You’re buying a unit.
A specific space, on a specific floor.
But the building around it isn’t only yours.
The lobby, the elevators, the roof, the generator.
Someone has to own those too.
That someone is you, and every other owner in the building.
This page is about what that actually means.
The short answer
A condo unit gets its own title, in your name, the same way a house or a piece of land would. That title covers a specific space: a floor, a unit number, a size in square meters. That part is yours outright.
The rest of the building isn’t titled to anyone alone. The land it sits on, the lobby, the elevators, the generator, all of it belongs to every owner together, and everyone’s share follows the size of their unit.
A bigger unit means a bigger share of everything else in the building too.
The same fact sheet that lists the price also gives an average price per square meter for the whole tower. It’s a fair number for comparing what you’ll pay. It says nothing about what you’ll own beyond your own walls.
It isn’t your fault if nobody walked you through that. A price list describes the unit. Nothing on it describes the share.
What I think
Some people will tell you a condo buyer doesn’t really own anything. That’s wrong. A title with your name on it, that a bank will lend against and that you can leave to your children, is real ownership. It just isn’t the only thing at stake in the purchase.
What I’d think hard about instead is the share. It’s not written on the price list, and it isn’t the same for every unit in the building, even where two units show the same average price per square meter.
So here’s the question I’d put to anyone comparing two units on that number alone: would you still pick the bigger one if you knew its share of everything else was bigger too?
If the answer is yes, you’re buying with the full picture. If you haven’t asked yet, that’s the one number worth asking for before the price per square meter decides it for you.
This is worth extra care if you have a specific plan for the unit. Running a business from it, renting it out short-term, keeping a large pet. Every building sets its own rules for things like that, and none of it is on the price list. Ask for those rules before you assume anything, and definitely before you reserve.
When I walk you through a unit’s computation, that split, what’s titled to you and what you’re sharing, is part of it, not an afterthought. If preselling itself is new to you, start with what a preselling property is and how it differs from RFO.
Questions
Do I own the land?
Not on your own. You own a share of it, together with every other owner in the building, and your share follows the size of your unit. You can’t sell that share separately from your unit.
What happens to my condo after 50 years?
That depends on documents specific to your building, and it’s a legal question rather than a broker’s to answer. Ask for those documents and take them to a lawyer if the answer matters to your plans.
Is my parking slot part of my unit?
Not always. On one 3-bedroom unit I represent, two parking slots are priced as their own line items, separate from the unit price. Ask which way yours is done, and get it in writing, because “parking included” on a price list doesn’t tell you.
The one thing to take with you
You’re buying two things: a specific space, and a share of everything around it. The average price per square meter only tells you about the first one.
Before two units with the same price per square meter start to look identical, ask what each one’s share of the building actually is. It’s the number missing from that average, and it’s the one that follows you for as long as you own the unit.
Keep the unit’s own share number next to its price. You’ll want both again when it’s time to sell.
If you’d like a unit you’re weighing up worked through, from the price to the share, send me a message on Messenger. You don’t have to be my client for that.
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