Vancouver Real Estate | You Buy It But Is It Really Yours

A nightmare of a recipe...Condo owners neglect their building by keeping maintenance fees low. No one wants to pay more. The problem escalates until the repairs are beyond the financial capacity of the owners. The city steps in when the building becomes unsafe and a developer buys the property on the cheap. Who knew?

The dream of owning your own home. Can I get in before I am priced out? Can I afford it? You never think the court of BC would sell it out from under you. Yet this is what has happened to one homeowner in Vancouver.

If you have ever lived in a strata. You will know that getting people as a group to agree to anything is hard these days. More so when there is big money involved. Mix that up will a falling housing market and big ticket repairs you will have an recipe for personal tragedy.

In a recent court decision a man has lost his house and his life savings. (See full article)

A long and expensive court fight over condominium repairs has ended with a Vancouver man being forced out of his paid-off home.

A B.C. Supreme Court justice ruled Craig Fraser's condo could be liquidated — along with the rest of the three-unit building — after the two other owner-investors couldn't or wouldn't pay the repair bills for a leaky roof.

This issue is highlited by the recent downturn in property values and the dramatic increase in construction costs. The BC Condo Home Owner's Association predicts even more liquidations.

"It's not the only liquidation that we've seen take place," said Tony Gioventu of B.C.'s Condo Home Owner's Association (CHOA). "We're going to see probably a greater list of strata corporations that are incapable of meeting their financial obligations."

Here is the problem...Condo owners neglect their building by keeping maintenance fees low. No one wants to buy more. The problem escalates until the repairs are beyond the financial capacity of the owners. The city steps in when the building becomes unsafe and a developer buys the property on the cheap.

More to come...

Duncan Seward is associated with TMG a group of mortgage brokers in BC. He helps people arrange a mortgage in BC. Every Friday he updates BC mortgage rates. You can check out his blog covering the mortgage market in Vancouver.