Erenköy lies slightly inland from Bağdat Caddesi and is quieter and more settled. Its building stock has been redeveloped less than Caddebostan or Suadiye, and in a good number of buildings the owners have lived there for many years.
Two sides of a settled community
Long-standing neighbours are both an advantage and a difficulty for management.
The advantage: communication is strong, attendance at meetings is high, and collection is generally reliable.
The difficulty: practices that have settled in over the years, on the basis that “we have always done it this way”, may not comply with the law. A decision ledger kept irregularly, common expenses divided differently from the statutory rule, or a statutory inspection not carried out for years: none of this looks like a problem until a dispute arises.
When we take over, we identify the existing practices and set out in writing which of them do not comply. The aim is not to relitigate the past but to make sure the building is not left exposed when something goes wrong.
Services in older buildings
In buildings put up between the 1970s and the 1990s, the electrical installation, the water risers and the old pipework left behind after conversion to natural gas are the main risk items. They cannot be dealt with in one go; they need to be tied to a multi-year renewal plan.
Handled that way, it becomes a manageable cost. Left unplanned, every fault is urgent, expensive and contentious.