Looking for a new home can be an exciting experience. If you are looking specifically for a condominium, you may be surprised at all the different things to consider; as buying a condo is not the same as buying a single-family home. There are many benefits of owning a condo, such as taking advantage of shared amenities and building maintenance. However, you will likely be sharing walls with neighbours and other common areas, which makes owning a condo different from a stand-alone house.

What is a Condominium?

A condominium, or in short, a “condo” is a single unit within a community of other units. Condos are typically apartment-style properties, freestanding homes, or townhouses. Condo owners jointly share common areas such as garages, elevators, hallways, gyms, pools, etc.

It is important to understand the responsibilities that come with owning a Condo and what the purchase includes. Although some areas are shared as common property, owners are typically responsible for the interior of the condo and the structural components of the exterior walls.

What is a Condo Association?

Shared areas of the complex are typically managed by a condo association. The association acts as a supervisory board to manage the common areas and govern the rules and regulations set out in the bylaws. Within the association, the Board of directors are nominated by the ownership to be the voice of the association. They are made up of a group of volunteer owners, who are collectively responsible and accountable for decisions regarding the association, on behalf of owners.

Often, a property management company is hired on behalf of the association to handle maintenance, communication amongst owners, and the property finances. A property manager will work directly with the Board of directors and acts as an agent of the condo association.

What is the difference between owning a Condo and a House?

The main difference between owning a condo and a house is maintenance. If you owned a house and needed the roof repaired, that would be your financial responsibility alone to have it fixed. If you own a condo, maintenance such as this would likely be split between the owners of the condo association. Since common area maintenance is shared amongst owners, this requires a monthly fee to be paid to ensure the expenses can be paid. These monthly fees are referred to as condo fees in Alberta.

Sharing common costs may be an important factor when making a decision about owning a condo, but it is important to remember that you will be part of a community that has rules and regulations that need to be adhered to. For example, your condo association may not allow pets on the premise, there may be aesthetic requirements to follow or if there is a big repair, a special assessment may be required. This involves collecting fees outside of the monthly condo fees to ensure big projects can be completed.

Why is due diligence so important when buying a Condo?

One of the most important things to protect yourself, when looking at buying a condo, is to research the condo association and do your due diligence. Review the association bylaws, look at the financial records, community rules and regulations, and Board meeting minutes. All of these documents will help you make informed decisions before purchasing a condo. Important documents to review, include:

• Recent Reserve fund – A well-funded reserve fund can be an important document that shows buyers that the condominium association is in good financial standing.
• Operating Budget & Financial Statements– These documents show what the condo association is spending the owner’s condo fees on (amenities, contractors, management fees, etc.)
• Board Meeting Minutes – This will give buyers an insight into whether there are upcoming major repairs in the forecast.
• Bylaws – This is an important document for buyers to see what the rules and regulations of the property are, regarding pets, parking, and amenity use.
• Estoppel Certificate – This is a signed statement from the condo association that provides the current condo fees for the unit, the payment schedule of the fees, and whether any contributions are unpaid.
• Information/Disclosure Statement – This document includes any lawsuits involving the association (including the amount claimed against the association), any judgments or orders that the association is liable for, how much funds are in the reserve fund, the amount of the monthly condo fees for the unit and if there are any structural deficiencies or loans.

In summary, owning a condo can be a great investment, but its own rules require potential owners to do their due diligence and check all the governing documents before making a decision to purchase a condo. It’s best to seek advice from a professional Realtor who has experience with condo sales to ensure it is the right fit for you.

If you're looking to buy a house in 2023, it might be good to do it sooner rather than later as house prices are set to increase in parts of Alberta next year.

According to CREB's 2023 Canadian Housing Market Outlook, Alberta home prices are set to get more expensive in 2023, with average sale prices increasing in both Calgary and Edmonton.

Calgary's housing market is likely to shift into a seller's market early in 2023, with first-time buyers fueling a lot of the demand for housing.

While condos are the dominant housing type in the city right now, single-detached homes are likely to be pretty popular heading into 2023 as buyers look for additional living space, the report said.

In Edmonton, the market will be driven by more "move-up and move-over buyers" looking for single-detached homes.

While housing prices are on the rise in Calgary and Edmonton, homes are still considerably cheaper than you would find in Ontario and B.C.

The average residential sale price in Calgary for 2022 was $658,277.00, while in Edmonton, it was $401,025.00.

Compared to the Greater Vancouver Area and the Greater Toronto Area where average prices were an eye-watering $1,267,131 and $1,203,916 respectively, Alberta is still affordable

What is a full-service realtor?

A full-service realtor does everything from listing your house on Realtor.ca for the right price to marketing your house and completing negotiations. They're known as full-service because they don't just pick and choose which services to provide, they offer the whole package.

Need a more in-depth description? Here's what a full-service realtor does for you.

Lists Your Home

It may seem pretty simple to stick your home on the internet with a price and put a sign up in the yard. But really, there's more to it than that.

Your full-service realtor will take a look at similar homes in the area that are listed or have recently sold to compare to yours. They will also pull stats from the area, look at the property value of the neighbor's homes, and use all of this information to find the value of your home. This whole process is known as completing a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) and helps the agent price your home effectively.

Once your realtor finds that pricing sweet-spot, they're half-way to listing your house.

Taking Pictures

Next, your realtor will either take pictures of your house yourself or pay a professional photographer to do it for them. The real estate photographer and full-service agent know exactly what to feature in the images to get potential buyers in the door.

Although it is by no means required, some full-service realtors will have a stager come in and stage your home for a more attractive offer. Staging happens a before and during the photography process.

Listing on Realtor.ca

Once the realtor is geared with an attractive price and incredible photos, they're ready to list your home on Realtor.ca. Simply listing your house with beautiful photos and a price isn't enough, however. Next, they'll probably ask you a few questions about the house to write a sensational description. The description is your chance to get everything not seen in the pictures out to potential buyers.

Some things your realtor will put in the listing description are:

• Proximity to local attractions or amenities
• Type of neighborhood
• What school districts it's near
• What makes the house stand out

Markets Your Home

Once your home is listed, it's time to drive traffic to it.

Your full-service realtor will post the usual signs in your yard and may even put a box of fliers. Then they'll make sure to list your homes in local home publications, and even market it online.

This step is key in getting the word out about your home, and the type and amount of marketing your realtor does says a lot about their caliber of skill.

If your agent kicks back and hopes the house will sell itself, it's time to find a new agent. You want an agent who knows where to find qualified buyers and has experience marketing to them. This will help your house get in front of the right people.

 Foreclosures occur when a homeowner misses consecutive payments to his or her lender,  usually over a time span of at least three pay periods. When they have no means to start catching up on payments, foreclosure is usually imminent. The lender will begin the process of reclaiming ownership, which basically means the title on the property is reversed and it is reclaimed by the original lender. Once the foreclosure becomes official, the lender then has the ability to sell the property and use the proceeds to pay off the cost of the mortgage, as well as any legal fees accrued  As unfortunate as foreclosure situations sometimes are, they also offer buyers a chance to purchase a quality property quickly and often slightly below market value.

Why does this occur? Simply put, banks are not in the business of property management. Their main goal throughout the foreclosure process is to recover the original principle loaned out as quickly as possible. While lenders do have an obligation to try and get fair market value, they also want to liquidate the asset as fast as possible. As a result, any reasonable offer made that is close to the asking price is almost always accepted or, at the very least, seriously entertained. 

Their are two different types of foreclosures in Alberta - Court of Queens Bench (Judicial) foreclosures and bank foreclosures. The first kind, a judicial foreclosure, involves the sale of a mortgaged property under the supervision of the Court of Queens Bench. All proceeds from the sale go to pay off the mortgage first and foremost, while the remainder of the capital is claimed by lien holders and the original borrower/homeowner (if any is left). All judicial foreclosures in Calgary are unconditional, and only cash offers are considered. In other words, there are no financing options and a home inspection is not performed - the property is sold as is. Since judicial foreclosures involve a lawsuit against the borrower by the original lender, people may still be living in the property until the process is finalized.

On the other hand, bank foreclosures usually involve the sale of an empty property after the mortgage lender has invoked the Power of Sale clause included in a standard mortgage contract. They are almost always much simpler, and as such, move along at a much faster pace. No court supervision is required and in most cases, potential buyers can request financing and a home inspection condition in their offer. 

Chattel, or unattached goods, are not included in a final sale. However, goods left in a bank-owned home are often not removed after purchase, so as soon as possession takes place, the items become property of the new owner. This is usually much less common in cases of judicial foreclosure, although it does sometimes still occur. In either case, no official/real property report is provided and buyers will have to pay for title insurance. Offers are often left open for acceptance longer as well, as lawyers and/or the court need some extra time to review a potential offer before approving it. 

While the foreclosure buying process can often have a few ups and downs,  Calgary Dream Homes team knows exactly how to help you navigate a competitive Calgary foreclosures market. Terry checks and updates the Calgary MLS foreclosure database on a daily basis before compiling the list. Not only can he outline the specifics of each type of foreclosure that occurs here in Alberta, he will also provide professional advice and absolute legal clarity. For more details on Calgary foreclosure listings or to set up an appointment to view specific property, please contact us by filling out the contact from under the Resourses tab on the main page.