Unless you are particularly lucky or have a buyer’s agent that knows all of the Developers in the city, your troubles usually start right here! Take it from someone who has fought these guys for decades! Even when I’ve managed to win the disputes and the lawyers draw up Settlement Agreements, they always make sure verbiage “to minimum standard” is always included.

Oh, they woe you with the sexiest sales/presentation centers with all of the colourful presentation material and beautiful model suites and friendly sales staff “to assist you”, (ya right!). Understand that they are “agents” with the express legal requirement to protect ONLY the best interests of their “client” (the developer/Seller). You are considered under law a “Customer” of theirs and they owe you only minimal legal obligation, (like don’t lie, but answer any/all questions but they can’t offer negative information as that would contradict their “fiduciary” with their client).

If you are buying into a presale condominium you will have to know how to get people who are trying to end-run you to be straight and believe me, with most developers this is a challenge at best!

After almost three decades in this business I’m confident that I’m not exaggerating when I say I’ve pretty well seen it all! Notice that I say, “pretty well”, as I’m aware that there is always a new frontier out there ahead of us, but during my almost 30 years in the Toronto condo market there really hasn’t been a lot that has gotten by me.

I really was spoiled when I entered the condo business. Way back in 1980 I was a freelance sales trainer, (this was before being an entrepreneur was considered a “good thing”), and was called in to a meeting by the marketing manager, (who had just attended one of my sales seminars), of the then famous Reichmann Family (who had just built First Canadian Place but were failing with their mixed used Queen’s Quay Terminal/Residences on the harbour).

The condo industry itself was brand new as the Ontario Government had just introduced this new phenomena (“residential condos”) to the real estate industry. A simple change of wording in the law and voila, apartments could be individually deeded properties and could be presold before they were even built!

The rest is history! I’ve been directly and indirectly in the sales and marketing of Toronto residential condos ever since. Oh, I’ve balanced this demanding work schedule with my interests in the arts, managing a successful music business, rock/business video business and television production company on the side.

All of these disciplines culminated in this web site where we bring you all of the details on all of the condos, all of the time. Not everyone always likes what I have to say, but that is understandable as I no longer work on behalf of the developers. Seven years ago I got a real estate license and became Toronto’s pioneer “buyer agent” (a new concept where the buyer actually receives professional representation to face the professional representation retained by developers).

I enjoy somewhat a love hate relationship with Toronto developers due to my website being so popular around the world and the high quality of my “traffic” (condo buyers looking for meaningful information to assist them in their efforts to invest their hard earned money in this “specialty field”).

If I could only discourage buyers from going out on their own and walking into condo sales sites and being sold condos. As someone who was known as “the king cobra” in the condo sales site business, known for my ability to get you to buy a condo (oh, you could cancel when you got home but you bought when you were there thanks to my high pressure selling tactics) I can tell you first hand that you don’t have a chance!

The amazing thing to me is that our services are FREE and 80% of all buyers use the Internet to start their search yet so many get caught up in the developer’s shuffle game by entering the negotiations without adequate council.

(for example) at Spadina and King Street launched at approximately $315 per square foot. A one bedroom plus den 750 square foot unit sold for $235,000 (roughly) with parking $25,000 and a locker $3,500. I put 38 buyers into The Hudson while at the same time putting none into the towers of College Park. College Park I and College Park II were a little more costly per square foot. Good question, “why did my client/buyers buy at Hudson instead of College Park I and College Park II”?

Much of the logic was visual but most people can’t even tell when they inspect the model suite! For example, both developments had models but neither had an actual ceiling in the model suite. Oh, they had a good excuse but the truth is that the model looks and feels a lot larger when there is a 12 foot ceiling.

College Park I and II both had only 8 foot ceiling heights on the bottom 20 – 25 floors. Buyers paid an escalation fee $1,500 - $2,500 per floor per unit all the way up thus, to get a 9 foot ceiling (Hudson had 9 foot ceilings throughout) buyers faced an additional $25,000 or so for the same sized suite.

The bad news of buildings with 8 foot ceilings part way up and then 9 foot ceilings from a given floor to a given floor is that when the building is being resold, Realtors don’t know that there are 9 foot ceilings above such a floor so they see a couple of the 8 footers on the lower floors and the building is branded as an 8 foot ceiling building, even though you bought the 9 foot ceiling heights. It’s just not sound investing.

The critical differences between College Park and The Hudson were found in “Density”. College Park had hundreds of small suites in two 45 + storey buildings that were targeted at investor/buyers while Hudson was a single building of balanced suites targeted at end users.

Most significantly, Hudson’s one plus den units had 2 bathrooms whereas College Park offered only one bathroom or at best 1 ½ (no good for visitors).

Good developers get their buildings registered quickly, minimizing “Occupancy Fees” while others take months and months (15 – 18 is not unheard of) and all of these costs factor into your end game. Knowledge of previous conduct of developers is Holy Grail of the condo industry and is something that you will not find published anywhere.

That’s why smart investors use me. Not just any Realtor will do as Developers work specifically with Realtors as “Co-Operating Realtors” meaning that they work as agents for the developer thus taking care of ONLY the developer’s best interests. Be sure to know who you are working with and who they are representing. With me, it’s you, only you!

Be sure to tune in each week to read this Series:

1. “What’s Wrong With Condos . . . . It all starts with the developer”.
2. “What’s Wrong With Condos . . . . Board of Directors”.
3. “What’s Wrong With Condos . . . . Property Manager”.
4. “What’s Wrong With Condos . . . . Tenants”.
5. “What’s Wrong With Condos . . . . Speculator/Investors”.
6. “What’s Wrong With Condos . . . . End User Owners”.


That’s it for now. I’m Charles Hanes