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How to Find Toronto Condos with Low Maintenance Fees

Your guide to everything you need to know about condo fees and how to avoid paying high fees.

By Emily Southey | 8 minute read

Dec 14

Are you interested in buying a condo in Toronto but want to find one with low maintenance fees? We can help. Keep reading for an in-depth guide on condo maintenance fees, including what they cover and how to find properties with low fees in Canada’s largest city.

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Condo Maintenance Fees Explained

Buying any type of home in Toronto comes with many fees, from the initial down payment and closing costs to the mortgage payments and property taxes. However, there is another type of fee associated with buying a condo specifically: condo maintenance fees. 

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Condo maintenance fees are shared costs paid by every owner of a unit in a condo building. These fees are paid to the condo association and go toward day-to-day maintenance and services, such as cleaning, repairs, and concierge or security. Every condo owner in Toronto is responsible for paying monthly condo maintenance fees as soon as they take ownership of the condo. Fees are typically charged on a square-foot basis. Therefore, the larger your condo unit is, the more expensive your fees will be. 

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If you are thinking about buying a condo, it’s important to budget for condo maintenance fees. In addition, as you house hunt, we recommend asking about condo maintenance fees so that this can factor into your decision. These fees are not all charged at the same rate, and some can be significantly more expensive than others. If you’re working with a REALTOR®, have them ask the seller to provide a monthly estimate of these fees. 

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How much are condo maintenance fees?

Condo maintenance fees vary widely. Generally speaking, as mentioned above, they are calculated according to the square footage of your condo unit. However, the cost per square foot will depend on several factors, such as the age of the condo building and its amenities. Depending on these factors, the fees per square foot could be as low as 30 cents or as high as $1, with the average hovering between 60 and 75 cents per square foot. Using this example, a 600-square-foot condo in Toronto might have monthly maintenance fees between $360 and $450. 

“Condo fees are not all charged at the same rate, and some can be significantly more expensive than others. If you’re working with a REALTOR®, have them ask the seller to provide a monthly estimate of these fees.”

What do condo maintenance fees cover?

Condo maintenance fees are designed to cover a wide range of expenses relating to the general maintenance of the property. While we recommend asking for a complete breakdown of what the fees at your specific condo building cover, this monthly fee typically goes toward utilities (for example, water and garbage collection), property insurance, the maintenance of common areas (hallways, landscaping, fitness centre, sauna, pool), and the building’s reserve fund. We provide a detailed breakdown of each below.

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Utilities

The specific utilities covered by condo maintenance fees vary from building to building. However, most fees will cover water and garbage collection. Sometimes they will also cover heat, electricity, and even cable TV. As an example, if the cost of water was included with your condo maintenance fees, you would not have to pay a separate water bill. Instead, every time you ran the dishwasher or took a shower, this water usage would be covered by your monthly fees. (That said, don’t take this as an opportunity to up your water usage, as a rise in overall utility usage can lead to higher condo fees.) Keep in mind that the more utilities covered, the more expensive your condo fees will likely be. 

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Property insurance

Your monthly condo maintenance fees may also cover the building’s property insurance. Property insurance protects the building and each of its owners from third-party liability claims, such as slip-and-fall accidents, or property damage caused by perils like fires, windstorms, earthquakes, and more. Please note that since the property insurance is paid for through the condo association, it does not cover the personal property in your unit. Instead, it covers common areas of the building, such as hallways, elevators, lobby, landscaping, and more. Therefore, condo owners will still need to buy individual insurance policies to protect their specific units and their contents. 

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Maintenance of common areas

Further, condo maintenance fees cover the maintenance of common areas. Common areas in buildings are those that all residents have access to, such as elevators, stairs, lobby, hallways, and on-site amenities like a gym, pool, sauna, games room, basketball court, or rooftop terrace. One of the main perks of condo living is that residents gain access to all types of amenities without having to handle the day-to-day maintenance. Instead, maintaining these shared spaces is paid for through monthly fees (usually the condo association will hire a property management company to take care of maintenance).

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Reserve fund

Lastly, condo maintenance fees typically cover contributions to the building reserve fund. The reserve fund is a pool of money the condo association sets aside for major expenses beyond regular upkeep. For example, the building might dip into the reserve fund to cover expensive repairs like roofing, structural updates, or common area redesigns. Please note that all Toronto condos are required to have a reserve fund, as per the Condominium Act.

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The Importance of Paying Condo Maintenance Fees

At this point, you might be thinking “Why would I bother to pay condo fees?” or “Wouldn’t it be easier to buy a house and avoid these fees?” The reality is as follows: First off, if you want to buy a condo in Toronto or anywhere else in Canada, you will have to pay condo maintenance fees. These fees are mandatory and non-negotiable, so you really don’t have a choice if you want to buy a condo. Second, condo maintenance fees largely cover expenses that owners of homes or other types of properties would typically have to pay on their own. Therefore, buying a single-family home rather than a condo likely wouldn’t be any cheaper in the long run. You would have more freedom to choose exactly where your money is allocated, but you would probably end up spending even more on maintenance, especially if your home is larger than your condo would have been. For example, depending on the condo association, the fees cover maintenance and repairs (for example, windows and roofing), utilities (water and heat), and general upkeep (such as lawn mowing and snow removal). These are all costs that a homeowner would have to pay themselves even if they bought a different type of property. 

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At the end of the day, we understand that having this monthly expense on top of your mortgage payments can seem daunting. But paying a fee to not only gain access to top-notch amenities but to have the building handle all maintenance and upkeep is worthwhile for many condo owners.

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How to Save Money on Condo Maintenance Fees

Your monthly condo maintenance fees may also cover the building’s property insurance. Property insurance protects the building and each of its owners from third-party liability claims, such as slip-and-fall accidents, or property damage caused by perils like fires, windstorms, earthquakes, and more. Please note that since the property insurance is paid for through the condo association, it does not cover the personal property in your unit. Instead, it covers common areas of the building, such as hallways, elevators, lobby, landscaping, and more. Therefore, condo owners will still need to buy individual insurance policies to protect their specific units and their contents. 

1. Do your research

Our first tip for saving money on condo maintenance fees is to look for a unit in a building with low maintenance fees. To do this, work with a REALTOR® who knows the market well and can inform you of any buildings with below-average fees. We also recommend doing some independent research into the different types of buildings and management companies, and the average fees they charge, as well as how much they’ve gone up over the years.

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2. Avoid buildings with flashy amenities

Sometimes older buildings have higher fees because they cost more to maintain given their age. But more often than not, newer buildings with lots of amenities have the highest condo maintenance fees of all. If you want to avoid high maintenance fees, do not choose a condo in a building with luxury amenities like pools or saunas.

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3. Review budget, reserve fund, and budget audits

Before buying a condo, ask to review the budget and reserve fund status certification. This can give you an idea of any circumstances that might cause condo fees to rise in the future. Asking for a copy of the budget audits can also help you understand how efficiently the condo association has been managing funds.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are condo maintenance fees used for exactly?

Condo maintenance fees are designed to cover a wide range of expenses, from utilities and property insurance to the maintenance of common areas and the building reserve fund. When you live in a condo, you own one unit that is part of a larger residential property, whether it be a highrise building or a townhouse. Since you only own one suite of the building, all of the shared amenities or common areas, as well as the general upkeep of the property, is not your responsibility. Instead, the condo association handles all of that, which they can afford to do by charging condo maintenance fees. Therefore, regardless of the size of the building, you are responsible for paying condo maintenance fees when you live in a Toronto condo.  

 

These monthly maintenance fees typically cover the maintenance of both interior and exterior common areas, on-site amenities, property management and staff, property insurance, the building reserve fund, and maybe even some of your utilities. That said, every building is different and what is included with a building’s condo fees will also be different. That is why it’s important to work with your REALTOR® or a real estate attorney to understand what is and isn’t covered by the condo maintenance fees at your building. 

Are condo maintenance fees negotiable in Toronto?

No, condo fees are not negotiable in Toronto. Therefore, when you purchase a condo, you must be prepared to pay the mandatory monthly condo association fees. 

Can you tell how much condo maintenance fees for a building are going to rise over time?

Condo maintenance fees are not set in stone. In fact, they often rise as a building ages or as it becomes more expensive to maintain due to factors like inflation. There is currently no cap on the amount of condo maintenance fees that can be charged in Toronto, however, condo owners should expect maintenance fees to rise. By how much is the question. To get an accurate estimate of how much condo maintenance fees for a building will rise over time, we recommend consulting with a REALTOR® or researching average condo fees in Toronto. 

Emily Southey

Wahi Writer

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