This is an interesting question that we get asked on a fairly regular basis.

As an investor, it really depends on what your goals are, and it really boils down to how much control you want to have, and how anonymous you want to be?

Why large strata buildings are good for real estate investors;

1. In a large building made up of hundreds of strata units, you as an owner can remain somewhat anonymous should you choose to. You are just a number, and don’t really ever have to even meet your fellow strata owners should you choose not to (this is of course assuming that you don’t live in the building.) This is great if you are doing something that the strata corporation doesn’t agree with such as renting out your strata unit for short term rentals, or allowing pets (if the bylaws don’t allow for it.) It’s also great if you can’t stand your neighbor, which can be very problematic is a small strata.
2. The budget of a large strata corporation is big enough to allow for professional management such as the hiring of a strata management company, the hiring of a building caretaker, maintenance staff and contractors, etc. This is generally not the case in smaller strata buildings where the owners sometimes have to self manage and take on a lot of the maintenance roles themselves due to limited budgets.

Why small strata buildings are good for real estate investors;

1. Unlike in a large strata building, your vote may actually count for something. If you’re in a smaller 10 unit strata as an example, then your single vote counts for 10% of the vote, and may actually make a difference in the direction of the building. In a large building of 100 strata owners, your 1 vote counts for a piddly 1%.
2. Control over the direction of the strata corporation. Should you choose to get on Council and become involved, you can have a tremendous amount of say in the strata corporations finances, bylaws, maintenance schedule, etc. Tough to get upset about a special levy when you’re part of the group responsible for issuing the special levy!

As you can see, both small and large strata buildings have their advantages and disadvantages for investors, it just really depends on you and how involved you like to be with your investment.

Contact our property management company if you have any questions about real estate investing or strata management.

Chris Stepchuk April 20, 2017