Condo Living, Illogical Policies, and Privacy

[KenM]

I have been in Cebu now for about 5 months and have lived in two condo buildings and visited others. Something that is seldom discussed in reviews or condos or debates about condos are the policies and invasive practices that seem to vary. My understanding from speaking to residents and guards is that City Lights has reasonable and owner friendly policies. This may be because the owners probably control the corporation by now. Even during the height of covid I am told they had reasonable policies like checking temperatures but no illogical bans on all guests. I am currently living in Solinea and the rules annoy me. Until recently, well after most of the covid restrictions were lifted for the whole of Cebu city, they only allowed a handful of guests in the pool and required reservations well ahead of time for one hour spots. Guests were not allowed at all until recently. I hear some condo buildings are still not allowing any guests. They close the pool at 5 on the excuse that night swimming is dangerous... even though it's not dark at 5 and there are flood lights. If you work during the day no pool for you. Guests are required to fill out a long sign in sheet with all kinds of personal details, including the reason for visiting, and sometimes are made to leave an ID or present a vax card, at other times not. Having someone come in to service something, like cleaning the AC, requires a long form be filled out and then hand delivered to the office by yourself, even if you are escorting them to the condo. Conveniences like delivery of items to the condo are not allowed and one must go to the lobby for anything. The one that bugs me the most is that the comings and goings of tenants like myself are recorded in a book by the guards. Not just confirmation that I live there but when I leave and when I return home. These policies, and the lack of consideration of resident preferences, makes me hesitant to purchase though I was planning to. I'm curious about policies at other condos in Cebu and how they vary. 

Edited May 8, 2022 by KenM

[Freebie]

I live in an Ayala Premier condo  property  in Makati  which is supposedly upscale but not that much in my opinion.

I understand why deliveries should be in lobby only. No one wants all these delivery guys up and down private residential corridors.

I dont get the need to wear a mask in the gym when its a huge gym and restricted to 2 people at a time, who can be from the same household

Pool in my place.. opens at 6am and closes at 9pm. Only 10 allowed at a time which is fine.

What I dont particularly like is when theres a new guard at the driveway and I arrive in a taxi  its always " whats your unit" My reply is usually and not in a rude way  " its not your business. sir Im an owner here". Usually that suffices. For the gate guard that wont let me into my own building I will usually wave to the doorman and he will then tell the guard to let me in pronto as permanent staff know me, security staff permanently changing jobs less so.

I also dont enjoy when my gf exits and enters alone  they always ask her what unit she stays in... although when shes with me they never ask. Some little security power play there I think. And shes not confident enough to tell them she doesnt need to answer their questions as shes a registered permanent guest.

My building management sent out various emails telling residents if they didnt wear masks in the building they would be given written warnings. I suggested to the sender that the last time I was similarly threatened was when I was 16 and in school and such emails werent welcome.. The manager wrote back saying it wasnt intended to be offensive  although he understood that some " foreigners " didnt like his email.

Ultimately , Filipinos have perhaps less care and concern for individuals privacy than other nationalities. This shows in the need to always provide ID everywhere and who knows what people do with all that contact information.  I purchased my unit several years ago and its basically fine except for some pet peeves as described here  Again, you will have to determine if the buildings management suits you.

 

[hk blues]

19 hours ago, Freebie said:

This shows in the need to always provide ID everywhere and who knows what people do with all that contact information. 

 

Nothing. Paperwork and systems for the sake of it rather than anything productive.  A case in point was the registers in malls/shops etc during the height of the pandemic - even a cursory glance would confirm that the majority of the info was illegible and therefore a waste of time.  

[ExtraThree]

A love of arbitrary rules and a culture of passivity towards authority makes it even more special. 

[Old55]

This is a timely topic for us. We are about to lease a condo for a month. Never considered draconian petty restrictions could be in play. More fun! 

[scott h]

4 hours ago, Old55 said:

Never considered draconian petty restrictions

They are pretty endemic through out society. If you watch closely at most mall parking lots you will notice a guard jotting down your license plate number not to mention having purses checked and getting wanded entering malls. The list goes on  

[Dave Hounddriver]

11 hours ago, Old55 said:

We are about to lease a condo for a month. Never considered draconian petty restrictions could be in play.

When we leased for a month, the restrictions were enforced for the first day.  After the people at the desk and front door saw us coming and going and being polite to them, (and heard what we paid for the month), then the restrictions disappeared.  Anyone could come and go just by saying they were on their way to our condo.  I think it may have something to do with renting one of the higher priced condo's in the building.  They get to know the ones with money (or who appear to have money) and cater to them.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Dave Hounddriver

[RBM]

18 hours ago, ExtraThree said:

A love of arbitrary rules and a culture of passivity towards authority makes it even more special. 

Together with an obsession for power. We bought a condo 5 years ago, lovely pool and grounds. New manager came in, a relation of one of the property companies directors, she is brainless an useless. Makes up for  her limited ability by being a so called police power. 

Now our pool is unswimable, garbage all over, maintenance non existent plus the usual draconian rules regarding visitors as mentioned by previous posters. The housing committee for what its worth has had an attorney working on issues with no result. Latest stupidity is she banned us from using the public parking, why? Her devious plan was to have owners and renters pay her for a park slot. Nice to see a few of our owners in their large SUVs just ran through the barricades, finally she gave up. Bit of a stale mate at present.

For me condo living is great as no lawns to cut or other issues pertaining to home ownership, so much depends on the management though.  

[KenM]

I don’t know how to set up a poll but I think man would benefit from some way to know the policies at condos before renting or buying. Or if we can’t gather up that information at least to know what questions to ask. 

The latest problems at Solinea are that they are charging for guests to use the pool and are insisting that you must be home to receive any deliveries. Now this is enforced in a very unfair manner. In my own case some guards like me more than others or are more sticklers for the rules. It is ridiculous for a condo with so many staff to have a policy of not accepting packages for residents. The whole reason to live in a condo is convenience. To come and go as you want. And older folks who may not be able to come downstairs easily. In my own case I can’t always be home and often am on work calls and can’t come down. Policies like this will continue until management sees a price for them. 

[JJReyes]

On 5/9/2022 at 3:59 AM, scott h said:

They are pretty endemic through out society. If you watch closely at most mall parking lots you will notice a guard jotting down your license plate number not to mention having purses checked and getting wanded entering malls. The list goes on  

Being a security guard is boring work.  You need to give them something to do even if it is meaningless.  I recall my son being shocked that there was a security guard with a shotgun in front of McDonalds.  He smiled and opened the door for us.  My explanation was this a way to provide more jobs.  By the way, in Metro Manila, security guards outnumber police 4 to 1.  This is the reason why they were deputized as a supplementary force.