News   Mar 27, 2024
 1.2K     1 
News   Mar 27, 2024
 1.1K     2 
News   Mar 27, 2024
 637     0 

Amenities, condo fees... is it worth it?

What amenities do you care for?

  • Pool

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Gym

    Votes: 7 43.8%
  • Party room/catering kitchen

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Outdoor garden/lounge/sundeck

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Conceirge/security desk

    Votes: 6 37.5%
  • Conference room/business center/library

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Guest suite

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Yoga studio

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Hot tub/spa

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Other

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    16

neuhaus

Senior Member
Member Bio
Joined
May 18, 2010
Messages
1,620
Reaction score
1,299
Location
Downtown Toronto
Just interested to see if people actually their amenities in their condo and if it is used often by their neighbors.

What actual amenity you actally use and appreciate and what you don't care for, and what you wished to see?
Which amenity add the most or least value to its residents? How well are the amenities maintained?

Would you rather have a low condo fee and minimal amenities or have a high condo fee with lots of amenities? How important was the condo fee when you purchased your condo? Do you worry about increases in fees?
 
I use the snow shoveling, water and garbage disposal. Everything else is a waste of money, but thats just me
 
I would have to agree with mk29930 - most amenities are nice-to-haves, but just suck away the cash. I've lived in buildings with and without amenities, and found that I never used the party room, rarely used the gym, never used the pool, never used the conference room.

IMHO, the only amenities that are truly useful are:

- concierge/security
- outdoor space (i.e. rooftop patio - very low cost)
- guest suite (depending on how much is charged for it)

Probably the two most expensive amenities are a pool and 24 hour concierge/security.
 
I reject the premise that (mainly recreational) amenities lead to such a huge difference in condo fees. Not sure what kind of buildings people are living in where a pool is an expensive chunk of the budget, but if it were, it would be a big red flag for me.

In my building, the budget break down is roughly 33% utilities (all included), 33% service contracts, 28% Reserve Fund, and the remaining 5 or 6% is insurance, legal, repairs and admin. Of the service contracts, the largest (by far) components are Concierge, Property Management, and Super. The rest are chump change. Like the pool whose maintenance is a whopping 0.4% of the budget. The remaining rec facilities (gym, party room, library, billiards, squash court) are about the same all put together!

So personally, I wouldn't rather choose a building with less amenities because in my mind it would impact resale value more negatively than the building that had good amenities. Condo fees are necessary and as long as they are in line with other comparable buildings in the area, then I don't worry about them too much.
 
The problem is that recently all of the maintenance fees have been rising a lot faster than inflation due to increased utility costs. It used to be that average condo fees were .42 cents per sq ft. But now that has grown to about 0.55
imIt will only get worse with the HST. The key to buildings is not the amenities but how well it is managed.
 
What's weird is one unit I own has .50cents psft maintenance fees but it has a gym, pool, lounge, everything...

Another place I bought has 0 amenities except a lounge. Not even guest suites. par time concierge but .50 cents psft maintenance. Not sure where they come up with the numbers, really.

Condos are deff not long term investments...why? the fees will end up being so high it will drop the price of the condo. Also, when you think about how cheaply the average building is built...it 's not a good looking future for the average condo owner.
 
The same can be said for newly built houses. In general the build quality has gone down over the years. Even the so called LEED builings still have very high condo fees and they should be lower given the efficient use of utilities.
 

Back
Top