Howard's blog
Toronto Condos
Oddly, half my sales this year have been in Liberty Village. Every day I was going to Bliss (55 East Liberty) until I got in big trouble for sneaking into unoccupied floors and the builder banned me from the building. I have still been able to successfully sell many units there by sending my brother to do showings on my behalf. The irony kills me. The building that I'm selling the most in currently is the one I'm not allowed into. 55 East Liberty is very well priced for now and is in ideal location for many. I can't understand how anyone would buy in Can Alphas new development when 55 East Liberty is so much cheaper as an assignment and is exactly the same product. Buyers also do not need to wait for 55 East Liberty. It is ready now. Anyone considering CAn Alphas new developement should really look at the assignment prices in that area first. The prices at Can Alphas new development make no sense from an investment perspective.
On the other hand Connect condos by Urban Corp looks much better than I expected. The finishes are actually quite high end as opposed to their past buildings and the building is quite nice. I think Connect will be significantly nicer than Westside lofts by Urban Corp. Assignments are not allowed on MLS at Connect/Bridge but there are many kicking around. The price per square foot is also very low here for now
Toronto sandwhiches and lunch
Every day on my break before showings I get to experience some of Torontos best sandwhiches. I love The fish store on College. They charge 7 bucks for any grilled fish of my choice. It is delicious, quick and healthy. G-D bless! Paramount on Dundas/Yonge is also phenomenal. I actually think that they have the best chicken in the city and I consider the prices to be basically free! G-D bless! Although not cheap I also love Zoes Cafe on King. They have the best salads and lunch in my opinion in the city. Their salads use a variety of vegetables and foods that I'd never dream of buying. They change their menu weekly and they have a patio overlooking King/Spadina which makes for great people watching.
A bit of nothing
It's been a little while since I've written anything as I just got a new computer and I had to upload new software. To my own suprise a couple of people actually read my blog so I think I'll keep adding content. I actually really like blogging and have unique insite on the city as I experience downtown every day in a way most people dont have the resources to. I'll continue to blog about food, drink and of course condos.
Toronto condo outdoor pools
5 Years ago we had very few outdoor pools to go to in summer time except The Raddison on Queens Quay where they used to allow people to pay to get in to the pool. It was a bit of a party as they serve alcohol there but residence from the condo side complained and they've since stopped allowing the public access. The older buildings 10 Queens Quay/10 Yonge and 725/705 King also have outdoor pools. For me being at the pool is a necessary part of summer and thank g-d over the last 5 years the outdoor pool situation has changed with the proliferation of condos. I also happen to prefer outdoor pools to indoor as I don't swim laps but I love the sun. More recently (about 6 yrs) Waterclub condos was built with an indoor/outdoor pool. The pool has an amazing resort feel overlooking the lake. Unfortunately the sun is blocked by a building at Three oclock. The Thompson hotel/condo has a pool on the roof. It has a bar and restaurant and a stellar view. The nice thing about the thompson is you can eat and drink while you're there. The negatives are it has a very snobby feel. Half the pool has reserved sections and it's very difficult to get space. The other negative is the Thompson pool does not face the sunniest of directions. All that being said it is a ton of fun and feels very exclusive if you like that sort of thing. My favorite pool is at Cityplace's Luna condo. While it draws a bit of an extreme party crowd it has sun all day. It doesn't feel snobby whatsoever. I hang out there on weekdays whenever it's sunny. Maple Leaf Square condos also have an outdoor and indoor pool. The outdoor pool at Maple Leaf doesnt have the same party feel as Luna or the exclusive feel of Thompson but overall it has lots of sun and is relaxed.
The urbanization of Toronto started with condos has now moved to coffee
10 Years ago there were several Starbucks and Timothys, and very few Tim Hortons. Over the next 5 yrs Tim Hortons took over and start popping up everywhere. The chains were the only options we have. In the last 2 yrs there have been a multitude of gourmet coffee places opening. U can now buy a high end lattee on every corner of the dowtown street. It makes the city feel more like a city to me and makes my coffee drinking much more pleasurable (and expensive). Dark horse has opened a few locations in the last couple years. Dark horse makes a perfect latte! Many 1 offs have also opened up. Balzacs has been around for a while and has a few locations but I prefer the taste of most of the other places some how. Coiff, Green beanery, Lit and tons of other independent places pop up every week. I'm amazed that all these places popped up over the last 2 yrs (besides Balzaks). Gourmet Burger places like hero burger, Kraft burger have also only started opening in the last 2 yrs. Clearly Toronto is quickly turning into a higher end, more urbanized city in a hurry and I'm no longer stuck having the same coffee/burger everyday.
The urbanization has even spread to night clubs
It's not that I go out that much. I work Saturdays and Sundays and don't really like waking up exhausted with a headache. One thing I notice however when I do go out is that the night clubs are not the same. There are no more cheesy monster dance clubs and there are way less low end bars. The Docks club is gone, Devils martini is a lounge, My apartment is closed, Most of Richmond street nightclubs (for those of you who remember whiskey saigon and Level) are closed down. Schmooze is closed. Even Musik is almost all Vip sections now. The only bar left really is Crocodile Rock. The whole city is now lounges and VIP. We're urbanizing folks.
Assignment prices
I figure I should talk about Condos since I am the Condoman and all I've spoken about is food and drink so far. The sh-t has finally hit the fan. Some preconstruction investors have not been able to sell their preconstruction investments for a profit. Ive been foreseeing this for years. Concorde Adex buyers in Parade have not been able to assign at a profit. Sellers either did not assign or lost money/broke even. At Film Festival Tower prices are just too high. There have been about 5 assignments done at a profit and about 90 left unsold. There will be more and more examples of this going forward as sites got more and more and expensive. M5V owners will have a hard time assigning for a profit and same goes for almost anyone buying preconstruction today. The moral of the storey is two fold. #1 don't buy preconstruction blindly thinking youll make a profit no matter what. Compare to resale prices first. #2 be ready to get a mortage. Do not expect that your investment will just assign.
The new treb districts
What is up with this??? When did Liberty village become the Niagara region and the entertainment district become Toronto's waterfront??? I now have to click 3 more times to do the exact same search I've been doing for 10 yrs. If I want to change my search and resubmit now I cant do it I have to start the whole search over again. This is officially the dumbest thing Treb has done since I've been involved in real estate and it took them months to do it. They should at least have asked an expert in a district (me in c01 for example) to categorize the districts. Liberty village, waterfront, cityplace, Bay street would have made sense. Not only that I lost all the clients I had put on auto-email for no reason at all. Nice work Treb!!