Condo Maintenance fees up big...

joepipe wrote: ↑ Check out this tweet.... A condo downtown just raised fees 8.8%....that's quite the spike...

An already bad cap rate just got worse...

idiots who know nothing is bread and butter of twitter like that lefleur moron

I own a condo unit that I rent out and sit on board, we raised fees by 1.6% in fees this year which was enough to offset the increased security and cleaning contract costs along with the reserve fund increase at rate of inflation

Condo fees if they go up that much means it was too low before and didn't adequately fund the reserve fund

Basically the conservative style of governing, artificial low fees that need to be jacked up later instead of regular increases and spending on preventative maintenance to reduce costs down the road

Yet they blame it on workers at bottom....typical

Also scumbag businesses taking advantage as well, we had companies asking for increase due to wages and we asked them to show us financial statements for labor for our complex and they all somehow "made a mistake" and came in lower or none at all for requested increase.

The twitter idiot purposely cut off the section on reserve fund which is the real reason due to developer's initial budget that lowball it

But for a new condo..8%+ for first few years to catch up with reserve fund is normal due to business taking advantage of people of low balling utilities and reserve contribution of developers budget.

LOL Doug Ford will get rid of rent control -- nice try tho joseph... you know when Ford comes in things will be ... glorious.

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My condo fees usually go up every October. Last year we didn't get any raise in condo fees, whatsoever.... and this is in a building where Hydro is shared and had a ton of stuff "upgraded".

Anyhoo.... 352sqf studio is listed at 363k. Let's see how much will it sell for.

BTW, the extra cost in maintenance for this studio will barely be $18 a month. Condo fees still look very reasonable.

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https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Sing ... egent-Park

BiegeToyota wrote: ↑ ..

My condo fees usually go up every October. Last year we didn't get any raise in condo fees, whatsoever.... and this is in a building where Hydro is shared and had a ton of stuff "upgraded".

Anyhoo.... 352sqf studio is listed at 363k. Let's see how much will it sell for.

BTW, the extra cost in maintenance for this studio will barely be $18 a month. Condo fees still look very reasonable.

..

https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Sing ... egent-Park

352 sqf condo for $360k. Is that typical for toronto? I live in Quebec and the idea of living in such a small apartment is so alien to me. Where's the quality of life?
I have a newly built 2,000 sqf detached house that I don't find particularly big and paid 50k less than that.
I can't see how i could ever cram myself in a condo building with annoying neighbors, no backyard and a $2k+ mortgage.

RaphaelG041 wrote: ↑ 352 sqf condo for $360k. Is that typical for toronto? I live in Quebec and the idea of living in such a small apartment is so alien to me. Where's the quality of life?
I have a newly built 2,000 sqf detached house that I don't find particularly big and paid 50k less than that.
I can't see how i could ever cram myself in a condo building with annoying neighbors, no backyard and a $2k+ mortgage.

There's plenty of quality life in a big city. I hate living in a house with a yard and yes... I'm dying of boredom and I am 44. I'd rather live in a 300sqf condo in the city.

Speaking of which.....


352sqf is okay for most people coming from Asia. That's easy 1 bedroom where I live in Bangkok and prices in good locations go for more than 360k Canadian.

I live in my wife's house and even though it doesn't cost me anything I'd rather live in a 300sqf condo.

BTW, when I lived on Montreal I used to live on a studio. There are plenty of studio condos that size.

As they say different strokes.....

condo board of directors are corrupt.
they work with management company to rob the residents.

lol an increase like this is eligible for an above the guideline rent increase, nice try though. Rent will go up for sure. Also anyone who knows anything about RE knows new builds are artificially low at the start to attract sales and they jack them up later to build up a fund. The fact you make this post to try and disparage all condos based on 1 in regent park makes me think you are priced out and pissed that condos are now at an all time high in price.

just posting the reality of the current market....rents dont support these condo prices over $1000 per sq ft...they are almost all losing money

joepipe wrote: ↑ just posting the reality of the current market....rents dont support these condo prices over $1000 per sq ft...they are almost all losing money

It does sound like you are trying to justify the decision to not buy years ago by hanging on to these little things that make you think you made the right choice. The condo prices have doubled from a few years ago and those who bought in back then have a paltry mortgage left given large part of the monthly payment went towards paying down the principle in this super low rate environment.

Clearly you missed out on big tax free gains. Plenty of condos with no massive maintenance increases. And I'm happier to pay the maintenance than to worry about mowing the lawn or clearing the snow. Mine went up 1% this year... It's like saying look at a car crash so don't ever ride cars.

Only time renting makes sense if you can buy would be if it is short term... But even now renting is so expensive that i would buy instead.

WinterSleep wrote: ↑ It does sound like you are trying to justify the decision to not buy years ago by hanging on to these little things that make you think you made the right choice. The condo prices have doubled from a few years ago and those who bought in back then have a paltry mortgage left given large part of the monthly payment went towards paying down the principle in this super low rate environment.

Clearly you missed out on big tax free gains. Plenty of condos with no massive maintenance increases. And I'm happier to pay the maintenance than to worry about mowing the lawn or clearing the snow. Mine went up 1% this year... It's like saying look at a car crash so don't ever ride cars.

Only time renting makes sense if you can buy would be if it is short term... But even now renting is so expensive that i would buy instead.

these responses are hilarious. Some of you already know I sold my house for 1.8 million last february at the top of the market....im on the sidelines waiting to make another purchase....,

its funny how any posts on this board that are not positive towards real estate values gets attacked immediately with the same nonsense.... I can smell the fear out there.

rjg4235 wrote: ↑ lol an increase like this is eligible for an above the guideline rent increase, nice try though. Rent will go up for sure. Also anyone who knows anything about RE knows new builds are artificially low at the start to attract sales and they jack them up later to build up a fund. The fact you make this post to try and disparage all condos based on 1 in regent park makes me think you are priced out and pissed that condos are now at an all time high in price.

I was about to say this. Developers set the fees low to entice buyers. This is well known. Then the board gets in, the fees get bumped up to an acceptable level to cover the costs. We shall see if other boards raise the fees this much but one thing is for sure, if the fees are raised, the landlord can not pass it on to the tenant due to that idiot Wynne.

JayLove06 wrote: ↑ I was about to say this. Developers set the fees low to entice buyers. This is well known. Then the board gets in, the fees get bumped up to an acceptable level to cover the costs. We shall see if other boards raise the fees this much but one thing is for sure, if the fees are raised, the landlord can not pass it on to the tenant due to that idiot Wynne.

What does Wynne have to do with developer's setting fees low to entice buyers?

We raised fees 1.6% at our condo this year which includes the higher costs from min wage hike and condo reserve increase at rate of inflation. I think it's very reasonable as our fee increase is still below rate of inflation

WinterSleep wrote: ↑ It does sound like you are trying to justify the decision to not buy years ago by hanging on to these little things that make you think you made the right choice. The condo prices have doubled from a few years ago and those who bought in back then have a paltry mortgage left given large part of the monthly payment went towards paying down the principle in this super low rate environment.

Clearly you missed out on big tax free gains. Plenty of condos with no massive maintenance increases. And I'm happier to pay the maintenance than to worry about mowing the lawn or clearing the snow. Mine went up 1% this year... It's like saying look at a car crash so don't ever ride cars.

Only time renting makes sense if you can buy would be if it is short term... But even now renting is so expensive that i would buy instead.

Thing is Lamb is echoing something I said a few years ago and why I stopped buying investment property. The cost is too high for it to be a feasible investment option at this point. And now with rent controls and new rules, it makes ZERO sense to buy a rental property in a Toronto condo....especially downtown.

Condos have doubled but that was in the past. Not happening now. If I gave you $100K to invest, you would pick a Toronto condo? I sure as hell wouldn't.

Gboard2 wrote: ↑ What does Wynne have to do with developer's setting fees low to entice buyers?

Wynne has everything to do with landlords not being able to pass those increases on to their tenants.

joepipe wrote: ↑ Some of you already know I sold my house for 1.8 million last february at the top of the market

No. Absolutely no one knows that on anonymous web forum.

Just like some bitcoin "traders" on another thread who keep buying at absolute lows and selling at absolute highs beating the most qualified traders in existence.

Gboard2 wrote: ↑ What does Wynne have to do with developer's setting fees low to entice buyers?

We raised fees 1.6% at our condo this year which includes the higher costs from min wage hike and condo reserve increase at rate of inflation. I think it's very reasonable as our fee increase is still below rate of inflation

So you're basing your argument on what your board did?

With or without Wynne's antics, condo fees will go up. 1.6% is very low though and not the norm. Now my critique of Wynne is because now that she has set a limit on rents, increases in maintenance fees are increasing at a higher rate than maintenance fees and that cost can't be passed on to buyers. 4 Maintenance fees raises in 4 years is a lot of money you can't pass on, so why would someone want to invest in renting out condos with these kinds of barriers?

JayLove06 wrote: ↑ So you're basing your argument on what your board did?

With or without Wynne's antics, condo fees will go up. 1.6% is very low though and not the norm. Now my critique of Wynne is because now that she has set a limit on rents, increases in maintenance fees are increasing at a higher rate than maintenance fees and that cost can't be passed on to buyers. 4 Maintenance fees raises in 4 years is a lot of money you can't pass on, so why would someone want to invest in renting out condos with these kinds of barriers?

Yes, I'm basing it on the actions of our Board the past few years with regards to maintenance fees. We raised it 8% first 3 to catch up in reserve fund contribution and since then it's been around 1-1.6% annually last 4 years. We run around a 1% surplus of operating budget every year to cover improvements and proactive maintenance and repairs so we don't have to dip into reserve fund

Condo fees are so little so even a 1.8% increase in rent easily covers the increase in fees. I mean the value of rent is so much higher so a small % of it easily covers the % increase in condo fees

I find as a condo board, it's the contractors who are the biggest crooks and liars

JayLove06 wrote: ↑ Thing is Lamb is echoing something I said a few years ago and why I stopped buying investment property. The cost is too high for it to be a feasible investment option at this point. And now with rent controls and new rules, it makes ZERO sense to buy a rental property in a Toronto condo....especially downtown.

Condos have doubled but that was in the past. Not happening now. If I gave you $100K to invest, you would pick a Toronto condo? I sure as hell wouldn't.

I bought one last year in precon, up about 50% already if I want to reassign it. I can't believe I paid $900sqft at Yonge and college for a 600sqft 2bdrm

Still huge lineups and sell out in a couple weekends for new projects even in the 905s. Eg Era at Yonge and Paviliia Park

joepipe wrote: ↑ these responses are hilarious. Some of you already know I sold my house for 1.8 million last february at the top of the market....im on the sidelines waiting to make another purchase....,

its funny how any posts on this board that are not positive towards real estate values gets attacked immediately with the same nonsense.... I can smell the fear out there.

was it $1.8 million or $1.39 million, or was that another property?

what was the net net-net on the sale after you cleared any mortgages/loans, commissions, fees & closing costs??

your post in the following thread

did-we-just-hit-peak-toronto-re-bubble-1736877/135/

its unbelievable how the Star actually prints these stupid stories....

im gonna list my house for a $1 tomorrow....oh look it just sold for $1.39 million over asking...800 idiots showed up and lost their shoes in the open house mess.....OMG ...what a miracle....please put me in the news tomorrow and my "genius" agent

what a joke.....

curious, are you renting now and/or have you invested the proceeds of the sale?

are you still working?

joepipe wrote: ↑ My friends portfolio has averaged 7% a year very easily. Dividend stocks, REITS, etc. All quite safe overall , re-balance when you need to . He has $3 million in there, takes out around $100,000 a year to live on, rest is re-invested. House paid off, about 62 years old. Travels all the time.

Myself im younger in my 40s , im still working a contract type business for 15 years, so I can travel no problem. I dont need to be anywhere specific, just complete my work on my laptop, get paid. My income is 150k per year on average, plus around 7% from my $1.4 million, lets call it $1.3 million after I buy a few toys, I'll still be pulling around $7000 monthly from investment income and re-investing some.

with all that income, I cannot imagine the tax that you pay ... is it close to '$100k/yr'?