Getting a Mortgage on a Leaky Condo

Did you know your chances of getting a mortgage plummet as soon as they find out that the condo is a suspected 'leaker'.



In most cases, the majority of well established lenders will not lend on properties which are suspected to be 'leaky condo's' or that are only partially fixed if previously identified. In order for most lenders to advance funds on a unit in a building determined as a 'leaker;' they want to see a full remediation plan laid out and approved by the Strata. They further want to see that the repairs will be covered or are covered by a 3rd party warranty.

Most lenders will request the following documents, prior to lending on a building identified by the home inspection as a 'leaky condo':

1) Strata Form B documents
2) Last 2 years AGM minutes
3) Building Envelope Engineer's report identifying scope and budget for fix
4) Minutes of Special General meeting where at least 75% of the strata voted in favor of the special assessment, or other funding formula, needed to finance the complete restoration of the building, per the engineer's recommendations.
5) Three contractor quotations
6) If work is already complete - Completion Certificate/Inspection Report from Building Envelope Engineer

It is important that we, as home inspector's, correctly identify the risk on multi-family condominium style dwellings and that you our clients are made aware of the difficulty in obtaining a mortgage on these units if plans are not already in place to repair.

I am grateful to Alan Brown - Mortgage Professional www.mypowermortgage.com/alan for providing the body of this information.