Is Your Condo Management A “Hidden Dictatorship” In Singapore?

Don’t live in a dictatorship seems like common-sense advice, but sometimes that’s what local condo buyers get themselves into. 

This week, I heard a story about a certain condo and dogs. I won’t name it, but it sounds a bit like “Win-Pew” and it’s a condo in the West. There’s an ongoing issue about where dogs should be allowed in that condo; and that’s a topic that isn’t as reasonable as you may think. Because sneaky fact: you can indirectly “ban” pet owners by closing off so many areas, and passing so many unfriendly regulations, that all of them leave and find somewhere else. Supposedly, that’s in the slow process of happening there. 

This is why you want to make sure there’s a good balance of power in the management committee: in case something like this happens. If you find one that’s way too cliquish, there’s almost no chance of having any say; and that will matter for a huge range of things: where your children can play, how the facilities are booked, and future en-bloc attempts. 

So even though few buyers bother to check this out, I like to scout out the committee and see if it’s too, well, totalitarian. 

Sometimes a handful of owners, who have multiple units, more or less steer the entire project. Other times, it’s a boutique development with a tiny handful of units; and everyone living there is part of an extended family. In a project like that, you might end up living at the whim of said family.

Then there’s the danger of “civil strife” 

Like any quasi-dictatorship, revolt is inevitable. And far from being a good sign, that’s not what you want to see in your condo. Let’s not forget the situation in Pine Grove, where two management committees fought for control of the condo (one refused to recognise the other,)

Do these things get resolved? Sure, by the legal system if no one else. But you won’t enjoy what happens in the meantime. The condo’s services are sometimes affected, especially if it isn’t clear who has the authority to pay whom; and maintenance of the pool, facade, security, etc. can lapse amidst the bickering. So even if a new and better management committee does emerge, it’s really better to just never go through the chaos in the first place. 

So snoop around a bit regarding management, and ask your buyer’s agent to check it out for you.

Meanwhile in other property news…

• Most landed enclaves are inconvenient without a car. That’s kind of the point: the serenity and exclusivity of the location. But here in Marine Parade, there’s a landed enclave which combines convenience with privacy. 
• The 1980s were a magical time, when Cabbage Patch Kids were investments, the Mullet was considered cool, and houses didn’t cost the GDP of a small country. While we can’t reverse time, we can look at homes like this, which recapture the magic of the era.
• What happens to your home loan when the worst happens, and someone passes on? For some odd reason, mortgage insurance is (in many cases) automatic for HDB flats; but it may be on you to find it for private property.
• How do property agents buy their own homes? Here’s how the experts find their homes, in ways you might be able to follow.

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