When you’re looking for a new condo in Canada, you’re going to get a lot of advice from real estate professionals, lenders, and possibly friends. Some of that will be good advice, some of it will be mediocre, and some of it will be bad. But, here are the three questions you have to ask yourself. Knowing the answer to them will make everything else easy to sort out.
Where Do I Start?
Two things: hire a real estate professional who specializes in condos in the area you want to buy in, and hire a lawyer that’s experienced in real estate. So, for example, these Calgary condos for sale range in price from $280,000 or so to $520,000, but you need a real estate professional to help you determine what the best buy is given your financial situation, your needs (e.g. do you need to live close to a school or public transit), and your long-term goals (e.g. are you retiring here?).
A real estate lawyer will help you read through any real estate contract (don’t trust this to a real estate agent), sort out loan terms, and help you make sound legal decisions. It’s worth the small retainer fee, because condos are almost always long-term propositions. They’re easy to get into, but often difficult to sell quickly. Make sure you’re making the right decision the first time around.
What Do I Do After I Get A Pre-qualification?
Now it’s time to check out the properties you’re interested in. This doesn’t have to be difficult, but it can be treacherous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Consider hiring a property inspector to help you. Get your hands on the condo board minutes and verify that the management has done a reserve fund study.
The reserve fund study proves that the management has enough money in reserve to pay for any and all repairs or replacement of the building and any related property. If a reserve fund study hasn’t been done or it’s difficult to access the treasury information, that’s a red flag. Move on to the next condo community.
Check to make sure the condo was built using post tension cables. This was a popular building method in the 1970s and 1980s in Calgary. Steel cables are run through the concrete flooring and any load-bearing structures to increase stability and minimize cracking.
They’re expensive to repair if something does happen to them so keep that in mind. But, this is generally a good thing to have in the building.
Check the condo fees. If the HOA is charging a high fee, make sure you’re getting something for the money. Realize that if your condo does have post tension cables, you may be charged a higher fee which is kept in reserve for future repairs or maintenance.
Finally, ask about the construction of the condo - who built it. Are they still in business? Go take a look at other jobs they’ve done and see how well they’ve stood up to the test of time. See if the builders have ever been sued, under what conditions, and what the outcome was.
How Do I Know This Is The Right Condo?
You’ll know you have the right condo when it feels like home, you know it’s built well, you’re comfortable with the space, you get along with management, and you can afford to purchase it (including the HOA fees). Resale value also helps, but this isn’t usually why people buy into condos, so keep that in mind.
Heather Oshields works at a small condo as a manager. She likes to share her insights on the web. Her posts can be found mainly on homeowner and real estate blogs.
