Silverton on the Lake: the building fact sheet

Silverton on the Lake is a strata of lakefront townhouses at 7701 Okanagan Landing Road, on the north arm of Okanagan Lake about ten minutes' drive from downtown Vernon. It is not an apartment building, even though some listing portals label it that way. Every home has its own front door, a double garage and a boat slip in the complex's own marina, and the strata shares a beach on the lake.

It was built in the mid-1990s, a couple of years after Okanagan Landing was annexed into the City of Vernon in 1993. Public records split between 1995 and 1996. That age matters: the homes are old enough that the depreciation report, the roof and dock history and the strata's insurance deductibles deserve a proper read before you buy, and new enough that the layouts feel like a family home rather than a cottage.

What makes Silverton unusual is the combination of three things that rarely come together in the North Okanagan: a townhouse you can lock and leave, a garage big enough for two cars, and a boat slip outside your door. Most Vernon waterfront condos give you one or two of those. Detached waterfront homes give you all three, at a much higher price and with your own dock and foreshore to look after.

It is also small. With roughly 18 homes, only a handful change hands in a typical year, and some years none do. If you want in, the practical move is to get on an alert list now and have your financing ready before a unit comes up.

Who tends to buy here

• Boaters who are tired of trailering to the Paddlewheel launch and paying for moorage separately.
• Semi-retired and retired couples downsizing from a house but not willing to give up a garage and a workshop corner.
• Second-home owners from Alberta and the Lower Mainland, who need to understand Vernon's speculation and vacancy tax before they buy (explained here).
• Families who want Okanagan Landing Elementary about a kilometre away and the beach at the bottom of the lawn.

If you are comparing it with the other strata communities along the same shore, Sean keeps a side-by-side guide to the Okanagan Landing waterfront complexes, including The Strand and Lakeside Residences.

Silverton was laid out as two kinds of homes. Most (a reported 12 of 18) are direct-entry townhouses with their own rear yards, the ones buyers usually picture: garage at street level, living space above or beside it, a patch of grass or patio toward the lake. The rest (a reported 6) are walk-up units, reached by exterior stairs, which tend to trade at lower prices and suit buyers who don't mind steps in exchange for height and outlook.

Three homes that have been publicly listed give a sense of the range:

Sources: REW sold record; Zillow building page. Square footage comes from listings and is not measured by this site.

What to check inside a 30-year-old townhouse

• Heating and cooling. Original 1990s systems are at the end of their life. At least one unit has been converted to a heat pump, which is worth real money in an Okanagan July, when Vernon's average daily high is 26 °C.
• Windows, patio doors and skylights. Ask whether they are the owner's cost or the strata's; bylaws vary and the answer changes the value of a unit that has already been done.
• Water heater and plumbing. With BC strata water-damage deductibles commonly $25,000 to $50,000, an old tank is the single most expensive thing that can fail. See insurance and deductibles.
• Garage and storage. Measure the garage if you own a truck. The double garages here are a big part of the appeal, but 1990s dimensions were planned for 1990s vehicles.

Floor plans for every unit type are not published anywhere. To be confirmed