Selling a Strata Unit in BC: The Document Package That Decides Whether Your Deal Closes

A detached house sale can fall apart on financing, on an inspection, or on the appraisal. A strata sale has one more way to fail, and it is the one sellers prepare for least.

Almost every offer on a condo or townhouse in Metro Vancouver is written subject to the buyer reviewing the strata documents and approving them. The buyer reads your building's minutes, budget and Form B, and then decides. If what they read worries them, they walk away and the deposit goes back to them.

Why this clause is different from the others

A financing subject turns on the buyer's income and the lender's rules. An inspection subject turns on the physical condition of your unit.

The strata document subject turns on something you do not control at all: what your strata council wrote down over the past few years, and how a stranger reads it.

The wording in common use lets the buyer approve or reject the documents at their own discretion. There is no standard of reasonableness for you to argue against. A buyer who reads about a leaking envelope, a divided council, or a contingency fund that will not cover the next roof can end the deal and owe you nothing.

That is the failure mode. The way to manage it is to see the documents before the buyer does.

Order the package before you list

Most sellers order strata documents after an offer comes in, because that is when someone asks for them. By then the subject period has started and the clock is against you.

The strata corporation has 7 days to produce a Form B after a request. It has 7 days to produce a Form F as well. Those are the legal limits, and a property manager running twenty buildings will use them.

A 7-day subject period plus a 7-day document wait leaves the buyer no time to read anything. What follows is an extension request, which gives the buyer another week to think and another week for a competing listing to appear.

Order everything before the listing goes live and the position reverses. The buyer receives a complete package on day one. You have already read it. Nothing in it surprises either of you.

The list to assemble

Form B Information Certificate. The strata corporation states the facts about your unit and the building: your monthly fee, anything you owe, the parking and storage assigned to the unit, alterations to common property that the strata has agreed to, the contingency reserve fund balance, and any lawsuit the corporation is involved in. Maximum fee $35, plus up to 25 cents per page for copying.

The attachments the Form B requires. The rules of the strata corporation if there are any, the current budget, the most recent depreciation report if one exists, and a copy of all electrical planning reports. Other items attach depending on the building's situation: agreements about who pays for what, resolutions waiting to be voted on, bylaw amendments, details of legal proceedings, and any outstanding notice or work order.

The strata plan. The registered drawing that shows the boundaries of your strata lot, the common property, and any limited common property assigned to your unit, such as a balcony or a parking stall.

Bylaws and rules as registered. The bylaws that bind the building are the ones registered at the Land Title Office, including every amendment. A printed copy someone circulated three years ago may be out of date. Rental and pet provisions get read closely by buyers, and we cover how those work in strata bylaws on rentals and pets.

Two years of council and general meeting minutes. This is the common opening request, and many buyers ask for more where a large repair is underway. Minutes are where a buyer learns what the building is actually dealing with.

The depreciation report. It sets out the building's major components, their expected remaining life, and what funding the strata would need. Reading one takes some practice, which is the subject of reading a strata depreciation report.

Current budget and financial statements. The budget shows the plan. The financial statements show what happened.

Insurance summary or certificate. Buyers and their lenders both want to see the coverage and the deductible. The deductible matters to an owner, because a claim can land on the owners through the strata, and we set that out in strata insurance deductibles.

Form F Certificate of Payment. The strata's statement that you owe it nothing, or that you have made arrangements it accepts. Maximum fee $15, 7 days to produce, and the Land Title Office requires it to register the transfer.

Reading your own minutes honestly

Two things in a document package end more deals than everything else combined: a special levy that is coming, and a legal claim that is open.

A special levy. A levy is a one-time charge to owners for a cost the contingency reserve fund cannot absorb. Where one has been approved, the amount and the payment schedule are facts the buyer needs in order to price your unit. Where one is being discussed in council minutes, the buyer will read the same discussion you did. The mechanics of levies and the reserve fund are covered in the contingency reserve fund and special levies.

Open litigation. The Form B asks the strata to disclose lawsuits the corporation is party to. A building suing its original builder over a leaking envelope is common in older Lower Mainland stock, and the claim may end up being good news for owners. A buyer who meets it for the first time on day six of a subject period will not read it that way.

Put both in front of the buyer early. Your agent can state a known approved levy in the listing remarks and attach the relevant minutes to the document package. A buyer who accepted the levy before writing the offer does not use it as a reason to leave.

What you must disclose, and where the line sits

The Property Disclosure Statement asks you about the unit and about things you know regarding the building. Your duty at law is to disclose material latent defects, which are serious problems you know about that a buyer could not discover through a reasonable inspection.

In a strata, that includes things you learned as an owner. A leak history in your unit. A council discussion about failing plumbing risers. A building envelope report you received at an annual general meeting.

Saying nothing about a defect you know is a risk that survives the closing. We go through how the form works, and what "to the best of your knowledge" actually commits you to, in the property disclosure statement.

Completion day practicalities

Move-out and move-in fees. Many strata corporations charge these by bylaw, with the maximum set by regulation. They appear on the Form B or in the bylaws.

Elevator booking. Buildings restrict moves to set hours and days, and require the elevator to be booked. Some allow no weekend moves at all. Check this before you agree to a completion date, because a Saturday completion in a weekdays-only building creates a problem that neither lawyer can solve.

The Form F and the closing. Your lawyer or notary needs the Form F to register the transfer. It stays current for 60 days. Request it around three weeks before completion: far enough ahead that the strata's 7 days do not squeeze your lawyer, close enough that the 60 days do not run out.

A timeline working backwards

Start from your target completion date.

• 8 to 6 weeks before listing: request the full document package. Read the minutes yourself and ask council about anything unclear.
• At listing: package ready to send the day an offer arrives, with any known levy or claim stated openly.
• Offer accepted: buyer already has the documents, so the subject period covers reading rather than waiting.
• 3 weeks before completion: request the Form F.
• 2 weeks before completion: book the elevator and confirm the moving fees.
• Completion day: your lawyer registers the transfer with a current Form F in hand.

What this comes down to

• Most offers on a strata lot let the buyer approve or reject the documents at their own discretion.
• The strata has 7 days for a Form B and 7 days for a Form F.
• Maximum fees: $35 plus up to 25 cents per page for a Form B, $15 for a Form F.
• The Form F is required by the Land Title Office to register the transfer, and stays current for 60 days.
• Order the package before you list, so you read the minutes before the buyer does.
• State a known special levy or open claim in the listing rather than letting it surface at subject removal.
• Check move-out fees and elevator rules before you agree to a completion date.
• Contact our team for help assembling your building's package, or browse listings.

Plan your next step

Read strata review to see exactly what a buyer looks for in your documents, which is the fastest way to find the weak points in your own package. The home-buying guide covers the rest of the process if you are buying again after this sale.