Manzoor Khan—the hero

I first heard of Mr. Khan when the Toronto Star printed this column praising Mr. Khan and his loan-raising talents.

Older condos face repair bill woes
By Mark Weisleder
Toronto Star
Fri Aug 05 2011

There are more than 7,000 condominium buildings in the GTA and some are more than 40 years old. By a conservative estimate, more than 25 per cent of these buildings are in trouble, meaning there is not enough money in the reserve fund to pay for necessary repairs.

Manzoor Khan, the CEO of Channel Property Management, which manages 41 condominium corporations in the GTA, has a story that illustrates the problem.

In 2008, he was approached by the board of directors of a 40-year-old building in Etobicoke that had very little money in its reserve fund but needed $1.2 million to fix the boilers and the water supply system, repair balconies and update the party room, hallways and laundry room. The building had 209 units worth $90,000 on average.

The owners would have had difficulty paying the required special assessments and would not have been able to individually pay for the repairs. That’s why they turned to Khan.

He recommended three financing firms to the board. One of them, Morrison Financial, run by lawyer David Morrison, put together a loan package that the owners could afford to carry.

Morrison was able to keep the average monthly payment per unit for the loan to $120, less than half the cost if it had been financed through a special assessment on owners. After the work was completed, the average price for the units rose by as much as $40,000. The loan will be paid off in five years.

This is an example of why condominiums need the advice of professional property managers.

Almost 40 per cent of GTA buildings do not have professional managers. One reason is that there is a shortage of qualified managers. Another is some buildings can’t afford it.

A professional is someone who has received the designation of registered condominium manager from the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario (ACMO). The designation includes courses, two years’ experience and adherence to ACMO’s code of ethics.

Another reason buildings fall apart is that even when the board wants to make needed repairs and sends out special assessment notices, other owners who disagree gather enough votes to remove the board and install a new one that cancels the assessment.

It takes 51 per cent of owners to replace the board. The long-term result is that the units in these buildings lose value and scare off potential buyers.

For all condominium buildings, make sure you have professional property management, listen to their advice when repairs are recommended and make sure the repairs are done in a timely manner.

For buyers of resale condominiums, make sure you review the reserve fund study for the building to make sure there is enough money to pay for needed repairs before you commit to any purchase.

This is a happy little story on how a Manzoor Khan, a condo manager, helped get a troubled building back on its feet. It neatly embeds info-ads for a property management company, an investment company and a management association.

Manzoor Khan is made to look like he is quite the magician.

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