$500 a month strata fee....

[Dino]

Was talking to a coworker who is living in condo, and she and her fiancée are paying $500 a month for strata.:huh: I couldn't believe it. This is for a newer building in a working class area here in the interior of British Columbia. Property taxes are continuing to climb as well. The average condo owner probably has to pay the equivalent of a couple hundred bucks in taxes every month, along with ever increasing energy and living expenses. It looks like owning your own place outright could still be fairly costly compared to van dwelling! Let alone rent, has anyone else heard of outrageous strata fees and property taxes?

 

[cyndi]

I had to google strata fee. It's basically the same thing one would pay an HOA.

One of the reasons people van dwell is to avoid the cost of home ownership, so um...yes?

 

[NLRevell]

What is 'strata'?

 

[David]

Wait til they decide to repaint the building or do some random "improvements" like reseal the parking lot and so on. Those things are usually not covered in the monthly fees and everyone gets a extra bill for it.

 

[Patrick46]

It looks like owning your own place outright could still be fairly costly compared to van dwelling!

please tell me this isn't a revelation for ya. ^^^ :huh:


I thought that this is why we're all on here anyways!!??

 

[One Awesome Inch]

Im currently paying $280 per month in strata in bc. $ 500 is nuts.

 

[PastTense]

Housing prices in Canada are substantially higher than in the United States:
http://www.cbc.ca/news2/interactives/housing-canada/

For British Columbia the average home price is $535,000 Canadian ($488,361 US)
For Vancouver the average home price is $785,000 Canadian ($716568 US)

 

[Reducto]

HOA fees have been in the news here in Las Vegas lately. Cities love HOAs because they can still collect the same taxes but don't have to provide services like maintaining roads. It's basically an additional layer of government and it occasionally goes very wrong. We have a number of cases where people got behind on their dues and ended up losing their homes due to tens of thousands of dollars added to the bills for legal fees. They can't fight in court because no lawyers will take the cases.

 

[PastTense]

In my view owning a condo has almost all the disadvantages of both owning your own home or renting an apartment--but almost none of the advantages of either.

 

[akrvbob]

Don't mean this as political at all, but your health care isn't free, it's paid for by taxes, so you have to expect to pay more taxes as the cost of health care increases.

Most of the Canadians I've talked to thought it was a good trade-off, but you can't love your health care and complain about taxes too--they go together.
Bob

 

[Jim_Rockford]

nowadays I don't know why anyone would bother owning a home, you pay the bills for mortgage and all , and even if its paid off the city or county can still take your house over a measly .75 cent interest bill. then add on the fact you can't do anything to "Your " property with our the frigging governments permission, and paying a bride fee called a "Permit fee" and still have no guarantee that you will get to do your project.

 

[caseyc]

In my opinion, buying a condominium with its HOA monthly fees is even a bigger joke compared to a single family residence house. I know people who can barely pay their monthly mortgage to the bank, let alone the freakin' HOA fee. What do you really get for that fee anyway...a manicured lawn? Give me a break. The condos I've seen in my area look like a re-purposed Best Western motel, complete with a long hallway full of doors on both sides for a small 1 or 2 bedroom dwelling. Plus the parking garage is usually an extra cost. In past years, people who couldn't afford to buy a single family residence would buy the cheaper alternative of a condo. But even nowadays with rising property values, the average Joe can't even afford a condo. It's all a big joke.

 

[Mac J]

In my view owning a condo has almost all the disadvantages of both owning your own home or renting an apartment--but almost none of the advantages of either.

Well said! Very well said!!
But...to be fair...The person paying $500.00 a month strata fees must have been aware that the fees were this high at the time of purchase. That said, $6000 is a lot of home improvements year after year.
I think we all like what taxes pay for, we just don't want to pay more than our share!
South West British Columbia (Vancouver) sports the highest housing prices in North America. It may cost more for a home in San Francisco but the wages are higher in California.
What I'm saying is simple. If you want to live in BC or Vancouver you do so for a reason. You know it's expensive and you stay anyway. This year Vancouver kept an above freezing temperature for most of the winter season. That alone is enough for some folks.

---

another thing to note on the BC/Vancouver housing market is that the price continues to climb year after year. Good news for the owners, bad news for the seekers. Houses and condos are appreciating assets and a van or trailer or mobile home or boat is a depreciating asset (in the eyes of banks and financial institutions).

 

[66788]

In my view owning a condo has almost all the disadvantages of both owning your own home or renting an apartment--but almost none of the advantages of either.

Well said!