Would the last sucker to get out of the condominium business in the Greater Toronto Area, please remember to turn out the lights. You should have seen the writing on the wall four years ago and realized the growing problems in the market. What you probably did not realize was that the biggest problems were created by the Ontario Government’s Condominium Act. Like most provincial legislation, it was written by lawyers to keep lawyers working. The act shows little concern or interest in the needs of condominium owners or residents.
The largest single headache in the condominium market has always been the speculative buyer. These are people who put a down-payment on low-end condominium properties before a shovel goes into the ground. The plan is to resell or rent when the building is completed. You really wonder where these people get their dreams of resale values or rental rates but you can be sure they are in for disillusionment when reality sets in. The really unlucky among them are the ones who move in to try to ameliorate their losses.
Owning a condominium is not like private home ownership nor is it like a rental environment. Owning a condominium is keeping up with the Jones’ in spades. You never know when you will be hit with unexpected assessments and increased condominium fees. This is your property buster and if we do not all look after it, what do you think will happen to property values? And if you are too busy to be on the condominium board, just wait until you learn what those people you did elect are doing.
And to say that the board you helped elect is just incompetent is probably an understatement. Not that you can sue them for incompetence. The Condominium Act gets them off the hook…if they take the advice of someone like an accountant, lawyer, engineer, etc. who might know something about the subject. This has created an entire industry in Ontario of people who are living off the avails of condominiums. Having once watched, in horror, as an engineer parlayed a $20,000 to $40,000 refurbishing job into a $750,000 bonanza for his friends, we can assure you that these people are certifiable experts at screwing the owners.
And the most serious problems are among those companies that are there to provide professional management. These companies will tell you all about the high standards, training and assistance available to their managers but where these people come from for all the new condominiums popping up, we are not sure. What is really chilling is the knowledge that no matter how little they know, they probably know more than your condo’s board of directors.
You might ask at this stage how the Ontario Government protects condominium owners. Pardon us, we cannot stop laughing.
-30-
Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]