Owen Bigland blogs about how major repairs, maintenance and upgrades to
your Vancouver condo will be coming out of your pocket via a special
assessment. Some home owners seem to think that's what the contingency
reserve fund is for. I'm here to tell you that it rarely is. You might
vote to use some funds to help offset the cost of the repair or upgrade
but chances are the majority of the funds will be paid by you based on
your unit entitlement via a special assessment.
Special levy's
are NOT unusual even on newer buildings. Major components are going to
need upgrading or repair on a regular basis. Some are minor like
painting the walls in the hallway or lobby, upgrading some landscaping
or lighting. Others are major like replacing a boiler or piping, new
roof, elevator upgrade, windows or sprinkler system. If you're buying a
condo or any strata property make sure you set aside some funds to
cover these special levy's or assessments because they are coming sooner
or later. Many older buildings can have one every year or two. Again, I
can't stress enough that all buildings are going to need major repairs
and upgrades moving forward. Most building components have a certain
life expectancy before they need to be fixed or replaced. A detached
home is the same way. The nice thing about condo living (Strata) is your
cost is shared by all the other owners.
This entry was posted on February 17th, 2012 by Owen Bigland | Posted in Video Blog