Hello,

A little note about community maintenance fees – what they are, and why you pay them.

What is a Community Maintenance Fee?

Other than your own actual unit, you also own a percentage of the “common elements" - the hallways, the lobby, the pool, etc. Community maintenance fees go towards paying for these common elements. This generally includes:

• Maintenance and repair – landscaping, upkeep of fitness equipment, etc.
  
  
• Operating costs include heat, hydro, water, and garbage removal.
  
  
• Contingency reserve fund – the rainy day fund to deal with unexpected costs.
  
  
• Staff – property management fees, concierge, security, etc.
  
  
• Insurance – because you wholly own only your respective unit, your insurance covers fire or damage only to your own property. Part of the community fee goes towards paying the bigger insurance that insures the overall building.

How much are Community Maintenance Fees?

Community maintenance fees are paid by all owners and are usually representative of the percentage that you own – the bigger your apartment or penthouse, the higher your maintenance fees.

Generally, higher community fees are associated with:

• Older buildings - as buildings age, the lobby is updated, the roof is replaced, and elevators break down. However some older buildings have older existing community agreements and staff are on reduced salaries, some also do not have lifts and these are cheaper.
  
• Smaller buildings - this comes down to basic math; if the concierge's salary is divided by 50 people instead of 500, everybody's share of the cost goes up.
• More staff and facilities - concierges don't come cheap, and neither does the maintenance of a pool, the more facilities, the higher the community fees.
• Community fees can vary from 40 euros per month to 200 euros per month.

Hope this helps!