Licensed in BC & Ontario  •  BCFSA #190068  •  FVREB Member  •  Serving Surrey • Delta • White Rock • Langley • Burnaby
Strata guide

Buying a condo or townhouse? Read the building before you buy the unit.

Most first homes in Surrey are strata. The unit is the easy part. The paperwork behind it is where the money is won or lost, and nobody explains it to you. So here it is, in plain language.

Ask me about a specific building

Condo or townhouse? An honest comparison.

Both are strata. Both come with fees, bylaws and shared decisions. They suit different lives.

 Condo / apartmentTownhouse
Fraser Valley benchmark, Aug 2026$466,100$750,600
Typical buyerSingle, couple, first purchase, downsizerGrowing family, someone with a dog, someone who wants a garage
SpaceOne level, usually smallerTwo or three levels, usually more square footage
Strata feesOften lower in dollars, covers more of the buildingOften higher, covers roofs, siding and landscaping across many units
Big-ticket riskEnvelope, windows, elevators, boilers, re-pipingRoofs, siding, decks, fencing, paving
What I check hardestDepreciation report, envelope history, reserve fundDepreciation report, roof age, whether the complex is self-managed

Benchmark prices are Fraser Valley Real Estate Board figures for August 2026 and cover the whole board area, not one neighbourhood. Your building will have its own number.

The documents I pull before you commit

This is the package. You do not have to become an expert in it. You do have to see it.

DocumentWhat it tells you in one line
Form B, Information CertificateFees, money owing, reserve fund balance, approved special levies, lawsuits, parking and storage.
Depreciation reportWhat the building needs, when, what it costs, and whether the savings are there.
Two years of meeting minutesThe real story. Leaks, disputes, deferred repairs, and what owners are arguing about.
Budget and financial statementsWhether the strata is running a surplus or quietly running short.
Bylaws and rulesPets, rentals, age restrictions, renovations, barbecues, parking.
Engineering and envelope reportsAny known building problem, and whether it was actually fixed or just inspected.
Insurance summaryCoverage, and the deductible you could be on the hook for.
Strata planWhat you actually own, versus what is common property.

Depreciation reports, and what changed

A depreciation report is a long-range maintenance and funding plan. A qualified professional walks the building, lists every major component, estimates remaining life and replacement cost, and models whether the contingency reserve fund will cover it.

The rules tightened. Strata corporations with five or more lots must obtain a report on a five-year cycle, and since July 1, 2024 they can no longer hold an annual vote to defer it. Stratas in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Capital Regional District were required to have one by July 1, 2026. Everywhere else in BC, the deadline is July 1, 2027. Since July 1, 2025, only certain qualified professionals can prepare them.

What that means for you as a buyer is simple. In Surrey, a current report should exist. If it does not, or if it exists and the funding model shows a shortfall, that is not necessarily a reason to walk away. It is a reason to ask better questions and to price the risk honestly before you remove subjects.

Source: Province of British Columbia, depreciation report requirements.

Ten things that make me slow down

1. No current depreciation report, or one that shows the reserve fund badly underfunded.

2. A contingency reserve fund that looks thin for the size and age of the building.

3. Minutes that mention water ingress, leaks or moisture, especially more than once.

4. A special levy already approved, or one being openly discussed.

5. Repairs that keep getting deferred to the next year, then the next.

6. Ongoing litigation involving the strata corporation.

7. A very high insurance deductible, particularly for water damage.

8. A building with a known envelope history where the fix is not clearly documented.

9. A self-managed strata with thin or disorganised records.

10. Bylaws that quietly conflict with your plan, such as pets, age or renovations.

None of these is automatically a no. Several of them are negotiating points. All of them are better found before you remove subjects than after.

Strata questions I get every week

What is a Form B and why does it matter?
A Form B, or Information Certificate, is the strata corporation's summary sheet for the unit you want to buy. It shows the monthly strata fee, whether the seller owes money, how much is sitting in the contingency reserve fund, any special levies already approved, any lawsuits the strata is involved in, parking and storage assignments, and rental or pet bylaws. It is one page of dense detail that answers most of the questions people worry about for weeks. I pull it as part of the document package on any strata we get serious about.
What is a depreciation report?
It is a long-range plan that says what the building is made of, how long each part is expected to last, what replacing it will cost, and whether the strata is saving enough to pay for it. Roof, elevators, plumbing, windows, envelope, boilers. It is the single best predictor of whether your fees are about to jump or a special levy is coming.
Do all BC stratas have to get a depreciation report now?
Strata corporations with five or more lots must obtain one on a five-year cycle, and since July 1, 2024 they can no longer vote each year to defer it. Stratas in Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the Capital Regional District had a July 1, 2026 deadline. The rest of BC has until July 1, 2027. If a strata in our area still has no report, that is worth asking about.
What is a special levy?
A one-time charge on top of your regular strata fees, approved by owners, to pay for something big the reserve fund cannot cover. A roof, a re-pipe, a building envelope repair. It can run from a few thousand dollars to well over a hundred thousand per unit on a major envelope job. Special levies are not automatically hidden, they show up in minutes, budgets and the Form B, which is exactly why we read all three.
Townhouse or condo for a first home in Surrey?
Depends on what you want to protect. A condo usually costs less to get into and less to maintain yourself. A townhouse usually gives you more space, a door to the street and often a garage, but higher fees and more exterior for the strata to look after. Across the Fraser Valley the benchmark price for an apartment was $466,100 in August 2026 and $750,600 for a townhome, so the gap is real money. Neither is better. One of them fits your life better.
How long do I get to review strata documents?
That depends on what we negotiate into your offer. A subject clause for review of strata documents gives you a defined window to actually read them and to have a lawyer or notary review anything that worries you. I would rather write a realistic window than a tight one that forces a rushed decision.
Can a strata stop me from renting out my unit?
Strata rental restriction bylaws were largely removed in BC in late 2021, though age restriction bylaws for 55 and over are still permitted, and short-term rental rules are separate and set by the province and the city. If renting the unit matters to your plan, we confirm the current bylaws and the local rules for that specific building before you commit.

Send me a building and I will tell you what I see.

If you are looking at a specific complex in Surrey, Delta or Langley, send me the address. I will pull what is available and walk you through it in plain language, with no obligation to work with me.

Book a free 30-minute call

A quick, honest note on what this page is

I am a licensed real estate representative in British Columbia. I am not a mortgage broker, a lawyer, a notary, an accountant or a home inspector, so nothing here is mortgage, legal, tax or financial advice.

What you are reading is the general, plain-language version of things I explain to buyers every week, written so you walk into your own decisions already knowing the vocabulary. Rules, rates and program limits change. Before you act on anything here, confirm the details with the right licensed professional for that question, and read the actual documents for the actual property.

If I ever stand to receive any benefit from introducing you to another professional, I tell you in writing before you act on the introduction. That is your right under BC rules, and it is also just how I would want to be treated.

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