[supafamous]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

The majority of duplexes and triplexes built today are strata-titled. I think that there are more hoops to jump through for the builder to get a non-strata titled duplex. This means that in theory, they are supposed to be managed in accordance with the Strata Property Act including the creation of budgets, depreciation reports, and the application of dispute management provisions. You and your neighbour(s) are the strata corporation in these situations.

In reality, small strata corporations like duplexes and triplexes are non-conforming which means they are managed informally amongst neighbours. This is a problem when you have a bad neighbour because the strata corporation is you and your neighbour(s). If you can't agree on vital maintenance, such as a roof or foundation repair, then you'll have to go to the courts to determine an outcome.

Yep, 2-4 unit housing are non conforming strata and the provincial gov't is the one that makes it really hard to do freehold multi-unit housing. This is why we don't see row houses in BC (unlike Toronto where they are everywhere) as it's pretty much not worth the effort.

I live in a triplex and my two neighbours don't care as much about the appearance of their homes so it can be a bit challenging to keep up on maintenance. For example to get our gutters cleaned both sides of the main building needed to be done and our neighbour didn't really want to do it at first. When we painted our fence we only painted to the part of the fence that was on our side of the building. Stuff like garbage and water fees are sent to us by the city as we were the first unit occupied so we then have to split the bill with the others and follow up. Same with building insurance - we get the quote and then get them to pay their part.