Thinking about buying a condo? READ THIS FIRST!

[Tommycoupons]

First I'm totally against buying any real estate in Canada, but I won't get into that. If your looking to buy a condo please read this article.

http://toronto.ctvnews.ca/etobicoke-...fees-1.2547396

Sean Davidson, CTV Toronto
Published Thursday, September 3, 2015 7:22PM EDT

Condo fees are rising to an unaffordable level for residents of an Etobicoke apartment building.
After years of neglect, Eight million dollars’ worth of repairs were completed at a 200-unit condo building at 40 Panorma Court in Etobicoke. The building still needs another $600,000 in of work to repair mold problems.
Many residents in the condo building are already paying $1,200 per month in fees but with the new renovations expected, prices could rise to $2,000 per month.
PHOTOS




This photo shows the apartment building in Etobicoke where condo fees have risen to unaffordable levels.



Unit owners like Wansa Hamo, who lives in the building, are struggling to pay the condo fees. Residents are also concerned because when condo fees rise, the units fall in value.
“Either we will pay or they will put a lien on the unit and we will lose it to the power of sale,” Hamo told CTV Toronto.
Prior to the repairs, the condo was in such poor shape that a judge ordered that the building’s finances and repairs be handled by an outside company.
In a statement, Vero Property Management Services told CTV News that they “understand the financial hardships this will cause.”
“We are trying to correct years of neglect and make sure people are safe and don't get sick,” the statement said.
Residents are asking management to spread the payments out over a longer period to ease the financial hardship.
With a report by CTV Toronto’s Pat Foran

[Shwa Girl]

I guess the residents need to elect a good condo board.
I guess the residents need to keep up to date on a regular basis and need to attend condo board meetings to ensure that things are done properly and that there is enough money stored in the reserve account

[JDI007]

I think this is an issue everywhere, in my opinion I feel that condo fee's have always been rising..my parent's and I we live in a townhouse and pay almost $300 condo fee....and for what? no I don't think it's worth it..the condo guys are lazy bums! they don't even do their jobs 100%, it could always be done better, this new company that we have sucks../ for this reason because of the high condo fee's we are actually thinking of moving into a house..so we won't have to pay anymore condo fees, and now I heard they're building more and more condo's around the GTA(something to do with the greenbelt thing?) which is not good.. / I would never live in a condo again or townhouse..or anywhere where I have to pay condo fees. ..that's a LOT of extra money..I'd rather save up all that money and do my own repairs, except I wouldn't be doing repairs every effin month like our condo guys do, our townhouses are fine! there's no need to do repairs so often..anything to get extra money out of our pockets..it's mindblowing how much condo fees people pay, sometimes I think why do people even move into condo's?? I guess if they're rich..for goodness sake our condo fee is gonna be higher than our mortgage soon!!! what the eff!

[redflies]

For many urban Canadians, the condo has become the only affordable housing option. But with condos come maintenance fees, and the people behind a new analysis say rising fees could threaten the value of many condo owners’ homes.
Average maintenance fees in Toronto, the country’s largest condo market, have been growing at 3.4 per cent per year over the last decade, well above the overall rate of inflation, meaning condo fees are eating an ever-larger portion of household income.
An average 1,000-square-foot condo in Toronto today comes with $590 in monthly maintenance fees, up from $440 in 2005, according to research from Condos.ca.

Link: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2015/02...n_6714396.html

If you wanna buy condo, condo fee will be a problem, even your income increases your condo fee always increases faster then that.

[MortgageQueen]

If you check the condo board's previous year's minutes, you can get a good idea of what is coming up in any kind of major repairs. (and how they are going to pay for it)
Also, as Shwa says, always check condo reserve before buying. ANy good real estate agent will tell you that.

[beachdown]

If people are paying close to 2k in fee / month, then perhaps it's time to move elsewhere.

[brunt]

We were house shopping for five years (yikes!!!), ending in a purchase in late 2013.

During this period, I was extremely serious, and looked into every conceivable alternative for housing. Accordingly, I looked into condos. I wouldn't touch them with a ten foot pole if I had another option. Too many issues - restrictive rules all the way up to potentially massively large unforeseen bills in fees.

I'll probably look again in about 20 years when I will be getting to the age where I am no longer interested in/able to keep up a house. And then, I'll really be doing my homework.

All these people who rush headlong into buying a condo sight unseen before ground is broken are absolutely insane IMHO.

[Frugalbigmama]

Same for me. And leased land. Trailer parks. Read the story about the people that lived in the trailer park owned by Marineland. Sad.

[tjthemanto]

If people are paying close to 2k in fee / month, then perhaps it's time to move elsewhere.

But the problem is almost NO one else is going to buy them and its hard to off load these condos. Buyers come & see the maintenance fees & take off ! Its like paying a mortgage even after you have finished paying of your mortgage !

[Cake]

We purchased a condo after much thought and research. We did not buy the condo with the $20,000 reserve fund (Ours has $1,000,000). We did not get the cheapest condo fees but we feel we are getting value for money.

We no longer spend $100 a month on snow/lawn or $250 for heat or $50 for cable or $25 for alarm monitoring. Our house insurance is reduced by $1,000. We no longer are paying (directly) for cleaning eaves, house painting, outer home repairs. etc.

We have valet parking and a sense of security because of the doorman.

It was the right choice for us but you have do the research.

[MortgageQueen]

It definitely comes down to what is important to you. Obviously Cake made a good decision based on forethought and good research combined with what was important to them. Everyone needs to do that.

[tjthemanto]

The worst are the pre-construction condos advertising a low maintenance fee. Then boom in just a year it becomes almost double that !

I think 50 cents per sq. ft is a reasonable condo fee for both you & the bldg. Should be enough to properly maintain the bldg. and do repairs etc, so that your fees are low & the building is also not neglected.