Buying a resale Toronto Condo over a pre construction unit has many advantages; the most obvious is the fact of being able to physically inspect the unit prior to purchase as opposed to buying a unit on paper. But it goes deeper than just being able to see and touch what you are buying. Having said that, it is still great when consumers have choice and are not restricted to buying new or resale or vice versa.
Most Toronto home buyers are very picky and to their defense they have every right in being so, to be able to envision if the floors plan works with the furniture that they currently own or do they require new furniture to fit the space. Which paint colors work better in specific rooms etc..
Every item I mentioned above is important but is also tiny compared to other reasons for buying re sale over new. The opportunity in being able to view and dissect the condominium and all its documents, such as the current fiscal year and budget. Are the current board members responsible with handling monies and how to they impose the condo rules? These are questions that you could have answers to where as you cannot ask these questions when buying a pre construction unit. Your Realtor should include a clause stating that the buyer’s lawyer shall have a period of time to review the statues certificate. In the event that the lawyer may find deficiencies then the buyer could accept them and move forward with the closing of the transaction or walk away without any penalties. Another perk in buying a re- sale is being able to see how the building is being maintained and if there are any condo rules that may be a problem. For instance I had a client who bought a unit and the unit addressed all of his criteria except for having hardwood throughout. He thought no big deal as he could replace the carpet with hardwood and that would be ok. Well the statues certificate revealed that this complex did not allow for hardwood in the bedrooms as the boards concerns were to keep noise levels to a minimal and therefore required carpet only in all bedrooms. This was a problem for my client and he decided not to go through with the transaction. If this was a pre construction buy then the buyer would have been out of luck as the rules are put in place following the registration date.
Pet owners should also be aware when buying either new or resale as most Toronto condos have weight restrictions. Nobody wants to give up a pet just so they could live in a specific complex. I know as a pervious condo owner that it was great to know how the building was constructed, was it built with cheap materials or was it built with higher end type finishes. All these questions were important to me when searching for my next home and knowing what limitations I could expect after my move in date is especially as important.