A year ago Brian Persaud dropped me a line to ask if I could contribute some marketing insight for a new book he was writing on investing in condos. Brian has forgotten more about the Toronto condo market than I know, and I have very definite opinions on how stupid the idea of investing in pre-build condos can be.
That said, Brians’ a smart guy, a fantastic speaker and communicator and the perfect guy to write this book.
You’ll find my comments in the marketing section in the latter third of the book. Brian and Wiley generously sent me a copy and then another couple copies so I could give them away!
To be entered into the draw for a hardcover copy of Investing in Condominiums: Strategies, Tips and Expert Advice for the Canadian Real Estate Investor just comment on this post, like it on Facebook or blog about it and link to this post. I’ll do a draw on April 18th, 2012 and announce the winners right here.
Are there many instances where older condominium buildings with higher maintenance fees have been able to make significant changes to reduce the maintenance fees? If so, how have they been able to do this?
Thanks!
Sometimes, but usually not. I know of one building in Edmonton where they were able to deal with a special assessment by closing the pool but there’s a lot of tough rules to work through. It’s more important to have a realistic idea of what the fees should be for a given type of building.
It seems like the condos with high maintenance fees are those which include utilities. I’m not in construction, but is possible to install separate meters after-the-fact?
Would be interesting to see what your thoughts are. Always good to listen to the flip side of the story.
I’m sure there’s a place to make money there somewhere, but Brian’ a good example of needing someone on your team who is very experienced and very smart. It’s all about getting the right advice!
The Problem with investing in condos is that the prices are so high there is not a lot of room to go up anymore
Aleksy, I think there’s a fundamental rule of supply and demand which says that if demand increases faster the supply does then prices will increase. There’s no magic ‘limit’. Toronto and Vancouver are both pretty high price wise compared to some areas but not a lot of other cities. In the long term everything goes up; it’s the nature of an inflationary economy.
Is it crude to comment solely because I’d like a chance to win the book? In any case, I don’t think it’s fair to say that all condos are over-priced. A friend recently bought a condo in Edmonton (34th and 34th or thereabouts) for less than $140, which seems pretty reasonable for a new but smallish 2-bedroom.
Comment away! that sounds like a pretty good deal if it’s one of the new ones. There’s a lot of variables though (which is why Brian was able to write a whole book on ’em).
I have know Brian for a very long time and I know that this book will be a winner. Brian has a great understanding of the Condo market