Part of those fees goes into a contingency reserve fund to cover other expenses. Monthly condo fees pay for maintenance of the building things like property upkeep, amenities (pools or fitness areas), and common areas. You may be thinking, “ Aren’t these what my condo fees are for? Or what about all of the money in the contingency reserve fund? Can’t they use that? ”īut there’s a difference. This is in addition to the monthly operating fund. These payments are on top of your mortgage, not included in it.Ī special assessment or levy is money that’s collected from strata lot owners for a specific purpose and shared common expenses. For example, most condo owners pay monthly condo fees. Some of the common expenses are divided among them via strata fees (or an operating fund ). With strata ownership, the building is owned by multiple people. Condos are the most common example of strata ownership, but other examples include townhouses or duplexes. This creates a type of “ shared ownership ”. Think about a condo building where individuals own one unit in a building. Basically, it’s any property that contains several units and is owned by several different people. Let’s dive into it:įirst, let’s start by defining what strata ownership is.Ī strata property is when you own part of a building that’s collectively owned by multiple people. Then, we’ll get into how they affect you as a strata property owner. We’ll start by explaining what each term means. Yup, you guessed it: you’re going to have to dish out more money than you thought!īut before we dive into too many examples of how these levies could benefit or hinder you, let’s talk about what they are. They can cause major problems and hurt you financially if you are not aware of what they are.įor example, if a special levy was passed right as you purchased your brand new trendy Yaletown apartment (that you paid a little over budget for), and this upcoming special assessment was not factored into your deal (meaning you didn’t budget for it)… But special levies (also known as special assessments ) are important to understand. If you’re new to real estate, then the title of this article might make your head spin.
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