Condo documents: Why they are important to review in detail

A REALTOR® friend of mine, John Carle with REMAX just posted this great article on his blog regarding purchasing a condo and the importance of reviewing your condo documentation thoroughly....

"If you have purchased a condominium then you will have looked over the documents that describe the unit, building, condo corporation etc…

As a REALTOR®, I have had many clients purchase apartment and townhouse condos in many varied complexes. Usually, one of my many jobs when my clients are looking at the condo is to help them to understand the documents.

Now sometimes they may decide to take the documents to a lawyer for review, or to a company that specializes in condo document review. Any way you choose, it’s yours to decide. The ultimate decision on whether to buy it or not, is yours as the purchaser. You must be satisfied that it is a good place to buy.

The document package should contain a variety of different documents and be as up-to-date as possible. This is very important because, for example:

- it can show you how well the building is managed

- how much is in the Reserve Fund (for maintenance and repairs)

- how much the monthly condo (strata) fees are

- the meeting minutes for the Board of Directors

- the Annual General meeting minutes

- the projected budget for the year

- any anticipated levies or special assessments

- the projected maintenance costs for the next 1 – 5 years (depending on when the Reserve Fund Study was done)

- and many more items.

I will help you to make sure you get all the info you need to make a sound decision on the purchase of an apartment or townhouse condo. Please contact me if you have any questions or if you are interested in the purchase or sale of a condominium or a single-family home."