Saturday, July 13, 2013

Toronto doubles condo development fees

Condos at Square One Celebration Square.
In the condo sales office there may be licensed or unlicensed sales representatives. Their obligation is simply to get you to sign and commit to the staged deposits.  They are not obligated to have you to understand.

It is incumbent upon you during the 10 day rescission period  [you have 10 days to take the contract to a lawyer to have it explained to you]  so that you clearly understand what addition closing expenses may be included in the documents.

Recent discretionary items I have seen are;
Lobby Art Contribution
Park Land Tree Planting
AND any additional levy's as yet unassessed by the municipality.
There may be individual meters for your condo.

That means you without knowing how much expense, you have committed to that amount of money. No debate. No Negotiation.

The time to CAP the closing costs and development charges is prior to the Conditional Period expiring. This is done by the lawyers in writing.  If it's not in writing it doesn't exist.

If you’ve purchased a preconstruction condominium in Toronto that has yet to close, take a close look at your Agreement of Purchase and Sale – you could be stuck paying a price increase of almost $15,000.
Like most municipalities, Toronto charges development fees when constructing a new building, adding new residential units to an existing building, or substantially redeveloping a building.
Since developers have no control over these fees, most Agreements of Purchase and Sale for preconstruction condominiums contain a clause stating that if the fees levied by the city increase, the developer can pass these increased fees onto the purchaser.  http://www.condoreporter.com/toronto-considers-substantial-increases-to-condominium-development-fees/

All the new charges added to your closing could easily be between 12 and $17,000 given what was talked about at Toronto City Council. PLUS any ART or Tree planting contributions.

Let's go back to Para 1...   If you had taken a Buyer's Broker with you,  Yes, I understand, you understand the buying process but you would not be so angry right now about that Toronto Condo where you did not cap the closing fees, consult a lawyer and understand clearly Phantom Mortgages and Land Transfer Tax Rebates if I had come along.  You didn't get a better deal.

That's what I do.



1 comment:

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