馃攳
Condo fee increase: What's the risk and what to know before you buy - YouTube
Channel: Homebuyer's School
[0]
Are you thinking about buying a condo in
the future? Do you have concerns or have
[4]
any questions relating to condo fees?
Finding all this information out can be
[9]
difficult especially with all the other
decisions you have to make with this
[12]
major purchase. In this video we'll talk
about all the major questions that
[17]
customers have about condos so you'll be
[19]
better prepared with your
next condo purchase.
[21]
Welcome to Homebuyer's School
[24]
brought to you by Brookfield Residential.
[28]
So before we begin, if this is your first
[30]
time on this channel and you want to get
[32]
the latest strategies tactics and tips
[34]
on home buying, click the subscribe
[36]
button below, hit the little bell
[37]
so you don't miss anything.
[39]
Hi everyone, welcome to another edition
of Homebuyer's School.
[42]
Today I'm joined by Karen McDonald,
[44]
community manager with
Brookfield Residential, and today the
[46]
question we're gonna answer is, what's
the risk of condo fees going up? In fact
[51]
this is part two of our two-part series
on condo fees and so we have a whole
[55]
bunch of questions today. But I guess
that's the number one question that
[58]
you're always asking is like how often
does it go up?
[61]
Well condo fees I would say in
general can go up on a yearly basis,
[66]
we don't see a lot of the times where
they go up more than on a yearly basis
[69]
cause' they're assessed on that yearly
basis. I would say that it would be
[74]
something that new homebuyers should
take into consideration that they'll likely
[78]
go up within a year--two years time to the
degree which they will all depends on
[85]
whether you're buying a new build, resale,
whether it's an older building
[89]
whether there's going to be any kind of
immediate maintenance that needs to be
[94]
done. In a new build you're relatively
taken care of as far as your warranties
[100]
go that you shouldn't have any kind of
huge increases over the first number of
[105]
years.
[106]
So who exactly decides how the
condo fees increase or decrease--
[113]
I don't think they've ever seen a
decrease but--
[115]
No.
[117]
But how--who decides that?
[119]
The management board
ultimately, they are who the homeowners
[122]
employ to manage that, to take care
of the operating expenses, to take a look
[128]
at the budget and ensure that there's
enough allocated towards the reserve
[131]
fund, and maintenance, and repair, and
[135]
landscaping, snow removal contracts so
it is the management board that really
[140]
takes care of the management company
that takes care of all of that.
[142]
Homeowners board would be consulted
on a regular basis.
[147]
Can you ever tell the management
company don't want
[150]
any increases this year?
[151]
No, not if you want to
[153]
ensure that you're still maintaining the
value of your property in the common
[157]
area, it is something that is mandatory
that you pay, that's what you sign up for
[162]
when you buy a multi-family home.
[165]
So let's say your condo--your board
[168]
wants to build, let's say a new rec
facility inside the condo right, that
[173]
obviously impacts the management
company, impacts your fees.
[176]
Absolutely it will. Anything that the--
[179]
really would be the homeowner's board
that would decide if they want to have a
[185]
additional recreation facility built,
that would be a huge expense that--
[190]
homeowners board will ultimately
make the decision whether everybody will
[195]
be responsible for that additional
expense on a monthly basis, maintenance
[199]
upkeep, everything.
[201]
Is there a, I guess a
set fee or a minimum fee in Alberta?
[206]
No, no there's not. It
really just depends on what amount of
[211]
unit factor shares each home has based
on registered square meters.
[218]
Is there an average that you found in the
past, of like an average condo fee or
[223]
is it just, it depends on the multifamily?
[226]
It really depends on what
type of multi-family
[227]
home you have. Apartments you know
that they're going to include some kind of
[231]
utility, they will be higher than say
townhomes and where they're just
[236]
maintaining the exterior of the building
or a bare land where they don't maintain
[239]
anything so you're gonna have varying
amounts based on whatever type of
[244]
multi-family home you're buying.
[246]
So is there like a formula that the
management company takes into
[252]
consideration?
[253]
Well it would be based on
total registered size of the home and
[258]
unit factor shares that are allocated
towards each home, now what that
[262]
means is that in Alberta, every
[265]
multifamily development has
10,000 unit factor
[268]
shares and so based on the registered
size of the home that would be allocated
[274]
accordingly based on that
square metered size.
[278]
And if you add any square meters
[280]
then obviously that would increase right?
If you're adding that facility--
[285]
Absolutely.
[287]
And how often do you pay condo fees?
[289]
It would be monthly, on a monthly basis.
[291]
Is there any other payment method
that you know of or is it just sort
[296]
of--is it per owner or kind of like as
a collective, you pay the collective and
[303]
then you know whether you paid your
condo board and then you paid
[305]
the management?
[306]
You would pay directly per owner to the
management company, some people they
[311]
can pay a year in advance
if that's what they prefer to do. A lot
[315]
of the time its direct debit on a
monthly basis.
[317]
Perfect, do you have anything else to add
in terms of condo fees?
[320]
I would say overall
[322]
that condo fees are good, they are
maintaining your investment, they're
[327]
insuring that landscaping is done, that
everything looks the same, it's cohesive
[333]
and you're not having to rely on your
neighbor to maintain their property, so
[338]
the value of yours is insured so overall
condo fees are good. You pay them
[342]
regardless whether it's in a
single-family home or a multi-family,
[346]
just not in a tiny little
bundle every month.
[349]
Awesome, well thank you very much
[350]
Karen. Thank you very much for
joining us, remember to view part 1 of
[354]
our series on condo fees, it includes
what's included in condo fees and other
[358]
questions as well, thank you.
[362]
That's another edition of
[363]
Homebuyer's School.
[364]
Tune in next time for more expert tips
[367]
and tricks, and visit homebuyersschool.ca
[370]
to bring you one step closer to
[372]
finding your dream home. As with
[374]
everything it would be great if you like
[376]
and share our videos, also please let us
[379]
know if you have any home buying
[381]
questions you want us to answer.
Most Recent Videos:
You can go back to the homepage right here: Homepage