We Bought a CONDO!
Earlier this year my sister was looking for a place to rent downtown Toronto. After weeks of looking, and getting out-bid by tenants willing to pay anything for the perfect condo unit, my Dad and I decided to step in and become landlords. Together we purchased a 1-bedroom condo unit in the heart of downtown Toronto.
With my background working in architecture and construction, I was very hesitant about owning a condo. I’ve worked on multiple high-density residential projects in the past and was concerned with the long-term performance of a condo building. Historically, condo buildings have been built with low-quality, low-cost window wall construction that is prone to failure and leaks over time.
While energy and performance requirements have improved over the last decade, this hasn’t stopped developers and architects from continuing to design all-glass buildings in the name of “views and light”. The developer model of construction often results in solutions that are cheap and fast, rather than solutions that are slightly more costly up front, but offer better value and improved performance in the long run.
The Canadian real estate market is highly developer-driven with large corporations making design decisions in the name of profit, rather than in the name of performance and sustainability. If this trend is to change, buyers need to be educated and made aware of what is going on behind the scenes.
Since 2017 the average price of a condo in the GTA has increased by 44%, with costs running just north of $1100/square foot. The current housing shortage in Canada means potential buyers are willing to do almost anything to get their hands on real estate, even if that means buying a unit that would under normal circumstances be considered “undesirable”.
The combination of these two conditions is a recipe for a runaway market. More demand, and less supply means buyers aren’t asking the hard questions when it comes to condo purchases and pre-construction sales:
Check out the video below, as well as some of the links attached, for some of my insights into what I look for when buying a condo unit.
(Video from the condo unit we purchased is at the end of the video)
References:
Glass Condo Disadvantages https://allontario.ca/glass-condos-disadvantages/
Toronto’s Big Un-Green Condo Problem: https://www.tvo.org/article/torontos-big-un-green-condo-problem-0
Pre-Construction Traps: https://condoessentials.com/toronto-pre-construction-condos-10-costly-traps-buyers/
Toronto’s Condo Market, 2021: https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2021/12/torontos-condo-market-exploded-back-life-2021/
Condo Market Prices Rise 44%: https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/gta-condo-prices-rise-by-44-since-2017-housing-peak-810469725.html