News   Mar 28, 2024
 125     0 
News   Mar 28, 2024
 230     0 
News   Mar 27, 2024
 2.3K     1 

Average maintenance fee increase per year?

Pinchy

New Member
Member Bio
Joined
Jun 19, 2015
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
For a fairly new building, what is the average building maintenance fee increase? Let's assume,it includes everything but hydro. I know one year it might increase little, the next it might increase allot, but let's say we look at something that was built after 2005 on a span of 5-8 years. On my own research I had estimated somewhere between 8% / year.

Can anyone recommend a building that is run well and was able to stick closer to the 4 or 5% mark?
 
Can anyone also provide some approximation of the maintenance costs a household an average spent for houses so that we can have a comparison of house costs vs condo fee?
 
For a fairly new building, what is the average building maintenance fee increase? Let's assume,it includes everything but hydro. I know one year it might increase little, the next it might increase allot, but let's say we look at something that was built after 2005 on a span of 5-8 years. On my own research I had estimated somewhere between 8% / year.

Can anyone recommend a building that is run well and was able to stick closer to the 4 or 5% mark?

Luna/Luna Vista in CityPlace has not had a single increase in fees since it was built. (5 years now) The AGM was last week, and once again, no fee increase.
 
Luna/Luna Vista in CityPlace has not had a single increase in fees since it was built. (5 years now) The AGM was last week, and once again, no fee increase.

I'll worry about the reserve fund. They should be building the reserve fund up each year to pay for the equipment, infrastructure, and problems that may arise in future years. For example, the heating system may have to replaced every few decades, and that could cost thousands, if not over a million, dollars with inflation.
 
I'm sure there are statistics out there as to what the average rate of increase for maintenance fees but I'm not sure how meaningful they are. I think what you should be doing at your annual meeting is look at the financial statements - look at last year's costs; is there a short fall between what was budgeted and actual costs and if so why; look at the reserve fund; look at what expenditures the board is planning for the coming year and what the reserve fund is at. And then you need to ask is whether the Board's budget is reasonable in light of the size of your building; age; amenities etc and how they are planning to spend the money.

If you are planning to buy, once you make an offer I'm sure know you get to a look at the financials - no guarantee what will happen in the future but will give you an indication of the financial health. I know you don't want maintenance fees spiraling out of control but while its tempting to keep maintenance fees low - you need to be sure you are not sacrificing your reserve fund and that you are building up adequate reserves to fund major capital expenditures. Also, I learned the hard way that the reserve fund study is only as good as the consultants that are hired and the data you put into it. Our reserve was off about $100,000 because the consultants made a major omission, this necessitated a special assessment to do capital repairs.
 
I'll worry about the reserve fund. They should be building the reserve fund up each year to pay for the equipment, infrastructure, and problems that may arise in future years. For example, the heating system may have to replaced every few decades, and that could cost thousands, if not over a million, dollars with inflation.

Reserve fund is fine. It is being built up every year and they've been contributing extra towards it thanks to savings in other areas.
 
Fees have gone up in my building 10% over the last 2 years. Good reason I purchased was the fees were fairly low. Well, the minute I moved in, I got a letter that the fees had increased. Not even a year later, another letter.

I don't think buildings should keep fees low for the sake of keeping fees low but fees shouldn't go up every year either. Even with all that, the fees are still pretty good given the size of my place but I haven't been in this place a year and the fees have gone up twice.
 
Fees have gone up in my building 10% over the last 2 years. Good reason I purchased was the fees were fairly low. Well, the minute I moved in, I got a letter that the fees had increased. Not even a year later, another letter.

I don't think buildings should keep fees low for the sake of keeping fees low but fees shouldn't go up every year either. Even with all that, the fees are still pretty good given the size of my place but I haven't been in this place a year and the fees have gone up twice.


Is your building going through some serious maintenance? Are there new members of the board of directors? Two fee increases in a year is something to worry about!
 
It makes no sense to me - fee increases come at the start of the fiscal year - how a mid year increase just appear? In my building we do an AGM - usually in the early fall, and then a separate budget meeting before the start of our fiscal year (March 1). This year we also did a separate meeting to go through the new reserve fund study.
 
Luna/Luna Vista in CityPlace has not had a single increase in fees since it was built. (5 years now) The AGM was last week, and once again, no fee increase.

I'll worry about the reserve fund. They should be building the reserve fund up each year to pay for the equipment, infrastructure, and problems that may arise in future years. For example, the heating system may have to replaced every few decades, and that could cost thousands, if not over a million, dollars with inflation.

Reserve fund is fine. It is being built up every year and they've been contributing extra towards it thanks to savings in other areas.

All this tells me is that the condo corp is likely well managed and has been for some time. If they have been able to manage the building, conduct ongoing and necessary maintenance and repairs and contribute to the reserve fund in an appropriate manner since day 1....all without increases.....then they likely set the fees at a realistic and appropriate amount in the first place.

Far too many people base their buying decision on condo purchases on low fees.....and far too many new buildings are guilty of artificially suppressing their fees at the onset to attract buyers.

This building sounds like a good situation.
 
All this tells me is that the condo corp is likely well managed and has been for some time. If they have been able to manage the building, conduct ongoing and necessary maintenance and repairs and contribute to the reserve fund in an appropriate manner since day 1....all without increases.....then they likely set the fees at a realistic and appropriate amount in the first place.

Far too many people base their buying decision on condo purchases on low fees.....and far too many new buildings are guilty of artificially suppressing their fees at the onset to attract buyers.

This building sounds like a good situation.

Also helps that management did an energy audit 2 years after construction and spent quite a bit on retrofitting the building. The hydro bill was significantly under budget this year, and the entire retrofit has already been paid off with the savings.

They also entered into a contract with the elevator company after many issues and slow response times in the early years. They got an extension to the warranty period, as well as a few years of maintenance costs covered.

It's $420 a month for an 850 sq. ft unit (1 parking space), which works out to 50 cents/sq.ft. I believe its 44 cents when you don't include the parking space.
 
Also helps that management did an energy audit 2 years after construction and spent quite a bit on retrofitting the building. The hydro bill was significantly under budget this year, and the entire retrofit has already been paid off with the savings.

They also entered into a contract with the elevator company after many issues and slow response times in the early years. They got an extension to the warranty period, as well as a few years of maintenance costs covered.

It's $420 a month for an 850 sq. ft unit (1 parking space), which works out to 50 cents/sq.ft. I believe its 44 cents when you don't include the parking space.

That is what I was referring to as "well managed"....bet you are happy with this!
 

Back
Top