# Condo meeting minutes...........



## sags (May 15, 2010)

How much detail can a prospective buyer ask for regarding condo meeting minutes?

I am interested in an ideal townhouse unit........but it has underground parking between the two rows of units, with the top of the garage landscaped into a garden patio area. It was designed like this 43 years ago.

My concern is the complex is small (only 10-12 units) and the cost of repairs to underground parking garages is very high.

Several of the units have been for sale lately...........and I am wondering if a problem may be indicated by that.

The units seem to sell quickly, but future repairs to the parking garage may not even be on some buyer's radar screen.

So..........condo meeting minutes.........can I ask and expect to receive them for the past 2 years?


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## none (Jan 15, 2013)

Maybe people are selling their condos because they think the market is about to crash?


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

You should be able to get a copy of all condo by-laws, any upcoming decisions and levis etc. Meeting minutes not sure but you can ask!


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## bjthebuilder (Jan 29, 2013)

I'm in construction, and you are correct it stating that the repairs can be costly, in addition you would have to re- landscape the top. When visiting the site have a look though the parking garage - are there many leaks? eflouressence through the concrete?. If so that would be an indicator that the waterproofing membrane has failed, and damage could be occuring to the parkign garege.


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## Xoron (Jun 22, 2010)

sags said:


> How much detail can a prospective buyer ask for regarding condo meeting minutes?


Sure why not?

*"If you’re buying a resale unit, ask for the last two years’ worth of minutes from condo board meetings. They will give you a good idea of the types of problems you might be dealing with in the building."​*
http://www.citynews.ca/2011/05/03/moneysense-how-to-buy-a-condo/


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## Charlie (May 20, 2011)

During our 'leaky condo' crisis in Vancouver, it was not uncommon to ask for five years of minutes...


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## kcowan (Jul 1, 2010)

A friend bought a condo on the west side last year. All the minutes came up clean. The roof had just been replaced. Now they have a "surprise" assessment for $38k to rehabilitate all the balconies. She is not impressed. Apparently the engineering estimate was underway when she bought but it had never been noted in the minutes.


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## Pennypincher (Dec 3, 2012)

Wow this sounds just like my old condo that I sold 5 years ago. We had a self managed condo and condo board and I was the treasurer. It wasn't the perfect set up, but we saved condo fees big time from doing it all ourselves. We did all the maintenance ourselves too.

We didn't end up with any special assessments, but we didn't run the condo board according to condo board guidelines in Canada, namely because we only had 1 bank account ( to save fees). We were supposed to have a separate, second one for special assessment savings.

When we sold, we had trhee offers upon the first day. The offer we ended up going with had only 1 requirement, and this was to use a condo check company to ask our condo board questions and provide condo documents galore. It wasn't too hard to entertain this, because I was the treasurer. We didn't have most of the documents this "fit all one size" condo check list condo company asked us for. They wanted audited statements. Hah. Anyhowm, we ended up selling to these very people. 

My advice is to get as much information as you can. You can only get condo docs if you have an offer in and they are entertaining it. (as far as I know) You can be as bold as walking over to the condo building and knocking on doors. Why not? Ask questions. A lot of people may not have answers, but find out what you can. Has there been any major repairs? What are the condo fees? What are they used towards? Has there been a special assessment? Then you basically go with the information you have. 

Our condo fees were $200/month and this included heat and building insurance. We didn't have an underground parking spot, but yet our fees were always going towards fixing up that area. It turns out our underground garage didn't have a legal permit and it had been built more than 10 years earlier as it was converted from a small underground parkage to a closed in garage. We did end up getting the permit from the city after a lot of leg work from myself. I don't regret having owned this place, but it only worked because we all believed in low condo fees and worked together to be hands on as a group. If people wanted to buy a unit and move in and expect to sit back and have others deal with condo issues and repairs, then the fees would have gone up significantly. We even had one couple doing snow removal for free so we didn't have to hire anyone.


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## fergusonsd (Dec 30, 2012)

The problem with condos is that they have the right to demand money for unforeseen issues without much warning and having read two decades of minutes won't help you in the slightest. They are tricky these boards and even if you can afford their very high fees it doesn't mean you can withstand additional punishment over and over. If you think it doesn't smell right, get out before you are trapped. As for the units selling, I wouldn't put too much stock in this as often units or nearby homes sell in waves. 

Devon Ferguson - www.fergusonfinancial.ca


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## Pennypincher (Dec 3, 2012)

To add to fergusonsd's comments, I agree that a wave of units selling is pretty standard for condo's.

People naturally start out in a condo and then they get married if they aren't already, and have kids and then move onto the next big purchase... a house in the burbs.

Most people in my condo building only lived there for 2-5 years. Only two or three had lived there long term and they were single, older, and liked the location.


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## Sampson (Apr 3, 2009)

One important thing to note about published meeting minutes is that not everything that is discussed is published. I have seen some Board members push for certain things to be left off the minutes knowing that they would sell their units before the next meeting.

While I think it is critical to read through them anyway, they don't always give you the full picture.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

Thanks for the input everyone..........

It looks like a combination of things would be needed, including a visual inspection of the concrete in the garage, reading as much of the minutes as available, and hopefully talking to someone living there. I might even be able to find someone who recently sold there............and they may provide a better viewpoint.


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## Jay (May 9, 2012)

2 years (at least) of condo minutes seems quite reasonable - any half decent board or management company wouldn't have any problem with that. If there's any hesitation or delay, I would take that as a big red flag. I would proceed with extreme caution buying a condo in such a small building (or any condo for that matter). The potential for a very expensive liability is huge, and the condo minutes will likely not have anything to indicate that. I find most condo residents tend to be completely oblivious as to the state of their building or its finances - questions are often more around petty rules than the financial health of the condo. Massive expenses usually come after engineering reports - or when the property manager feels they need to make a buck, and there's nothing to warn about those.


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## jamesbe (May 8, 2010)

Jay is so right. They are more worried that your door is painted the same colour of everyone elses than the fact that they need to spend $100,000 to fix the garage.


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