Properties Beside a Private Park in Greater Vancouver

Check Who Owns and Maintains a Private Park

Private Park sounds like an amenity you own outright, so read the strata plan and the title charges to find out who actually controls the land before you offer.

The description usually covers one of three arrangements. The land may be common property of a strata corporation, in which case every owner shares both the use and the cost. It may be held by a residents' association with its own membership fee and rules. Or it may simply be green space on a neighbouring parcel that the current owner looks out over. Only the first two give you a right to use it.

Ask for the documents that prove which one applies. A strata plan shows common property and limited common property, and a title search shows easements, covenants and any association charge registered against the lot. Have your lawyer read them during the subject period rather than taking the listing at face value.

Weigh the Fees, Rules and Access Behind the Green Space

Private land carries private costs. Mowing, tree work, irrigation, play equipment inspections and liability insurance all come out of strata fees or an association levy, and a large green space in a small development is a heavy line to carry. Request the depreciation report and the contingency reserve balance, and read recent minutes for planned work.

Rules matter as much as money. Ask whether dogs are allowed, whether guests may use it, whether gates are locked seasonally, and whether any owner has exclusive use of part of it as limited common property. Those answers sit in the bylaws, not in the photographs.

Then check what protects it. Privately held green space can be redeveloped where zoning permits, and a registered covenant restricting that is far stronger than an assurance from an agent. Confirm the zoning designation and any covenant on title before you remove subjects, because the outlook is a large part of what you are paying for.