Condominiums for Sale, Ottawa
Buying Tips 
Residential Condos

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Condominiums for Sale, Ottawa and Buying Tips for Residential Condos servicing areas of:

Important. The first thing you want to do is to make sure that you have fun, because it is fun. For you it should be fun, exciting, and a time to explore and dream. The work part of it is my job. And, even that is fun and exciting. 

Now... There are some serious similarities between buying a home and buying a condominium. But, there are some serious differences. 

So: Start with the home buying side of the equation on my home buyers page here. 

Be sure to visit my mortgage page here. 

Now, you are ready for my best advice on buying a condo or residential condominium.

1. Get mortgage approved first so that you know what you should be looking for and where to find it. It will save you heartache and allow our discussions to be better tied to your best interests and desires. Read the mortgage page thoroughly. Remember: when your mortgage lender approves you, they are not approving the building. That's a separate function and process. 
2. As with buying a single family home, you have noticed that your front-end or out of pocket expenses at closing and on moving in are fairly substantial (about 3% of purchase price on closing plus moving and discretionary costs). I will help you with the prevailing numbers and what they mean. 
3. Don't be a kid in a candy store. At the same time you want to make sure that the building has what you need and want. Your condo fees include common areas and amenities and services.

Remember the buyers tips. Write down what it is that you need and want from your condo residence. Your condo fees will include everything in that building complex whether or not you use anything or everything. 

For example, you may not want a gym. But, if you feel you do, then it should be well equipped and kept clean and in tip top working condition. 
Another example, you may want to make sure that all the common areas like entrance and hall ways are clean, well lit, secure, and kept free of unwanted visitors. 

So, as with a single family residence, it will take some time to recupe those costs through property appreciation.

4. The Building: I am very critical in helping my buyers choose the right building complex. I have developed an eye for most of the things that we either don't see or just assume is under control. Rule: If it bothers you, it isn't under control! What I look for even before we sign in a building inspection on an offer. 

•  Look for scratches on hall walls and doors.
•  Check for rust or rust coat peeling on porch frames, window frames that stick or are just plain old, brick work that is cracked, dirty glass doors and entranceways. 
•  Talk directly to current owners. Get their take on whether or not the building repair program is satisfactory.
•  Ask the condo owners about the quality of tenants, if they are loud, young or old, quiet or noisy, or if the sound insulation is good or bad. 
•  Check with the local police if they visit the complex or if it is known to them.
•  Parking spaces. How many? If you have two that come with the unit but you need only one, keep the other anyway. It will be easier to resell the condo later with two parking spots rather than just one. 
•  Security for both all the common areas of the building, storage, and the parking lot. Live camera is best. But, at the very least ask to see it, how it works, and that it is constantly on AND that the picture is a high quality. A cheap camera is only slightly better than no camera. 

5.  Your condo board. This is crucial to a great decision on buying the right condo. 
   
   What do they talk about at their meetings? If there are lots of complaints, big or small, this is not a good sign. If they talk about stuff that is relatively new and they create an action plan and have the funds that they should have to carry it out, this is a good sign. 
6. You condo board heads up a corporation into which your monthly fees are placed for both normal monthly and seasonal operating budget items but also for larger, longer term projects just as furnace repair, roof repair or replacement, repaving the parking lot, etc. 

It is likely that your condo corporation will release an annual report on the size and growth of the fund detailing revenues from condo fees, expenses during the current year, along with projected expenses for the coming year and the impact of those expenses.

In review these documents, look for trends. If the board is properly funded and what should be normal maintenance expenditures are just that and properly responded to, then your investment into your own condo should not see any unpleasant surprise assessments to cover what should have been allowed for. And, we'll look at that together. The core value here to ensure that maintenance and recapitalization are separate and properly accounted.

7. Decorating. Even to the color of window blinds, shades, and drapes, some condo boards are extremely strict. Remember: when you go to sell your condo later on, look at it and other condominium buildings from the street. You can appreciate why they are so strict. 

Watch for restrictions like barbeques on the balcony, flags, hanging wreaths on your front door. 

Again, being highly restrictive may be both a blessing but it sure can be a pain. 

8. Preparing an Offer. 
   There are many ways to prepare an offer. Most of them are dead wrong. The idea is that the representative gathers up all the listings on the market and gets a feel for what your condo should sell for fairly consistent with the asking price. 

While I won't deny that a veteran representative can be pretty accurate, it is still the wrong way to do it.

Just as selling a home requires a most accurate Comparative Market Analysis, I do the very same thing on the buying side ... even when I am the listing rep! 

The simple fact is a thousand bucks her or a few thousand there can make a huge difference down the road when you want to resell. Plus... what are the trends going on in the market right this minute. Are my people making the right move? How do we know except by going deep into the demographic truths. Do it right. That's my job for my people.

The other considerations in offering on a condo are also different than offering on a single family unit. Everything, everything, everything must be checked and rechecked for accuracy including answers to everything above. 

Have any questions?  Contact John for a professional valuable opinion.

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