About North, AB

Condominiums are a great alternative to home ownership. If you're looking to buy your first home, or want to downsize, chances you are considering buying a condominium. There are a few things that you should know first before signing on the dotted line.

It's often said that buying a condominium is buying a lifestyle. What does that mean?

Condominium living is different from owning or renting a detached house because condominiums have a dual nature. Condominium owners hold title to their units and share responsibility for the operating costs of the balance of the property (common elements such as lobbies) that makes up the condominium (or Strata Property as known in BC).

There are many advantages to condominium ownership. It may be less expensive than other types of home ownership. It can provide an "instant" sense of community. While someone else is shovelling the snow, you could be enjoying a swim in the shared warm water swimming pool.

However, condominiums are not everyone's cup of tea. Condominium corporations (or Strata Corporation) may set restrictions on things such as owning pets or having an outdoor barbeque.

How is the condominium managed?
A Board of Directors (or Strata Councils), elected by the owners, manages the condominium association (or Strata corporation). Major decisions are voted on at owners' general meetings. Participation in community decision-making is a benefit of condominium living.

Conditions and Restrictions
Condominiums are governed by a set of rules called Covenants, which are enforced by the condominium association. Condominium Conditions and Restrictions (CC&Rs) vary from one development to another. The CC&Rs may impose restrictions on noise levels, renovation projects, pet ownership and renting.

As a potential condominium owner, you should be comfortable living within the rules and restrictions of the condominium association and living in close proximity to others.

Condo Fees (or Strata Fees)
The condo or owners association budgets and determines the fees for all units, usually based on the size of each unit, the number of units occupied and the projected expenses for maintenance and repair.

Every condo owner pays fees to help maintain the building, pay the salaries of concierges, handymen or groundskeepers, and provide facilities such as a pool, gym or gardens. The fees are paid monthly and are subject to change.

Special assessments could be made when an unexpected repair or planned modification exceeds the cost of the condo fees collected.

Questions to ask!
It's absolutely critical that you read and understand the documents given to you when you are purchasing a condo. The association is required to give you all documents affecting the use of your property. These documents will tell you absolutely everything you need to know, what you can do and what you cannot do. If you don't have a clear understanding of the information provided in the documents, ask for clarification so that you know what you are getting into.

Request copies of minutes from the past two years from the Board of Directors' meetings. If there are any major problems with the condominium association, this is where you'll find it. The association is required to have regular meetings and make the minutes available. Be absolutely sure to do this so that you are aware of any major problems with the bureaucracy of the condominium association that would make living in the condo undesirable.

Ask owners for comments or complaints about the association's (or council's) activities and reputation. Find out if there any plans to add to the facilities, such as a swimming pool or gym? Such projects can mean a rise in fees. The minutes of the condo association meetings should reveal any such plans.

Be aware of the marketing hype

If you are thinking of buying a pre-construction condominium unit, be aware of the marketing hype, and bear in mind you are buying a "Fish in the Water". You may be surprised to learn that the beautiful rooms you saw in the model suites are not necessarily like the ones you'll live in once your building is complete.

The den on your floor plans may become a walk-in closet by the time you move in. And the fantastic view you see in the building model, may soon get distracted by the following phases of the project. Your dream condo may turn out to be "Dog Suite" and you may not get what you paid for. Click here to watch a recent CBC report on new Condos Market

On the other hand, if you get a "Prime Suite", you could make a few thousand dollars in profit by the time you receive your condo keys.

Your real estate agent can help you avoid the pre-construction sale pitfalls and help you make the right decision.

P.S In the province of British Columbia, Condominiums are called Strata Property and are governed by the Strata Property Act of BC, they are managed by Strata Corporation which is elected by Strata Council.

A compost bin can be a perfect addition to your organic garden and making a bin doesn't have to be expensive. There are many excellent reasons to use a compost bin. Composting is a great way to give back to the environment. Compost is a wonderful addition to the soil of your existing garden and helps to replenish the soil when rotating crops. The most important reason to compost is to reduce your garbage- which will cut down on your greenhouse gas emissions.

If you are a do-it-yourself (DIY) person, you can convert an old garbage bin into a compost bin. The garbage bin must be dark and have locking handles-the sturdier the bin, the better. Using a drill, puncture holes all over the garbage bin and make sure the holes are large and completely cover the sides of the bin. You can also find more creative compost bin plans at www.rrfb.com/pages/compost/Complan.html.

You can also purchase a compost bin and there are several different types available at hardware or home-renovation stores. Most common are large rectangular shaped bins made of black plastic, which are also sold by local municipalities at a discounted price-usually about $25 each.

Place your compost bin on higher ground in your yard. If it's in a low area, water will pool and make your compost too wet. Try to place the bin in an area that is sunny or partly sunny to avoid attracting slugs.

Four ingredients are needed for a good compost:

1. Browns - are carbon rich and include paper, dried twigs, fall leaves, straw, sawdust, shredded newspaper or wood chips.
2. Greens - are nitrogen rich and include freshly cut grass, pruned plants, used coffee grounds, tea leaves or vegetables and peelings.
3. Air.
4. Water.

Do not add meat, oil or dairy products to you compost as they can attract rodents.

Start using your compost bin by collecting your kitchen waste in a small container. Whenever your kitchen container gets full, take it to your compost bin, and dump it in. Add some "browns" and "greens". Aim for a 1/3 "greens" to 2/3 "browns" ratio in the compost bin. For the browns, you can collect dry leaves in the fall and keep them in a container near your compost bin. You can also use straw, dead plants and sawdust.

Don't worry too much about your mixture percentage. Beneficial critters such as earthworms, grub worms, friendly bacteria and fungi will find their way into the compost bin and the compost will break down over time. If your percentages are off, it will just take a bit longer to break down. Don't worry about the smell either. Yes, at certain times of the cycle, the bin will give off a slight odour, but it is much less than you would expect. If the bin is too smelly, chances are you have too many "greens" or not enough "browns".

Keep your compost moist, but not soaking wet, and turn it occasionally. If your composter is a drum, you just turn the handle. If it's a bin or a pile, use a shovel and turn over the compost manually. Over time, by some miracle of nature, you will have roughly the right ratio of nitrogen to carbon, and you'll have great compost.

Depending on your mixture percentage and the outside temperature, you will have a fresh batch of compost in about 1-3 months. Once your bin is full, don't add anything else until you are ready to start again. You will know that your compost is complete when the contents of the bin are a dark brownish black and will look like an expensive bag of soil sold at garden centres. Now, simply apply the compost to your garden and enjoy the impressive results!

Composting naturally recycles nutrients back into the soil and boosts healthy plant growth. It helps sandy soil retain nutrients and water. Composting reduces our use of chemical fertilizers and keeps our local waterways clean. Composting may also significantly reduce the amount of harmful greenhouse gases that are known to be a contributor to global warming. Do your part on saving mother earth and start your compost bin today.

There's a major sense of accomplishment and peace of mind of owning your home outright. Paying off your mortgage sooner can make sound financial sense by saving you thousands of dollars in interest costs. Learning how to save on your mortgage can slice years off your loan. Finding out if you can save on your mortgage payments won't cost you anything, and you will discover whether you have the best loan available for your individual circumstances.

1- Shop around for the best mortgage possible with your credit score. When a mortgage company has a small overhead cost to stay in business it typically means that they will not charge you unreasonable ongoing service fees. Make sure you know the fees charged by your mortgage company before you sign on a loan.

2- Select weekly or bi-weekly mortgage payments. A bi-weekly mortgage payment means you're making 26 half-payments instead of 12 monthly payments. But keep in mind that unless your initial mortgage is set up as bi-weekly, some lenders charge an upfront fee of $300-$400 to make bi-weekly payments, and even though you're making a payment every two weeks, the lender only applies it once a month.

If you make bi-weekly payments of $415 instead of monthly payments of $830, you could save almost $27,000 in interest over the entire amortization period of your mortgage, and you could own your home about 4-1/2 years sooner.

3- Prepay a little extra every month, or any time during the term of your mortgage. Increasing your payment by even a few dollars each month will pay down your principal amount faster. It is a good idea to pay 10-15% more each month. This amount shouldn't put too much extra burden on you, and it will help to pay off your mortgage much faster. For example, if you increased your mortgage payments by just $170 from $830 to $1,000, you could save almost $48,000 in interest over the entire amortization period of your mortgage, and you could own your home about 8 years sooner.

4. Make an annual lump sum payment. Use your tax refund, work bonus or any extra money you can save and apply it directly to your principal amount. Check your mortgage documents to find out how often you can prepay and in what amount. Many loans don't prohibit you from doing this, however the lender may have parameters on how many extra payments you can make. Ask this question when shopping for a mortgage loan.

5. Pay as much as you can at renewal time. Most mortgages become open at renewal. This means you can pay as much as you want on your mortgage. If you chose a 5-year, fixed-rate term, and made a $10,000 lump-sum payment every time your mortgage came up for renewal, you would save about $37,481 in interest over the entire amortization period of your mortgage.

6. Red flag your extra payments. Always check your mortgage statement to make sure that any extra payments you made are being counted against the principal and that your bank has accurately documented your payments. Make the extra principal payments on a separate cheque and make a note on the memo line stating that the payment should be applied to principal reduction only. At tax time, tally up those payments and make sure they've been applied correctly.

7. Stay informed. Once you have a mortgage, aside from making the payments, it's easy to forget about it altogether. By keeping up-to-date on interest rates and new products could save you money. You may want to shop for another product that better suits your needs. For example, to qualify for a mortgage, you may have started out with a lower-rate adjustable rate mortgage, but you want to switch to a more long-term affordable fixed-rate mortgage later.


When You Should Hold Off on Paying Your Mortgage Faster?

While paying down a mortgage quickly may be a wise decision for many homeowners, it's not for everyone. For example, you may want to switch to investing in mutual funds when yields return 10-12% annually. For most people though, this is not a mathematical issue but one of security, as they just want that mortgage paid off. For people who are very debt-averse, the peace of mind of paying off the house more quickly is worth the price.

Secondly, if you are planning on moving soon, you may want to hold off investing money into your existing home as you may need the money for a down-payment, closing costs or buying new furniture for your new home.

As you can see, with a little research, you could save on your mortgage. The truth is: the banks won't tell you how to save money on your mortgage as they want to make the interest on the money that they have loaned to you. If they were to help you save money, they would lose money and their profits would stagnate. Make sure that if you implement changes to save on your mortgage it is the right decision for you.