Topic: thinking of buying a condo. any advice?

[aquadorhj]

 
car problems aside, i'm thinking about buying a condo.  cannot afford a house right now, as even small ones cost 300 grand in calgary nowadays.
there's couple of neighborhood that has cheap houses, but i really don't like those neighborhoods.    (and my gf hates them.)

i just started looking, and aside from condo magazines, i haven't really done much research, as in insights gathered from experiences.   
as this is my first housing purchase, i'm scared crap-less.

any advice?

[mmret]

Firstly I warn you that I have a very ... unique perspective on this, probably as a result of my finance background. So what I say will probably sound like crazy talk.

I have expunged on the topic here: http://www.autos.ca/forum/index.php/topic,61453.msg564777/topicseen.html#msg564777.

I implore you to ask yourself if you really, truly NEED to buy a condo right now. Once you get in its not a simple matter to get yourself out if you need to move or downsize or whatever. Renting however is, as I would say, "liquid".

My other pet peeve with condos is that you don't actually own any land. You own shares in a corporation. And that corporation's board is usually full of nutters selected from the worst bowels of the building. Your maintenance fees will climb a long long way, then you'll get fed up and want to leave, but nobody will buy the place because its 1. old and 2. high fees.

IMHO condos are for renting, let others take the risk. Houses (ie: land) is for buying, later on in life when you have a decent chunk of money to throw down / or you have kids.

[aquadorhj]

well, i took a read on your linked post.  makes sense.

i'll think it thru.

[Erik]

Excellent advice from mmret. Buying a condo is not something to be undertaken lightly. The complete lack of professionalism of most condo boards is shocking. SOme very amateurish property managers too. Yes, there are some buildings that are well run, but those are definitely the exception, not the rule.

[tpl]

It is a pity that the New York  CO-OP system doesn't really exist in Canada. But it would have the same problems of affordability that houses do and probably fall foul of the Charter. 

[wing]

I own a condo that I rent out.  The condo corp is a complete cluster f**k.  The fees are ridiculously high, and there is on top of it an extra $1500 charge every July because they can't manage the books properly.

The place was built in the 80's and has horribly leaky windows that need to be replaced but there is nothing even on the books or planned to do so.  I couldn't believe it when I asked.  Tenants are paying $500+ a month for heating!

Only good thing is I don't have to worry about lawn maintenance and show maintenance etc that's why I went with a condo over a freehold -- price helped too.

[safristi]

 Aujourdhui .........here is some smart advice from a Multi Billionaire..No I'm not quite there yet  ....Warren the BUFFET king............

 this is from his latest 2010 year end Letter to shareholders...READ THEM ALL......available..on the Interwebs thingy!!!!....
 "Home ownership makes sense for most Americans,(canucks too ?) particularly at today's  "low" prices ! and bargain interest rates.ALL THINGS considered my 3rd best investment decision was the purchase of a home(the other 2 were the purchase of wedding rings! )Though I would have made MORE MONEY,had i rented and used the purchase dollars to buy stocks,for the $31,500 ,I paid for our house,my family and I gained 52 years of terrific memories,with more to come...."

  NOTE he didn't keep trading UP and using the increase in equity as a piggy bank.....
   cont'd "But a home can be a nightmare if a buyer's eyes are bigger than his wallet,and if lenders PROTECTED BY GOV ( Fannie Mae,Freddie Mack et al)facilitate his fantasy...social goals should NOT be to put families into the HOUSE OF THEIR DREAMS...but into a house they CAN AFFORD".


  Berkshire Hathaway owns Clayton Homes...google it....they pre-build their houses above spec inside...weather does no damage.....and build them to your needs and where U want...in the STATES only ,and they own the mortgages and pre qualify clients to ensure they can STAY IN THEIR houses,even tho' some have below 640 Financial scores (poorer risks) they don't bundle their mortgages and re sell them 50 ways to Sunday to wall steet crooks........their defaults are way below 1.5% or so..............Nice guy and Co to do business with..............

  p.s I'm in the same home I bought 30 years ago and paid of rapidly,for the same reason Warren did..............it's where i and family slept and still sleep peacefully at the end of the day........wonderful feeling............

[Bubba]

  p.s I'm in the same home I bought 30 years ago and paid of rapidly,for the same reason Warren did..............it's where i and family slept and still sleep peacefully at the end of the day........wonderful feeling............

Good Lord, Saffy is making sense again.  Help me!   

[ktm525]

Don't.


Condo= not the master of your own domain.


Live in a three car garage and a cot.

[safristi]

  p.s I'm in the same home I bought 30 years ago and paid of rapidly,for the same reason Warren did..............it's where i and family slept and still sleep peacefully at the end of the day........wonderful feeling............

Good Lord, Saffy is making sense again.  Help me!   ...



 here is the picture of my DOMAIN............I have the GT500 suite reserved fer GUESTS....

....... ya haf to move yer OWN STICK......

[ktm525]

Nice shorts.


Buy this house in Calgary. Good neighbourhood. 5-10 mintues to downtown and beside great rec. park.

Rent basement and pay off quick.

Done.



http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=10391235&PidKey=410286337

[ArticSteve]

http://www.condoinformation.ca/

The only condos worth living in are low in number of units, high end construction and a no renting clause even to family without board approval.  Then they are nice places to live and a good investment.

[safristi]

  let me guess U live in one................

[ArticSteve]

Mom.  Moved her out of her house of 55 years.  ABSOLUTELY no margin for error on the new place.

[overtakeyouintheleftlane]

Dont' bother. I used to live at 4968 Yonge St. (south tower)  on the 37th floor. The building was fine but damn, if you don't agree with what the board does, tough *hit.

Too close for comfort with neighbors. I would be having a smoke on my balcony and the neighbor gets so ticked off, yelling that he's "allergic" to cigarette smoke. Hello? What about all the other stuff you're inhaling by being out on the balcony such as the smog?

The advantage to it was that it was a 2 minute walk to work and also on the subway line.

I find a house is much better (bungalow), I have a garage, my own driveway and privacy. A house (fully detatched) is much better.

[inco]

Are there many freehold condos in Calgary? You pay slightly more for them here in the GTA, but you don't have to worry about maintenance fees. Likely easier to sell down the road as well.

[mmret]

Wonder if we've scared him out of it yet

[aquadorhj]

totally.   

yeah.  i figured condos didn't make as much sense as houses.   numbers typically don't jibe.
some of the condos are very cheap in calgary nowadays, but condo fees are out of whack.   

i saw one condo in not even that good neighborhood, with no amenities like gym or pool that has condo fees in the upper $600 /m ....

most decent ones has condo fees in upper $400 or low $500s..     -_-; 

save up few more years and should buy a house instead...

[Leviathan]

i saw one condo in not even that good neighborhood, with no amenities like gym or pool that has condo fees in the upper $600 /m ....

That is what I've noticed too. All these gyms, pools and clubhouses amenities usually come with a whopping strata fee. Don't need them, don't want 'em. In Vancouver, you also have to watch for the leaky condos and assessments to fix the problem.

[johngenx]

I own a rental property condo, and overall, the experience is okay.  I was VERY careful prior to purchase, and investigated the health of the property (physical and financial) in detail.  Post-purchase experience has been so-so thanks to some crummy on-site management contracts and apathetic boards.  But, things have been better lately, as we've been spending some of our massive reserve (over $20K/unit!!) on needed upgrades.

As for revenue, notice I didn't say "revenue property."  Most of the time, I break even.  But, capital appreciation and mortgage coverage has made it a good ROI.