Living in a condo

[burnin_vernon]

I've never lived in a condo/appartment before (have always rented suites) but am now going to buy something. Just wondered if anyone had any tips about little stuff like laundry situations, living high or low, sound factors, moving furniture in...the little stuff that the real estate ads dont tell you.

[blankall]

In suite laundry is a huge bonus. Shared laundry rooms are a pain, because you cant leave your stuff there for sizeable lengths of time. Also you have to find change. Sound varies from condo to condo. No way to tell until you are in the place.

Ive lived high and low, didnt really notice a differnce. I know people have had trouble on ground floor though with break ins. Depends on the neighbourhood though, because ground floor entrance can be kind of convenient for having people over.

Normally the strata will have policies for moving furniture in. You have to alert them, rent an elevator, sometimes hire security. Usually you cant move in on sundays that kind of thing... Also make sure your stuff fits in the elevator.

As for neighbours... will depend on where the condo is. In a ty neighbourhood you could end up with some cracked out neighbours. I've had friends whose neighbours have threatened them, burnt things, broken into there appartments when out, but in the vast majority of situations people just keep to themselves. Most condos are set up so you can live in your own little world.

[ken0042]

Concrete is generally better for stopping sound. If going wood frame, get the top floor or you run the risk of having a heavy walker above you.

Make sure your suite doesn't share a wall with a stairwell or elevator.

If buying an older building; make sure you look at how much is in the reserve, and what renovations are due. There's something about foundations to watch for; I'm sure somebody will mention that.

Me, I never liked condos because they seemed like all the disadvantages of renting (like rules of things you can/cannot do) combined with all the disadvantages of owning.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Read the monthly meeting minutes and AGM minutes closely. Does it look like the board knows what they're doing? Do they even meet regularly? Try and find out more about the Board members.

Review the reserve fund closely - make sure the amount specified in the reserve report is what's in the bank.

At the end of the day, a good and effective Board is what seperates a building from retaining its value and being a great place to live, vs turning into a slum.

Checkout the parkade. Does it have cameras or other security measures? Parkade prowling is a big problem in the city right now.

Living in a condo is perfectly fine as long as you have a proactive building and Board - and that doesn't necessarily mean the lowest condo fees. With the new starter homes jammed 10 feet apart - you might as well live in a townhouse IMHO. Me - if I liven in an apartment style again, it'll be a high end one as that's your best bet for standards staying high.

[Bill Bumface]

Having your own outside entrance is really a nice thing to have. Shared hallways suck. Also, heat can be a huge issue with condos. Top floors are hotter, and units with windows only on one side don't get good airflow at all.

[Temporary_User]

There are company's out there that review the reserve fund, meeting minutes, basically everything out for you for a small fee.
I would recemend checking one of those company's out before purchasing.

Other than that, I would add you would want to be on a corner suite. (preferably).

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

I've never lived in a condo/appartment before (have always rented suites) but am now going to buy something. Just wondered if anyone had any tips about little stuff like laundry situations, living high or low, sound factors, moving furniture in...the little stuff that the real estate ads dont tell you.

The biggest piece of advice:

If you are pre-approved for $300,000 don't spend it. Your condo fees will likely be $300-$400 a month on top of your mortgage. A lot of people don't factor that in. Obviously that covers a lot of your utilities but still it can surprise people. Just be careful about that one.

For sound factors, make sure it is a concrete and not a wood framed building. The resale will be higher but definitely worth it especially if someone has hard wood floors because you don't hear someone walking in high heel shoes through their suite. Awkwardly, the higher you are I find the street noise louder.

Most important. Every piece of literature or info mailed to you from the condo board needs to be held onto. Monthly minutes, reserve info etc. When you go to sell it can cost you 100's of dollars to retrieve all of the condo board documents. When you take possession and are given the original condo board documents, file them. When they start coming in the mail start filing them regardless of how little it may concern you. I got burned for about $300 when I moved out of my townhouse and I kept a lot of the documents.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by guzzy

Most important. Every piece of literature or info mailed to you from the condo board needs to be held onto. Monthly minutes, reserve info etc. When you go to sell it can cost you 100's of dollars to retrieve all of the condo board documents. When you take possession and are given the original condo board documents, file them. When they start coming in the mail start filing them regardless of how little it may concern you. I got burned for about $300 when I moved out of my townhouse and I kept a lot of the documents.

You'll "get burned" for it regardless, the documents that have to be ordered from the condominium management company has nothing to do with the stuff you've so faithfully kept over the years. When you sell a place you need the most updated board minutes/management agreement/insurance cert./by-laws etc. etc. and these are only available through the management company. In fact, charging you $300 to photocopy 500 pages of docs is a MAJOR source of income for these guys, or else your condo fees would be another $50 a month to cover their margins.

[Incinerator]

Originally Posted by burnin_vernon

I've never lived in a condo/appartment before (have always rented suites) but am now going to buy something. Just wondered if anyone had any tips about little stuff like laundry situations, living high or low, sound factors, moving furniture in...the little stuff that the real estate ads dont tell you.

Being in Vancouver you'll probably end up in a concrete building in most likelihood, so don't worry too much about sound transfer. Keep in mind in-suite laundry and high floor is a must if you care anything about resale value. The rest have pretty much been covered by posters above.

[Jiggy_12]

I live on the 2nd floor of a 4 floor condo and am happy I live no higher. It gets hot enough in here as it is with no AC.

[Incinerator]

Portable A/C FTW muahahaha

[Flame On]

You could also ask about the condo fees and labor. Where I live there seems to be large quantities of neglect for services that I'm paying for. Then they just say "sorry, labor market".
Whether you live in a development that is still under construction is something you might think about too.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

Having your own outside entrance is really a nice thing to have. Shared hallways suck. Also, heat can be a huge issue with condos. Top floors are hotter, and units with windows only on one side don't get good airflow at all.

Pay attention to if it's infloor heating or not - this is a well known problem with them IFH, particulalry during the summer.

The outside entrance is great, but typically only for Townhouses. Which BTW, I do believe to be the best of both worlds (condo + detached living)

[Winsor_Pilates]

just noticed you're in Van-ish.
There's some Van specific things you should look for.
-See when it was built. There was a period in time around the late 80s through 90s when condos in Van were built really poorly to get them out fast. A good realtor will know this and tell you which years, and specific buildings to avoid.
-Concrete is a must. Because of Van's weather the building construction is really important.
-Make sure it's rain-screened. This protects the building from rain damage and without it your likely gonna have problems.
-Check the minutes carefully for rain issues. That's the biggest problem you may get in Van, so a building that has had those issues should be avoided.
-Condo fees in Van seem to be generally lower then Cal, so make sure they're using them wisely and have a good reserve fund.
-If you're in a concrete building, the major noise issue will be sound from outside. So if you're into quiet places, don't buy near a busy road. I live on West 4th and it's alway loud with trafic. Doesn't bother me, but certainly could for many people.

what area are you looking in? We just bought our condo in Kits and I looked at a lot of building around here, so if you're looking in this area I might have some further advice.

[burnin_vernon]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

just noticed you're in Van-ish.
There's some Van specific things you should look for.
-See when it was built. There was a period in time around the late 80s through 90s when condos in Van were built really poorly to get them out fast. A good realtor will know this and tell you which years, and specific buildings to avoid.
-Concrete is a must. Because of Van's weather the building construction is really important.
-Make sure it's rain-screened. This protects the building from rain damage and without it your likely gonna have problems.
-Check the minutes carefully for rain issues. That's the biggest problem you may get in Van, so a building that has had those issues should be avoided.
-Condo fees in Van seem to be generally lower then Cal, so make sure they're using them wisely and have a good reserve fund.
-If you're in a concrete building, the major noise issue will be sound from outside. So if you're into quiet places, don't buy near a busy road. I live on West 4th and it's alway loud with trafic. Doesn't bother me, but certainly could for many people.

what area are you looking in? We just bought our condo in Kits and I looked at a lot of building around here, so if you're looking in this area I might have some further advice.

Wow, thanks for the advice, all; there is a lot of information here I didn't know about.

Winsor, I was thinking of heading anywhere from Burnaby to West Van. I am transferring job locations and there are a lot of offices around so I'm hoping this gives me more options. I am budgeting for about 200k (+condo fees, etc) so as much as I'd like to live in Kits, I doubt that it would be in my range. Any location advice you have would be awesome, though, as I am coming from a small Valley town and don't kow Van very well.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Pay attention to if it's infloor heating or not - this is a well known problem with them IFH, particulalry during the summer.

What's the well known problem? I have IFH in my place, just curious if there is something I should be on the lookout for.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by hulkrogan

What's the well known problem? I have IFH in my place, just curious if there is something I should be on the lookout for.

Whoops sorry, should have linked it to the original quote better. IFH can sometimes give rise to hotter than desired units in the summer due to natural convection (although it's great in the winter). My old concrete condo had IFH, and I was on the 4/th / 7 floor between two end units.

It was ALWAYS hot in there (at least 24-28), and no fiddling with the thermostat did anything. Condo mananagement had the zone valve replaced many times but unfortunately, being in the middle + natural convection turned the place into a sauna.

I did find ways to make it better however - IFH units typically don't have air vents in the unit itself - the main hallway is pressurized with makeup air and it flows into the unit around the door (so don't seal your door with add on weatherstrpping like some people do - you'll get no fresh air!!). The key is to promote air circulation with the outside to make up for this when it gets hot. TurboAire circulation fans did the trick for me + some discrete window to dissapate the greenhouse effect during June-Aug.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Whoops sorry, should have linked it to the original quote better. IFH can sometimes give rise to hotter than desired units in the summer due to natural convection (although it's great in the winter). My old concrete condo had IFH, and I was on the 4/th / 7 floor between two end units.

It was ALWAYS hot in there (at least 24-28), and no fiddling with the thermostat did anything. Condo mananagement had the zone valve replaced many times but unfortunately, being in the middle + natural convection turned the place into a sauna.

I did find ways to make it better however - IFH units typically don't have air vents in the unit itself - the main hallway is pressurized with makeup air and it flows into the unit around the door (so don't seal your door with add on weatherstrpping like some people do - you'll get no fresh air!!). The key is to promote air circulation with the outside to make up for this when it gets hot. TurboAire circulation fans did the trick for me + some discrete window to dissapate the greenhouse effect during June-Aug.

Ahhh, I see. Luckily my system is fully independent and I crank my hot water tank way down for summer, just hot enough to get one shower out of it. I have noticed a hot tile here and there though when I didn't expect it. I do pretty much what you do, open a back window and open a front window and I can always cool it off by the next morning at least.

[Bobblehead]

Of course, you could also make a homebrew AC

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

Of course, you could also make a homebrew AC

Oh I Macgyvered something real good - got a Danby portable (non window mount as that's not permitted underbylaws) and built a plexiglass windowpane to vent the hot air out yet keep the building aesthetics in line. Too bad the Danby was a POS and completely died 3 months later. The sucker was $800 and luckily someone at Rona was nice enough to give me a refund under their "satisfaction guaranteed" policy, even though it was well after the return period.

I'd be even more impressed if the engineering geek figured out a way to LN2 cool his house!