CAI-NJ July 2018 (w)(1)

DOWNSIZING... from page 30.

realize this downsizing took getting used to. Maybe we were not suited for living in a multi-family building. We missed several of those things that come with owning your own home. This included; being able to walk out the door into our own yard rather than go up and down an elevator, although there is a feeling of security; hauling our garbage and recyclables down to a dumpster, although we did not have to worry about bringing in the containers the next morning; bringing our groceries up to our unit in a shopping cart; not being able to use a gas grill on our patio; not being able to go directly from our laundry room into the garage; and not having a 2 car garage. Living in the condo reminded us all too much of our early years of marriage when we rented an apartment in Queens. We hadn’t thought about any of these things when we decided to buy a condo. Besides this, our children bless- ed us with more grandchildren so we needed more room for sleepovers. In a neighboring 55+ community, new homes were still being built. When all subdivisions were completed, there would be approximately 1200 units including homes, condos and townhomes. It had 2 clubhouses, 2 outdoor pools, and

and were downsizing. Some still worked but many were retired. Some were snowbirds and traveled to warmer climates for the winter. One thing that most owners were interested in was how their association fees were being spent. Others were content to not get involved or go to board meetings as long as the common areas were tended to and looked nice. However, all board members had an obligation to become educated about “all things association.” There were also rules and reg- ulations to adhere to. I soon found that the best resource for learning was with CAI-NJ. Not everyone was happy about having financial decisions made by a board or rules and regulations to follow when they were the decision makers in the past. The importance of reserves needed to be explained many times. Alphabet acronyms like ADR (alternative dispute resolution), RFPs(request for proposal), and PMRs(property modification request), were foreign to most unit owners. After living for ten years in the condominium, we began to

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Thursday, September 20, 2018 Registration Open: 9:00am to 9:20am Presentation: 9:20am to 12:30pm Stonebridge Community Association 1 Cobblestone Blvd Monroe Township, NJ 08831

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CAI-NJ LEGAL FORUM WHAT WOULD YOU DO? LEGAL ISSUES IMPACTING COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS

1/2 dayof credit towards the Professional Management Development Program(PMPD)

Thisprogramhasbeen approved for 3.0credits (50minutehour).

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