Posted on by davidthesCondochairman · 3 Comments

Case study: Killer lifts?

Once in a while we hear of killer litter offences. Yet there is another high-rise danger lurking; the killer lifts are often forgotten. (Some say killer pools.) These silent killers have a stranglehold on our finances through high maintenance and a large one-off sum for replacement at the end of their life spans.

We look at an example of an almost two decade old condo in District 21, with approximately 341 units. In the AGM previously, a list of facilities were drawn up to highlight their replacement costs due in the coming 3-5 years. They amounted to almost $11.5 million!

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Posted on by davidthesCondochairman · 1 Comment

How much for your green?

Nowadays we see a lot of hype in green landscaping among condos. Kudos to the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) whom promoted sustainable development with the green mark schemes and incentives. Our air is fresher and the economics made great sense for developers.

Yet some condo owners are not cheering. On closer examination, the green maintenance costs are surprising. I have heard much woes from friends in different MCSTs. Take a look at this excerpt from The Straits Times, which sums its up.

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Posted on by davidthesCondochairman · 2 Comments

Condo maintenance pitfalls

 “too little, too late”

Petróleos Mexicanos (Pemex) is the state-owned petroleum company of Mexico. In its prime, Pemex had assets worth $415 billion. It was also the world’s second-largest non-publicly listed company in 2005.

Today, Pemex is the world’s most indebted oil company with $176 billion of debts and liabilities. The Mexican government announced a $5 billion bailout for the company this year. However analysts say it needs to invest at least $10-$13 billion a year.

How did that happened over less than 15 years? Well, in short, years of disregard and non-maintenance. This is similar to managing a condo. Take for example the following chain of events:

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