I spent the first 3 months of this year looking for a good real estate investment. With prime being at an all time low, and fixed rates too, I knew that it was a good time to put money towards owning a condo. I wanted to find a cheap fixer-upper and try to flip for a profit, or a place that would 'guarantee' renters and keep it for about 5 years, til I move in, or till I find a better deal.
What sparked my interest (1 year ago) were 2 co-workers who just bought a home/townhome in Calgary. I asked myself where I'd want to live, if i worked at Firebag for 20 years and the answer was Canmore. I discovered the Blackstone condos. Since it was zoned in an area where you can't buy as private residence, I scratched the idea.
After the Victoria Marathon in Oct, I met up with some good friends in Vancouver where we went house hunting. Vancouver is ridiculously expensive and even more so because of the Olympics. There was a study done which showed a %20 decrease in the economy of an Olympic host city. We flew back to Calgary with all our money still in the bank, hoping that price would fall after the Olympics. Recent reports have shown the opposite, and average prices in Vancouver are higher than ever!
Back to Jan 2010, I made 3 offers. The first offer was on a 1 bed 1 bath and underground parking in Connaught. Newly renovated and ready to move in. The price was great considering the renos done to the kitchen. The condo fees were a tad high, but I went ahead with the offer anyways. I was at Firebag at the time and a)never actually saw the place but had worked enough with Tamara Pilipchuck, my realtor, that she knew what I was looking for. It was such a good deal that there was another competing offer and it was only on the market for 1 day. The sellers went with the OTHER offer which was LOWER by $500, but had less conditions.
Offer #2 is the 'BIG FISH' that got away. I'm still sad that I lost this place. It was a TOWNHOME in Connaught as well. 2 bed 2 bath, covered parking, 2 levels top floors. The previous owner passed away and because he didn't have a will, the house was being sold the the Queens Bench...and I guess the money was going to his relatives?? Foreclosures and estate sales tend to be priced LOW to get a quick sale, however they expect unconditional offers. This means NO home inspection, condition for finance, or condo document review! It's slightly riskier, but worth the investment if you do your homework. The was well within my price range, although I would be house poor for a few months. The place had gotten a little out of hand from the previous owner and needed renovations. The plan was to pull the carpet, paint the walls and fix up the bathrooms. This would bring it to a renter's standard. I planned on renting for 2 years as I saved more money to do a complete renovation of everything else. Comparable sales in the complex showed selling prices $80K more than what I was willing to offer! I was able to get a hold of the condo board minutes which showed a $6000 special assessment (which the selling realtor had disclosed earlier), and also pulled the land title, which showed NO leins. My offer was $3K below the asking because my guess was that the other offer was $6K less. I was wrong, and they offered full asking price. ;( :( :(
Onto the home that I finally bought. 1 bed 1 bath, main floor in a building classified as a townhome. It's in Altadore but is 1 block from what is known as Marda Loop. I got an e-mail early in the morning from Tamara asking when I'd have time to see this place. She had an appointment at 10:30, so it was either before, or after...I now understood the importance snatching a place when you have the chance so I quickly got ready in 15 minutes and was at the property in 30. The seller was also the realtor and had not even put a lock box on the place yet! So he graciously met us that morning since he was on his way to put the lock box up anyways. We walked in and the place as amazing! bright, hardwood floors, new kitchen, bright bath, insuite laundry and powered outdoor parking. We called the seller 5 minutes after and made a verbal offer $5k below asking. He had 6 other showings that day so he said he couldn't verbally accept our offer. Tamara asked what offer he WOULD accept...and he said he'd accept $3K below asking. We said okay deal! we wrote up an offer by noon and had it faxed to his office and by 3pm I was contracted to buy a place! Tamara got text messages from OTHER realtors saying 'did you REALLLY buy the property already?' 'How did you get in so quick'? They were messages from the other 6 realtors who were shocked that the place had sold in less than 15 hours and confirmed that I made a good decision.
Within 4 weeks of taking possession I found a renter who signed for 12 months.
What may have been an impulse buy was my SUV. I planned on keeping an eye on the 2010 Rogue and buying in 2 years. I chose the rogue because for an SUV it was the best on gas. It has a CVT (continuous variable transmission) which uses two cones facing opposite directions. The belt slides up and down the cone which gives you different 'gear' ratios. It's similar to the concept of the gears on a bike. This means there is no shifting gears and makes for a smooth ride while saving gas. This transmission is also lighter. I went to stadium nissan to test drive the rogue and also the murano. The salesman mentioned that there was a used rogue, listed the states..but I wasn't impressed. However, when we got back to the office, he discovered a rogue that had been on the lot for only 3 days. it was a 2009 rogue with all the power, and luxury upgrades. It also had little things like 3M protection, block heater, plastic covers on the doors and tail and the technology package too (keyless entry, better speakers). It was $10K less than buying a new rogue and the selling point was that it only had 12 000 km. So i went ahead and bought it.
I wasn't super hot about the color, but it'll do :)
