For those of you who live in a stratified home (condo or townhouse), or plan to in the future, have a quick read as this little bit of information might save you a headache.

As you may have guessed, when you buy into a townhouse complex or condominium the building/strata has their own insurance policy to cover the building in the event of fire/flood, etc. The majority of people will have their contents insured so they can have peace of mind knowing if their home were to burn down for example both their structure and contents/personal belongings inside will be insured.  

The type of insurance that many people don't know about or realize they should have in place is insurance to cover the building deductible.  Your insurance policy for the building will tell you what amount you should have covered in your own personal insurance policy.  A common deductible amount for flood, as an example, is somewhere around $10,000 - $15,000.  

So let's say you take off on holidays for a week and you live in a high rise.  You have a busy life and didn't realize the hose to your washer was getting old.  It springs a leak and the 10 floors below you flooded before someone gets into your unit to shut the water off.  Strata decides you were neglectful and should have had the hose replaced a long time ago and finds you responsible to pay the buildings insurance deductible which is $15,000.  If you have insurance to cover the deductible, it's all good.  If you don't... hopefully you have a silver tongue and can talk your way out of it, otherwise they're going to want that $15,000!!  Alas, the moral of the story: get insurance to cover your building deductible.  It's usually around $15/mo and well worth it.

If you have any questions about this information, just give me a call - I'd be glad to discuss the topic.

Thank you for reading and for your business, I really do appreciate it!! 

I was honored to be contacted by a local news reporter looking for information about the remaining agricultural land in East Port Coquitlam.  Certainly many people in the area feel at some point in the near future a portion of that land will come out of the ALR but of course none of us really know when.  Buyers in the area are speculating and prices have soared in certain locations.  The Fremont connector is likely to shake things up as the road is punched through.  Local hobby farmers say the soil is not ideal but the ALC claims it can be remedied.  But at what cost?  It's a complicated topic and I'd be happy to chat further with anyone who's interested - you know how to reach me!

You can find a link on my Facebook Page here: https://www.facebook.com/ParrottaRealEstate/

Or check out the original article here with the Tri City News: http://www.tricitynews.com/news/what-s-the-future-of-port-coquitlam-farmland-1.2291823 

Thanks for reading!

Brad.