quote:

Originally posted by Superstring Lots of opinions thrown around.. What do you guys think of lofts (ie 1 or 2 storey, depending on finances).. Is that a better investment?

Lofts are pricey, good deal if you get mortgage approval.

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Volodymyr

quote:

Originally posted by riskytrader I own a house in the 'burbs (boohoo) with a variable mortgage but am happy that I didn't buy the <600 sq ft condo because there's no way I could have kept living there given my expanding family.

I was looking to buy a new condo from the builder in brand new building. The prices are just insane, you buy < 600sq ft 1 bedroom condo for over 250,000. There is no room for bigger TV. The newer the condos the smaller they get.

I was shopping around for a condo for about 6 month, looked at number of condos and extremely happy with mine 3 bedroom (over 1000 sq ft) for under $150,000. Too bad, Tonia's work relocated to Oakville so I will have to move west, closer to her work.

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Volodymyr

never a better time to buy condoms.

protect yourself.

quote:

Originally posted by arek never a better time to buy condoms. protect yourself.

yeah tahts a great investment too haha

but honestly 1400 a month for a condo is actually REALLY good, with everything included. Id buy it right now if i had the cash =P
In some places rent will run you up 1400 and here you arent just throwing money away its sorta being put in your pocket but you cant touch it.

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The darkness is calling me
I cant control these feelings...

My advice without reading every post here is don't buy a condo in Toronto. I have a condo and it is an investment for me but I also didn't pay 200k+ for it. I paid less than half of that in Kitchener.

I have looked at the market in Toronto for my own references and paying that kind of money plus a 400$+ condo fee a month is rediculous imo. And the condos that are within any reasonable price range for what I would spend are in the not so nice parts of TO and surrounding area.

You may want to wait Kelly, or move back home with your parents and save that money you are spending on rent and put a good downpayment on a condo instead of just jumping right into it.

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the thing is u guys are missiong out on is that ur paying 400 grand for a fuckin shared property. when u buy a condo u buy a unit plus a share of a common area of the building. so lets say average number of units on one floor is abt 10 we'll say the average condo is 30 floors usually the first 2 floors are common area. so ur looking at 28 floors of units with 10 units a floor. so u have at 280 units a building. average condo price is $400 000. so once a condo is sold out everyones pay altogether is a transaction of $112 000 000. ur gonna tell me thatthe condo on that piece of property is worth 112 million dollars?!?!?!?!??!?!


its a jip, ur getting ripped off, prices are inflatted. supply is already surpassing demand.


just another lil piece of info to help u realize something. all the big subtrade companie that work highrise residential are grabbing at jobs out west. there could be a reason for this?!??!?!


lets do some more calculations, 280 units in a building (established last example), condo fee per month is lets say average $500, $140 000/month, thats $1 680 000 worth of maintenance fees a year. i wont even begin to explain how scandulous and ludacrious 2 million dollars worth of maintenance fees a year is hahahahahhahahah. Well hey if u want to be stuck in a room made of concrete thats worth themax 30 grand and help pay maintenance fees of close to 2 million a year to cut grass and pay some bills go ahead lol. but i enjoy being the queen peice in rthe chess game not the pawn

Last edited by Vivid Boy on May-30-2006 at 20:26

quote:

Originally posted by torontotrncelvr its late and all I want to say that I am a licensed real estate agent and I do not agree with all that has been said up to now. There are stll a lot of good condos to buy, and yes a lot of terrible condos to buy. The factors show no slowing down of the Toronto housing/condo market. Agreed, there are a ton of condo's going up, and a lot of bad investments, but there are also still good investments. All the details cannot possibly be conveyed in ths forum, and you can feel free to contact me via PM for more info. I would be happy to get togther for a coffee and discuss any questions you may have. Michael

congrats i have a license too. pm me and lets go for cofee teehee


spam and look for someone to leech money off somewhere else. dont bring ur shitty advertising schemes over here buddy, this is a trance web forum not a cold call

Last edited by Vivid Boy on May-30-2006 at 21:02

quote:

Originally posted by vickyvale I say go for it. Think of how much of your mtg you'll have paid off in a year opposed to renting which will get you no where...speaking from experience here. Been renting for 7 years now...I would be half way to owning my own home/condo by now! Why do you think she should wait, Eric??

actually, you payoff almost *nothing* in the first year...mortgages are "interest-heavy" at the onset.

supply has NOT outstripped demand...particularly for 1st time home buyers and because of the continuing demand for investement properties (a huge % of condo purchases are for investment purposes right now).

Few 1st time homebuyers can afford to go out and get a house right away...so they get a condo instead. While a condo may not be as much "bang for the buck", the average new 2 bedroom condo costs a LOT less than most houses in the GTA.

I would avoid old condos, since resale opportunity is low and condo fees on aging buildings can be ludicrous...but most newer developments will not lose their value...you just won't see the ridiculously rapid appreciation that has existed in recent years.

do yourself a favour and get your knowledge from industry sources...some of the opinions in this thread are flat out wrong.

http://www.cmhc.ca
http://www.remax.ca/

two good sources for analysis of the market.

quote:

Originally posted by MarkT (a huge % of condo purchases are for investment purposes right now).

short term investments of max 3 years. please be specific next time

I say go for it Kelly and worry about the consequences later.

quote:

Originally posted by MarkT you just won't see the ridiculously rapid appreciation that has existed in recent years.

Which is good from an economy standpoint.

Insane appreciation and rapid growth is NOT sustainable!

Sustainable, steady growth is what needs to exist and should be supported..

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