Why Are Condo Fee So High? Condominiums have been the hottest segment of the market around GTA until Covid hit, it was partly because of the lack of affordability for freehold housing, as well as changing demographics, lack of available land in Downtown Toronto, life-style choices, just to name few reasons. In this article we will look at why are condo fees so high. The amount to be paid for monthly condo fees can range anywhere from $200 for a studio unit in the brand new condominium... [read more]

    I have already written a blog about buying preconstruction condos, in this blog I would like to point out certain details of purchasing a resale condominium, in some aspects buying precons and resale are the same, and differ quite a bit in others. For the most part the approach of the investor and owner occupier will be very similar as well. I will be addressing number of points, some more important than others, all worth considering. Location. This applies to... [read more]

The below write up concentrates on Ontario rules but some elements and principals can be applied anywhere. What is a Status Certificate. Status certificate is a document that provides essential information regarding the financial status of the unit and the condo corporation. What’s included in the Status Certificate. Financial statements, budgets, special assessments, liens, arrears, lawsuits, condo declaration, by-laws, reserve fund study, insurance policy and claims,... [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]

Very often we are faced with a situation where a person moves temporarily from one city to another, a property becomes a rental unit or a rental unit becomes principal residence. The question is: does a person have to occupy the property all the time for it to be deemed principal residence, and be it exempt from capital gain tax for the period the owner does not ordinarily occupy it? There are certain elections one can make in order to defer the capital gain taxes when there is a change... [read more]