About Pat Crosscombe
Founder and CEO of BoardSpace
Where it all began
January 25, 2008
The day everything changed
Pat came to the condo board with an unusual background — a Ph.D. from Cornell, years of fieldwork overseas with CUSO as a Dairy Extension Officer, and a career at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada. She knew how to research hard problems and manage complex situations. None of it fully prepared her for what she walked into.
Pat was thrilled to purchase her first home: a townhouse condo. But the joy was short-lived. Whispers of problems turned into a flood of issues — "a few" turned out to be a significant understatement. Pat quickly realized she had poured her life savings into what felt like a lemon.
Determined not to sit back, Pat joined the board. Alongside her fellow directors, she dove headfirst into the deep end of governance, learning everything she could to fix the problems. This wasn't just a crash course in condo management — it was a complete immersion.
The "Lemon" Condo
What was the issue?
If there was a problem a condo could face, this one had it:
- Lawsuits, mediation, and title insurance claims
- Developer disputes and owner complaints
- Fire code violations and dog drama
- Special assessments and failing roofs
- Engineering and reserve fund studies
- Basement water and sewage infiltration
- A $1.5 million roof replacement
On the roof
None of us were condo experts. It was a steep learning curve to figure out what needed to be done, and the issues came at us fast. We learned very quickly that our roofs leaked and would need full replacement — at a cost of $1.5 million. We levied a special assessment and the work began.
And yes — Pat personally climbed on the roof to check the progress. The contractors weren't thrilled. Thankfully, she didn't fall off.
Good thing. BoardSpace would never have started.
From Condo Chaos to CEO
That condo was tough. But it also made one thing undeniable: volunteer boards were drowning in administrative work, and the tools available weren't built for them.
Pat had spent her career solving problems in the field — in barns, on farms, in communities overseas. This was the same instinct applied to a different kind of problem. If boards needed better tools, she was going to build them.
BoardSpace was born from that experience — to help board-led organizations manage documents, meetings, decisions, and responsibilities with confidence and clarity.
What Pat has learned and written about
Seven years on a condo board teach you things no manual covers. These articles come from that experience.
Five things new condo directors need to know
Most new directors get handed a key fob and a stack of documents and are expected to figure out the rest. This one covers what nobody tells you in the first six months — before the mistakes happen. Originally published in Condo Business Magazine.
Condo corporation facing a special assessment?
A special assessment is one of the hardest conversations a board will ever have with its residents. This piece walks through what triggers them, how to communicate the news, and what good process looks like when things get tense. Originally published in Condo Business Magazine.
A condo board's guide to fixing people problems
The bylaws cover a lot of things. They don't cover what to do when two directors stop speaking to each other, or when a vocal owner shows up to every meeting with a grievance. This one does. Originally published in Condo Business Magazine.
Seven tips for building trust in condo communities
Everything a board does — every decision, every communication, every meeting — either builds trust with residents or erodes it. This piece looks at the habits that make the difference over time. Originally published in Condo Business Magazine.
Is your condo manager stressed? 10 tips for reducing stress
Property managers carry a lot on behalf of the boards they work with, and the relationship works best when directors understand what that looks like from the other side. A practical read for any board that wants to work better with their manager. Originally published in Condo Business Magazine.
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