For Current Homeowners
Finally understand your own strata
The documents that govern your fees, your renovations, and your rights are dense and easy to ignore — until they aren't. SearchStrata turns your strata's paperwork into clear answers.
You already own your unit — but most owners have never actually read the depreciation report, the reserve fund schedule, or the rules they're bound by. SearchStrata lets you ask plain questions and get answers from your own documents, so you're never caught off guard at the next AGM or by the next fee notice.
What gets missed
- ⚠Fee increases and special levies you didn't see coming
- ⚠Bylaws about pets, rentals, and renovations you're not sure apply to you
- ⚠A reserve fund and depreciation report you've never actually read
Make sense of your fees and levies
Understand where your strata fees go, how healthy the reserve fund is, and whether a special assessment is on the horizon — in minutes, not an evening of reading.
Know the rules before you act
Planning a renovation, a rental, or a new pet? Ask what your bylaws and rules actually say, with the relevant clause cited so you can act with confidence.
Walk into the AGM prepared
Catch up on recent minutes and decisions before the meeting, so you can ask the right questions and vote with the full picture.
Track what is changing around the building you own
You already know the building. What moves its value and its insurance is often outside it: projects approved or under construction nearby, hazard layers the province maps, how transit and amenities around you are shifting. Location Insights scores those nine areas from public BC data and shows the records behind every figure, so you can see the block change rather than hear about it at the AGM.
How Location Insights worksLocation score
- Coverage
- 88%
- Confidence
- 94%
- Addresses
- 4 of 4
Distance to nearest transit stop
240m
94 / 100Bus stop at the corner, 6 routes.
Frequent service within 400 mConcern
61departures/weekday
38 / 100Below the all-day 15-minute threshold.
Example profile — not a real building.
How it works
Gather your documents
Collect the minutes, financials, bylaws, and reports your strata has sent you — or request them from your strata manager.
Upload and analyze
SearchStrata reads everything and explains your fees, reserve fund, rules, and any upcoming costs in plain language.
Ask whenever you need
Have a question before a renovation or an AGM? Ask it and get a sourced answer from your own strata's documents.
Common questions
- I already own my unit. What would I get out of it?
- You can quickly understand where your strata fees go, whether the contingency reserve fund is healthy, whether a special levy is likely, and what your bylaws say about pets, rentals, and renovations — without reading hundreds of pages yourself.
- Can it show me what the bylaws say about renovating or renting out my unit?
- Yes. Ask about a renovation, a rental, or a pet and SearchStrata points you to the relevant bylaw or rule with a citation, so you can read exactly what it says for yourself. For how a rule applies to your specific situation, confirm with your strata or a qualified professional.
- How do I get my strata documents?
- Most owners already receive minutes and financial statements from their strata or strata manager. You can also request the bylaws, depreciation report, and reserve fund details, then upload them all to SearchStrata.
- What is Location Insights, and is it included?
- Location Insights scores the area around a BC strata building from public data across nine areas — transit, schools, hazard, amenities, crime, infrastructure, development, demographics and change — with the records behind every figure and the gaps named rather than scored as zero. It is separate from the document analysis: your report reads the package you upload, while Location Insights measures what those documents never mention. It is included with Pro and Agent subscriptions, is in beta for BC corporations, and is reference only — not a valuation or an opinion of value.
- How much does SearchStrata cost?
- Looking a building up is free and needs no account — every strata corporation in BC, with what it is built of, its age, its size and who manages it. Reading a building's own documents is the paid part: a one-off property credit, or Pro at $29 CAD per month for unlimited buildings, detailed reports and Location Insights, or Agent at $79 CAD per month for white-label reports and team seats.
- How accurate are the answers, and can I verify them?
- Every answer and red flag cites the exact page in your strata documents where the information appears, so you can open the source and confirm it yourself. SearchStrata reads the documents you upload rather than relying on general web knowledge.
- What documents can I upload?
- You can upload a strata or condo package as a PDF or ZIP up to 200MB and hundreds of pages, including meeting minutes, financial statements, bylaws and rules, the capital-planning report (a depreciation report in BC or a reserve fund study in Alberta), insurance certificates, and the information certificate (BC Form B or an Alberta estoppel certificate).
- Does SearchStrata work for BC strata and Alberta condo documents?
- Yes. SearchStrata is built for Canadian strata and condominium documents, supporting both BC strata packages and Alberta condo document packages. The instruments differ by province — BC's Form B and depreciation report correspond to Alberta's estoppel certificate and reserve fund study — and SearchStrata reads either.
Latest reading for homeowners
All articles
How BC Strata Owners Can Prepare for and Vote at AGMs and SGMs
AGMs and SGMs are where BC strata owners directly shape the building’s future. Learn how to prepare for meetings, understand the rules, and make your vote count.
Understanding Special Levies as a BC Strata Owner: What Triggers Them and How to Prepare
Special levies can surprise BC strata owners. Learn what triggers a special levy, how the process works under the Strata Property Act, and practical tips to prepare for the financial impact and participate in decision-making.
How to Work Effectively With Your Strata Council as a BC Strata Owner
Strata council decisions shape daily life in your BC strata. Learn how owners can communicate, participate, and resolve issues with council to make strata living smoother.
How to Prepare for Strata Fee Increases: What BC Condo Owners Should Watch For
Strata fee increases are part of life for BC condo owners, but understanding why they happen and how to anticipate them can make a major difference. Here’s how to read the signs and what to check in your building’s documents.
How to Read Your Strata’s Bylaws and Rules for Everyday Living in BC
Understanding what your strata’s bylaws and rules actually say can make daily life in your building smoother. Here’s how to read them—and spot the details that affect pets, parking, noise, renovations, and more.
How to Spot and Understand Strata Rule Changes as a BC Strata Owner
Strata rules and bylaws shape daily life in BC condo buildings, but changes can be easy to miss. Learn how to identify, track, and respond to rule changes that may affect your pets, parking, renovations, or quiet enjoyment as a current owner.
Make your strata documents readable
Start free and get sourced answers from your strata package in minutes. No credit card required.
Building intelligence, in three parts
The building, the neighbourhood around it, and its own documents. The building is free and needs no account — its facts were already public.
1 · Free, no account
The building
What you’re buying into
Built of, year, storeys, homes, who manages it, what's been remediated. Assembled from land title, the assessment roll and strata filings. No account.
19,000+ BC corporations · $0
Search the record2 · Pro
The neighbourhood
What you can’t change
Nine areas past the lot line, measured from public BC data — transit, schools, hazard, crime, what's approved next door. Never in the building's own paperwork.
Location Insights · Pro
How Location Insights works3 · Upload
The documents
What you’re inheriting
The levies, the reserve fund, the litigation, the engineer's schedule — read out of this corporation's own package, each finding pointing at its page.
Your documents · deep analysis
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