Condos/Townhouse/House?

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by gladaki

Is there any post by u on rent vs own in Calgary market.

Not at the moment but it's probably a good idea for a future post.

Generally I'd say it depends on the personal situation. The rent vs buy debate has so many variables and really depends on personal circumstances. Anything short term (ie. life in transition, expat, coop students, students, recently divorced etc) I think should rent because buying is too risky for the short term and could cost more through mortgage penalties, legal fees, realtor costs etc. Short term requires flexibility and renting can provide that.

As a rule of thumb I'd say if its 5 years or more then buy.

Renting isn't a complete waste of money and does have some positives.

The local market is high but if the plan is to stay in a place long term, I'd bite the bullet and buy as I think prices will rise steadily in the long run.

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by darklord700

I've a rental condo unit and the board took on a very anti-investor attitude. New bylaws were brought in every year to fine people, I haven't been fined yet but it's unnerving.

My unit is on the ground floor but each move I have to pay money to hire a security guard for 3 hours minimum. Most of my tenants move from the balcony anyway but the board strickly enforce this law or you'll get fined.

Since I don't live there I cannot and do not want to be elected on the board.

People in general can get a negative attitude towards renters and blame all their woes on "the renters". Quite undeseerved - owners can show just as much disregard for the building. At least you can evict tenants - owners are much harder to remove. As always - it comes down to the person themselves.

The move in / out fee comes from damage done to the walls and elevators. The guards are there to watch for damage. I have a ground floor rental and it sucks to have to pay those fees, but having seen the scrapes and cracked glass in an elevator - I understand the need for these fees.

Common sense is not so common.

[snowshoe]

thanks for the advice everyone, it's been an eye opener! Will wait and see what the next few months bring and go from there. It's temping to just put everything in storage, rent a room for a few months then take off to New Zeland for a month or two

[Calgary14]

Originally Posted by snowshoe

thanks for the advice everyone, it's been an eye opener! Will wait and see what the next few months bring and go from there. It's temping to just put everything in storage, rent a room for a few months then take off to New Zeland for a month or two

That sounds like a great idea (not kidding)

[taco.vidal]

One other things to consider is that when you own your a detached home, you may have a bit more control of the timing of major expenditures. For example, say your roof is deteriorating and near the end of its life. If you are getting married this year and spending a small fortune on the wedding, then you may decide to postpone the roof replacement until next year. In a condo, if the board decides to replace the roof on the building this year, they rightly won't care about your wedding expenses and you may get a big bill at a bad time for you. (There is a flip side where in a house you can have some large expenses that you can't plan for and can't the change the timing on, such as if your furnace quits in the middle of winter.)

[lorenavedon]

idk why Calgary seems to have all these condo issues with condo boards etc. The richest people in the world live in condos. Manhattan is nothing BUT condos. San Francisco, downtown LA, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Paris etc. They have been doing fine in condos for hundreds of years yet in Calgary people are just so freaked out by them and have no clue how to make them work and still see them like a poor man's form of living. I wonder why this is the case?

[taco.vidal]

I think you answered your own question in your post. Those other cities have been doing it for a long time. The condo boom in Calgary is recent. A lot of first time homeowners end up in condos and a lot of those people likely came from living in detached homes with their parents.It can be a big adjustment.

Originally Posted by lorenavedon

idk why Calgary seems to have all these condo issues with condo boards etc. The richest people in the world live in condos. Manhattan is nothing BUT condos. San Francisco, downtown LA, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Paris etc. They have been doing fine in condos for hundreds of years yet in Calgary people are just so freaked out by them and have no clue how to make them work and still see them like a poor man's form of living. I wonder why this is the case?

[I-Hate-Hulse]

Originally Posted by lorenavedon

idk why Calgary seems to have all these condo issues with condo boards etc. The richest people in the world live in condos. Manhattan is nothing BUT condos. San Francisco, downtown LA, Hong Kong, Tokyo, London, Paris etc. They have been doing fine in condos for hundreds of years yet in Calgary people are just so freaked out by them and have no clue how to make them work and still see them like a poor man's form of living. I wonder why this is the case?

Manhattan is currently about 75% co-op vs condo. This article does a good job explaining the difference between the two.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-j...b_3460551.html

Co-ops have a tremendous advantage over condos in that the Boards gets to select who gets to live in the building. Keep in mind these are often in older, more desirable and well located buildings. There are horror stories about the interview process to be selected - you don't just roll up and buy a unit like you do here in Calgary with a condo. typically the Board is screening for financially sound like minded people that will fit in the community.

A horror for buyers, but for current residents and the Board this (and the desire of residents not to get thrown out of the co-op) generally leads to a higher acceptance of living in close quarters under a common set of rules.

As mentioned above, and as displayed throughout this thread - some people just aren't ready to live in close quarters with other people, under a common set of rules. Freedom to do anything at any time is certainly fine, but be prepared to pay extra for that (or compromise on the house). As Calgary transitions into a large city we are slowly learning this tradeoff, as people in Vancouver and Toronto have for decades.

[bizkitgto]

Originally Posted by taco.vidal

One other things to consider is that when you own your a detached home, you may have a bit more control of the timing of major expenditures. For example, say your roof is deteriorating and near the end of its life. If you are getting married this year and spending a small fortune on the wedding, then you may decide to postpone the roof replacement until next year. In a condo, if the board decides to replace the roof on the building this year, they rightly won't care about your wedding expenses and you may get a big bill at a bad time for you. (There is a flip side where in a house you can have some large expenses that you can't plan for and can't the change the timing on, such as if your furnace quits in the middle of winter.)

Condos can be great places to live, but these days you have to be very careful and understand the developers intentions: are they just slapping together something quick and dirty to cash in on the foreign investment wave (hence Toronto's current condo crisis), or are they actually building something for the community. Vancouver went through a wave of shoddy condo's and left owners with garbage in the 80s.

You should watch CBC's doc zone to understand what's going on in TO right now, and most likely across Canada too. Now I'm not saying condos are bad, I've owned two in the past - just do your homework.

http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/features/f...the-condo-game

Condo broker Charles “King Cobra” Hanes says downtown condos are “more a commodities play than a housing market”.

[Bunk]

Originally Posted by I-Hate-Hulse

Manhattan is currently about 75% co-op vs condo. This article does a good job explaining the difference between the two.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/greg-j...b_3460551.html

Co-ops have a tremendous advantage over condos in that the Boards gets to select who gets to live in the building. Keep in mind these are often in older, more desirable and well located buildings. There are horror stories about the interview process to be selected - you don't just roll up and buy a unit like you do here in Calgary with a condo. typically the Board is screening for financially sound like minded people that will fit in the community.

A horror for buyers, but for current residents and the Board this (and the desire of residents not to get thrown out of the co-op) generally leads to a higher acceptance of living in close quarters under a common set of rules.

Which, of course, makes NY co-ops often terribly discriminatory.