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Condominium Concerns

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You need to ask yourself if you really want to live in a condominium. There are pluses or positives and minuses or negatives with every option. If you choose reside alongside many other people in an apartment like setting, then are some issues of concern that you should consider beforehand.

Every condominium building has a management company that administers the day to day activities of the building, including enforcing or not caring about policies.

Policies can include enforcing boundaries of smoking areas in compliance with local and Provincial by-laws.

Other policies can include facility maintenance, in compliance with municipal and Provincial standards.

Every condominium corporation will also have a Board of Directors that votes on issues related to the building. While the so called Board is meant to govern the policies of the building, as with many forms of government the administration of policies is a bureaucratic responsibility. Bureaucracy is managed by management, likewise at a condominium corporation.

Before you choose to purchase a condominium be sure you know how it is managed. Request a copy of an Estoppel Certificate for the unit your plan on purchasing, far in advance of submitting an offer. As management for a meeting, as a prospective purchaser. If granted a meeting, be sure to bring a set of questions you want to ask. Also, bring a notepad for noting answers to your inquiries.

Walk around the area surrounding the condominium building and find out for yourself how close amenities are to the property. You may purchase a nice looking condominium building, but you need to be sure that you will be able to live well while you reside there.

You will also want to find out what traffic patterns are like near the condominium building. Inquire about air quality outside and inside the building, pollution levels and smog in the area near the building. Depending on the direction your unit face you may receive a lot of wind and / or sunshine. Conversely, if you unit is across from a shopping centre, then you could have a lot of fumes from vehicles and pollution, as well. If your unit is above the so-called designated smoking are you may receive a lot a second hand smoke.

Be sure to ask as many questions about the overall living conditions in the building. Find out from prospective neighbours, on your future floor what their experiences are in living at the building and ask them if they recommend that you move in or buy elsewhere.

Here are some useful references to review before buying a condominium:

November 29, 2016/by Zack Steel

Business Matters Articles

Whose Possessions Are Yours?

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Whose Possessions Are Yours?

When you buy something on credit or only pay an initial deposit are you agreeing to be totally occupied with paying for an item that you will not certainly own? When you do make a big ticket purchase are obligating yourself to an expenditure that you cannot handle?

If you buy a product that you cannot afford, then you are going to have to make regular minimum payments, for which you may not have the money to cover such costs. You will be working to pay for that which you seemingly bought, but which is not fully or really yours – that is until you pay for it completely. If you buy an expensive item and do pay it off, then you will likely also correspondingly purchase insurance coverage for it. Either way, when you buy something is seemingly beyond your means, you will have to continue to make payments beyond your so-called purchase of the product.

When can you own something and not be obligated to it? If you buy a product for which you have the correct amount of money in what is known a liquid capital or cash, then you can know with certainty that you have actually bought something that immediately becomes yours. Otherwise, the madness of credit can almost seem to cause you to become possessed by your possessions.

Alternative payment plans for purchases beyond your immediate means are available. Lay-a-away for example allows you to ensure that you will be the owner of an item that you want to buy, while permitting you to save up for it and make regular or even sporadic payments to pay down the total price. But how many companies actually offer lay-a-way? You should choose to shop at such a store, even as a matter of principal, if for no other reason than that they offer lay-a-way plans. This entire methodology demonstrates that the company cares about the consumer. The novel approach of lay-a-way is in drastic opposition to stores that instead prefer to offer high-interest credit cards to customers, usually at the cash register or checkout points. These juggernauts warehouse stores usually have no available staff members that you can ask questions to inquire about products and / or prices. There sole concern is cash; getting more of yours and spending less or none of their own. Do you want to shop at such a store to endorse this system of shopping?

March 17, 2015/by Zack Steel

Land and Property

Title Insurance Mysteries

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Title Insurance Mysteries

So you want to buy a beautiful new home and you need to know it is free and clear of debts and issues. As a qualified prospective purchaser you will want to know with certainty that there are no title insurance mysteries. Whether you plan to purchase a condominium or a house, you will need to be sure there are no debts on the title to the desired property. Liens, certificates of pending litigation and judgments against a property can become a financial problem for the new owner.

To avoid becoming responsible for debts of the current or former owner you should conduct a full title search to be sure the property is free and clear of debts; current or pending. A Writ Search can be conducted on the name or reference number of the debt as registered with the municipality. A Province-wide search can also be completed on the owner – using their full name or company name. If the property is owned by a company then you may want to utilize the company name search. A property search can also be performed on the name, address or PIN # (Property Identification Number).

You should be sure that your title search is professionally completed and that the searcher of title is fully licensed and insured. When you choose to have a title searched is up to you. Perhaps you will want to know once you have a tour of a potential property for purchase, whether or not the title to the home is free and clear. You could also have a title searched conducted upon closing. This search may be the responsibility of your lawyer.

Teraview / Teranet Inc. offers a variety of options for title searches. For a listing list of registered conveyancers visit and review Ontario Association of Professional Searchers of Records.

February 5, 2015/by Zack Steel

Posts

Condominium Concerns

Whose Possessions Are Yours?

Title Insurance Mysteries

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