When I sell a condo, one of the first questions to the Vendor is "are there any special assessments planned?". I need to know if the condo corporation is planning to rebuild the roof or the parking garage or some other major renovation. These expensive projects often require more money than the corporation has saved so they then have to approach each owner to chip in an extra hundred or three each month for a period of time to help pay for this.
I've noticed in one building recently that this special assessment paid off big time.
980 Broadview Avenue is an older building, in fact is one of the first condos built in Toronto around 30 years ago. Consequently, it has older hallways, older infrastructure, older design etc. Generally, buildings built in the old days feature units with substantial square footage and sometime they even have that elusive third bedroom.
Maybe that's why this building has been undervalued over the years (at least in my view). Until now.
A couple of nights ago, one of the 3 bedroom south facing units sold for over $500,000.00 and that had never happened before.
Recently, the owners had to endure a special assessment (I think it was $300.00 each unit each month) for a few months to help pay for some garage renovations. They've also recently began to refurbish the corridors so the building will soon begin to look like it belongs in the 21st century. This is all very good.
There's a new Minto high end condo development about to be completed just up the street so the street-scape and the business opportunities will begin to flourish. All in all, it's been a good year for owners in this building.
