This is a busy time of year here in Loreto Bay, not only is
it the beginning of another Season and the repopulation of the community with
the return of the Homeowners who spend the summer months in more temperate
climates, but this is the time of year that the AGMs are held for the
sub-regimes of our Condominium Association.
As I write this, we are still in the midst of these meetings
that will extend over two weeks and probably involve a record number of
residents attending in person, as well as those who could not be here represented
by proxy. The condominium structure here
is governed by Mexican law and, while similar to Condominiums or Homeowner's
Associations in Canada and the US, there are some peculiarities and differences
as well.
On the sub-regime level there are committees of Homeowners
that focus on their own part of the community and deal with issues affecting
the smaller neighborhoods where their homes are located. The HOA fees (that typically range between
$200 and $300 US per month for an average home) are divided, with part of the
money going to the master regime budget to cover community wide operating
expenses, and the balance making up each of the sub-regime's budgets that pay
for the expenses associated with their neighborhood.
The original condominium structure was put in place by the
Developer, following guidelines prescribed by Mexican law, and in the beginning
the Developer handled most of the condominium operations. As the number of completed homes increased, along
with the numbers of Owners and the amount of time they spent here,
responsibility for the management of Loreto Bay shifted from the Developer,
with the Homeowners taking over more control of their Condominium Regime.
In 2009 following the collapse of the original Developer, there
was an almost immediate shift to a wholly autonomous Home Owners Association, which
required a much higher level of involvement from the Owners to guide and
administer a rapidly growing community.
In those early days of self-management a core group of Homeowners
stepped up and took over the responsibility for how the rules and regulations
we inherited from the Developer would be applied (and in some cases changed) in
the "real world", and shape the community that was still evolving.
We are particularly fortunate to have had a strong pool of
volunteers with significant qualifications and expertise, willing to step up
and commit to serving this community on a volunteer basis and help to get our Homeowners
Association up and running, during those formative early years. Although there has been some turnover of
volunteers at the master and sub-regime levels over the years, there appears to
be an greater than normal number of new people getting involved for the first
time this year, as more of the original
core group "retire" from these condominium responsibilities.
This too is another aspect of the maturing of our community
as people bring new ideas and a fresh enthusiasm to the tasks, which complements
the knowledge and experience gained by those HOA volunteers who have preceded
them. Through this blending of experience and enthusiasm, Loreto Bay will
continue to be a vital and healthy community that should be well prepared for
the challenges that will face us in the future.
But it is also a time to appreciate the tremendous progress
we have made as a community over the past ten years since the first sales event
here - and more particularly over the past five years that we have been
self-administered. And it has been during that time, since most of the home
construction was finished, that the greatest progress has been made towards infrastructure
completion and the beautification of Loreto Bay. Along with that progress, comes the community
pride that we all share for this place we live, and I believe that this sense of
pride is immediately apparent to the guests and visitors who come here for the
first time.
Although it is true in condominium organizations everywhere
that a majority of owners benefit from the time and efforts of the few who take
on the duties of the board and run things.
That contribution becomes even more critical when the properties
concerned are vacation and retirement homes located thousands of kilometers
away. But as more and more Owners visit
more frequently and/or spend longer times here, and a new cadre of those Owners
step up to the responsibilities that come with condominium ownership, we see
the example of a young community like this getting stronger as it grows.
So although condominium governance is normally perceived to
be a fairly dry topic, in our case I believe that it serves as another example
of how the community is growing and maturing, largely due to the efforts of the
Homeowners ourselves. While there
are some aspects of the vision that many of us bought into (as portrayed by the
marketing of the Developer) that will never be part of this community, it is becoming increasingly apparent that
what we do have here now, is much more than an artist's rendering or some hypothetical
amenities in a sales presentation. What
we have built is more than the bricks and mortar we originally purchased, it
has become a community with a heart and soul, populated by friends and
neighbors, and creating a synergy that in many ways has already become much
more than we were originally promised.
When a small group of original Homeowners gives guidance in
the early days to the management of the community and help us to take control
of the sometimes challenging situations we found ourselves in. And then, when the
time comes for a "change of the guards", more Owners step up to
replace those who have already contributed their time and efforts - then we have
yet another important example of "Living Loreto".
