I came back from Africa and my mailbox was so jammed that I had to pull with all my might to get those important flyers and IKEA catalogues out of the little rectangle-hole!

Let’s see……VISA bill, GQ Magazine, ten court dates for parking tickets, forty pizza flyers, and a friendly note from my condominium board!

It’s September, so our maintenance fees are going up!  But you know what?  It’s actually not that bad…

What the hell year is it?

How long have I been at my condo!?!

Time certainly flies, and it’s been three-and-a-half years now that I’ve been living at 230 King Street!

My next door neighbour and I have a running joke; well actually, we tease eachother unmercifully…

We are very good friends, and we both realize we’re lucky to have such a good buddy living next door.  She teases me that she’s going to leave first, and I tease her that I’ve already got one foot out the door.  I once emailed her the MLS listing for a condo in King West and said, “Check this out – I just bought it!  I’m moving!”  She came to my door that night, crying.

We’ll both outgrow our current residences one day, but I’m not ready to move.

Even though my condo is way too small for me, and even though I could comfortably afford a larger place, I love where I live.

And I find the cost of living to be very reasonable!

I can actually remember when my monthly maintenance fees were $300 per month!

And consider that at King’s Court, your utilities are ALL included – heat, hydro, water – the whole gambit!

Yes, we’ve seen properties on MLS with maintenance fees of the $240 variety, but those buildings don’t include heat or hydro, and the fees represent the builder’s budget from five years ago.  Those fees will likely DOUBLE inside of four years.

The fees at my condo have been very reasonable, as have been the increases all along.

So I was amazed to open my mail this week and go through the letter from the Board of Directors and see that our fees are only going up 5.5%.

Let’s start from the beginning…

In early 2007, my fees were a paltry $301.67.  Considering how much heat, hydro, and water I used, I actually would bet that the condominium corporation was losing money on me personally!  This also covers my building insurance, and a portion of extra maintenance fees because I have an underground parking spot with requires regular upkeep.

In September of 2007, my fees went up 6.0% which really wasn’t that much for a “new” building.  I was now paying $322.57 and still laughing all the way to the bank.

In September of 2008, my fees only went up 3.0%!  Can you believe it?  Quick – what was inflation in Canada during 2009?  I made out like a bandit!

In September of 2009, my fees went up 5.0% to $353.44, which is what I pay now.

This month, my fees will be increased to $372.88 per month – an increase of just 5.5% over last year.

I find this to be absolutely amazing, considering the new HST and the increase in the price of natural gas.

In addition, Toronto Hydro has announced a 14% rate increase, and the City of Toronto has increased the price of water by 9%.  It is widely expected that the City will raise prices substantially in 2011 as well.

Our condominium corporation is increasing the Reserve Fund contribution a whopping 37.7% from $184,329 in 2009-10 to $253,821 in 2010-11.

So how then can our monthly fees only go up 5.5%?

Well, it’s not my job to figure it out!

I’m not on the Board, and I don’t make the decisions!

But between the HST, the increase in the price of gas and water, and the huge addition to the Reserve Fund contribution (let’s not forget our good friend, inflation!), I’m rather pleased to not see a double-digit percentage increase in our monthly fees!

So here I sit paying $372.88 per month for my 585 square foot condo with my 440 square foot terrace.

I see both bad and good in this equation, and each is significant in its own right.

THE BAD:

I’m now paying $0.64 per square foot in monthly fees.

This isn’t “high,” but it isn’t “low” either.

I should reiterate, again, that my fees include my heat, hydro, and water, but the across-the-board comparison in our industry for price per square foot as it pertains to maintenance fees does not usually distinguish between the haves and the have-nots.

Anything in the high $0.60’s is high.

Anything in the high $0.50’s is reasonable.

Anything in the low $0.50’s is fantastic.

And anything below $0.50 is completely artificial and was only set that low by the builder to entice buyers to purchase during pre-construction.

When I first punched the numbers into my calculator, I had to re-check to make sure that I really was paying $0.64 per square foot per month!  I’ve always thought of King’s Court as a low-fee building, but we’re approaching what I might call “high.”

For a five-year-old building, I don’t consider this to be cheap.

Sure – there are tons of 20-year-old buildings with maintenance fees in the high $0.70’s or even the $0.80’s, but that is to be expected for an older building.

I guess I should really start separating those buildings which include utilities, as this might put my $0.64 per month in a much more reasonable light.

THE GOOD:

I purchased my condo after it had been registered as a Condominium Corporation for just more than one year.

While I’ve been here for only three-and-a-half years, I can trace the maintenance fees back to the full four years.

In those four years, the fees for my condo have gone from $301.67 to $372.88.

That is an increase of 23.6% in four years.

I find this to be exceptional for new condominium.

One of the major knocks on new condos is that the maintenance fees skyrocket in the first five years.  The builders set the fees artificially low to attract buyers, and then the Condominium Corporation is left in a very difficult position when they take control.

The builder sets a budget in place, but not only is that budget likely 3-4 years old when the Condominium Corporation is formed, but the budget was set by a builder who was essentially “cheating.”

I don’t have any percentages to back up my claims, but I can almost guarantee that the “average” condo maintenance fees will increase substantially more than 23.6% in the first four years (I know my example is really years 2-5 and not 1-4, but work with me here…).

I find it to be abnormal that I have never seen a double-digit percentage increase in the four years I have been at King’s Court.  Abnormally GREAT!

It can only mean one of three things:
a) The developer was fair and accurate when drawing up the initial budget.
b) The Board of Directors has done an incredible job running the building and making decisions on behalf of the 332 unit-owners.
c) Both.

As I said – I wish I had some statistics to work with!  I’d love to know what the average increase in condo maintenance fees is in 2011 after the HST hit.

To my readers – please share!  If you’ve been notified by your condo as to how much your fees are going up, please post the information below!