Selling off entire strata properties now easier

A unanimous vote is no longer required before owners can terminate their strata corporations

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      Adrianne Vacca was at her parents’ house when two realtors knocked on the door. They were buying properties for a Vancouver land assembly, and they wanted to know if her folks were selling.

      Her father said “No,” and after the agents were done, Vacca recalls, she asked them: “What about an apartment building?”

      That started another conversation, as Vacca was interested in learning about selling an entire strata property. She lives in a condo a few blocks away, and according to her, she and her neighbours are paying a lot of money for the upkeep of their building.

      Vacca told the Georgia Straight in a phone interview that there are big expenses coming because the building was not maintained well in the past. The property is called Southwinds, a two-storey condo building on the southeast corner of East 49th Avenue and Elliott Street. It was built in 1972 and has 60 units.

      Rather than continue paying for more repairs, owners voted in April to wind up their strata plan. “It was actually me who had come up with the idea,” said Vacca, who is a member of the strata council.

      Last September, for-sale signs were put up around the property.

      If they succeed in selling Southwinds, Vacca and her neighbours will have to find new homes.

      In Vacca’s case, the timing is good. She bought when she was in her early 20s, and now she’s raising a young daughter. According to her, they need more space.

      “I grew up in a decently sized house, and everyone had their own space,” Vacca said. “I would love for my teenage daughter to have her own space and a small backyard to chill with her friends. Apartments are not built for families. I just want something that my daughter is happy about and benefits both of us.”

      She said that she’s looking at possibly buying a townhouse.

      The provincial government has made it easier to terminate strata corporations. Since July 28, 2016, owners have been able to wind up their strata corporations with an 80-percent vote instead of the previous unanimous requirement.

      Vacca has heard about other strata properties that either are being sold or have already been acquired by developers. She said the Southwinds situation is unique because they decided to sell without a developer coming to them first with an offer.

      The latest Goodman Report provides an indication of how the market is going for entire strata properties.

      According to the report, prepared by the real-estate company of the father-son team of David and Mark Goodman, five strata properties were sold across Metro Vancouver between January and September of this year.

      Two of these properties were in Vancouver, and the three others were in Burnaby, North Vancouver, and White Rock.

      In Vancouver, the strata property called Twelve Oaks sold for $21.5 million. Located at 2777 Oak Street, the building has 30 units. According to the Goodman Report, the price represents an average of $716,667 per unit.

      Like Southwinds, Twelve Oaks was built in the early 1970s.

      According to Vacca, Southwinds owners are selling their strata property for $59 million. This means that, on average, each unit may get about $900,000, so she is looking at an almost eightfold increase in her original investment. She bought into Southwinds for about $130,000 in 2003.

      Vacca works as support staff at a Vancouver school, and she is not thinking of moving to the suburbs. “I have to stay in Vancouver, as my job is 10 minutes away and my daughter wants to stay at her school,” she said.

      Vacca is confident that Southwinds will sell because of its redevelopment potential.

      It’s located across from the Killarney Shopping Centre, and there are schools nearby. Also close is the Killarney community centre. Buses run on both sides of the corner property.

      Vacca said, “I am very happy to think about getting out of this apartment and into something that will be more beneficial for my daughter and I.”

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