Buying a resale
Buying a resale detached house has many obvious advantages over buying
a pre-constructed one. The previous owners paid for the fence, gardens,
trees, window coverings, paved driveway, air conditioner, central
vacuum, they painted over the cheap builder paint, finished the
basement and built a back deck. You are tens of thousands of dollars ahead.
In a condo, the advantages are not so obvious but are just as
real. Instead of getting more "physical stuff" you get more piece
of
mind.
First of all, units in older condos are far bigger than in the new ones
and usually have better sound-proofing.
Then you have the financial statements from previous years, the
current and past Reserve
Fund Studies and the status certificate to examine as they can tell
you
how seriously the past and current owners took care of the
corporation's finances and if they were/are concerned about the property's future
value.
You can see and get a true feeling for the finished building and the
grounds. The construction defects have been discovered and dealt with,
or at least you can hope so.
You can compare the number of renters to the number of
owner-residents and judge the social class, ages and income levels of
the residents that are attracted to the condominium. You can also get an
idea of how many dogs, children and students live there.
The selling prices, tracked over time, gives you a good idea of how much
the units may appreciate in the future.
You can and should have a friend and a home inspector come in and
examine the finished product before you buy so that you are not
surprised later by unexpected defects.
You don't get any of these assurances, imperfect though they are, when
you buy a unit in a new building.
top
contents
chapter
previous
next