Tips to be a good President of a community of owners.

Welcome to this new blog, where we will explain several tips to be a good president of your community of neighbours.

If you have been elected to office, or have been appointed president of your community of neighbours, you will be responsible for the proper functioning and maintenance of your community of neighbours.

To begin with, it should be noted that any resident of your community, as long as he/she is an owner, can be president of the community, and as a general rule, the duration of this position is 1 year.

The election of this post is done in an orderly manner, i.e. each year it is a different owner, unless it is a neighbour who has an illness that prevents him/her from exercising the post correctly or the owner does not live most of the year in the property. For example, owners with second homes on the beach.

In this blog we will discuss a series of tips to be a good president of your community of neighbours, and to be able to carry out the position in a healthy way without falling into anxiety. But first we will give you a series of advantages of this position.

What are the advantages of this position?

It has always been said that being the president of your residents' association is a tiresome task and that nobody wants to be one, but it has a number of advantages that you can take advantage of to make the job less tedious.

• Solve the problems you saw when you were an owner: Being the president of your community, you have the power to solve those problems that you consider, in the way you see most affordable.
• Improve the economy of the community: This section is very common, as most people have different views on how to manage the community budget. As a president, you can carry out your own way of managing the economy of the community, for example by changing the water treatment system of a swimming pool, changing the lights in the communal areas or changing the paintwork in the communal areas.
• Resolving conflicts between owners in the community: This is probably the most important aspect of being president of a community of neighbours and that is to have a voice in order to solve problems between neighbours, and also to solve conflicts that affect the whole community.
• Make use of grants for your community: There are many improvements that are subsidised and you have to be vigilant in order to make use of them.

What it takes to be a good president of a residents' association.

Proximity

• Closeness and empathy: A good president of a community of neighbours, needs to be close to the common people and have empathy about the problems they suffer, you have to understand and know your neighbours, as you will be able to see how they are, how they behave and how is the best way to solve their problems. For example, if there is a dispute between two neighbours, you need to know how to deal with it in a way that does not create a more serious dispute.

Transparency

• Be transparent with your community: This step is very important, because a president who is not transparent, generates an image of lack of confidence and doubt to the owners, therefore, it is necessary to inform the owners in the most detailed way. So that they know that the money they pay to the community goes to work that improves the quality of life of the owners. It is necessary to use all possible methods of communication to reach everyone, thanks to technology, these methods are much faster. However, they can also be combined with traditional methods.

Neutrality

• Maintain a neutral position: By maintaining a neutral position, we mean not taking sides when there is a conflict of interest between two owners. This can lead to a loss of confidence in each other. This is why it is recommended, establishing your position based on the Horizontal Property Law and always with the common betterment of all neighbours in mind.

Proactivity

• Be proactive: With regard to being proactive, we mean that the president of the community has to anticipate possible problems that may arise in the community. If we have a proactive attitude we will be giving a competent and responsible image to all the owners.

Personality

• Have your own personality: Regarding this last point, it should be borne in mind that no matter how much you want to, you will never be able to get all the owners to like you, so make the decisions that you think are most beneficial for the Community, always valuing the majority and treating less pleasant opinions with respect.

Main functions of a president of a residents' association.

Administrative and maintenance function

• Manage the economy and the community's accounts: This is the responsibility of the president, who must administer the assets and the budget stipulated by the owners' meeting. This involves contracting in a reasonable manner the different services needed by the community of neighbours for the correct maintenance of the common areas. In this aspect it is important to meet with the administrator of the property. He will be the one who really knows about administration and how to run a community. You cannot leave all the responsibility on the administrator, you will have to be vigilant in case of failure. You will need to have a close professional relationship with the administrator to ensure that the accounts run smoothly.
• Take care of the maintenance of the common elements and ensure their proper use: The president of the community is in charge of overseeing the common elements and ensuring that all owners use them correctly and in a non-damaging manner. The task of contracting the different services in case it is necessary and ordering the reforms and maintenance work that the president considers necessary. There are two tools that can make it easier for the president to carry out maintenance work in the community:
  • The ITE or Inspección Técnica de Edificios (Technical Inspection of Buildings)
  • The Building Book.

Organisational and mediation role.

• Organise the owners' meeting at least once a year: This meeting must be held at least once a year to approve the budgets and accounts, also in this meeting the most important responsibilities of the community are discussed, such as: the reform or modification of the Statutes, the approval of the Internal Regulations, the appointment and dismissal of the community members, the approval of the budgets for the execution of the repair works of the property (both ordinary and extraordinary). Also those other agreements of general interest for the community. The president will be in charge of preparing the different important topics to be discussed at the owners' meeting, thus attending to the neighbourhood problems that have been requested. The owners will meet when the president considers it convenient or when requested by a quarter of the owners, or a number of owners representing at least 25% of the participation quotas.
• Resolve and mitigate all conflicts arising between the owners of the community: One of the usual functions of the president will be to resolve and arbitrate conflicts that arise in the community. Some of the most common are:
  • Non-payment or late payment.
  • Nuisance activities.
  • Antenna installations.
  • Owners' works.

So much for all the tips and curiosities that can be useful for the position of president of a residents' association. We hope it has helped you and that you will be able to face this position with a better mentality, which will undoubtedly help you grow as a person.

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