children have grown up and moved out and their present house is now too big. For others, it might be because it is cheaper to buy a condo than a house with land around the location they want.

Sharing maintenance and repair responsibilities appeals to people who have limited time or are not interested in such chores.

Many condos have security, swimming pool, recreation rooms, playground and other amenities and are located in highly popular locations.

When you buy a condo unit you are buying a certain lifestyle. A condo means an apartment house, or a unit in an apartment house, in which the various units are individually owned.

Each owner receives an individual title (strata title) for their unit, enabling them to mortgage and sell it independently of the owners of others.

The word condo comes from two Latin words: con meaning together, and dominium, meaning property. This type of property ownership has two parts: owning your own unit to which you get a strata title, and jointly owning property with other unit owners in the same condo.

It is easy to be seduced by the "glamour" of living in a condo but it is wise to understand that condo ownership comes with shared responsibilities, too.

These are the minimums on condo lifestyle that you should know:

Payments

As the owner of one of the building's units, you are required to pay a monthly service charge, which covers the building's maintenance and management of the common areas.

This charge is guaranteed to rise over time -- due to inflation or other matters not within your control.

Many of these "common areas" including the facilities are expensive to maintain, eg. lifts, swimming pool, gymnasium, tennis court, landscaped gardens, and not forgetting the security services.

In fact, some condo unit owners are required to pay service tax on the monthly service charges.

For the first-time condo buyer, little thought is given to exactly how the process works, who actually does the maintenance or who ultimately makes the decisions about what maintenance gets done.

In terms of management and decision making, there are different stages (from developer to the different stages of management corporation) that a condo goes through that will determine the responsible party to manage the condo.

The National Housebuyers Association (HBA) advises all condo owners present and future to study the sale and purchase documents and the Strata Titles Act carefully to understand the responsibility of ownership and the contributions to funds involved.

Tolerance

Condo residents share walls, floors/ceilings, hallways, entrances and parking areas with their neighbours. Respect for other people's right to the quiet enjoyment of their homes is part of the arrangement.

Your neighbours will appreciate (and hopefully reciprocate) your efforts to turn down the radio or TV volume, walk softly, close your doors quietly and limit your vacuuming to reasonable hours.

Inconsiderate residents would often inconvenience the lives of those around them. You will have to have some level of tolerance to live in a condo, for eg. noise from little children.

Are you willing to follow the community's rules?

In a condo, small or big, rules and regulations are required for everybody's benefit.

Condo owners are bound by the covenants, by-laws and all other conditions and rules as set by the original proprietor or the management corporation

These various covenants cover everything from special assessments and the election of the association's officers to the allocation of parking spaces and the use of recreational facilities.

Owners who fail to follow the rules can be fined, and complaints with the relevant authorities for seizure of an owner's property can be made if the fines or assessments are not paid.

If you are willing to follow the rules and regulations, you might be happy living in a condominium setting.

Are you prepared to volunteer your time for the condo?

Owners of a condo are all automatically members of the management corporation (MC), when one is formed under the Strata Titles Act, 1985.

It is also possible for a temporary committee to be formed before individual strata titles are issued. The office-bearers for the MC or committee are made up of volunteer owners.

True, some condo owners never volunteer and never even turn up for any meetings. However, your lack of participation will be noticed by your neighbours, particularly in a smaller building.

Being part of the community means you should take your turn at serving on the committee or management council, joining a special committee, getting estimates for repairs or taking responsibility for other tasks that benefit the condo as a whole.

If you are willing to pitch in, you will earn the gratitude and respect of your fellow owners.

These are some of the questions that you should be asking if you are thinking of buying a condo unit:

What is the development's history?

For example, are there any persistent problems with leakage or poor collection of service charges?

If you are purchasing a unit where strata titles are not issued, will you have to bear the differences in built up area if it should be bigger than the "estimated" size in your sale and purchase agreement?

What is the current financial status of the condo?

Ask for a copy of the year-end financial statement, the current budget, and evidence of adequate insurance coverage.

This is easier said than done, as many developer-managed condo considers the financial statements as top secret materials, however, you will have to be persistent, so as not to be saddled with sudden increase of service charges or a badly managed condo that will reduce the value of your property.

Does the common property appear to be well maintained and managed?

Will the unit owners own the facilities as part of the common property, or will they continue to be owned by the developer?

How many units do the developer own?

In cases where a large number of units are owned by the developer, the developer will continue to have a majority voice.

How many of the units are rented out?

In condos where there are more rental units, you will have less people to volunteer for community services.

Are there extra parking bays for owners? Is there enough visitor parking? Are there restrictions on visitor or owner parking? Is there any parking allocation for motorbikes? If there are vacant land around your intended condo, will there be new developments?

You will have to talk to the residents in the condo for the answers to some of the questions above. Ultimately, the decision about whether or not condo living is right for you, comes down to your individual preferences and tolerance levels.

Buying a condo unit should be a well-considered decision based upon an understanding of the social, financial and legal aspect of the purchase.

Just as in the purchase of any type of home, you should consider carefully whether or not you really want to buy the property and that it is right for you and your family for an extended period.

The writer is the (Hon.) secretary (-general) of the National House Buyers Association (HBA), a non-profit, non-governmental, non-political organisation manned by volunteers. For more information log on to www.hba.org.my or e-mail info@hba.org.my