Why Do You Need to Pay Condo Fees?

When you first take a look at the mortgage you’ll have to pay on a new condo you'll be quite impressed until you see the condo fees added to it. These fees can really add up and become a hefty percentage of the monthly cost for your housing. In order to come to grips with this extra fee there are a few things that you'll need to take into account.

Condo fees are shared by the entire community and are put towards running the building. It is a completely different payment when compared to paying rent. These fees keep the wheels running smoothly for the whole condominium operation. The management is not going to be making any money off of these fees and every building must be registered as a corporation that's running as a non-profit entity.

Coming to terms with the condo fees

When you think about all of the payments that you'll need to make as a homeowner for services such as snow shoveling, window cleaning, lawn care, gardening etc. you'll see the reasoning behind the fees. Not only are you not going to have to maintain your own driveway or fertilize your lawn as a condo owner but you also won't have to worry about hiring and maintaining workers to do it for you. When you purchase a condominium here in Calgary it's basically a hands-off maintenance package for you. All you'll have to worry about is keeping up the condo unit you own.

Understanding a contingency fee

By law, every condominium building must put aside a certain amount as a contingency fund. This covers the costs of upkeep or emergency repairs that may be required on critical systems like plumbing or heating or for other problems like a leaking roof or a drainage issue.

How much will you have to pay?

Every condo will have its own payment requirement and it will be based on your unit's size. If you own a 2-bedroom condo you'll be paying less than the owner of a 3-bedroom would be paying, but more than what is being paid for a studio condo.

A lot of the discrepancy in payments from one building to the next lies with the amenities offered by each. If one has a swimming pool, for example, your condo fees will help to keep the pool maintained and do any repairs necessary on it. If you don't plan on using the pool at all, you'll still have to pay for the pool's upkeep as an owner of a condo unit in the building.