| TrevorK |
Anyone have any dealings with Abbey Lane Homes (Specifically their project "The Bonavista")? This place seems really cheap for what you get, and it's only drawback I can find is the community it's in isn't the greatest.....
It seems like it'd be an awesome place to live for 5 years, have it all paid off by then, and then you have a bunch of equity for a house.... |
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| Insomniac |
I just bought a condo, here are some things to think ask:
- how are they built? There are basically 2 things here to consider. First, the quality of the "structure", meaning walls, floors, sound proofing etc. The second being the interior finish, meaning the quality of cabinets, flooring, appliances.
- What is there for parking? generally an underground stall is worth about $10k. Keep this in mind when shopping.
- What type of features does a "base" suite have. What kind of upgrades are available?
- What type of heating (individual furnace, or water heating).
- What are the projected condo fees?
Other things of note:
- those suites are really small compared to most
- LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
- Condo's marked as cheap usually mean you have shitty neigboors.
- Judging by their website, they are marketting at people without much money, looking for a starter (so many 1bdr suites, and advertising 3 types of downpayment assistance, etc.)
- Their web site lists no prices. Just a Mortgage payment. This probably assumes a 25% downpayment. Find out what the actual price is!
In my shopping I basically learnt that there are no good deals, ha ha. Prices vary depending on location, quality, parking, floor plans, etc. Set a price, then go find a place that suites you best.
I strongly advise going to sales offices and getting their sales pack, talking to the realtors selling there, and seeing show suites if possible. The more you look at different projects, you will see the difference.
And finally, I don't mean to be nosy, but I'd be amazed by anyone who could pay off a condo in 5 years! Most people get 20-25 year mortgages! If you can really afford to put $20-30K to your condo a year, why buy junk? You can afford that house that you want.
Edit: I see they UG parking...
http://www.thebonavista.com/flash/default.htm |
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| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by Insomniac
I just bought a condo, here are some things to think ask:
- how are they built? There are basically 2 things here to consider. First, the quality of the "structure", meaning walls, floors, sound proofing etc. The second being the interior finish, meaning the quality of cabinets, flooring, appliances.
- What is there for parking? generally an underground stall is worth about $10k. Keep this in mind when shopping.
- What type of features does a "base" suite have. What kind of upgrades are available?
- What type of heating (individual furnace, or water heating).
- What are the projected condo fees?
Other things of note:
- those suites are really small compared to most
- LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION
- Condo's marked as cheap usually mean you have shitty neigboors.
- Judging by their website, they are marketting at people without much money, looking for a starter (so many 1bdr suites, and advertising 3 types of downpayment assistance, etc.)
- Their web site lists no prices. Just a Mortgage payment. This probably assumes a 25% downpayment. Find out what the actual price is!
In my shopping I basically learnt that there are no good deals, ha ha. Prices vary depending on location, quality, parking, floor plans, etc. Set a price, then go find a place that suites you best.
I strongly advise going to sales offices and getting their sales pack, talking to the realtors selling there, and seeing show suites if possible. The more you look at different projects, you will see the difference.
And finally, I don't mean to be nosy, but I'd be amazed by anyone who could pay off a condo in 5 years! Most people get 20-25 year mortgages! If you can really afford to put $20-30K to your condo a year, why buy junk? You can afford that house that you want.
Edit: I see they UG parking...
http://www.thebonavista.com/flash/default.htm
The whole location of it is turning me off - it's pretty much right behind the Transit hotel. It's a convinient location in terms that it's right next to Yellowhead (For me) and the LRT station (For my GF). But it's a shitty, shitty, shitty neighbourhood. I am thinking that because the underground parking is secured (Only two ways in - the big door for cars, and an elevator down inside the building) it might be a bit nicer...But that's the only knock I can find against it is location. As far as I can, Abbey Lane builds much nicer condos normally, so I'm hoping they would use the same build quality.
No problem - I don't mind answering that question. I plan on putting down 25K-30K on the condo (I have more to put down if necessary, but then I'll have to cash in some investments). The reason I thought this might be nice is because then it'll be all paid off in a short time, and I can start saving again for a house (Or buy myself a nice new car). Right now, I don't think I could afford (Or qualify) for a house over 170K and frankly I'm not sure if I'll find one for that price in a nice neighbourhood I want to live in.
Then again by that token, why am I looking at living near Fort Road??? Arghhh.......I hate trying to make decisions. It's almost best I keep everything the same and pack away more money for a couple years.... |
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| Insomniac |
I sort of disagree. Intrest rates are so low right now.
Let me put it this way. My mortgage payment is very close to what my rent is!
Add in extra monthly costs that come along with ownership (property tax, condo fees, sometimes more utilities that are normally included in rent, etc), and your're still not doing bad.
Better to get out of renting IMO. 25-30K is a good chunk for a down payment. If they are RSP's, you can withdraw up to $20k with no penalty under the "new home buyer plan".
As for knowing what you type of mortgage you could get, just head to the bank and do a pre-qualification application. It's super easy, takes 30 minutes, and lets you know what they are willing to lend you. |
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| Bad Egg |
What Insomniac said...with emphasis on building construction technique and location. There are a lot of people who think living in a condo is great untill they have to live in a crappy stick built building with terrible sound-proofing. If you are used to living in a low to mid scale apartment you should not be bothered too much. If you are used to a better apartment/condo or a detached home you may not be happy.
Location: Not the greatest. You may be close to the LRT but it's not one of the better areas of the City. I don't think you want your GF walking to/from that station, especially in the dark/evening hours.
Price: Since they don't mention the price they remind me of the car salesman who asks you what you can afford every month and never tells you the price. With the monthly payments they quote you can be sure the amortization is a long one. You would have to multiply the payments a few times to pay them off quick.
If you go and get their package make sure they give you all the info: prices, amortization periods, etc.
Have you looked into what mortgage you can afford? With a high ratio mortgage(10%-insured by CHMC) you should be able qualify for a pretty big mortgage with that kind of downpayment, as long as your debt load is not high. |
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| Insomniac |
oh, one more thing. U/G parking is not neccessarily safe!
If you live in a building with "poor" people, they will rip you off in the warmth and hidden view of your own heated U/G lot.
Sad but true! |
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| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by Insomniac
I sort of disagree. Intrest rates are so low right now.
Let me put it this way. My mortgage payment is very close to what my rent is!
Add in extra monthly costs that come along with ownership (property tax, condo fees, sometimes more utilities that are normally included in rent, etc), and your're still not doing bad.
Better to get out of renting IMO. 25-30K is a good chunk for a down payment. If they are RSP's, you can withdraw up to $20k with no penalty under the "new home buyer plan".
As for knowing what you type of mortgage you could get, just head to the bank and do a pre-qualification application. It's super easy, takes 30 minutes, and lets you know what they are willing to lend you.
I guess I should have mentioned - I don't pay rent right now since I live at home still. Which is why I can save so much - and could continue to if I lived at hom. |
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| Insomniac |
quote:
Originally posted by Bad Egg
Price: Since they don't mention the price they remind me of the car salesman who asks you what you can afford every month and never tells you the price. With the monthly payments they quote you can be sure the amortization is a long one. You would have to multiply the payments a few times to pay them off quick.
The ammortization is 25 years. But they do NOT say what the downpayment is. This matters A LOT.
Fr a sample calculation, lets take their C1 plan (the biggest). It's $642/mo. By their mortgage rates and ammortization period, that works out to be approximately $115,000 in principle.
If there was a 25% downpayment, that would work out too $153K. I'm sure that place is cheaper than that. Hmm..... |
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| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by Bad Egg
What Insomniac said...with emphasis on building construction technique and location. There are a lot of people who think living in a condo is great untill they have to live in a crappy stick built building with terrible sound-proofing. If you are used to living in a low to mid scale apartment you should not be bothered too much. If you are used to a better apartment/condo or a detached home you may not be happy.
Location: Not the greatest. You may be close to the LRT but it's not one of the better areas of the City. I don't think you want your GF walking to/from that station, especially in the dark/evening hours.
Price: Since they don't mention the price they remind me of the car salesman who asks you what you can afford every month and never tells you the price. With the monthly payments they quote you can be sure the amortization is a long one. You would have to multiply the payments a few times to pay them off quick.
If you go and get their package make sure they give you all the info: prices, amortization periods, etc.
Have you looked into what mortgage you can afford? With a high ratio mortgage(10%-insured by CHMC) you should be able qualify for a pretty big mortgage with that kind of downpayment, as long as your debt load is not high.
Yeah - I've never lived in anything but a detached home, and I don't visit people in apartments much so I really have no idea
what it's actually like.
Last time I was at the bank - they told me at 6% (That was their advertised rate, so they used that as a basis) I could get 131K from them. So at a realistic rate, I know I'll be able to sneak 150-160K mortgage from them (And put whatever I want on top of that as my downpayment).
So qualifying for a house isn't a problem - it's all the expenses that come along with it (I'm sure heating would be $200, which in a condo is enough to cover condo fees and most likely electricity as well) that I'm not sure I could handle if I got an expensive (For my income) house... |
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| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by Insomniac
The ammortization is 25 years. But they do NOT say what the downpayment is. This matters A LOT.
Fr a sample calculation, lets take their C1 plan (the biggest). It's $642/mo. By their mortgage rates and ammortization period, that works out to be approximately $115,000 in principle.
If there was a 25% downpayment, that would work out too $153K. I'm sure that place is cheaper than that. Hmm.....
I saw an advertised price - they were as low as 89,900 in the fall. So I assume that's what the cheapest ones cost..... |
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| 2003specv |
| If you have that much to put down, why not buy a 200k home? You've got at least 10% to put down. |
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| Transporter |
quote:
Originally posted by Insomniac
oh, one more thing. U/G parking is not neccessarily safe!
If you live in a building with "poor" people, they will rip you off in the warmth and hidden view of your own heated U/G lot.
Sad but true!
i agree to that...i live in downtown with u/g parking..and our so secure ug parking i have had my car broken into twice..my roomate same thing..but they do more damage trying to get into car than the amount stuff they actually steal..which piss me off. |
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| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by 2003specv
If you have that much to put down, why not buy a 200k home? You've got at least 10% to put down.
If anything were to even happen to me in terms of my job, I wouldn't be able to afford a 200K house (Since I'm paying for it all on my own). And because I am one of the few wellpaid IT people - it would be hard to get a job at my current salary.
That - and I don't like the uncertainty that that large of a mortgage would bring. What if I needed to reshingle the roof? There's $2000 I have to come up with, etc, etc... |
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| Insomniac |
Hey, take a saturday and go drive around areas you want to live in and check out some sales offices.
There are lots of places and after seeing about 4 or 5, you will start to see differences.
I don't mean to knock the Bonna (ha ha), but I noticed that their building has a tone of amenities. They had an exercise room, guest suite, games/meeting room, shop, and car wash. All of this stuff you have to pay for. IMO, they’re a bad thing (except the car wash). Condo fees with all of those things would be high.
My place has basically no amenities and the condo fees are thus only around $110/mo. It’s not uncommon of some condo fees to be around $300/mo. That extra $200/mo would allow me to purchase a place $30,000 more expensive, and still have the same total monthly payment (Mortgage + condo fees + tax + utilities), assuming tax and utilities were about the same.
This is another thing to keep in mind for sure.
Check this thread I made on beyond.ca, lots of good info here:
http://forums.beyond.ca/showthread....ght=condo+house |
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| colossus |
QUOTE: "But it's a shitty, shitty, shitty neighbourhood. I am thinking that because the underground parking is secured (Only two ways in - the big door for cars, and an elevator down inside the building) it might be a bit nicer..."
LOL don't hold back, what do you really think of the neigbourhood and your future neighbours? :D
All true though, it is a pretty seedy area, with all the conveniences of fort road and crime. A word of caution, underground parking is by no means secure. A friend recently has his ride broken into and vandalized in a supposed underground, monitored parking lot.
P.S. I hate how expensive housing has gotten in Edmonton. I remember when I was a kid $205,000 could get you a mansion with an indoor swimming pool and hottub!!!
:lol: |
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| TrevorK |
quote:
Originally posted by colossus
LOL don't hold back, what do you really think of the neigbourhood and your future neighbours? :D
All true though, it is a pretty seedy area, with all the conveniences of fort road and crime. A word of caution, underground parking is by no means secure. A friend recently has his ride broken into and vandalized in a supposed underground, monitored parking lot.
P.S. I hate how expensive housing has gotten in Edmonton. I remember when I was a kid $205,000 could get you a mansion with an indoor swimming pool and hottub!!!
:lol:
I didn't even realize that the UG wouldn't be secure. Fuckin' bastards - that means living in Fort Road would mean that I'd either have to sell my cars and get a Sprint or get to know my insurance company on a first name basis. Either choice isn't any good..... |
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