Here is a little secret: right about now, most buildings in the city will run you about 50 cents per foot for your condo fees.
So say for example your condo is 750 square feet, your condo fees would come in at $375/mo. more or less.
Parking and Locker also carry a maintenance charge, if you own them add 5-10 cents to the index.
Now watch this trick: larger buildings with more amenities still have same condo fees, yet have a lot more to offer; “wet amenities” such as pool and sauna, specialized amenities such as virtual golf, bar and restaurant, lounge / club, movie room, rooftop patios, billiards, etc.
Small buildings will have either no amenities or limited ones, usually a small room with a couple of elliptical trainers and a bench. Why? b/c if they wanted to maintain more amenities, condo fees will sky rocket and value will drop. You do not want that to happen, do ya?
OK, so for your next purchase – investors pay attention – look for buildings with 200+ units that offer a good variety of amenities, your tenants will love you for this and are likely to pay rent on time.
As we say, bigger is better.
Yossi Kaplan is Toronto’s expert on condos lofts and real-estate. Ask him which building has the best amenities.Â
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