A condo property can be a high-rise multi-level condo, a low-rise condo, 2-story or 3-story Townhouse condo, Stacked Condo, Semi-Detached Condo, or Detached condo complex. In the low-rise condo setup, you do not own the land on which the unit is built and any common areas outside your unit.

Here the condo owners form a Condo Corporation or a Homeowners association (HOA), where unit holders elect members who provide governance to the corporation. There are by-laws created for the condo corporation and stored in a document called Condo Declaration. These are set of rules which advice on a variety of topics, like pets' allowance, age restrictions, exterior aesthetics, usage of amenities, condo elections process, renovations, rental restrictions, etc. The condo building or condo complexes will always have a monthly maintenance fee attached to them, this is the amount which the condo corporation collects from the unit holders to maintain the overall complex.

What is included in Monthly Maintenance Fees The common areas upkeep, recreational amenities, parking areas, landscaping, snow removal outside the units, HVAC systems, etc are maintained by the Condo Corporation in form of monthly maintenance fees. The major influence on this monthly maintenance fees is the size of the unit, the bigger the unit the higher will be the fees. This fees is proportional on the size of the unit and the age of the condo.

Review of Status Certificate Whenever you purchase a Condo Property it’s vital to get the Status Certificate reviewed by your lawyer. Status Certificate is a report on the current state and financial hygiene of Condo Corporation. Also, it is an opportunity for you to go through the by-laws of the condominium and determine whether it is a good fit for your needs.

Let us go through the things to Review in a Status Certificate
1) Healthy Reserve Funds – This is a pool of money which is available to the corporation for any substantial repairs they might encounter in the maintenance.
2) Special Assessments – Is the description of any significant repairs to be done in the complex, this is important as this might have a direct relation to the increase in the monthly contributions from unitholders in the short-term future.
3) Legal Proceedings & Claims – Any pending litigation or lawsuits on the condo corporation, as they might increase the maintenance fee if the judgement is not in their favor.
4) Insurance Coverages – Whether there is enough insurance coverage to take care of the condo corporation for any unfavorable results from litigation.
5) Common Element Fees – Whether the unit has paid-up fees or there are arrears due to be paid to the condo corporation. Also, the lawyers would check what exactly does this cover and is there any increase expected in the monthly fees in the current fiscal year.

The offer which you would put for a condo property would be conditional to get the Status Certificate Reviewed by Solicitor and your own due diligence before making the deal firm.

For the condo ownership now let us review their advantages:
1) Common Amenities – The presence of standard amenities like gym, swimming pool, theatre room, conference rooms, tennis courts, etc become a part of a lifestyle for which a conventional homeowner would need to pay.
2) Location – Due to their relatively economical price point, the purchaser can have homeownership in dense in-demand metropolitans, where freehold property is out of reach.
3) Upkeep – Condos are generally smaller in sq ft size and relatively easy to manage and general maintenance, there are no outside elements to maintain as they are taken care of by the condo corporation.
4) Ease of Renting – Condos are generally more quicker to rent as by design they are in the high-density metro cores and working professionals as it cuts their commute and having a good lifestyle, specially for the period when they are renting.


 


Wish you all the very best! Reach out to our dedicated team at Elixir for any queries you have in Real Estate and we will do our best to help.


Mudit Mehta
Broker of Record
ELIXIR REAL ESTATE INC.
Off: 416-816-6001 | [email protected]