Archive for August, 2008

Fly Condos: More Details Released

Published at August 29, 2008 in New Developments, Pre-Construction Condos and VIP Sales Event. 0 Comments

Fly Condos by Empire Communities. Register with me now for your chance to get on the VIP list for this exciting new development. Buy before the public and save thousands.

Empire Communities was having a Celebrity Look-Alike contest to promote Fly Condos and the winners were just announced today. Congrats to Tommy Matejka for looking like Jude Law and getting $75,000 off the purchase price of a suite at Fly if he decides to buy one. His mom must be so proud ;)

They also released some more information on Fly Condos. Check it out below. Sounds like an exciting project.  Please contact me if you would like more information or if you have any questions.

Fly Condos is Empire Communities’ brand new condominium community coming soon to 352 Front Street West. This unique residential enclave will be situated between Blue Jays Way and Spadina in downtown Toronto. The 24-storey building will be crafted from glass and metal panels, with a unique interplay of distinctive and dramatic glass balconies on its western façade. The result of this design by Graziani + Corazza Architects will be an iconic addition to Toronto’s skyline that will complement this historic neighbourhood with its superb lines and intimate scale.

Fly combines all the essential elements: the right location,architecture, ambiance and amenities to nurture a lifestyle totally in sync with the times. Savvy Toronto urbanites will appreciate that it is possible for a whole community to be totally cool.

Fly will back onto Clarence Square - an urban park that is a true natural gem. Fly will also offer a landscaped promenade that connects to Clarence Square. Plus, the on-the-move crowd will enjoy living close to delectable restaurants, sizzling nightlife, renowned sports venues, and within walking distance to Toronto’s theatre and financial districts.
Residents of Fly Condos will live like stars in a building that features interiors and amenities by trend-setting Munge Leung Design Associates. These include the stunning white lobby with two-storey opaque green cut-glass columns, grey-veined marble floor and wall tile, white sculptural seating by Zaha Hadid, a modern chrome concierge desk, and white and gold metal origami-like birds throughout.

Residents will be able to host get-togethers in the stylish party venue with a chef’s kitchen complete with five appliances and access to the outdoor rooftop terrace with its private cabanas and barbecue station. The fitness centre is designed by George Chaker (founder of Diesel Fitness and Level V) and will feature the latest in workout equipment, a Yoga and Pilates studio, spinning area, sauna and more, all with a walkout to a private Zen courtyard ideal for meditation and seasonal yoga sessions. Overnight visitors can make use of a hotel-chic guest suite, and 24-hour concierge service will provide pure convenience.

Suites will feature ceilings that soar up to 10 feet in height at the Penthouse levels, which enhance the spacious feel of these well-thought-out designs. Each suite will also have a balcony or terrace extending the owners’ living space to the outdoors; custom-designed contemporary kitchens with sleek stainless-steel appliances and granite countertops; engineered hardwood flooring; rich ceramics and glazed porcelain tiles; plus striking views through expansive windows.

Fly Condos will offer studios, one-bedroom, one-bedroom plus den, two-bedroom, two-bedroom-plus-den, three-bedroom, and two-storey lofts with street entry. Sizes range from 480 to over 1,500 sq. ft., and prices begin from the mid-$200’s to just under $1 million. Occupancy is slated for Spring 2012.

July Statistics for New Condo Sales

Published at August 26, 2008 in News, Opinion and Toronto Market Statistics. 0 Comments

When it comes to real estate statistics, I always take everything with a grain of salt. Fact is, most real estate statistics are compiled and released for general media consumption by the real estate industry: Real Estate Boards, CMHC, Real Estate Marketing companies, Realtors, Lenders, etc. They have a vested interest in a robust housing market. Inevitably this bias will shine through.

I was just reading through the latest numbers from BILD (Building Industry and Land Development Association) and if you just read the headline from the press release, you might conclude that everything is rosy in the new homes and condominium market in Toronto.

The headline reads: “Condo Sales Reach New Heights in July”. Now this can be interpreted in several ways and ‘New heights’ could mean just about anything. In this case it is referring to the fact that new home sales in the high-rise category (i.e. condos) were the highest for the month of July when compared to any other month so far this year. However, looking closer at the numbers clearly shows that the sales figures for July for new condo sales are actually down about 21% compared to July of 2007. Overall, new condo sales in the GTA are down about 22% for the YTD for 2008 when compared with 2007.

Also interesting from this press release is that condos appear to be taking up a greater and greater share of the overall market for new homes in the GTA. The reason given is land that land is becoming scarce. Builders are building up rather than out.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email or leave a comment.

Toronto Resale Market Slows; New Developments to Follow?

Published at August 22, 2008 in Buyers Tips, Investment, New Developments, News, Opinion and Resale Condos. 0 Comments

Interesting article in today’s Globe and Mail about more anecdotal and factual evidence that the Toronto resale market is slowing down.

Agents are starting to see conditional offers more and more, negotiations are actually taking place, and sellers who price their property too high are getting a rude wake-up call to the new realities of the marketplace.

Gone are the heady days of 2007 when a seller could simply list their property at seemingly any price and they would usually be rewarded with an offer.

So what about the market for new condos? What is the market like today and what will it look like heading into the final quarter of 2008 and into 2009? I spend most of my time helping buyers enter into the pre-construction condo market in Toronto.

A new report from Urbanation, a research firm run by the folks behind Market Vision-a brokerage specializing and new developments-seems to suggest that new condos will be following the trend currently happening in the resale market.

“We’re expecting a slowdown in 2009,” said Jane Renwick, editor and vice-president of Urbanation, a condominium market research company.

“So we would say that we were at 22,000 [condo] sales at the end of 2007. We’re predicting 16,000 sales to round out this year. And we’re expecting sales to dip beyond that in 2009.”

Urbanation released a report yesterday about the Toronto condo market’s second quarter of 2008.

Following record condo sales in 2007, she said, the market is now back to 2005 and 2006 levels.

Anecdotal evidence, evidence on the ground from my own experiences and the experiences of my colleagues who also specialize in new condo developments, suggests that the market is currently still hot. People are still lining up for condos (overnight in many cases), and prices are still rising. However, there is a sentiment that slow times are ahead and smart buyers are proceeding with caution, not just jumping into any development that comes along. If you are looking to flip a condo and make a quick profit overnight, it is probably not the best time to buy.

If you ever have any questions about new condos or Toronto Real Estate, please give me a call or send me an email.

Mortgage Approvals for Pre-Construction Condos: Part 2

Published at August 19, 2008 in Buyers Tips, New Developments and Pre-Construction Condos. 0 Comments

As I talked about in my previous post, understanding deposit structures and mortgage approvals is essential to purchasing a new condo from a developer in Toronto.

However, what do you do when you can get the funds for the deposits, but you run into trouble when it comes to securing mortgage preapprovals? This can occur for a number of reasons including:

  • Income too low. The number one factor in getting mortgage approvals is your income. Lenders need to see you have enough coming in on a regular basis to ‘pay the bills.’
  • Over leveraged. Many investors have several properties and/or contracts in their portfolio at any given time and this can stretch you thin, making the ratios that banks often use for pre approvals look out of wack.
  • Self Employed or not enough employment history. Perhaps you are a new grad fresh out of school and your income is low now, but will increase substantially over the next 1-3 years. Or if you are self-employed, lenders often apply even more stringent qualifications before approving you.

So what are your options for getting pre approved? How can you overcome this hurdle and get the condo that you have been dreaming about or that is such a great investment opportunity? Here are a few ways to get around the roadblock

  • Use a mortgage broker. Usually developers will have a specific lender they work with and ask purchasers to get preapproved through. And 9 times out of 10 that lender is one of the Big-5 Canadian banks. Their lending standards are often more rigorous than those used by mortgage brokers - who have access to dozens of lenders. Getting a pre-approval from a mortgage broker, if the developer allows it, can be a way around this dilemma for purchasers.
  • Get a co-signer. For a number of reasons, you may not qualify for the mortgage at the time you want to purchase the suite, but perhaps you know that by the time the condo is ready for occupancy a few years down the road, your situation will likely have changed and you will qualify. In the time being, and just to get the qualification, why not get a co-signer to get you over the hump? You can always remove or change the other names on title before final closing. Time to put in the dreaded phone call to mom and dad…or your rich uncle who always liked you best!
  • Negotiate. Depending on the particular developer, the stage of the marketing life cycle of the project, and the relationship that your real estate agent has with the developer, you may be able to simply remove the condition for mortgage pre-approval from the agreement, or make alternative arrangements that satisfy both parties.
  • Letter of Commitment. If you are over-leveraged due to other properties or contracts in your portfolio, sometimes you can’t get a mortgage approval, but if you have a long-standing good relationship with your bank you might be able to get your branch manager or a mortgage manager to write you up a letter of commitment. A letter of commitment is similar to a mortgage approval, but it is less formal and is based more on the ‘good will’ of your relationship with the bank and their intimate knowledge of your personal finances. Sometimes this will satisfy the developer if they see that you are in very good standing with a well established lender even though you don’t technically qualify for the mortgage using traditional ratios etc.

So there you have it. Some suggestions for obtaining mortgage approval when difficulties arise when buying a new construction condo in Toronto.

If you have any questions about mortgage financing for new condos in Toronto, feel free to contact me any time.

Deposit Structure and Mortgage Approval for Pre-Construction Condos

Published at August 18, 2008 in Buyers Tips, New Developments and Pre-Construction Condos. 1 Comment

Not a very sexy post title I know, but just because you are buying a pre-construction condo in Toronto doesn’t mean that you can avoid the world of traditional mortgages.

Normally when you buy a pre-construction condo you have to put down a series of deposits to secure your suite with the developer. How much you pay and when you pay varies. Factors affecting the deposit structure include:

  • The developer’s bank - what they require. Developers need to get mortgages too! The banks require them usually to get a 15% down payment as a minimum from purchasers.
  • When you buy - when you purchase in the condo’s marketing life cycle. The earlier you buy, the less flexibility there generally is in the deposit structure. When a project has reached their benchmark amount of units sold to get their financing approvals and permits to begin construction, sometimes they ease up on the deposit structure and this is often a good time for purchasers to jump in again.
  • The developer’s preferences and promotions. Some developers require more as a rule of thumb, some require less. Some offer promotions with flexible payment schemes, others do not.
  • Who you are. Yes, developers have been known to practice deposit structure discrimination - that is, changing the deposit structure requirements based on who the purchaser is. Usually though this ‘discrimination’ is simply tied to whether or not the purchaser is a Canadian resident (often non-residents must pay significantly higher deposit amounts).

So deposit structure on new condos varies, but usually you can find something like 15% to be paid out in 3 or 4 installments over the course of 6-9 months after initially signing the agreement of purchase and sale. Then an additional 5-10% also is usually required at occupancy (not to be confused with condo registration date).

So you have manged to scrape together the money you need for your deposits and you are ready to go ahead with your purchase. Are you finished? By no means. The developer will gladly take your 15-25%, but they also require mortgage approval for the remaining amount. Here’s an example: say you buy a 1 bedroom and den condo for $300,000. You must pay out 20% in deposits over the next 3 years. 20% of $300,000 is $60,000. That leaves $240,000 in unaccounted for funds for which you need to get a mortgage pre-approval.

Sometimes buyers have the funds for the deposits, but for various reasons, getting a mortgage approval can be tricky. If you fit into this category, tune in the blog tomorrow for some tips on how to get around this dilemma.

If you have any questions about deposit structures and mortage approvals, feel free to drop me an email any time.

International Investors & Developers Have their Eyes on Canada

Published at August 14, 2008 in Investment and Opinion. 0 Comments

I came across an interesting post over at New Condos Online about how American developers should start aggressively pursuing Canadian buyers for their product due to the relatively strong Canadian economy and the (until very recently) high Canadian dollar.

This is very timely advice for American developers to consider. Most US Real Estate Markets are still following a downward slide. Prices are still falling, inventory is still massive with little signs of it changing in the near term. Canadian investors are beginning to wonder it things have peaked here in Canada and are starting to look elsewhere for better value and better long-term prospects for price appreciation.

While foreign developers are starting to consider Canadian buyers, foreign investors are still feeling quite bullish on the long-term prospects of condos in markets like Toronto. More and more international investors are looking at purchasing condos in Toronto as investment vehicles, or as temporary residences. Look at recent developments like Ice Condos or Aura. Anecdotal evidence suggests a substantial proportion of buyers in these landmark projects are from outside of Canada. Canada is considered a safe, secure, low-risk place to invest to many outside of our borders.

My own client list is increasingly becoming something of a United Nations. Just in the last year alone I have had new clients originating from the U.K., Dubai, Taiwan, Korea, India, China, and Bangladesh to name a few.

If you are interested in knowing more about investing in Canada and Toronto in particular, please contact me.

Million Dollar Listing Season 2

Published at August 12, 2008 in Just for Fun. 0 Comments

There are so many real estate-related TV shows available now it’s incredible. People have always had a fascination with our industry and how it works. It seems as though Reality TV and Real Estate are made for each other.

One of my favourite shows is Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing. It debuted about a year ago and it follows a few Real Estate Agents from Malibu, California as they go about their business helping buyers and sellers in one of North America’s most expensive areas. The show really doesn’t teach the watcher very much about Real Estate, but it does prove to be very entertaining watching these prima donna-type agents as they fly around Southern California selling million dollar properties.

The second season has just started and this year the show has decided to follow three of the “youngest, hottest, and richest” agents in Malibu. See the video clip below for a tense exchange between two of these agents from one of the recent episodes.

Fly Condos Celebrity Contest

Published at August 6, 2008 in News and Pre-Construction Condos. 0 Comments

Fly Condos - a new condo development by Empire Communities located at Spadina and Front St is trying something new. In an effort to promote the project, the developer is holding a Celebrity Look Alike Contest with the winner getting $75,000 off of the purchase of a suite at Fly Condos. Very interesting tactic and obviously aimed at building some buzz and creating some hype for the project, especially amongst the under-30 crowd who they are very clearly marketing their project to.

The downtown Toronto Condo market is red hot and developers are constantly trying to attract investors and first time buyers alike to choose their project over the many others available in the city. There are so many new condo projects launching every month all over the city of Toronto that developers are now getting very creative in their marketing and promotion schemes in advance of launching their sites. Fly Condos Celebrity Look Alike Contest is just one more example of this creative, non-traditional real estate marketing.

So if you reckon you look a little like Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie, why not enter the contest and find out? Presumbaly the winner of the contest will be the person most closely resembling their chosen celebrity as voted by visitors to the Fly Condos Contest website.

If you are thinking about purchasing a unit at Fly Condos but you don’t want to wait until the sales office opens to the public, or you just aren’t interested in waiting to see if you really do look like Brad Pitt, please contact me for VIP sales before the public.

Hullmark Centre by Tridel - Coming Soon to Yonge and Sheppard

Published at August 1, 2008 in New Developments, Pre-Construction Condos and VIP Sales Event. 0 Comments

Hullmark Centre by Tridel will soon be transforming the cityscape at Yonge and Sheppard in North York. Contact me now to register for your chance to purchase a suite in this project before the public launch.

The project will feature a dynamic mix of retail, commercial and residential use that will be unique to Toronto. The concept is almost like a minature Yonge-Dundas Square, or call it Yonge-Sheppard Square.

Certainly the Yonge and Sheppard corridor has absolutely taken off in recent years and with the launch of mega towers like Hullmark and Emerald Park, uptown has become a sort of ‘new downtown’. There are serious concerns growing over how the roads will handle all these thousands of new residents, however, with both Emerald Park and Hullmark featuring direct subway access, this will certainly help alleviate the situation and encourage people to either leave the car at home, or not even own a car at all.

From Tridel’s marketing materials:

Hullmark Centre. A signature development at the corner of Yonge and Sheppard marked by a prestige office component, prime retail fronting onto a vibrant public plaza, and the two tallest condominium towers to grace the North York skyline. Served by direct indoor underground access to the Yonge and Sheppard subway station, this is the most important corner and address in the city. It is undeniably central.

Contact me to be the first to receive floor plans and pricing for Hullmark Centre.

Oct 11 update: Floor plans and pricing for the VIP Sales Event now available. Contact me now to get your hands on them right away!