What questions should you ask while condo shopping?
Buying a new place is an exciting process! Have you ever walked into a new condo development and leave more confused than assured of your next step? The homebuilding lingo can be confusing and knowing the right questions to ask while comparison shopping can help you in the long run.
Whether it's your first purchase or not here are some questions that everyone should ask their new condo builder.
1. The age-old condo fee question. How much are condo fees and what exactly do they cover? Condo fees can cover your heat, electricity, and water. Mainly condo fees cover everyday items you might not think of such as waste, recycling, snow removal, landscaping as well as future items like parkade maintenance, paving, fencing, roofing, and windows. Contrary to reports not all condo fees are bad - they are actually essential for ensuring that your building and maintenance are kept up to date and that there is a healthy reserve fund for any big future needs. Homeowners of single-family homes should also put money aside for similar things to their homes.
2. What amenities are there in the building? A lot of condos have amazing amenities such as co-working spaces, gyms, dog grooming, car washes, pools & media rooms. Remember though, that those amenities are often worked into your condo fees and reserve funds. Ensuring that the reserve fund will grow large enough to cover maintenance, potential faults or repairs is extremely important - as often the homeowners of the building are responsible for these expenses if the reserve fund can not cover. This too can make your condo fees rise in cost.
3. Just like cars - the majority of condos come in base model forms known as spec and you can add features or upgrades to your condo to make it your dream home. Understanding what type of upgrades you have access to and or will make helps you understand the price point of your home. This also helps you stay within your budget when it comes to financing and mortgage approval with the bank.
4. How many units and what is the demographic of the units so far? You will find some condos are pulling a demographic of 55+ and some condo building pulls university-bound students or younger demographics. Depending on your lifestyle this might be an important question for you. Understanding the density of how many people will live in the condo building is equally as important - Condo building units can range anywhere from 40 units to 100 units per building.
5. What promotions do you have going on? Some builders will offer sales center allowances - for those upgrades we mentioned above. Some builders will offer smart home packages, moving incentives, or closing lawyer fees.
These 5 questions should get you off on the right foot for your new adventure in condo shopping. A little pre homework can also assist - researching the homebuilder, meeting your sales team and comparison shopping.
