If you want to make everyone happy, buy a bakery. Don’t run for the Board.
Running a condo board sounds simple — until you’re the one sitting at the head of the table with five strong opinions, unclear roles, and owners who all think they know better.
In How to Run a Condo Board: What They Don’t Tell You Before They Hand You the Gavel, former reluctant condo board president Owen Parr shares the hard-earned lessons he learned the hard way. Through candid stories and practical takeaways, he reveals why most boards drift into chaos and how to bring order with clear structure, consistent enforcement, and real accountability.
You’ll discover:
Running a condo board sounds simple — until you’re the one sitting at the head of the table with five strong opinions, unclear roles, and owners who all think they know better.
In How to Run a Condo Board: What They Don’t Tell You Before They Hand You the Gavel, former reluctant condo board president Owen Parr shares the hard-earned lessons he learned the hard way. Through candid stories and practical takeaways, he reveals why most boards drift into chaos and how to bring order with clear structure, consistent enforcement, and real accountability.
You’ll discover:
- How to stop meetings from turning into two-hour complaint festivals
Why defining the manager’s role clearly might be the most important decision you make
How to handle selective enforcement, vendor traps, surprise assessments, and the loudest voice in the room
Why ‘we’ve always done it this way’ is usually a red flag
How to protect yourself with documentation and proper process
This isn’t another dry legal manual or a feel-good pep talk. It’s straight talk from someone who got handed the president’s chair faster than he could say ‘What did I just agree to?’ — complete with the eye-rolling moments, quiet power struggles, and occasional absurdities that come with trying to govern a small floating dictatorship of homeowners.
Whether you’re thinking about running, newly elected and already regretting it, or a seasoned board member tired of watching the same mistakes repeat, this book will save you time, money, headaches — and possibly your sanity.
Because in condo board life, good intentions aren’t enough. Structure wins. Documentation protects. And someone has to make the tough calls — even when no one claps afterward.
About the Author Owen Parr is a Wealth Advisor, Wall Street veteran, and author with more than forty years of experience making high-stakes decisions. After starting in electrical engineering and co-owning a multi-branch real estate firm in South Florida, he spent decades advising high-net-worth clients on risk management and disciplined decision-making. For several years he served as president of a condominium board — an experience he found just as unpredictable, political, and instructive as anything he faced on Wall Street. He is the author of nineteen crime novels and four previous self-help books. He lives in Miami Beach, Florida.] and lives in a condo.
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