I do not recommend buying pre-con. They are usually very late and the Occupancy Period can be a nightmare. The developer puts in the first board and management company. Guess who they look after? Read the declaration first. Very important. Look at the wording about pets and if short-term...

The water pipes that need replacing is Kitec. It is a new wonder plastic piping. Lots of houses use it too. Worse case, it was poured in the basement floors under the concrete to provide warm ceramic flooring. It will all have to be torn up. http://www.condomadness.info/madness-Kitec.html

The Toronto Star article seems to me to be more of a press release than researched journalism. I remember the 2011 Toronto Star column praising Manzoor Khan, owner of Channel Property Management, for saving troubled condos with by-law loans. The article made him sound like a hero. Two weeks...

It is one thing to cut fees in a three year old condo when everthing is new but it is a whole different thing when a building ages. I know many condos that have cut fees and in the short term everything seems great. In the long term, its a disaster. If your condo goes this route, don't stay...

There are a lot of condos in the GTA that had Kitec pipe installed as it was quicker and a lot cheaper than copper. Many re-sales have this stuff in it and the buyers are NOT being informed in the status certificates that the units have Kitec piping. When that stuff blows, it can get real...

The first residents are starting to move in to the lower floors.

That is one question that I dread getting. It is far easier to say what manageemnt companies to stay clear of and which ones have been often disappointing but much harder to say which ones would be a good fit for your condo. Some smaller companies subcontract out the "backroom" accounting...

You don't call or talk to the tenant. You send a written complaint to the manager with a copy to security. You need security to be ware of your complaint. List all the incidents as described here: http://www.condomadness.info/bad_neighbours.html You see if your neighbours are preventing...

You may not know that a timeshare condo in cottage country was terminated by a court order even though 80% of the owners did not agree to terminate. The courts can order a condo to be terminated. There was a recent seminar held for Ontario lawyers to discuss how to use the courts to terminate...

A poorly built stacked townhouse condo in the west-end ran into huge costs within four years of it being built. The builder went bankrupt (convenient) and the special assessments were crippling. They needed the roofs and balconies fixed.

Any person or corporation can buy all the units in a condo corporation that they desire. If they can get ownership of enough units, they can apply to the courts to terminate the corporation. When that happens, everyone gets their %age of the total sale price, whether low or high. This is...

The first residents will be moving in by Thanksgiving. Maybe sooner.

I have never heard of this happening before. Sure the superintendent may deny that he did not lock the door. That is human nature. I would send the property manager a letter stating what happened and I would keep a copy on file. It can't undo what happened but it could be important if...

I don’t believe that the board did not know of the special assessment. So, in law, you do not have to pay it. However, you should use a lawyer that is experienced in condo law, not a real estate or family law lawyer. They are hopeless with condo issues. A smart board will laugh at letters...

If experience is what you need, I suggest that you start by reading a manual on how to run for the board and how to remove a management company. Start here: http://www.condomadness.info/contents-disgruntled.html Start at the beginning The issue is the board of directors. If they were...

We received our budget package at my condo. We are paying 2% more this year. Not bad I thought. The reasons given is that our board watches our expenses and that in previoue years (over 4 decades) the boards have always repaired or replaced items as it was needed. Last night I went to an AGM...

I have written a whole chapter on YCC #42 which consists of 320, 330 & 340 Dixon Road. It started off as a very nice condo community and then it ran off the rails. What surprised me is the role the City of Etobicoke played in triggering the decline. Then a series of boards that could not, or...

I lived in a condo where more than half of the original owners spotted many of the points I made and sold and got out within the first four years. What did they miss out on? A $9,000 special assessment, CMHC refusing to insure mortgages, $800,000 shortage in the Reserve Funds, a half-dozen...

A few ideas. 1. Go to the AGMs and listen to the owners. If they push for low fees or if candidates get elected on a "No Fee Increase" platform, get worried. 2. Some managers/directors will talk about these things in a general way, no specifics. 3. If you have good relations with the security...

If you have jackhammers pounding away I would guess that you are having work done on the balconies. That is a noisy, dirty and expensive job. I advise owners to keep on top of the type of owners who move into a building. If they are young and put everything they have into the down payment, or...