A bedroom, as most of us would imagine, is a place where one would ordinarily sleep, will have a door which can be shut so one can sleep in peace and quiet, will have a window for a daylight, and be large enough to have a bed. Ontario Building Code describes this in great detail, below are few excerpts: 9.5.7.1. Areas of Bedrooms (1) Except as provided in Articles 9.5.7.2. and 9.5.7.3., bedrooms in dwelling units shall have an area not less than 7 m² where built-in cabinets are not... [read more]

I have already written about condo project cancellations and there have been a number of them in the last few years. Every time a unit is purchased a deposit is made, are these funds safe? There are number of safeguards in place to protect the buyers and their deposits. Tarion offers condo deposit protection up to $20,000, but as we know most deposits would exceed this amount by a large margin. The developer of the new condominium project must be Tarion registered and must enter into... [read more]

November 15, 2018 is a very important date since it determines if the unit falls under the rent control or not. We are often asked about it, and it is even more confusing for the owners and tenants in newer buildings. What does rent control refer to? It refers to how much the rent can be increased, for 2022 the rent can be increased 1.2% as per Municipal Affairs and Housing Guidelines. That means if your rental unit falls under the rent control and the rent charged was $1,000, for 2022... [read more]

What is POTL. The term is associated with certain types of properties, in this short blog we will explain what it means as well as how it affects some properties. POTL is short for A Parcel of Tied Land. The most common forms of ownership of properties are freehold (detached or semi-detached homes, freehold townhomes) and Standard Condominium Corporation (your typical condo apartment, condo townhomes). POTL in the context of GTA residential real estate ownership refers to a... [read more]

The topic of co-op units come up when someone sees a very inexpensive unit on the market and asks why so cheap, what’s the catch or is it too good to be true. To understand the issue, we will explain what co-op is, how it differs from the typical unit in a condominium and challenges related to buying, selling and owning a co-op. Legal structure. In a co-operative structure the corporation owns the land and each unit in the building, owner of a co-op doesn’t own the unit but... [read more]