Lol

If I paid $500k. What's another $5k at this point lol.

maintenance and capital renewal planning is important. i've seen mechanical systems last half as long as they should, part of which is due to lack of maintenance...

Just got a $13k assessment (to be paid over 10 months) for the building envelope repair. 13 year old building in dt. Anyone else have this happen in a relatively new building?

Depends what it is, if you've got a bunch of lead/asbestos/poly b/aluminum wiring/etc then one thing needing replacement could get messy.

poor design, shotty installation, lack of maintenance and/or combo of - can have a building showing problems in 5-10 years depending on the issue. really need to understand the cause

I feel like a $13 to 20k special assessment in my unit would be damaging to a lot of units. The building seems to be occupied by half seniors and half families. Most of them picking up this condo for $300k back in 2005.

13 years feels pretty new to have a special assessment for anything structural. That being said, that's what a contingency fund (CRF) is for, to help mitigate this kind of situation.

I lived in a 13 year old condo dt as well and one great thing about that Strata was they built a very healthy CRF over the years, which RE agents knew about, and so it made for a more desirable building on the market.

so what you're saying is they bought cheap 16 years ago and unless terrible with money should have some savings to use?

Also 13k added to a 150/200k mortgage is nothing if they had to go that route

^ or sell and go homeless and have $500k in the bank

The vast majority of stratas are under-funded which is why the requirement for a depreciation report was introduced in order to bring some visibility to current owners and future owners of strata properties. Anyone who buys strata should understand and plan for special assessments. Re-advanceable mortgages or holding a few thousand in cash are strongly recommended to avoid any nasty surprises.

A healthy CRF is a good thing, but unfortunately, it's not really a selling point for many. The problem with a lot of high rises is that many owners don't have a long-term perspective - either they're investor-owners or they're first-time home buyers looking to build some equity before moving on and leaving the building's problems to the next owner. In my experience, owners have an incentive to keep fees minimal as a result and the strata council has little choice but to set aside the minimum amount for contingency which is only 10% of monthly fees. With ground-oriented stratas, like townhouse complexes, at least you get to know your neighbours and the strata council can get buy-in from owners for major expenses by developing those relationships on a regular basis - that was the benefit of living in a well-managed townhouse complex in my experience.

10% going to the CRF is only needed if the total CRF is less than 25% of the annual budget. I'm not advocating a strata prioritize large contributions to the CRF and raise fees accordingly. Instead, a good strata manages their building properly so you never have to use CRF and can therefore contribute small budget surpluses over time to the CRF, building it up more and more to higher than the 25% minimum. IMO a building with high CRF built over many years is an indicator of a higher chance the building was properly managed. Then if something expensive comes up that needs fixing, you hopefully don't have to rely on Special Assessments (which can be voted down).

A building that has a CRF of just the minimum 25% year after year, spent from the CRF, or had to vote on special assessments in its first 10 years, should trigger more investigation by the potential buyer to learn why. A building with a CRF higher than 25% over many years is arguably a "safer" buy if you are worried about special assessments.

(That all being said, our building had to spend CRF funds in our very first year to address necessary elements the developer didn't do and didn't budget for, but were needed and should have been done by the developer to begin with).

You already know, most people don't save.

We want our M3's and AMGs today, not when we are 60 :heckno:

Special assessments need a HELOC or LOC.

Got an accepted offer on a 3 year old condo. Should I get a home inspector? any recs?
Thanks

^ honestly condo there's literally 4 walls to look at. It doesn't include anything outside your unit. So best to refer to the strata docs. But Mike Zagerra? Is pretty famous.

Some inspectors will check the envelope, roof, etc. on condo buildings.

If you're just paying somone to look inside the unit personally i wouldnt bother

guy i used on my house would do that for condos i think.

https://www.ifinditinspections.ca/

Was recommended this company and couldn't be happier. Levin did my inspection and was incredibly thorough. They're pretty backed up though, from what I understand.

FWIW, was going to use John Chow that someone else recommended here, but these guys had availability so I booked.

Anyone know how much 1bed/2bed presales are going for that new development in richmond centre by shape?

I'm guessing $600 and $699? The polygon one I keep hearing on the Chinese radio I think is around $650

Exactly if you’re looking inside, you can probably do the same job.

When I was looking at purchasing a condo back in 2017, my wife and I saw a loft in New West that had major cracks running up and down the double height wall. We didn't make an offer, but in that instance if we were serious, I would definitely have gotten an inspection.

Otherwise you should look back through the depreciation report and at least 6 months of strata meeting minutes to ensure that there are no major items that could be a surprise.