I have never taken a big interest in April Fool’s Day.
That’s not to say I have no sense of humour, but just the idea that we pick one day per year to play pranks really takes the element of surprise out of the equation.
Anybody who follows the comedic staples on Instagram would have undoubtedly seen this a couple of times:
Right.
Kudos to Gail. You have to admit, she’s trying!
It sort of reminds me of a company meeting we had 5-6 years ago where an older lady stood up during the Q&A after the “Social Media” presentation and said, “How do I…..do…..a Twitter?” Applause ensued. Hey, she was trying. She smiled when she asked the question, she wasn’t quite sure of the verbiage, but she stood up nonetheless.
Gail, you’re an Instagram legend, even one year after your epic April Fool’s Day prank.
On Monday, I fell for not one, but two real estate related April Fool’s Day prank.
Do you have one of those email accounts you use for ordering pizza, signing up for Best Buy when you order one $9 cord online, and subscribing to real estate websites? I do. It’s the same Hotmail account I’ve had since 1997. So while looking through my copious amount of eBay emails on Monday, I saw one from Condos.ca about the “first and only dog condo” in Toronto.
So cool, I thought!
I remember the first condo to have no parking spaces, marketed as the first only “bicycle condo,” so wasn’t it only a matter of time before we saw a condo that had no restrictions on pets? Or, wait. What is a “dog condo?” The more I read, the more I realized this made no sense. A dog condo, like, for dogs?
Then I read more, and I realized this was a joke.
Ah, yes, it was April Fool’s Day, after all.
But I read the entire thing! I clicked all the links!
It was really funny, really creative, and I have to give them credit for putting so much work into this.
Check it out HERE.
And they even started a website called www.condogs.ca
Great work!
But the day was still young, and I had yet to perk up from my morning coffee. So upon seeing my colleague, Steven Fudge’s latest blog post advertised on Facebook, I was hooked!
“You Can Buy A Sleeping Pod In A Toronto Micro Condo For $49,900”
For those of you that don’t read Steven, you’re missing out. He’s very unique, as is his writing style, and he’s always got something interesting to say. Bookmark him and you won’t be disappointed.
I started reading the blog post, and I was just shocked. “What is this city coming to?” I thought, upon seeing what people are resorting to:
Ashamed as I am to admit this, it wasn’t until I saw Gotcha! Happy April Fool’s! that I realized this was all a joke.
Am I stupid? Gullible? Or both?
I was just tired. Oh, so, so very tired on Monday morning after very little sleep and a lot of……umm……what do they call it……….ah, parenting, on the weekend.
I feel as though if you’re not paying extremely close attention, and if what’s in front of your eyes is convincing enough, your brain allows you to believe it. That photo above with the guys sleeping in pods is real, after all. That’s in China.
And we all know that, as Britons found out on April 1st, 1957, spaghetti does grow on trees.
That truly is the greatest April Fool’s Day prank ever played. And I fell for that as a child when my Dad showed it to me on TV.
Anyways…
Upon falling for Steven Fudge’s “micro condo pod” story, I began to consider just how small condos have become. In fact, this has been on my mind since the Liberals announced their budget two weeks ago, and a couple of readers commented that their plan to help first-time buyers, who are purchasing for under $480,000, might cause developers to build smaller condos.
Well, they’re already building smaller condos.
So can they start building them even smaller?
If, for argument’s sake, this first-time home-buyer loan from the federal government (or shared mortgage, whatever you want to call it) has legs, then it’s possible that will push the lower end of the market, across the country, and even here in Toronto.
If, for argument’s sake, there are more and more buyers looking for $350,000 condos in downtown Toronto (that currently don’t exist), it’s possible that developers will start building them.
And where does that leave the rest of us, ie. those that don’t want to live in micro-condos?
Well as I said, it’s already happening, and the writing has been on the wall for some time.
Think about how a developer makes his money; he sells gross floor area.
Let’s say that a developer purchases a site, and the buildable area is 400,000 square feet. Maybe the condo is 100 feet wide, by 100 feet deep 44 stories high, and minus elevators, common area, and mechanical rooms, there’s 400,000 square feet of upon which to build condos.
If a buyer wanted a 400,000 square foot condo, then great! The developer will just sell all 400,000 square feet and be done with it. But we know this isn’t how it works, so the developer will chop up the 400,000 square feet into multiple units of varying shapes, sizes, floor plans, and combinations of beds and baths.
Maybe the developer chops up the 400,000 square feet into 100 units, or maybe it’s 500. Who knows.
How the developer determines this is a combination of saleability and marketability, ie. what can be sold, and for how much.
There’s a larger market for smaller units, and smaller units sell for higher prices, so it seems to reason that most of a new development will be small 1-bedroom condos. It didn’t use to be this way. When I got into the business in 2004, the larger the unit, the higher the price per square foot! Just imagine how crazy that would seem today?
So let’s consider that in, say, 2008, you might be looking at a 565 square foot condo for $500 per square foot, or $282,500. That was affordable for a lot of folks then, but folks today can only dream about that price point.
As time went on, and prices went up, the price per square foot increased along with the absolute price, ie. unit price.
What we have come to realize in 2019 is that developers are not concerned with the price per square foot, since consumers clearly aren’t, and instead they are looking at the absolute price.
Today, a buyer might think they have struck gold to find a condo for “only” $399,000. But whereas in 2004, this purchased a 1,050 square foot unit, in 2019, it might only purchase a 362 square foot unit.
And that is why units are shrinking in size.
It’s not because of what people want, it’s because of what people can afford.
Tell me that people want smaller units, and I’ll you you’re wrong. This is merely a function of price, and it’s been force-fed to us by developers who recognize that setting a unit-size floor of 580 square feet, like we used to see in 2004, might set a price floor of $600,000, and that’s not going to attract buyers.
Do you know what will attract buyers?
Condos @ Dundas & University, Starting From $479,900 – On VIP Sale NOW!
That’s highly attractive…..
……to morons.
Because not only are these pre-construction condos that may never be built, may be cancelled, may be delivered in 2028, may have insane closing costs, may be in “occupancy” for two years, and so on, but these are…………wait for it…………..279 square feet in size.
Yup, and if you do the math, you’ll see that this is a whopping $1,720 per square foot.
Oh, so now I’m not a jerk for calling would-be buyers, “morons?” Admit it, you were thinking that…
Yes, $1,720 per square foot, which is just absurd. It’s also insulting. But I’m sure sales are fantastic!
What does a 279 square foot condo look like?
This:
(Courtesty of Condonow)
That’s a kitchen, living, and dining all combined into one room that’s 12’1″ x 10’0.” I don’t want to sound like a jerk, but my office is 17′ by 16′. Wait, come to think of it, my office is the overall condo size! I don’t know how I can come in here every day with the same perspective…
But consider 12’10” x 10’0″ when having to find a place for your fridge, stove, dishwasher and/or microwave if you can fit them, kitchen sink, bed, and somewhere to put clothing, and maybe, I dunno, stuff?
While I recognize that there are people all around the world living in smaller spaces, I just don’t know that this is going to work in Toronto.
At the risk of sounding repetitive, it warrants mentioning once again: nobody wants to live in spaces this small; these are being built by developers who are chasing a price-point.
And that’s the sad reality of our market.
Developers, who effectively run the city of Toronto (at least the downtown core), can’t build larger units because the market for them is smaller. And what this means, in my opinion, is that thirty years from now, the entire downtown core will be full of micro condos, and society will largely adapt as a result.
Think of the fallout from this!
Furniture designers, appliance retailers, and scores of “smart” products will all be affected by the size of properties in which people live.
Just to show you that the 279 square foot unit at “United BLDG Condos” isn’t an anomaly, here’s a 300 square foot condo at the “YSL Residences” at Yonge & Gerrard:
(Courtesy of Condonow)
Just in case you had your chequebooks ready, this condo is $459,900.
That’s $1,533 per square foot!
And despite the fact that this 300 square foot unit is larger than the 279 square foot unit above, the layout is actually worse, since the living/dining/kitchen is smaller. Note the large hallway entrance – this is BRUTAL for such a small unit!
Is that a TV across from the bathroom?
It’s just crazy.
And the prices, wow!
How does this make any sense?
You’ve heard my pre-construction rants for over a decade now, but geez, why would anybody pay $1,533 per square foot for a pre-construction condo when they can buy across the street for $800?
Am I losing my mind here?
What’s going on?
Yeah, exactly like that.
Well, if this is the part where you’re hoping I tell you that over $1,700 per square foot is an April Fool’s Day joke, you are sadly mistaken.
Because it is both sad, and a mistake, in my opinion, that we’re starting to build sub-300 square foot condos in the downtown core. I understand that not everybody can afford to buy larger condos, but not everybody needs to own either. As rare as it is to hear a real estate agent say that, I just think this obsession with ownership and the entitlement that leads people to think they “should” live five minutes from work, has brought us here.
Let’s see how many more new developments give us floor plans like those shown above…
Appraiser
at 7:29 am
TREB March sales data out this morning:
“The MLS® Home Price Index Composite Benchmark was up by 2.6 per cent year-over-year in March, while the average price for March sales was up by a lesser annual rate of 0.5 per cent to $788,335. The average selling price for Q1 2019 was up by 1.1 per cent year-over-year.”
New listings down 5.1%, active listings down 2.5%.
Housing Bear
at 11:11 am
Weaker than I expected. MOM % gain between February and March lower than normal. They were also telling us that first Q of last year was depressed due to intro of B20. Once numbers are revised sales will be down further YOY……. from a depressed year.
Detached down slightly in average price. Semi, TH, Condos up slightly. (below inflation). Slight up tick in sales mix favoring detached. Last detached made up 43% of total sales, this year 45%. Take out the change in sales mix and average is probably down.
Unlike Vancouver, no capitulation yet though. Free fall over there, and situation is going to get even more extreme now that BC is forcing number corps to disclose beneficial owners. Perhaps a tin foil theory but I wonder if this could actually cause a short term RE bump for other parts of Canada that still have zero transparency. Drug money still needs to be washed somewhere and it will be interesting to see where the crooks move their money once they sell in BC. Do they move it into other real estate? offshore? or some other form of security (PMS, Crypto, Art etc)? If you can figure out where that money will flow next there could be a great opportunity for some quick gains.
If it moves into other Canadian real estate my bet would be Quebec. Known for their ethics and transparency…….Quebec style ethics and transparency that is…. While we recently let some BC Casinos set up operations here, if I was money laundering drug dealer I would still be wary about Ontario. While I think Ford will hold off bringing similar rules here in the short term, political pressure will build as more and more rot gets exposed in BC.
Appraiser
at 12:21 pm
The composite HPI for all housing types in the city of Toronto was up 5.5%.
Detached up 1.79%
Attached up 4.52%
Townhouse up 5.8%
Apartment up 7.87%
Housing Bear
at 12:51 pm
You are correct regarding HPI for the city of Toronto. I am correct regarding average price for the GTA as a whole.
Believe our bet for July is TREB average. Could still go either way at this point. I’m keeping an eye on sales vs inventory over the spring market but like i said, sellers have not capitulated at this point and we could get a small bump in dark money flows.
Professional Shanker
at 1:57 pm
What was the bet again?
Chris
at 9:13 am
The bet was that TREB average sale price in July 2019 will be lower than July 2018.
https://torontorealtyblog.com/blog/cruel-cruel-cruel-summer/#comment-90311
It’s shaping up to be pretty close.
Housing Bear
at 9:58 am
Thanks Chris, love how you timestamp all of these things. Looking like its going to be very close right now.
Chris
at 10:23 am
Definitely hard to say. Average price has not moved in a consistent manner from March to July over recent years.
2015: $620k in March to $610k in July
2016: $690k to $710k
2017: $910k to $740k
2018: $780k to $780k
Very tough to predict what 2019 has in store.
Housing Bear
at 11:15 am
LOL, I actually looked up the same stats this morning. I went back a bit further, it looks like more times than not March is slightly higher than July. This March was slightly higher than last year, so even if July comes in a bit lower than March of this year it might beat July 2018.
GTA sellers are not panicking yet, detached has been taking up a larger percentage of the sales mix, will be within a few %points but have to admit I think the odds are slightly in Appraisers favor right now. If we get a big spike in listings or some bad economic news that could change. It was last spring where Vancouver’s market really started to shift, will be interesting to see what happens
A Grant
at 9:06 am
“As rare as it is to hear a real estate agent say that, I just think this obsession with ownership and the entitlement that leads people to think they “should” live five minutes from work, has brought us here.”
Has it really though? I mean, can we stop with the “entitled millennial ruining everything” trope for a minute?
I mean, first millennials were blamed for NOT purchasing big ticket items like homes (in 2017, Merrill Lynch noted that millennial home ownership in the U.S. was at a record low) and cars.
Now millennials are being blamed for the upcoming underwater car loan crisis and the type of housing stock in downtown Toronto…
Serious question – who’s actually buying these “micro” condos? If I were to hazard a guess, I’d say it’s investors. So the culprit isn’t “entitled millennials”, but the relatively recent phenomenon of housing being viewed primarily as an investment opportunity, like the stock market.
Izzy Bedibida
at 9:35 am
Good Point…Outside of investors, I would gather that other buyers would be parents buying these for their university bound children…or one of the few “morons” as David alluded to.
I think that these purchasers would be a very small number relative to investors.
Good luck trying to sell these types of units to non-investors in the future. I also doubt that these types of units will appreciate much in the future.
Condodweller
at 5:27 pm
I actually think there might be a market for these units if they were priced reasonably. I am sure there are many single people out there who would prefer to own who would be happy to make do with a tiny place that provided basic shelter at a reasonable cost.
I would never invest in a tiny condo myself because as soon as there is a significant correction where a larger unit is affordable, nobody will want these.
Libertarian
at 10:37 am
I didn’t get the sense that David was referring to millennials. I don’t think it is only millennials who believe that they “should” live five minutes from work. That’s a lot of other people too!
But I do agree with you about investors buying these things. I’ll go one further and say not only it is obsession with investing in real estate, but also owning. Everyone and their grandmother says only an idiot rents. Everyone believes that you have to get on the property ladder as quickly as possible – you know, the whole “build equity” thing. So as Izzy said, parents buy their kids these condos as dorm rooms for university. Then when they’re done school, start moving up the property ladder.
That’s why I am shocked that David said not everybody needs to own. Is that his April Fool’s joke? This is Canada. This is Toronto. Heck, most of the commenters on this blog believe people should not only own, but also invest in real estate.
A Grant
at 10:52 am
True. It’s just lately the media (and at times, David included) argue that “millennial” and “entitlement” go together like “avocado” and “toast”
David Fleming
at 7:24 pm
@ A Grant & Libertarian
I wasn’t referreing to millennials in this sense, to be honest.
But having said that, I do believe “millennials” and “entitlement” do go together well, and your avacado toast bit was hilarious.
Having said that, I also believe that just about every generation is entitled, compared to the generation before them. I would bet that when I was 21-years-old in 2001, the beliefs I held, the things I wanted, the attitudes I had, and the path I wanted to take in life would be poorly-received by those born a generation earlier. I think this happens every generation.
I’m getting old. I’m turning 39 this year. And I can’t make sense of the youngins. There’s a job called an “influencer?” Really? This is a thing? You take photos, put them on social media, get “likes” and followers, and if you get enough, then a company will pay you $50 each time you wear their hat, and put it in a post? Then you move up the food chain and try on swim-wear in a store, and offer discounts if they buy with your promo code? And this is a job that young people aspire to, even though the odds of being successful are just like making it in Hollywood, or in the NBA? What the HELL is wrong with the world? Why would anybody feel good about doing this for a living? Oh, is it because you sit around all day doing very little? THAAAAAT’s the attraction! But how come “making it in Hollywood” is seen as a longshot, and something kids don’t try, but they will aspire to be social media influencers? Do they really want to be like Aunt Becky’s kid? That’s a life I want nothing to do with, seriously. Call me crazy, but that child has no substance, no redeeming qualities (other than her beauty, if you’re a 20-something guy), and eventually she will get tired of sailing with the spoiled brat daughter of a U.S.C board member’s daughter, who ‘apparently’ knew nothing about her college admission cheating.
Eek. That was a rant.
But you know what? Our parents thought the same thing about us. And their parents, about them.
As for the condos, they are mainly being bought by investors, yes. But eventually, end-users will have no choice but to live in these boxes.
A Grant
at 8:37 pm
@ David
I understand what you’re saying. I guess what really rubs me the wrong way about our preoccupation with labelling millennials as “entitled”, compared to previous generations, is that this is the first generation in recent memory that, economically speaking, won’t have it as good as their parents.
I don’t think it’s fair to call wanting the same as your parents – a house, car, 2.5 kids – as “entitlement” when our parents’ generation was able to achieve this dream right out of high school on a single income (I’m in my 40s, so your mileage may vary)
Chris
at 9:12 am
“I’m turning 39 this year.”
Being born in 1980 makes you, by some definitions, a Millennial yourself! By almost all definitions, it puts you right on the cusp of Generation X and Millennials.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennials#Date_and_age_range_definitions
David Fleming
at 10:04 am
@ Chris
I’ve been told this before, expecially in the context of conversations about “millennials.”
The term itself has taken on a different association, however, than what’s pre-determined in Wikipedia pages. Most people think of “millennials” in 2019 as people between 20-29, when in fact, 20-year-olds would have been born in 1999, and thus did not “come of age at the turn of the millennium,” as the defintion goes.
For what it’s worth, I am not painting all millennials with the same brush. I coached kids baseball from 2007 to 2013, and the kids that were 15, 16 when I started are now men in their 20’s, many of whom have purchased houses through me. These “kids” have gone through university, worked hard, obtained great jobs, and worked their asses off. These are not the same avacado-toast-eating, brunching, Instagramming, YOLO’ing kids who believe they should obtain a passing grade in a university course simply for attending, or who believe the government should provide them with the necessities of life. Some of the smartest and hardest-working people I’ve ever met are millennials, so if I’m coming off as a constant millennial-slagger, then something is lost in translation.
For what it’s worth, I consider myself a Gen-X’er. In fact, I was told this by a blog commenter who upon viewing my video on the Kingston Road condos, said, “oh boy you sound like a stupid Gen Xer… these are the places you spent your youth at? I feel sorry for you.” Poor guy. He must have been on the receiving end of some bad avacado-toast that day…
Chris
at 10:16 am
I don’t particularly find your blog posts to be millennial slagging. More so slagging of entitlement culture, which I have found in people of all generations.
Oh, and a good rule of thumb to live by is to never read Youtube comments. Nothing constructive is ever offered up there.
Condodweller
at 2:07 pm
@David You can be a professional video game player these days. ‘nuf said.
Condodweller
at 2:15 pm
@Grant It’s human nature to want what one sees around themselves. We usually want to improve our situation and not go backward. All though strictly speaking your parent’s situation is not really your situation.
I think it is very important for any generation to come to grips with reality and to have realistic expectations. There is nothing wrong to have drive and wanting to do better than the next person but to be vocal about it when you realize it’s unlikely to happen due to changed circumstances it can come across as entitlement.
Another David
at 5:01 pm
Want to clear some misconception about “influencer”:
An “influencer” is nothing more than a glorified, all-in-one advertisement agency. In the old days, company pay millions to advertisement agencies. Agencies work with studios to produce a commercial, and buy air time on TV. People see the commercial and go buy stuff.
However, with less and less people watching TV, TV ads no longer reach as many consumers as before. Today, companies can pay some 20 year old with lots of followers. These “Influencer” receives either cash, or products, or both, produce their own commercial, and show it to all their followers. It is a form of decentralized advertisement. Rather paying one million dollars to one agency to make one commercial. You pay one thousand dollars to one thousand influncers whom produce one thousand commercials.
You are right, lots of young people are drawn to this. It seems you just sit in your home all day doing very little. But isn’t this similar to the misguided belief behind countless people wanting to be a real-estate agent in Toronto? People see the glamour of driving around town in fancy cars, looking at fancy homes in fancy suits, while earning big fat commission day in day out (basically what one of my friend is expecting after getting her real estate license, she does not even drive!). But how many know of the hard work behind the scene? And as you have pointed out before, most agents barely close one deal a year, while a small number of agents get majority of deals. Isn’t this very much the same as sport stars and Hollywood?
Lastly, in a way, you are an Influencer too 🙂
jeff316
at 9:09 am
I”m impressed they’ve managed to get washer, dryer, dishwasher in those places.
jeff316
at 9:10 am
But hate the murphy bed. The bunk/loft bed in the photos is much more practical and a better use of space
Condodweller
at 4:30 pm
I used to have this fantasy when I was a kid that I had everything I needed in my room i.e. bed/desk/kitchen/toilet/TV etc so that I wouldn’t have to leave it to do anything. One of these units would have been my dream come true. Mind you I’m not sure where my parents would have stayed LOL.
jeff316
at 11:13 am
My first rental was a bachelor and it was pretty cozy and functional. Admittedly, probably not as small as these though
Condodweller
at 2:18 pm
Yeah, older rental bachelors typically had a separate kitchen/bath at least.
jeff316
at 3:43 pm
True. Yeah mine was sorta like the first layout but with the door tha t opened directly into the kitchen
m
at 1:35 pm
They pretty much have to. An in-suite w/d is a non negotiable for many nowadays. I agree that for tiny units a shared w/d on the floor would probably make more sense, but the usual choice is in-suite or a w/d bank in the basement.
daniel b
at 10:00 am
personally, once you go under ~550 sf, you might as well go all the way down to sub-400. I’d rather buy the 300 sf and spend $75k on custom millwork and furniture.
Also, average new condo sizes, contrary to popular opinion, have not been uniformly trending down, and were increasing for a few years. They’ve since started going down again but have yet to hit all down lows.
BillyO
at 8:53 am
This is a great point and I agree. I’ve seen more functional spaces at 450 sq ft than 550 sq ft. Well designed furniture and millwork would go a long way in the smaller unit being more liveable. The only issue is that on a psf basis sometimes (but not always) there isn’t that big of a savings on the smallest one beds.
Kyle
at 11:29 am
They could probably gain about 12 more sq ft if they actually placed the toilet in the shower. You would then end up with a nice place to sit while showering and the toilet gets cleaned as regularly as you shower. Win-win-win!
BHA
at 11:56 am
Back in the ‘90’s, when my wife and I visited Puerto Vallarta, our hotel room simply had the shower head in the corner of the bathroom. So when you showered, you cleaned the toilet, sink, mirror, walls and floor all in one go. Now that’s space-saving.
Kyle
at 2:39 pm
LOL, don’t give the Developers too many ideas, or next thing you know there will be a shower head and toilet in the Living/Dining/Kitchen area. When we get to that state, they may as well make the toilets out of stainless steel and the windows out of bars
Housing Bear
at 12:04 pm
Might as well just start offering units with 5ft high ceilings. Can claim the same sq footage and get a few more floors of suckers to max out their borrowing capacity. Call it “The Shire” or the “Hobbit Hole” and come up with a cool marketing campaign.
So far I got
“One room. for all of your stuff”
“The Hobbit – A kitchen to a bedroom and back to a kitchen again”
” The Two Elevators ”
” YOU SHALL NOT PASS – by each other in our compact boutique designs”
“One does not simply stand up straight in their own home”
Appraiser
at 12:55 pm
Who buys these places? People who perceive their abode as merely a place to sleep and who have neither the time nor the inclination to keep a large space furnished and tidy.
Depraiser
at 1:32 pm
That’s an odd thing to say about absentee landlords.
Paul
at 1:10 pm
This is only happening because our idiotic city councillors refuse to change our INSANE zoning bylaws.
Condodweller
at 4:43 pm
I fell for one of these jokes and didn’t even realize it until I read this blog. I got an email from a speaker manufacturer advertising their new and improved subwoofer that is tailored to be pet-friendly and allowed owners to enjoy music with their dogs. The grille had a nice dog paw cut-out. I guess the joke would have been revealed once I clicked on the buy button.
One of my favourites is a job posting by Google for an autocompleter job for their search engine.
crazyegg
at 4:09 pm
Hi All,
Everyone will agree that housing is expensive in Toronto.
Everyone will further agree that Toronto is obsessed with condos.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to do some “Weird Science” to come up with the micro-condo. It was bound to happen.
Like it or hate it, it doesn’t matter. It is here to stay.
Here are some condos that I have purchased pre-con over the years and their SFs:
627 SF
475 SF
453 SF
430 SF
There above units were all the cheapest units that were offered for sale in each development at the time in East Toronto.
Notice the downward trend in SF over time…
Regards,
ed…
Jeremy
at 10:53 am
“I just think this obsession with ownership and the entitlement that leads people to think they “should” live five minutes from work, has brought us here.”
As opposed to the obsession with ownership and entitlement that leads people to think they should have 3-4 bedroom houses and giant backyards that has lead to urban sprawl? Personally I would like a bit more space than we have but we chose it because its a five minute walk to the subway, and a 30-40 minute commute. We could have spent a bit more and got double the space farther out but then we would be paying with our time rather than money. How much space are you willing to give up for an extra HOUR of your day back 5 days a week? For many people the answer is a lot. That’s without even considering the financial savings of a smaller space and not having to own a car.
Kyle
at 7:17 pm
And so it begins…
“Studio apartments with approximately 279-square-feet of living space start at just under $500,000, according to an agent’s preview pricing list, ”
https://www.blogto.com/real-estate-toronto/2019/04/massive-new-condo-set-rise-above-st-patrick-station-downtown-toronto/
m
at 1:39 pm
anyone noticed the 120k parking + almost $100 parking monthly fee, or a $20/mo fee to park your bicycle? Insanity.
Karen Crozier
at 2:14 pm
Britain apparently has a program of building high quality pubic housing it later obtains financing for and sells to residents. Does it work?
Peggy
at 9:54 pm
A friend of mine who lived in Danforth Village sold her 1,250 sq ft condo (with balcony) for $370K. She had put 30K in renovations. She lived a 2 minute walk to the Victoria Pk subway station. This was last February. There were no bidding wars. The area is up and coming but I’m sure that the person who bought is making an amazing investment!