8 Tips for Buying a Condo in Canada (Comprehensive Guide)

Real Estate GTA Buying Tips and Advice Real Estate Market Condos

With time and age, many people have shown a preference for condo living, especially millennials who are looking for entry-level homes and are hence in search for tips for buying a condo. Condo apartments provide you with all the benefits of home ownership, but without any of the burdensome tasks associated with caring for a single family home, such as maintaining plumbing and cooling systems, mowing the lawn, or cleaning drains.

However, buying a condo is different from buying a single-family home. There are many factors to consider such as location, floor plan, HOA fees, facilities included, apartment association rules that you must follow, etc. Do you want a detailed guide to buying a condo in Toronto as well as know about the best tips for buying a condo? If yes, this is a comprehensive guide to help you navigate the 11 best tips for cracking a condo deal across Canada. 
 

1. Start searching online

With the advent of the internet, people can start taking some simple low-risk surveys of their advance purchases. This is true for everything from reading Rotten Tomatoes reviews before heading to the movies to starting your home buying journey. Most first-time home buyers use Google search, or other websites like Anot Homes to begin searching online. We have found that buyers like to do their own research and gain a basic understanding of the market and processes before contacting a real estate agent for guidance.

This is a good starting point for potential buyers to learn more, gather information, and gather questions when meeting with potential real estate agents. Read more about what is the difference between a condo and apartment here. 
 

2. Identify and analyse your goals

The type of product you invest in will depend on your objectives as an investor.  Are you investing for equity income or are you looking for an investment that can generate cash flow?

If you are looking for an investment for Cash Flow: Torontos lucrative apartment market and rising interest rates have increased holding costs, making it harder to find properties with positive cash flow. However, there are some strategic ways to increase your profit margins, such as a higher down payment or purchasing the right products. Your real estate agent can guide you on how to buy a condo in Toronto. 

If you are looking for income from shares: If you are looking for stock returns, you need to consider the long terms. Condos in Toronto are a good option because prices in the real estate sector of the central area have remained stable and have risen considerably. An experienced real estate agent can help you choose the right product, the right community so you can earn higher returns on capital and provide you with the best tips for buying a condo. You can search condos for sale Toronto here. 

3. Know your budget and transaction costs

Make sure you know how much cash you need and how much mortgage you can afford. This will affect the type of property to evaluate when investing. If this is your primary residence, you can buy it with a down payment as low as 5%.  However, as an investor buying second-hand real estate, you must have at least a 20% down payment. Budget clarification is one of the best tips on buying a condo that one can give. 

In addition to the initial down payment, you should also consider other payment fees. This includes the land transfer tax, especially for pre-construction apartments, HST (capped at $ 24,000). When investing in a pre-construction apartment, you must pay HST on the registration date up to a maximum of $ 24,000.    
 

4. Assess the general condition of the building altogether

Some flaws are easy to spot, while others are more challenging. One of the smartest tips for buying a condo that we can suggest is that you can look to hire a home inspector in order to access the condition and quality of the building where you are buying a condo. The expense of such an inspector is minimum, which is likely to range from $100-$200. You can read more about what is the difference between condos and apartments here. 
 

5. Winter is the ideal season for cracking deals

Peak season for real estate is spring and fall, and most sellers are waiting to be listed to take advantage of the inevitable price spikes that follow. This means that the book is a buyer and just like its pages, you have more options, but there are also more buyers competing, which gives all the sellers an upper hand. Evidently enough, the best time to buy a condo in Toronto for a new buyer is undoubtedly in the months of winter; a season that has very less competition.  

Winter is a great time for buyers to move in.  Stay active in your home search from December to February because you may get discounts. This is one of the best tips for buying a condo. Sellers who don\\\'t wait for the spring to go public often have an incentive to sell right away. Toronto\\\'s apartment market is slower. Compared with the spring or autumn market, the time to market will be longer than usual. As the number of buyers dwindles in the winter, sellers will become restless and more flexible on selling prices. You may check the varied condo purchase checklist of Canada on our website. 
 

6. In case it fits your budget, buy a parking space separately 

Although in the current scenario you might not own a car now, you can consider buying an extra parking space along with your condo. In case, in the future, you consider selling the condo, the extra parking space will increase the worth of your property to newer heights. Out of the many, this is one of the most impressive tips for buying a condo. 
 

7. Analyse the future pricing strategy

According to real estate experts who provide you with the best tips for buying a condo, you need to know the previous sale price of the condo and if you plan to sell it, you should try to determine how much you can expect in the future. To know more about how to buy a condo in Ontario, you may contact us. 

Anot Group
Sep 08, 2021