2007 Calgary Assessment values released on website

[photon]

A special assessment is a cash call by the condo corp.. it means he's going to have to put a few big chunks of cash into the property in the next two years.. which reduces the resale value of the condo by an equal amount.

[Incinerator]

Sorry for the confusion between municipal assessment and special assessment:

Special assessments are from your condo board, it happens when your complex needs money for something major (in my case, there's been water damage in the exterior walls from the rainstorms in Spring 05), so everyone in my complex gets a special assessment (one-time cash call), these are generally determined by your unit factor, the higher your unit factor, the more $$ you have to fork out.

what I was moaning about was on top of this extra $, now I have to pay more property taxes (hopefully not double), and I can't get out of this sinking ship because any potential buyer would see the special assessment in the condo documents and flee, as evidenced by 3 of the units already on the market in my building.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by photon

A special assessment is a cash call by the condo corp.. it means he's going to have to put a few big chunks of cash into the property in the next two years.. which reduces the resale value of the condo by an equal amount.

Thanx for clearing that up. What happens if you can't pay? Does it just make the condo fees higher or is it a 1 time payment?

I guess you can't sell it without disclosing that fact. hehe

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by photon

... which reduces the resale value of the condo by an equal amount.

not necessarily, sometimes it's like cars that have been in an accident, even after you fix it the resale value will never be the same.

[photon]

Unless you bought VERY recently though even after the special assessments I can't imagine that you aren't still ahead of what you paid for it.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Thanx for clearing that up. What happens if you can't pay? Does it just make the condo fees higher or is it a 1 time payment?

I guess you can't sell it without disclosing that fact. hehe

What happens if you dont pay is that they register it on your title (same goes for condo fees if unpaid), which would take priority over all encumbrances including your mortgage, so WHEN you do sell it, that's the first thing you have to pay off, even before your mortgage. And if it's a significant sum your bank won't be too happy to see that they're no longer #1 on your title, and they might foreclose you if you don't sell and pay them off.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Kobatuzzied

Thanx for clearing that up. What happens if you can't pay? Does it just make the condo fees higher or is it a 1 time payment?

I guess you can't sell it without disclosing that fact. hehe

You can't can't pay. EDIT: Incenerator covered it.

Originally Posted by Incinerator

not necessarily, sometimes it's like cars that have been in an accident, even after you fix it the resale value will never be the same.

True, though property values in general go up over time unlike a car, so eventually the increase in value will compensate.. it's just a function of how long you have to wait.

After the Erlton fire our property value on our condo was VERY flat for the longest time as people just didn't want to be in that area. But eventually it took off and caught up with everyone else.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by photon

Unless you bought VERY recently though even after the special assessments I can't imagine that you aren't still ahead of what you paid for it.

Oh I'm still ahead, but that wont matter if this big dent puts me behind the market, meaning I can't move up in the near future, which is what I've been planning to do before this BS.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by photon

You can't can't pay. EDIT: Incenerator covered it.



True, though property values in general go up over time unlike a car, so eventually the increase in value will compensate.. it's just a function of how long you have to wait.

...and whether that increase will catch up with inflation and the rest of the market.

[photon]

Originally Posted by Incinerator

Oh I'm still ahead, but that wont matter if this big dent puts me behind the market, meaning I can't move up in the near future, which is what I've been planning to do before this BS.

Ah I gotcha.. yeah that sucks. So the insurance doesn't cover that kind of damage??

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by photon

Ah I gotcha.. yeah that sucks. So the insurance doesn't cover that kind of damage??

nope, Insurance don't cover "acts of God"

[ken0042]

Oh, wow. That totally sucks.

I've never been a fan of buying a condo; I guess this is one more reason for somebody to be careful.

[photon]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Oh, wow. That totally sucks.

I've never been a fan of buying a condo; I guess this is one more reason for somebody to be careful.

I guess, though if it was a house and the roof got wrecked by wind you'd still be paying for it.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Oh, wow. That totally sucks.

I've never been a fan of buying a condo; I guess this is one more reason for somebody to be careful.

Vancouver leaky condos. hehe.

I guess we dont get much rain, but some of the workmanship on the new ones are pretty poor. It might happen more and more in Calgary.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Oh, wow. That totally sucks.

I've never been a fan of buying a condo; I guess this is one more reason for somebody to be careful.

When you're buying it, yes, you should comb through all the documents and ask around for current/previous owners' experience if you know any of them. But I bought well before the rainstorm, no amount of diligence would've prevented this

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by photon

I guess, though if it was a house and the roof got wrecked by wind you'd still be paying for it.

Yes, that it true. But at that point I would be making the choice for myself. ie- sell it with damage or fix it before selling it. Not waiting to hear what the condo board figures a few months down the road.

[Lurch]

Well not 1.2 million but it doubled from last year. .00541 seems low. i thought it was around .8 percent of your assessment value??

It was last year (just under). It will go down about 42% this year (Perhaps slightly less depending on how much the City raises actual taxes, not the assessment)

[Cube Inmate]

Thanks for the link...I missed this in the news.

Up about 45%.

[looooob]

luckily for the good folks in the communities of elbow park, upper mount royal, eagle ridge, rideau, roxboro, brittania the overwhelming majority of people are seeing a decrease in their assessment. I guess 2006 was a down year in the million dollar plus club ? odd.

[Bertuzzied]

Originally Posted by looooob

luckily for the good folks in the communities of elbow park, upper mount royal, eagle ridge, rideau, roxboro, brittania the overwhelming majority of people are seeing a decrease in their assessment. I guess 2006 was a down year in the million dollar plus club ? odd.

My dream community is in Scarboro. Anyone want to sell? hehe or any of those 1 acre lots in Dalhousie.