John Pasalis in Real Estate Roundup
Buying a Pre-Construction Condo?
I find that buyers of pre-construction condominiums often forget that there are many risks associated with buying a condominium before it's built. One risk I haven't talked about is the uncertainty behind the quality of the workmanship you can expect in your particular unit, and the condo project overall. Buyers can definitely research the reputation of a particular builder and their agents should have some insight into the reputation of different builders. But what happens when five years after you purchased your condo you show up for your pre-delivery inspection and the quality of the finishes are far from what you saw at the builder's sales centre?
This is exactly what happened to one Toronto real estate agent who decided to write about his experience buying at The West Side Lofts on his blog.
Welcome To My Nightmare (Toronto Realty Blog)
Welcome To My Nightmare (Part 2) (Toronto Realty Blog)
Welcome To My Nightmare (Part 3) (Toronto Realty Blog)
Canadian Home Sales Rise
The Canadian Real Estate Association released their August sales statistics earlier this week, reporting a 4.1% increase in sales and no change in average prices.
Canadian home sales rise, prices stable (CBC)
Canadian home sales up in August (Toronto Star)
Canada Housing Resales Rise 4.1% in August, First Increase Since March (Bloomberg)
Toronto Among Most Expensive Cities to Live
A report released by UBS this week ranked Toronto and Montreal among the most expensive cities in the world to live.
Toronto, Montreal among most costly cities (CBC)
World's most expensive cities — Q&A (National Post)
Toronto, Montreal among most expensive cities (National Post)
How Toronto, Montreal rank among most expensive cities (Globe and Mail)
OECD Warns Housing Overpriced
The OECD released their annual Economic Survey of Canada earlier this week. According to the report, "housing looks overpriced on the basis of price-to-rent and price-to-income measures".
Canadian home prices, health care costs too high: OECD (Toronto Star)
Housing market, homeowners still vulnerable: OECD (CTV)
OECD warns Canadians about debt loads (CBC)
Housing market remains vulnerable (Globe and Mail)
More Real Estate News
Toronto home sales cooling off (Toronto Star)
Top five signs of a bad real estate agent (Globe and Mail)
100 Cranes on the Toronto Skyline: What does it mean for the City? (BuzzBuzzHome)
Flaherty not worried about slowing house market (Canadian Mortgage Broker News)
What recession? Businesses snap up Toronto office space (Globe and Mail)
Urban Issues
Stewart St. is what Toronto is all about (Toronto Star)
BUILD Toronto’s grand designs (Toronto Star)
Toronto in the Creative Age (Creative Class)
More Toronto subways unlikely: transit chiefs (CBC)
John Pasalis is the Broker Owner of Realosophy Realty Inc in Toronto. Realosophy focuses on researching Toronto neighbourhoods to help their clients make smarter real estate decisions. Email John
September 17, 2010
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