It is if you are a buyer…

The media constantly talks about this impending “market correction” or some sort of “bubble burst,” but from where I stand, it’s just not happening.

Let me tell you about a couple of my buyers and their experiences to prove why real estate prices are going nowhere but up…

I have a theory that a large portion of the responsibility for market corrections or slowdowns is borne by the vast media outlets across the country.  Pick up a newspaper or business magazine these days, and it seems that every single editorial or opinion piece is predicting a meltdown of the real estate market.

It’s almost as if the media wants this to happen.

I don’t tell them how to write stories, print newspapers, and report on world happenings, so why are they telling the general public about the future of the real estate market?

I’m currently working with a client, who is also a good friend, named Thomas.  He is looking for a large 1-bedroom condo in downtown Toronto, preferably in a niche neighborhood like Queen West or St. Lawrence Market.  His budget, which has changed over and over again, is maxed out around $330,000.

He is also looking for a niche building; something small, quaint, and rare.  The streets Camden, Soho, Phoebe, Portland, and a few others came to mind, and we were off to the races.

After casually searching the market in the Fall, we became serious buyers in January.  When a unit came out at the very popular 11 Soho Street, I told Thomas “This could be it.”

Priced at $339,900, the unit was perfect…..except it had no outdoor space!

Thomas is the first one to admit that he would have jumped on the unit had it come with a small patio or even a tiny balcony.  The unit was over 700 square feet and had an incredible layout—just one large, open space.  The kitchen left something to be desired, but Thomas has always been about the floorplan.

Soho Street is located directly North of the vibrant Queen Street area in between Spadina and University.  The street itself is no more than perhaps 300 metres long, and features this very cool six-storey building.  The area is prime, the building is insanely popular, but the unit just wasn’t perfect.  We decided to pass on Unit #407 at 11 Soho Street, priced at $339,000.

What happened next was not unforeseen, but not expected either.

Unit #407, which was staged to perfection and subsequently featured in a current edition of either Flaire, Cosmopolitan, Vogue or some other women’s magazine (forgive me for not remembering, they all seem the same to me), got a little more interest than we expected.

In fact, there were eight offers on the property, and it sold for $375,000.

While I couldn’t exactly see Thomas’s face when I told him the news (surely he was buried under a stack of paperwork on the umpteenth floor of a downtown Toronto skyscraper), I’m pretty sure his jaw dropped just as much as did mine.

Here we had a unit that we were very interested in, but decided to pass on at $339,000, and as a complete slap in the face, the unit sold for $36,000 more than the asking price.

I had done some number crunching ahead of time, and I informed Thomas that based on previous sales and price per square foot, the unit could pull in a $10,000 premium over the asking price, but we were NOT prepared for the eventual $375,000 asking price.

An entire week passed with not one, single, “quality” unit coming onto the market.  Don’t forget, Thomas and I think alike, and won’t settle for just any condo.  It has to be truly unique.

The following week, a unit came out at 29 Camden Street, priced at $347,500.  This surely was pushing the maximum of Thomas’s budget, but we decided to check it out anyways.

Camden Street is yet another very small side-street of no more than about 600 metres long.  It runs in between Spadina Ave and Brant Street, just north of Adelaide.  This is also a very popular locale and a unique real estate pocket that features 29 & 50 Camden, and is just up the street from Quad Lofts on Brant Street just south of Adelaide.  Just like 11 Soho Street, the buildings on Camden are very small, very quaint, and their rarity is what makes them so sought after.

Unit #304 at 29 Camden Street was about the same size as the unit at 11 Soho Street, but the finishes were superior.  The kitchen was completely open-concept, and featured high-quality cabinetry, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances.  There was also a small outdoor patio where BBQ’s are allowed!  There was no hardwood flooring like 11 Soho Street, however, just polished concrete that continued the authentic “hard-loft” theme.

The best feature of the unit was, without a doubt, the 40-feet of floor-to-ceiling windows that faced south, allowing an abundance of natural light to pour through and illuminate the entire unit.  This is a feature you will usually only find in authentic lofts.

So what did Thomas think of this unit?  Well, he loved it.  He just couldn’t afford it.  $347,500 is a huge investment for somebody in his early-20’s, especially when you’re single and don’t have a significant other to help pay the mortgage.

If Thomas had the money, surely he would have paid the $347,500 asking price.

But this point was moot, since the unit didn’t sell for anything close to that…

(TO BE CONTINUED)