CONDO FEES

Its common for everyone to complain about the condo fees. At our last AGM we had someone complain about how high they were - though they had just moved in (didn't they know what they were buying?) To that end, our fees are not excessively high, regardless of what those few complainers think. First, it is very hard to compare buildings and fees. How many units are there? How many amenities do they have? Do they have indoor/underground parking? Do they pay for your heat and air-conditioning? Water? etc

Gowling WLG law firm and CondoAdvisor.ca did a survey Feb 2020 and provided some interesting results. I'll summarize here but go their website for details.

Age of Condo - our building is in the 2-10 years old category and is 14%. 11-20 year old buildings comprise 25% and interestingly, 24% are in the  31-40 year range.

Our building is the most common size in number of units (138) since 29% are in the 101-250 range. 22% are in the 51-100 range. Only 12% are bigger (251-500)

It's likely no surprise that most buildings are in the 11-25 floor range - 36%. In our size, its 19% (1-4 floors) while the intermediate 5 to 10 floors is 13%

30% of units include water, with 19% including hot water. only 14% include air conditioning (like we do) and 15% include heat (like we do)

70% have no EV charging. 6% have communal chargers and  24% have private stations.

Average fees are $0.66 in the GTA, and  $0.52 in the Golden horseshoe. Across all areas the average is $0.58

Interestingly, buildings less than 2 years old average fees of $0.46 while buildings our age, 2-10 years average $0.60 which is right around what we pay. Those less than two years old will still be playing catch-up from builders initially low balling fees to sell units - like our building back when it was built. However, overall buildings less than 5 floors average $0.54 but when you compare buildings with the number of units we have (138) those buildings (101-250 units) average $0.63
72.1% of the time, fees will increase each year with a large (31.8%) or Moderate (40.3%) increase. Only 9.8% stayed the same.

Some interesting Facts - to help dispel rumor, misunderstanding and ignorance.

COVID 19

The COVID 19 world is hard on us all. Social distancing and hand washing are becoming the norm. As seniors my wife and I use hand wipes on all surfaces as we cannot be certain other folks in the building - as in the world in general - are passing on the virus, unwittingly.

There have been two cases of confirmed Covid in the building and so it pays to be careful.

We can only hope it finally ends, either on its own or with a vaccine so we can begin to enjoy life again.

The rooftop re-opened at the beginning of May with social distancing so its nice to be able to BBQ again. Now if the gym can open for those rainy days....

As always, this is our building - all 138 owners and residents - so for that small group of complainers, lets have less bitching and complaining while sitting on your ass doing nothing and more action. How Can I Help - should be your first sentence, not You Aren't Doing Enough For Me (while I sit here doing nothing.)