Renovation and nice tiles for your bathroom right now!

When you buy a condominium, you buy the right to manage the shares of the housing company. This brings with it both responsibilities and rights – you need to be careful at least when you decide to renovate something.

Under the Housing Act, it is the responsibility of the shareholder – you – to take good care of your home, and to report in good time if you notice any defects or faults in your home.

The building management company is responsible for all structural work, e.g. waterproofing in the bathroom, functionality of the underfloor heating, condition of the plumbing, etc. This is why it is also a good idea to check the annual repair plan (PTS) when planning a purchase.

Renovation and responsibilities

When you decide to renovate your home, you must get permission from the building society. Without a permit, you can only carry out renovation work that is mainly on the surfaces, e.g. painting and wallpapering.

Anything that goes “below the surface”, e.g. replacing plastic carpet with parquet, replacing bathroom tiles, kitchen renovation, etc., requires a permit. And it is also worth getting this, because in the event of damage, for example, unauthorised renovation can result in considerable costs for the shareholder. The condominium association also has the power to appoint its own inspector for the intended renovation, and the cost of this is borne by the shareholder, i.e. you.

It is often thought that since the building society is responsible for, for example, waterproofing the bathroom, part of the cost of the renovation should be borne by the society. However, this is not the case if you decide to renovate your home just for “convenience”.

The obligation for the building society to contribute to the costs only comes at the stage when it is decided to make e.g. a more extensive renovation (a pipe renovation, a balcony renovation, or water damage caused by a water pipe/sewer), and even then the company is obliged to repair the premises. to a basic level. In other words, if the bathroom was originally fitted with plastic tiles, the company is only responsible for the cost of replacing the plastic tiles – you are responsible for the cost of any tiles you want and their installation.

Let’s take a brief example:

You have bought a two-bedroom apartment where the bathroom was renovated a couple of years ago, and the tiles and floor are in pristine condition. However, the building is already 40 years old, and a renovation is planned for next year. As your bathroom has only been tiled, but not plumbed, it will also be torn open. The building society is obliged to repair the bathroom back to basics – so your beautiful Villeroy-Boch tiles will be left behind, and if you want them back, you’ll have to pay for them yourself.

Another example, this time an unauthorised renovation in the kitchen:

You’re tired of the tile in the kitchen and old appliances, the company was built in 1979 and everything is original. Your friend Leksa Raksanen will do your kitchen renovation for you cheaply, take an asbestos survey, and adjust the electricity in the cooker and the water hoses in the dishwasher all by himself. Nothing has ever been reported anywhere before.

You admire your new kitchen, until the next week when your downstairs neighbour comes to tell you that they have water leaking from under the living room ceiling, and your firstborn is coughing profusely every time he goes into his room, which is under your new kitchen… has some dust got into the ventilation system? You heard a banging last week? Then you can reconsider whether the renovation was cheap after all… (I wouldn’t recommend this situation to anyone, and you probably wouldn’t want to be there in front of your neighbour either!)

When you buy an apartment, always check that the renovations are mentioned in the property manager’s certificate. You can then be confident that the building society has been properly informed of the measures taken. Good advice can be found on the website of the Association of Finnish Property Managers, and much has been written on the subject elsewhere.

Remember that as a new owner you are also liable for the actions of the previous owner – you can of course try to get compensation from the seller if you suffered financial losses, but this is often a long and complicated process.

This is another reason why we warmly recommend that you study all the documents of the apartment thoroughly before making an offer – we at OUN can also look beyond the surface of the apartment!

(The author is a member of the OUN community)

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Forced to bang your brains out, ...

…because we have a history of delivering ordered services quickly, often talking about hours. We understand that the pressure to buy once you find the home of your dreams is intense, which is why we promise delivery within 24 hours of your order. At the latest. This way, you don’t have to hold your breath in your shopping pants for an unnecessarily long time.

One report

There are quite a lot of different documents involved in a housing transaction, ranging from a sales brochure to a floor plan to an audit report. All are necessary for the evaluation, but it is still possible to summarise the essentials in plain language in a single report. Good riddance to the legalese and welcome the core facts with one (1) single report!

Trade documents

Even if the deed of sale of a residential property is a free-form deed, it should still contain all the essential information. We will check that this is the case. We will also check all the annexes that go on the side of the deed, i.e. the entire bundle of documents. You can then breathe a little easier as you sign the deed to your new home.

Negotiated bidding

We are here to help you negotiate your offer. We tell you what to look out for, what to ask the seller/agent and how to interpret the answers. And what conclusions can be drawn from the situation

Making a takeover bid

There is more to a takeover bid than just the price offered. We will help you to identify critical issues and check that all the agreed issues are properly recorded in the offer. And only the agreed things. So that you can sign it with confidence.

Sales price

And by that we mean the final price. We also take into account any company debt and the plot share. We compare the price to other comparable realised transaction prices in the area, not to asking prices. Apartments are always individual, and their equipment and condition vary greatly. However, we will find out if the price area is reasonable and acceptable.

Level of care

We estimate the level of the management fee charged by the company compared to other comparable housing companies in the area. We also look at whether the level has been right for the costs and whether there are clear upward pressures.

Zoning of the area

We’ll find out if there are any zoning changes afoot, or if that sea view you bought at great cost is about to disappear behind a new tower block in a year’s time. Or whether there are some less radical things happening around the place you are considering.

Management of the housing company

We look at how the management of the company has performed, including both the management and the board. Has the management been concerned only with making savings at every point or with keeping the company in good shape and maintaining or even increasing its value? 

Future renovation projects

We assess what kind of renovation projects are expected in the near future and the timeframe in which they can be expected to take place.  We might also throw in some guesses as to the expected costs!

Repair history

We look at when and what measures have been taken in the company and mirror them against the technical lifetime of each item. For example, we use the definitions of the Finnish Building Information Foundation RTS and the Central Association of Plumbing and Heating. This allows us to estimate whether the company has a repair debt.

Housing company finances

We carefully read through the company’s balance sheet and annual report, calculate the company’s indebtedness, liquidity and assess the overall financial situation. We compile our findings into a plain-language report that gives you an overview of the company’s situation.