I am looking at this condo 10 Dayspring Court, Brampton, Ontario, L6P1B9. The condo fee is huge compare to other buildings. Can someone explain why it is high? The building is only 8 years old. Strange....

Hi,
With any condominium, your maintenance fee is based on the square footage of your unit, number of parking spaces and locker rooms you have($/sq ft).
10 Dayspring Court is fairly new but the cost of maintaining facilities such as the gym, common areas, outside grounds & utilities will determine the cost per square foot of your maintenance fee.
A big note to remember if you are planning to buy a condominium; The monthly maintenance fee is factored into your qualification when applying for finance. This mean your mortgage payment + maintenance fee ($600+ in this case)and property tax is calculated to your ability to finance.
Lets talk if you would like to know where you stand.
Cheers

Peter K Yeung
Broker-Accredited Mortgage Professional (AMP)
Real Mortgage Associates Inc
416-466-0033
pyeung@rmabroker.ca
www.rmabroker.ca
peter@ariesenterprise.com
www.ariesenterprise.com
Lic # M08000585 - Brokerage # 10464

Great points Peter. Another thing to consider is that he condo corp is required to operate in the black and gather considerable reserve funds and because of that (and reserve fund study recommendations), maintenance fees will always rise every year. (The reserve fund study will allocate spending recommendations for major infrastructure projects for future years. The more units in the condo, the less the cost per unit.) When considering the total price you pay for your condo home, include the maintenance fees over the life of your mortgage term.

Peter and Tina make good points above. 10 Daysprings has maintenance fees of about 50-60 cents per square foot. I wouldn't say that's necessarily high. It's about average for the area.

Keep in mind that if your point of comparison is new condos (sold off plans), they typically entice buyers with lower maintenance fees (25-30 cents per sq ft) to make it more attractive for purchase. Once the board of directors takes over, they quickly realize those low fees can't support the budge and maintenance fees have to be raised to accomodate.

I'd be glad to help if you're looking to help. I'm in the Vaughan area too, but definitely work in Brampton as well.

Its because of what utilities are included + what amenities need to be maintained + square footage of your unit.

Also poor property management will lead to a big hike in maintenance fees! That being said, 50 cents per square foot for an 8 year old building is a very reasonable price.

I have seen maintenances fees as high as $1.50 per square foot... now thats high

I think everybody answer