Condo Buying Tips!!!

When buying a condominium whether its your first time or not there are some things you really should consider to assure your making a good buying decision.

1. Try to choose a nice exposure, looking into another building is not the greatest re-sale selling feature.

2. Don’t have a car but the condo comes with a parking spot? Rent it out and earn an extra little income.

3.Avoid units that overlook the garbage area, its tends to smell in the summer and can be very noisy

4. Try to purhcase the largest suite you can afford, studios and small one bedrooms are sometimes hard to sell

5. Keep a mental note of the conditions and aroma’s of the hallways, lobby and common areas

6. Try to visit the suites twice before you put in an offer, make sure you get that feeling when you walk in!

Get in contact with an agent, and keep these pointers in mind when your out looking at properties. You also have to look at the potential re-sale aspect when out searching because the reality is you will not live there forever! its a stepping stone to bigger better things.

Is the City of Toronto being run efficiently?….What Torontonians are saying

With the City of Toronto’s Executive Committee scheduled to reviewthe City’s proposed 2009 Operating Budget tomorrow, public opinion poll results, released today,
show that 60 per cent of Torontonians, believe that the City of Toronto is not being run as efficiently
as possible.

The poll was conducted by the Environics Research Group Ltd. for the Toronto Real Estate Board. “REALTORS® strongly believe that City Council should be making every effort to ensure that theCity is being run as efficiently as possible,” said Maureen O’Neill, President of the Toronto Real Estate Board (TREB). “Clearly, the public believes that the City has a lot of work to do.”
REALTORS® are calling on City Councillors to focus their budget efforts on options recommendedover a year ago by an independent blue-ribbon panel of business and labour representatives,appointed by Mayor Miller.

“Over a year ago, the Mayor’s Fiscal Review Panel identified, literally, hundreds of millions of dollars
in savings and efficiencies that the City could be taking advantage of,” said O’Neill. “Toronto taxpayers deserve to know what actions have been taken to implement the recommendations of the Mayor’s Fiscal Review Panel. Clearly, the majority of Torontonians don’t believe that the City is being run efficiently.”

The poll also found that 70 per cent of Torontonians believe that the recently implemented Toronto
Land Transfer Tax is not a fair way for the City to address its budgetary needs. This is up from 62 per cent of Torontonians who felt the same way according to an earlier Environics poll conducted for TREB in 2007, prior to the implementation of the Toronto Land Transfer Tax. This means that public opposition to this tax, which was already strong before it was implemented, has risen substantially,from 62 per cent prior to implementation to 70 per cent, after it was implemented.

“Two years ago, when the City first proposed the Toronto Land Transfer Tax, the public overwhelmingly agreed with REALTORS® that this is an unfair tax, and, now that it has been implemented, they agree even more strongly today,” said O’Neill. “The City’s budget efforts should
be focusing on fair options, like those recommended by the Mayor’s Fiscal Review Panel.”

The poll of 500 Toronto residents aged 18 years or over was conducted by telephone between March 12 and March 15, 2009, and is considered accurate to within +/- 4.5%, 19 times out of 20.

Get Ready to Wait!

The coming months will bring many surprises to those of you who have purchased a precontruction condominium, so I hope you are comfortable.

The worse case scenario might be that the condo you thought you’d make your home in the future may simply be pulled from the market. At best, the occupancy date may be delayed by months or years as the developer scrambles to meet the minimum sales needed to convince a bank to lend the money to build.

The reasons for these surprises are simple, and I’m hoping that you had the instinct to ask questions way back when, when you intially made the buy. The Banks/Lenders demand a certain percentage of suites be sold before they will even consider making construction loans, and that percentage has risen because of the global credit crunch. While two years ago it might have been 60 per cent, today it is certain to be at least 65 per cent or, in some cases, higher.

With sales currently running at a fraction of last year’s pace, you do not have to be a clarevoyant to predict the future. A good many of the 300-plus projects now on the market are going to be pulled for lack of buyer interest.

Some very clever industry observers suggest the figure may be as high as 30 per cent of those jostling for sales today.

So this raises a couple of questions: First, what can you do if your project gets pulled? Second, what can you do if occupancy gets delayed?
The first is a no-brainer. If a developer cancels your project, all you can do is accept the return of your deposit, swallow down any rising anger and move on.

“Virtually every condo purchase and sale contract is written in a way that gives the developer the right to cancel projects if sales targets are not met within a certain period of time,” says Ray Leclair, vice-president of TitlePLUS, the title insurance arm of the Lawyers Professional Indemnity Co. TitlePLUS is used by an increasing number of home buyers to guaranty that they receive a valid, free and clear title to their property on closing.

“There is nothing you can do, and it is almost certain to happen to many people in the coming months,” says Leor Margulies, head of the real estate group at Robins Appleby & Taub LLP.

It is all about contract law, and developers recruit some of the best legal talent in the business to make sure they have ironclad protection if sales do not go as hoped.

But if instead of pulling the plug your developer figures all it may take is a little more time, then the situation gets trickier, with the complexity depending on what stage the project has reached.

Stay tuned for Part II of this three part series…..

Mystic Pointe Neighbourhood

Nesseled es in a quiet area of South Etobicoke and close to all of natures true beauty, and just s short walk t Toronto’s beautiful Waterfront and butterfly park.  Mystic Pointe is a “Master Planned Community” which is composed of Lofts, Condominiums, and Townhomes, and brings all ages together from young professionals to empty Nester’s in one fantastic community.

Mystic Pointe is a great place to live if you enjoy the outdoors, there’s several great pathways where you can go for a nice jog or take a relaxing walk with your pet. Or better yet hop on your bike and head down to the waterfront and ride along the water into Downtown.

Close to all your everyday necessities such as public transportation, grocery, great places to eat and much more. Your just 10 minutes away from Downtown but far enough from the hustle and bussel if that’s not your cup of tea!